ABSTRACT
A theory of syncretism as an analytical tool, allowing insights into the conditions leading to certain syncretistic processes, should also throw some light on contemporary developments. Syncretism can be viewed as a process in the historical development of religion, which takes places on the system level where two systems enter into an association, which remains to be defined. In the case of systematization, syncretism on the system level would signify that it involves two religious systems. Syncretism on the system level designates those processes where the boundary and thus the competitive relationship between the systems are eliminated. Syncretism is thus taking place on a level beyond the preceding systems and can thus be designated a Meta-Syncretism. An absorbing syncretism appears where an element acquires the additional function of another element, thereby expelling the other so that the composite structure can only be recognized in secondary analysis.
