Polytheism

Polytheism is belief in, or worship of, multiple gods or divinities. The word comes from the Greek words poly+theoi, literally "many gods." Most ancient religions were polytheistic, holding to pantheons of traditional deities, often accumulated over centuries of cultural interchange and experience. The belief in many gods does not preclude the belief in an all- powerful all-knowing supreme being.

In polytheistic belief systems, gods are conceived as complex personages of greater or lesser status, with individual skills, needs, desires and stories. Usually such gods are not omnipotent or omniscient; rather, they are often portrayed as similar to humans in their personality traits, but with additional individual powers, abilities, knowledge or perceptions.

In a polytheistic pantheon, the gods may have multiple names, each with its own significance in specific roles, and have dominion or authority over specified areas of life and the cosmos. Thus a god may be the god of music (Apollo) or herding, the god of a particular food (Dionysus, Ceres) or emotion (Aphrodite), have a particular role in the god-hierarchy (Zeus, Loki), or be the "patron god" of a geographical or cosmological phenomenon, or a region, town, stream or family. In some polytheistic beliefs, such as the Greek or Norse pantheons, gods have complex social arrangements. For example, they have friends, allies, spouses, lovers and enemies, they experience human emotions such as jealousy, whimsy or uncontrolled rage, may practise infidelity or be punished, and can be born or die.

Polytheistic views should be carefully distinguished from religions such as Smarta Hinduism, which present multiple divinities as different aspects of the same God. Rather than being polytheistic, Smarta Hinduism is a form of inclusive monotheism, where many deities are viewed as just different names for the single monotheistic God, and thus provide many paths to the same ultimate truth. Hindu writers are often at pains to clarify this point to practitioners.

Most pre-Christian cultures of Europe, and indeed many cultures around the world, have been and in some cases remain polytheistic, and polytheism is reviving in popularity in the West, often accompanied by a return to old texts and recreation of the rituals and way of life they describe. Present-day polytheistic religions include revivalist Hellenic polytheism, Shinto, some forms of Wicca, and Ásatrú.

Overview

Blain (2004) states:

"Polytheism refers to the honouring of 'many deities', each of whom is experienced and acknowledged as an independent, individual personality, not as an aspect or archetype of something else. Polytheist belief systems have a number of deities or sacred beings. Some may have jurisdiction or governance over a large area, others may be associated with (e.g.) a particular river or town, or a particular family. Sacred beings may include spirits, wights, ancestors, 'small gods'. Often individuals within polytheistic cultures will form relationships with a small number of specific goddesses, gods, or other beings while acknowledging their kinship to other discrete entities who are important within the culture, cosmology, and landscape.

In polytheistic cultures, deities are experienced as complex personages. Many have particular skills or abilities but are not restricted to these. A goddess is unlikely to be, for instance, simply a 'goddess of grain' or a 'goddess of weaving', although she may have particular interest in these areas, just as a human musician is also a member of a family and a community, visiting shops and participating in political debates.

Most pre-Christian cultures of Europe, and indeed many cultures around the world, have been and in some cases remain polytheistic. Today many people in the Western world are returning to polytheism. Often they will attempt to reconstruct or re-establish a specific pre-Christian belief system, by studying its history and archaeology, ancient writings (which may or may not be viewed as 'sacred texts'), and the cultures which embraced it, to recreate a living spirituality that works within today's world.

Examples of ancient texts include the Odyssey, the Epic of Gilgamesh, or the Eddas - writings which make reference to deities and other non-human beings, and give insight into the worldviews of those who composed them.

Individual deities may be known by more than one name, just as human people may be known by different names or titles (Doctor, Dad, etc.) to different individual people. For instance, Odhinn has over 100 names in mediæval texts, and is a master of disguises. He remains distinct from other gods such as Thor or Vidar, just as a cousin who is an actor (taking many parts) is distinct from other relatives or members of the wider community (including other actors)."

Ancient polytheism

Well-known polytheistic pantheons in history include the Sumerian gods, the Egyptian gods, the Greek religion, Norse Æsir and Vanir, the Yoruba Orisha, the Aztec gods, and many others. Today, most historical polytheistic religions are referred to as "mythology", though the stories cultures tell about their gods should be distinguished from their cultus or religious practice. The Proto-Indo-European religion, from which the Greek, Roman, Vedic, German, Persian and perhaps Egyptian and early Arabic religions are thought to have descended, was essentially a naturalist polytheistic religion. Some Dieties from this religion, such as Dyeus and Mitra, were preserved in the daughter religions.

Few ancient religions, indeed, were not polytheistic. Those that weren't include early Vedic Hinduism (which has been termed at the most henotheistic with groundings of monistic, monotheistic and naturalist polytheistic philosophy), henotheistic Greek and the Roman Classical Pantheon of gods, the Abrahamic religions, dualistic Zoroastrianism and Mithraism, and possibly the short-lived Atenism promulgated by Akhenaton in Egypt in the 1350s B.C.E.

In many civilizations, pantheons tended to grow over time. Deities first worshipped as the patrons of cities or places came to be collected together as empires extended over larger territories. Conquests could lead to the subordination of the elder culture's pantheon to a newer one, as in the Greek Titanomachia, and possibly also the case of the Æsir and Vanir in the Norse mythos. Cultural exchange could lead to "the same" deity being renowned in two places under different names, as with the Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans, and also to the introduction of elements of a "foreign" religion into a local cult, as with Egyptian Osiris worship brought to ancient Greece.

Gods and divinity

Hard polytheists believe that the gods are distinct and separate beings. Hard polytheists may believe in a unifying principle such as the One of the Platonists.

Soft polytheists, also known as "inclusive monotheists", regard their multiplicity of gods as being manifestations of common entities, or representing different aspects or facets of a single God, as many modern neopagan groups and Smarta Hinduism.

The Greek gods provide an example. The ancient Greeks believed that their gods were independent deities who weren't aspects of a great deity and did stand on their own. Soft polytheism means that the person practicing a polytheistic religion believes that their gods are aspects of another god or goddess and it usually comes in the form of triads or triple gods or goddesses. This was the case with the Ancient Egyptians. They believed that certain Gods were aspects of a great God like Amon was an aspect of Ra and was usually known as Amon-Ra. The triple gods Ptah-Sokar-Osiris to give an example shows that even though their Gods may have distinct personalities and traits, they are considered to be aspects of an another deity.

The Indic Traditions:Inclusive Monotheism and Polytheism

Mahayana Buddhism and Smarta Hinduism are regarded by some as polytheistic.

The system prevalent in Hinduism is defined by the Smartha philosophy; this theory allows for the veneration of numberless deities, but on the understanding that all of them are but manifestation of the ONE divine power. That ultimate power is termed Brahman or Atman, and is believed to have no specific form, name or attribute. This system common in Hinduism is often perceived as polytheistic; it is also a form of inclusive monotheism, where one God is perceived as having many forms. In contrast, a hard polytheist thinks that two gods are different, i.e., Zeus and Poseidon, for example. An inclusive monotheist or soft polytheist such as a Smarta, on the other hand, thinks that Vishnu and Shiva are different aspects of a common God. For example, the Smarta theologians, influenced by Advaita philosophy, have cited many references to support this view. In one example, they interpret verses in both the Shri Rudram, the most sacred mantra in Shaivism, and the Vishnu sahasranama, one of the most sacred prayers in Vaishnavism, to show this belief. By contrast, a Vaishnavite considers Vishnu as the only true God worthy of worship, and worship of other forms as subordinate or simply incorrect.

A Smartha, or follower of the Advaita philosophy, would have no problem worshiping every imaginable deity with equal veneration; he or she views these different deities as being manifestations of the same God. Other (somewhat peripheral) Hindu sects, such as Vaishnavism and Shaivism conform more closely to a Western understanding of what a monotheistic faith is. For instance, a Vaishnavite considers Vishnu as being the one and only true God, an attitude that resonates with that of the Abrahamic religions. However, the Smartha philosophy defines a large part of Hindu philosophy, and imparts to Indic spiritual and religious traditions their liberalism.

Though Hinduism as it is now practiced is essentially soft polytheistic/ pantheistic/ monistic /inclusive monotheistic, it is considered likely that this system evolved from the merging of two ancient polytheistic traditions, the proto-Indo-European pantheon, and a Dravidian religion which may have been related to the ancient Sumerian beliefs.

In Buddhism the gods, devas, though powerful beings in their own right, are still mortal. Therefore, their worship is held to be unnecessary.

A purely polytheistic Hindu philosophy

According to the philosophy of Mīmāṃsā (one of the six Hindu philosophies), all the devas (the celestial spirits aka "gods") and devīs ("goddesses") are the sovereign rulers of the forces of nature and there is no one Supreme Īshvara (lit., the SUpreme Lord) as their Lord. To do a desired action, the humans must please each or several of these devas by worshipping them with proper rituals. This kind of view could be regarded as purely polytheistic. Although the later Mīmāṃsakās retracted this view and accepted Īshvara, this view is still held today by a substantial populace of Hindus.

See also

• Agnosticism
• Atheism
• Celtic polytheism
• Deism
• Heathenry
• Henotheism
• Integrational Polytheism
• Kathenotheism
• Monotheism
• Pantheism
• Polydeism

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

Blain, Jenny (2004) An Understanding of Polytheism. Quotation used here with the author's permission.

Further reading

Greer, John Michael (2005) A World Full of Gods: An Inquiry Into Polytheism. ISBN 0-9765681-0-1

External links

• godchecker.com – a very lighthearted and irreverent God database
• The Association of Polytheist Traditions - APT A UK-based community of Polytheists with a website and a discussion group open to non-members, and a closed list for paid-up members.
• BritPoly discussion group The Association of Polytheist Tradition's (APT) discussion group open to non-members. All polytheists are welcome, though the emphasis and style of the group is based on that of the UK.

• [1] The Pagan Federation - A predominantly polytheistic educational and campaigning organisation serving the Pagan community.

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

• Polytheism  ^history

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

• History of "Polytheism"

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.