Polytheism

==Soft versus hard==
{{See also|Interpretatio graeca}}
A major division in modern polytheistic practices is between so-called soft polytheism and hard polytheism.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://digilib.phil.muni.cz/handle/11222.digilib/138049|title=Modern Pagan religious conversion revisited|last=Galtsin|first=Dmitry|date=2018-06-21|journal=Sacra|volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=7–17 |access-date=2019-02-05}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite book|title=Seeking the mystery : an introduction to Pagan theologies|last=Hoff|first=Kraemer, Christine|date=2012|publisher=Patheos Press|isbn=9781939221186|location=Englewood, CO|oclc=855412257}}</ref>

"Soft" polytheism is the belief that different gods may either be psychological [[archetypes]], personifications of natural forces, or as being one essential god interpreted through the lenses of different cultures (e.g. [[Odin]], [[Zeus]], and [[Indra]] all being the same god as interpreted by Germanic, Greek, and Indic peoples respectively) – known as [[wikt:omnitheism|omnitheism]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Negedu|first=I. A.|date=2014-01-01|title=The Igala traditional religious belief system: Between monotheism and polytheism|url=https://www.ajol.info/index.php/og/article/view/109609|journal=OGIRISI: A New Journal of African Studies|language=en|volume=10|issue=1|pages=116–129|issn=1597-474X|doi=10.4314/og.v10i1.7|doi-access=free}}</ref> In this way, gods may be interchangeable for one another across cultures.<ref name=":0" />

"Hard" polytheism is the belief that gods are distinct, separate, real divine beings, rather than psychological archetypes or personifications of natural forces. Hard polytheists reject the idea that "all gods are one essential god" and may also [[Religious exclusivism|reject the existence of gods outside their own pantheon altogether]].<ref name=":0" />