Soft, Hard & Others (ritual, reject, hell, myth, theist)

[Lux et Umbra]

I saw that there was no threads in this section so I thought I might post some definitions:

Soft polytheism is a variety of polytheism whose adherents believe in many Gods and Goddesses but consider them in some way as manifestations of a single personal God, or God and Goddess, rather than as completely distinct entities. Common types of soft polytheism include monolatry, henotheism, and polytheist mythologies coupled with forms of, pantheism or panentheism. Soft polytheism is generally distinguished from hard polytheism, the belief that the various Gods and Goddesses are distinct and separate personal divine beings.
The term "soft polytheism" is most often used to describe a theological position in Neopaganism, sometimes expressed as "All Gods are One God and all Goddesses are one Goddess"
(from Wikipedia.org)
*
Hard polytheism specifies a variety of polytheism which considers the various Gods and Goddesses to be distinct divine beings with separate personalities. Hard polytheists reject the idea that "All Gods are One God", that the Gods are temporal manifestations or aspects of only one of the Gods or that deities merge or change into each other. In that, their point of view can be contrasted with soft polytheism. Hard Polytheists also reject the ideas that the Gods are merely archetypes or that they are simply personifications of natural forces.
<snip>
The term "hard polytheism" is most often used to describe a theological position in Neopaganism, most commonly found among practitioners of reconstructionist Neopagan religions. It is especially prevalent in Hellenismos and Religio Romana, as these revivalist movements are based on the ancient religions of Greece and Rome, which were generally hard polytheist in outlook.
(from Wikipedia.org)
*
The Others:

*functional polytheism – Symbolic use of polytheistic theology and terminology as a ritual tool or useful concept, without literal belief in the existence of multiple gods.
*archetypal polytheism – Belief in multiple gods/goddesses as representing psychological (Jungian) archetypes, or elements of the human personality; belief that there are a relatively small set of unique gods/goddesses, and that gods/goddesses from different cultures who have similar personalities and domains are representations of the same god/goddess.
*polytheism + monism – There are multiple Gods, but they are all aspects of one divine Force; OR, there are multiple Gods, and there is also a divine Force. (also known as “monolatry”)
*polytheism + dualism – There are multiple Gods, but they are all aspects of one of the two divine Forces (“all Gods are one God, all Goddesses are one Goddess”).
*panpolytheism - Belief in all gods/goddesses, moving between pantheons at will; extreme eclectic polytheism.
*henopolytheism - Devotion in one pantheon or set of gods/goddesses, without denying the existence of other gods/goddesses outside of that set.
*single-pantheon polytheism - Belief in one pantheon or set of gods/goddesses, to the exclusion of all others.
Added:
*Henotheism—belief in, and possible worship of, multiple gods, one of which is supreme. It is also called inclusive monotheism or monarchial polytheism.
From: http://www.ksu.edu/psg/handout1.doc

[Feathers in Hair]

Interesting thread! I would say that I consider myself a panpolytheist.

[Lux et Umbra]

Right now functional polytheism and archetypal polytheism seem to fit my idea of the gods. I used to consider myself a soft polytheist a few years ago, but things changed. The functional and archetypal polytheism make sense to my agnostic view.

[Gentoo]

I think that polytheism + dualism would work well for me

[Circle_One]

Soft polytheism is a variety of polytheism whose adherents believe in many Gods and Goddesses but consider them in some way as manifestations of a single personal God, or God and Goddess, rather than as completely distinct entities. Common types of soft polytheism include monolatry, henotheism, and polytheist mythologies coupled with forms of, pantheism or panentheism. Soft polytheism is generally distinguished from hard polytheism, the belief that the various Gods and Goddesses are distinct and separate personal divine beings.
The term "soft polytheism" is most often used to describe a theological position in Neopaganism, sometimes expressed as "All Gods are One God and all Goddesses are one Goddess"
(from Wikipedia.org)

Just to be difficult (because it's fun), I consider myself a Monolatric Polytheist

I worship the entire Kemetic Pantheon, each God and Goddess as their own, seperate entities, while at the same time, recognizing them as seperate facets of a whole: Netjer.

[Feathers in Hair]

I imagine one can be a panpolytheist and a archetypal one at the same time.

[Lux et Umbra]

Originally Posted by Circle_One

Just to be difficult (because it's fun), I consider myself a Monolatric Polytheist
I worship the entire Kemetic Pantheon, each God and Goddess as their own, seperate entities, while at the same time, recognizing them as seperate facets of a whole: Netjer.

That sounds like henotheism and from my time with the House of Netjer I know Kemetic paths can be classifed as such:

Henotheism—belief in, and possible worship of, multiple gods, one of which is supreme. It is also called inclusive monotheism or monarchial polytheism.

So in your case Netjer and the many Names.

[Zephyr]

Old thread, but I just noticed it and I don't seem to be screwing things up too badly here.

I used to consider myself an archetypal polytheist, but I've moved on to become much more of a hard polytheist.