“Pagan” is an umbrella term, encompassing religions so diverse as Wicca (neopagan witchcraft) on the one hand and Ásatrú (Norse reconstructionism) on the other. Usually the requirement for paganism is earth-based, nature-based spirituality or belief in more than one deity or both of these, but even so, there are pagans who meet neither criterion, so the best definition is still: one who is outside the Abrahamic three and self-identifies as a pagan. Pagan theology is also diverse. A pagan may not like the point of view held by another pagan, but there is no such thing as heresy in paganism. Theology in paganism runs on a continuum from hard polytheism to monotheism and atheism. Here are the main varieties of pagan theology: Hard polytheism: This is the view that there are many deities, and all are distinct and unique, and they are not aspects of a larger, overarching Divinity. This view is most often held by reconstructionist pagans (Ásatrú, Hellenismos, Religio Romana, Neocelts etc). Soft polytheism: This is the view that there are many deities, and they are aspects or frequencies or spectral colors of one overarching Divinity. Effectively, it’s a combination of polytheism with pantheism or panentheism. Soft polytheism has many shades, some leaning towards hard polytheism in that the deities are believed to be each real and distinct, and some holding that the deities are only images and are not distinct from each other. Soft polytheism is the theology of the Hindus and many African religions, as well as that of some modern pagans who do not fall into the usual categories, such as eclectic Wiccans like yours truly. Duotheism: This is a souped-up case of soft polytheism: there are two deities, one male (the God) and one female (the Goddess), and all individual deities are aspects of those two. Effectively, “all Gods are one God, all Goddesses one Goddess.” This view is the standard theology of the Wiccan religion. Monotheism: This view in paganism usually means the view of the Great Mother Goddess alone existing. It is held mostly by radical feminist pagans. Male deities are not admitted, nor, usually, male members into the coven. Archetypalism or Metaphorism: This is the view of the Gods and Goddesses not as real, literal entities, but as Jungian archetypes or symbolic metaphors born in the mind of man. This view is atheism-compatible and is common among those who love pagan lore and symbolism but cannot bring themselves to believe the deities are actually real. Those views should not be confused with henotheism, which, more than a theology, is a practice: the practice of worshipping one deity while still believing in the others. Henotheism has always been popular among polytheists because of the need to focus all energies and devotions upon one deity. It is when the existence of other deities is denied that henotheism becomes monotheism. Historically, monotheism has always started with henotheism. The Old Testament, in its earlier books, has henotheistic statements, such as Exo 15:11. The author holds to a soft polytheism that borders on the hard: I believe the Gods and Goddesses are the aspects of one overarching panentheistic Creator-God, yet they are all literally real and each distinct from the other. © Heathen Dawn used with permission

You can visit Heathen Dawn at his website: The Eclectic Satyr "I’m a neopagan university student of Arabic, Islam and history, working my way on the long and winding road towards the cherished PhD."