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Old 10-14-2015, 08:28 AM   #1
acrosome
 
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Default Syncretic (or just interesting) religions

I need a list of interesting/syncretic religions to read about for campaign inspiration. All I really know anything about are gnostics like Manichaeism or the Bogomils, and damned little of that. Mazdakism is interesting for it's pseudosocialist characteristics. If you want to give a thumbnail sketch, please do- something to explain why it's interesting to you. Both historical and modern are fair game for my purposes- so stuff like the cult of La Muerta is fair game. The more obscure the better. Bonus points for unusual practices.


Thanks.

Last edited by acrosome; 10-14-2015 at 08:36 AM.
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Old 10-14-2015, 08:39 AM   #2
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Default Re: Syncretic (or just interesting) religions

The entire family of Voudon/Voodoo/etc religions, including Santeria. These are a syncretic blend of west African, native Caribbean, and European (mostly Catholic Christianity) religious beliefs and practices, along with nelogisms unique to each faith.

Related to, but not to be confused with Vodun, which spelling is usually used for one of the west African religions that contributed to the above stew pot. Yoruba beliefs are another major source from Africa.

Many practitioners of these religions are also Christian, something that tends to confuse European-derived Christians. It's sort of like being Buddhist and Christian, something that's moderately common in Asia (well, among Christians in Asia, it's still pretty minority there).
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Old 10-14-2015, 08:47 AM   #3
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Default Re: Syncretic (or just interesting) religions

There are some who believe that Christianity is a syncretic religion between Judaism and the savior-kind cults common around the Mediterranean at the time (Zalmoxis, Mithras, Osiris, Dionysis).
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Old 10-14-2015, 10:17 AM   #4
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Default Re: Syncretic (or just interesting) religions

Actually, Rasafarian theology is freaking fascinating. I'm definitely including something of Rastafarian descent...
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Old 10-14-2015, 10:27 AM   #5
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Default Re: Syncretic (or just interesting) religions

Bahá'í draws inspiration from both abrahamic and indian religions.

Alawites and Druze tend to be secretive about their beliefs, but both are Islam-derived faiths that are worth researching.

The Samaritans believe that they are the real Jews, and that the Jews are the offshoot.

The Kurds are religiously pluralistic muslims with friendly relationship with jews and christians. So it's no surprise that there are several syncretic faiths that have grown up among them.

Sikhism isn't exactly syncretic, but it is a fascinating religion that is often overlooked.

Rastafari believe in the divinity of Haile Selassie, King of Ethiopia until 1974 when he was deposed (and a year later assassinated) in the communist coup that tore apart that nation. This was a little awkward for Selassie, for while the devotion of the Rastafarians gave much-needed support to his embattled country, he himself was a devout Ethiopian Christian.
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Old 10-14-2015, 10:36 AM   #6
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Default Re: Syncretic (or just interesting) religions

One religion whose theology I find fascinating (from a gamer's POV) - even if the religion and many of its adherents are bats**t crazy - is Scientology!

Of course, I don't think I'll ever use it, but the underlying theology could make for a good game.
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Old 10-14-2015, 12:48 PM   #7
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Default Re: Syncretic (or just interesting) religions

The Janisaries had their own obscure Dervish cults peculiar to them. I don't know much about them and it was probably intended that way.
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Old 10-14-2015, 01:40 PM   #8
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Default Re: Syncretic (or just interesting) religions

Cargo Cults are pretty "out there".
Ripped from Wikipedia:
"A cargo cult is a Melanesian millenarian movement encompassing a diverse range of practices and occurring in the wake of contact with the commercial networks of colonizing societies. The name derives from the belief that various ritualistic acts will lead to a bestowing of material wealth ("cargo")."
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Old 10-14-2015, 03:24 PM   #9
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Default Re: Syncretic (or just interesting) religions

Quote:
Originally Posted by Anders View Post
There are some who believe that Christianity is a syncretic religion between Judaism and the savior-kind cults common around the Mediterranean at the time (Zalmoxis, Mithras, Osiris, Dionysis).
Both more and less controversially, many protestants would suggest that the various clerical denominations of Christianity (Romanist, Hellenistic etc.) syncretised many aspects from their surrounding environment... in festivals at least, this tends to be fairly unambiguous.

But as noted above, for prime syncretism the Vodou/Santeria/Obeah family are excellent textbook examples.

Chinese religion can be quite complex as well - I don't fully understand what goes on in there, but from what I can tell it's quite common to observe Taoism, Chinese Polytheism, Bhuddism and occasionally other religions more or less simultaneously - I've certainly seen Chinese shrines with ancestor images, traditional Chinese icons, Bhuddas and Hindu icons side by side.

And that's not including deliberate attempts to syncretise...
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Old 10-14-2015, 04:43 PM   #10
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Default Re: Syncretic (or just interesting) religions

To a certain extent, once you're polytheistic, it's less of a stretch to add other divinities to your world view.

The ancient Egyptians had complex pantheons of gods that can be subdivided or combined or transformed as necessary for the occasion.
If you'd introduced Christianity to the ancient Egyptians, you might have ended up with stories about Jesus combining with Horus in his wrath at the money traders in the temple of his father Ra-YWHW, and then Jesus-Horus trashes the place - probably more dramatically than in the original version, involving arrows or fire as much as the table-flipping.

The ancient Romans just remapped any new deities to their existing pantheon, resulting in each of the "official" deities having many many variations, which is another way of handling inter-faith compatibility.

I get the vague impression that Hinduism has some of the splitting/combining effect of ancient Egyptian religion, but since I've also had Hinduism explained to me as sort of a fractal monotheism or very very ornate atheism, I think I had a bit of an esoteric philosophy/almost Buddhism explained to me.
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