Syncretism
The merging of elements from different religions, as in Santería, Candomblé and Vodou, which join West African and Catholic worlds.
Also: religious blending, religious mixing, creolisation
Syncretism describes how traditions absorb and recombine ideas, names and practices. In Cuba, Santería (also called Regla de Ocha) pairs Yoruba orishas with Catholic saints, so that Changó is linked with Saint Barbara. Candomblé in Brazil and Vodou in Haiti have similar histories, formed by enslaved Africans who kept their faiths under Catholic rule. Scholars debate how far such pairing was concealment and how far a real merging of views. Some practitioners now stress African roots and drop saints, while others hold the Catholic part to be integral. The word was once used to mean impure mixing, so its use is a matter of care.