💭 Syncretism

2023.10.23

A while back I was thinking about how I just take relevant pieces of various belief systems, and looked if there was a word for that, and there is!

Syncretism is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought.

And specifically, religious syncretism:

Religious syncretism is the blending of two or more religious belief systems into a new system, or the incorporation into a religious tradition of beliefs from unrelated traditions.

Most of what I believe and try to live my life by is pulled from either Buddhism, Paganism, or Stoicism. I've blended everything together to form what I believe and to create a system for how I want to live my life. This is why I don't call myself a Buddhist, Pagan/witch, etc. I have not really adopted any singular system as it is, so it doesn't feel appropriate to use the descriptive terms for those who practice each system as a whole.

I normally view things from a secular lens, so I tend to leave more spiritual elements out of what I do. I don't hold the Buddhist belief of rebirth, or call upon goddesses/gods from various Pagan beliefs.

I do, however, pull things out such as The Eightfold Path from Buddhism, Momento Mori from Stoicism, connecting with nature from Paganism, etc. There is even a lot of overlap with the places I pull my beliefs from, such as carrying yourself with calmness and kindness, being mindful of the earth and caring for it's creatures, self reflection and self awareness, etc.

I doubt I will ever fully adopt a religion or belief system as it is, so I suppose the correct term to call myself would be a syncretist? Maybe I'll just continue saying I'm me and I believe what I believe, wherever it comes from.

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