People's Syncretic And Secretive Practices

As I was growing up, one became aware
that there was a lot of evidence of cultural
syncretism in our numerous communities,
be it in the remote villages or urban centres,
during happy events like weddings, parties etc.
or sad instances like funerals, illnesses, worries,
a huge number of souls seemed to be swayed
by a combination of different forms of belief
or practice: for instance, talk of African options,
incantations and rituals at night on one end,
and Christian worship sermons on Sundays,
the ambivalences of seeking spiritual guidance
from the fortune-tellers, traditionalists or herbalists
by the cover of the night and the avid pastor's prayers
during the day were notorious controversies and incidents.

All the same, I heard one charismatic passionate pastor
profess: you're now a new creation, behold, you're new!
please, no more incorporation of beliefs and practices
from unrelated traditions, the new cannot be the old,
it's a new dawn, move away from incantations, spells,
rituals, you belong to the kingdom of light, not gloom.