Umbanda itself (not looking at the various forms) is an ancestral, polytheistic religion.
From what I read
here it is no more polytheistic than Roman Catholicism. It is another syncretic monotheist sect mixing Roman Catholicism with African cults. Like other Abrahamist religions it is
based on the revelations of a founder and it is based on
one supreme heavenly God. In that respect is no different than Islam where Mohamed synthesized Arab religion with Juda-Christian religion to create his own monotheism based on his own revelations.
A religion that worships as Saints:
Oxalá (Syncretized as Jesus)
Iemanjá (Syncretized mainly as Our Lady of Navigators)
Xangô (Syncretized mainly as John the Baptist)
Oxúm (Syncretized mainly as Our Lady of Aparecida)
Ogúm (Syncretized as Saint George)
Oxóssi (Syncretized mainly as Saint Sebastian)
Ibeji (Syncretized as Saints Cosmas and Damian)
Omulu/Obaluayê (Syncretized mainly as Lazarus of Bethany)
Iansã (Syncretized as Saint Barbara)
Nanã (Syncretized as Saint Anne)
Oxumaré (Syncretized as Bartholomew the Apostle)
Exu (Syncretized mainly as Anthony of Padua)
My view:
I can not see this as genuine reconstruction of traditional Pagan religion. Unless you want to tell me Jesus, John the Baptist, Saint George etc are African ancestors. This a late syncretic religion. An African off-shoot of Abrahamism. More appropriate places would be the [
Abrahamic Religions DIR] next to Rastafari movement or the [Syncretic Religions DIR] or the [Other Religious Movements and Practices DIR].
The thinking seems to be that if Abrahamism has some Pagan element it belongs in the Pagan DIR. No it does not. Christianity absorbed a lot of Pagan elements for the sake of conversion, but that does not make it a Pagan religion, nor have Christians regarded Christianity a Pagan religion.
We have to understand that Christianity diametrically opposes Polytheism. Catholic encyclopedia only recognizes two basic religions: (Abrahamic) Monotheism and Polytheism. And they are right. There is a fundamental difference between saying Gods/Angels are manifestations of a supreme heavenly God and having many Gods and Goddesses in Nature.
Nature religions like Science simply base on what is there in Nature. Abrahamic cults are based on philosophy/theology what was assumed to be in Heaven. They do not believe in Divine Natural Laws, but Moral laws ordained by a supreme God in heaven. Umbanda does that too.
If you want to give it the respect it deserves, put it in the Abrahamist DIR. Or are African offshoots of Abrahamist beliefs considered too primitive and inferior to be accepted there? Too me, It all sounds a bit discriminatory to put it in the Pagan DIR. If Rastafari can be there, this certainly can be there too.