nucleus of the gnostic doctrine of redemption. Central to the
Gnostic concept of redemption was the idea of a redeemer
who himself needed redemption; around this spiritual nucle-
us the syncretic contents of the various Gnosticisms were or-
ganized in very diverse ways. Such phenomena could arise
even on the fringes of Judaism, although Judaism by its na-
ture provided the fewest necessary presuppositions. On the
other hand, the process readily occurred in the Greco-
Oriental religions. Second-level syncretisms made their ap-
pearance in the structure of the myths, in the peculiar charac-
ter of the redeemer figures, and in the way history and the
world were conceived. The result was a basic pattern that has
recurred in the various Gnosticisms down to the modern pe-
riod, although this does not mean that all the details of these
later Gnosticisms derive from ancient Gnosticism.
Middle Ages. Here I mean to speak of “Middle Ages”
in both the West and the East, despite the fact that the line
of demarcation from the modern period, which alone makes
the term meaningful, is not the same in the East as in the
West. The unbroken transmission of the alchemy of late an-
tiquity down to the Renaissance, the uninterrupted continu-
ity of heikhalot mysticism and the Qabbalah as a broad
stream within the Jewish tradition, and the ever-possible re-
vival of Neoplatonic thought meant that new syncretisms
could constantly arise; these would be comparable to the
ones that occurred in the period when alchemy, Jewish mys-
ticism, and Neoplatonism first appeared. In many instances
(for example, Ramón Lull (c. 1232–1315), related traditions
from the Islamic world were added, although in Lull’s case
any basically syncretist pattern disappeared due to the level
of conceptual abstraction. The same is true of Agrippa
(1486–1535) in relation to Jewish mysticism and of Paracel-
sus (1493–1541) in relation to Neoplatonism. In the milieus
of these two men, however, there were popular forms of both
white and black magic that can be described as syncretic. In
the East, syncretisms of a new kind arose in various places.
First mention belongs here to the connections between an
already syncretic Hinduism and a nonsyncretic Islam, fos-
tered in part by the religious policy of Akbar (1542–1605).
This ranged from the so-called Muslim brahmans (via inter-
actions between Muslims and Hindus at common festivals
and common shrines in the Punjab and the Sultanates of
Delhi) to the formation of a syncretistic organization, Sikh-
ism. In the Near East, the continuance of ancient syncretisms
despite the superposition of Islam led to syncretisms with the
latter, as among the Druze, the Shams ̄ıyah, the Yesid, the
Ahl-i H:aqq, and in some Turkish orders of dervishes. In mis-
sionary Buddhism there arose the connections, mentioned
earlier, between the bodhisattvas and the spirits (or demons)
of Central Asiatic, Chinese, and Japanese folklore.
Modern age. The acculturation process of the nine-
teenth and twentieth centuries has likewise produced new
syncretisms that focus either on a utopian future or on a pres-
ent that is in need of improvement. Among the former type,
the cargo cults of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia are
intelligible only against the background of Christian mis-
sionary activity. These cults materialize the objects of the
Christian hope proclaimed by the missionaries and turn
them into forms of tangible prosperity imported from out-
side; they thus produce numerous new interpretations of
Christ and other biblical figures in the light of indigenous
saviors. The equal or higher status that these cults give to
their own mythical tradition as compared with the Bible
leads inevitably to the development of new myths that retain
only a formal likeness either to Christian legend or their own
older myths.
A similar situation is discernible in the so-called African
independent churches, especially when ancestor worship and
initiation are combined with Christian veneration of the
saints and with baptism. Further linkages lead to a mythical
topography into which the biblical topography can be
incorporated and to a parallel-structured eschatological geog-
raphy.
Of the new supraregional institutions of the present
time, some are less syncretistic, others more; the most syncre-
tistic is the Unification Church, in which old Korean sha-
manistic, Maha ̄ya ̄na Buddhist, and Presbyterian contribu-
tions are still recognizable.
Other modern syncretic movements focus on a present
that is in need of improvement. In Brazil the Catholic eccle-
sial tradition, Pentecostalism, and African and Indian cults,
as well as, in some cases, an academic formation in the my-
thology of European classical antiquity, all had to come in
contact in order that the great syncretic religions—
Candomblé, Macumba, and Umbanda—might arise. The
syncretic teaching on spirits and gods found in these religions
can be interpreted in terms of Christian veneration of the
saints or of Indian, African, or even Greek mythology. A
common orientation to a Buddhist king and a socialist party
leader, whose charisma ensured the prosperity of the coun-
try, led to a Buddhist-Marxist syncretism in Burma. In Viet-
nam, contacts between Buddhism, Christianity, and popular
religion led to the establishment of a new organized religion,
Cao Dai.
CONCLUSION. It can be stated as a principle that syncretism,
where verifiable, is a late stage in a particular epoch of the
history of religions. It will therefore always contain truth-
claims, inasmuch as insight gained at last into the relativity
of all that has preceded makes it possible to compare, com-
bine, and interchange elements from the tradition. A tolerant
attitude to all that is of value in the world is thus a basic con-
dition for the rise of any syncretism, as well as a basic virtue
of the human being who is shaped by syncretism and in turn
supports it. In addition, however, an enormous intellectual
power is required in order to cement all the elements togeth-
er into a new type of tradition and, further, to maintain the
combination of the erudite and the popular.SEE ALSO Gnosticism; Hellenistic Religions; Hermetism;
Manichaeism; Mystery Religions; New Religious Move-
ments.SYNCRETISM [FIRST EDITION] 8933