Syncretism spread thanks to the New Age

For syncretism, it is not important to which creed one belongs, but the actual commitment to inner research. Syncretism is a religious form that mixes doctrines, liturgies, and spiritual practices of different origins.

By syncretism, we mean the integration or fusion of doctrines of different origins into a new doctrine, both in the sphere of religious beliefs and in that of philosophical conceptions.

More particularly, in the history of religions, syncretism means the fusion of two or more religions or even the partial contamination of one religion with elements of others.

However, the term syncretism has spread in modern times thanks above all to the New Age movement, which attributes a particular meaning to syncretism.

New Age and syncretism

In fact, the New Age doctrine represents a form of religious syncretism because it mixes elements of various origins. It takes up elements of Eastern wisdom – Buddhism, Hinduism, Yoga -, of the esotericisms of the Western tradition – theosophy, anthroposophy, occultism – of Christianity and of the religions of the primitives – shamanism, animism, magic.

In this vision, God is real, exists, and is part of nature and man. God is seen as an energy that permeates all things – the sum of the consciousness existing in the universe. Man’s transformation lies in learning to recognize divine energy in oneself and in nature.

For the New Age, the best part of any religion is its esoteric, secret, and mysterious side. At the same time, the more modern meaning of syncretism simply indicates that the substratum of all religions is unique.

For the effects of syncretism it is therefore not important to which creed one belongs, but the actual commitment to the inner search within the religion or doctrine in which one is established, by choice or culture.

Religious s yncretism affirms the substantial unity of all faiths and schools of thought, beyond dogmas and formal and external differences.

According to the syncretistic view, the founding concepts and principles of every creed – such as the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of men, the value and importance of prayer, universal love, etc. – are the only and the same.