Polytheism is a belief system that involves the worship of multiple deities or spirits, which are usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own religious sects and rituals. Polytheism is a type of theism, which is the belief in one or more gods or deities. In polytheistic religions, the different gods and goddesses may be representations of forces of nature or ancestral principles, and they can be viewed either as autonomous or as aspects or emanations of a creator deity or transcendental absolute principle. Polytheists do not always worship all the gods equally; they can be henotheists, specializing in the worship of one particular deity, or kathenotheists, worshiping different deities at different times.
Polytheism was the typical form of religion before the development and spread of the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, which enforce monotheism. The deities of polytheism are often portrayed as complex personages of greater or lesser status, with individual skills, needs, desires, and histories, in many ways similar to humans in their personality traits, but with additional individual powers, abilities, knowledge, or perceptions. Polytheism cannot be cleanly separated from the animist beliefs prevalent in most folk religions.
Polytheistic religions have different approaches to the structure. Hinduism, for example, has more than 300 million gods within its religion, and above them is a supreme creator. There are many other types of polytheism that exist around the world, such as Greco-Roman, various European mythologies, the Egyptian Pantheon, and early Indo-Iranian religions. Typically, the gods in polytheistic religions will take on particular functions, which is how they are distinguished. In ancient Egypt, it was common for gods to take the form or characteristics of objects found in nature.
Polytheistic thinking is vastly different from other belief systems in the world. There is a high value placed on morality, and it varies for each individual and culture what those morals are. There is no absolute truth associated with polytheistic religions, and believers are able to worship the god of their choice, often in the way that they choose. Since people in polytheistic faiths often have the freedom to behave however they want, there is generally a lack of purpose that follows these religions.
In summary, polytheism is a belief system that involves the worship of multiple deities or spirits, which are usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own religious sects and rituals. Polytheism was the typical form of religion before the development and spread of the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, which enforce monotheism. Polytheistic religions have different approaches to the structure, and there is a high value placed on morality, which varies for each individual and culture.
