TEN BILLION SPACE COLONISTS (syncretism)

Hi,

>
> In Brazil syncretism is a bit more complex because *two* alien,
> non-native religions - Catholicism, brought from Europe by the
> colonizers, and Candombl, brought from Africa by slaves - are
> syncretized. So, the Orixs (the gods from candombl) are
>intertwined
> with Catholic saints (which in fact are the equivalent of minor
>gods
> in this vertent of Chistianity). We have for instance Iemanj, the
> goddes of the sea and the mother of all mortals, identified with
>the
> Virgin Mary, and Nan, the old goddess of the earth and mud,
> identified with Saint Anna (Mary's mother).

Yes, in Brazil, and also in Cuba and Haiti, the syncretism is mainly
between the Orixas and the Catholic believes. That happens because
the majority of people have ancestors who came from outside the
Americas. In the rest of Latin America the syncretism is with the
believes of Amerindian peoples.

Moreover, it is curious that not only Natives or Blacks believe in
those syncretic ideas but also the Mixed and White populations. They
are really part of the popular religious ideas of all the people of
those countries, without distinction.

> Oddly, from the religion of native Brazilians almost nothing is
>left
> but for some legends like the Iara (a kind of fresh water siren),
>the
> Curupira (a spooky guardian spirit of the forests, red haired, with
> inverted feet and using a boar as mount) and transmorphs like
> she-leopards.
>

That's interesting as well (if you got more data, please send me an
e-mail). In Hispanic America the pure ancestral ideas were also
forgotten by most people, except for the few native tribes that were
free up to recent times. The ideas of the Mapuche of Chile, for
example, are very pure and they give us a clear picture of what the
ancient peoples believed. All the rest, even pure native descendents
in Peru, Guatemala and Mexico, have ideas and traditions that are
syncretic in nature. New hybrid ideas that replaced the ancient
myths of the past.

Perhaps in the Amazonian cities, where the Native population is
important, certain forms of syncretism with Native american believes
do exist. It would be interesting to know (so I insist, if you got
more info, let me know please).

Now, for our fellows of anglo-saxon background, it would be
interesting to know that syncretism not only exists in Latin America
but in every single region where the Catholic church is established.
In Ireland, for example, Celt believes are very clear under the
icons of the Catholic fait.

The celtic cross, for example, is a cross with a circle in the
middle. The cross is Jesus' of course, but the circle means the sun,
which was the God of the ancient Celts. Even in Northern Europe is
possible to see the Viking and Catholic syncretism of the past by
seeing the hammer of Thor as decoration of ancient Catholic churches.

Regards,

Omar Vega