Someone who believe in and/or worships more than
one deity; the antonym for monotheist. Polytheism is common in contemporary Paganism, and many non-western religions, such as Shinto and some forms of Hinduism. It and was also a feature of many ancient religions, such as the religion of the Ancient Greeks. There are two subtypes of polytheists,
soft polytheists and hard polytheists.
Soft polytheists believe that they believe in many gods and goddesses but consider them all to be aspects of
one God or
one Goddess. It is common in some forms of Hinduism, as well as in some contemporary
Pagan religions, such as
Wicca. In contrast, hard polytheists believe all gods to be distinct entities, each one with his or her own characteristics and personality. Hard polytheism is a feature of some contemporary
Pagan religions, especially the ones leaning more towards reconstruction of the religious beliefs of ancient cultures, such as Hellenic Polytheism, Asatru, Kemetism, and Celtic polytheism.
Jane is a follower of Asatru. Therefore she honours the Norse gods, and believes each one of them to be a distinct entity with a
different personality and characteristics. This means Jane is a polytheist.
