Informal religious activity outside hegemonic religions: wild traditions and their relevance to evolutionary models

Evolutionary approaches to religious representations must be grounded in a precise description of the forms of religious activity that occurred before the emergence of state societies and doctrinal religious organizations. These informal religious activities or "wild traditions" consist of services provided by individual specialists, with no formal training or organization, who generally specialize in palliating or preventing misfortune. The anthropological and historical record show that (a) such traditions are present in almost all documented human societies, (b) they have important common features, and (c) they reappear despite the political dominance of doctrinal organizations. The form of religious activity that humans spontaneously create, or re-create in the face of political suppression, comprises no stable doctrine, faith, or community of believers. In light of these facts, important corrections should be made to current models of the evolutionary underpinnings of religious thought and behavior, in particular, by taking into account the great importance of political coercion and the minor role of doctrines in the spread of religious concepts and practices.