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INTRODUCTION:

Since the dawn of humanity, religions have been a source of identity for ancient civilizations.
The word religion is originally derived from a Latin word “Religio” which means to bind,
connect or other similar meanings. According to definition, religion is said to be a set of
organized beliefs, practices and unwavering devotion. Religion was one of the many unique
sources that helped unifying early civilizations and its significance cannot be denied in our
modern world as it as greatly influenced all the aspects of society. Its importance cannot be
ignored as it gives purpose to our live, social stability, unity and identity. If we look into our
history, we can see that religions have existed for thousands of years. One of the oldest and most
significant religion is polytheism. Polytheism has existed for over thousands of years and can be
linked with almost every early civilization of our planet earth.

The word polytheism comes from two Greek words, “poly” which means multiple and “Theos”
which means Gods. Those people who practice polytheism are called polytheists. The study of
such ancient religion cannot be carried out without looking into history of humanity as both are
greatly fused together. It is believed that polytheism originated in ancient Mesopotamian region
almost 5000 years ago. Even in Egypt, they considered celestial bodies such as the sun, moon,
stars to be Gods(Assmann, 2004). As of today, polytheism exists in form of many religions such
as Hinduism, Shintoism, Thelma, Wicca, druidism, Taoism, Asatru and Candomblé. This
research work will further dive into all the intricate and comprehensive details regarding
polytheism.

1.History and Etymology of Polytheism:

The Greek terms "polys" and "theos," which mean "multiple" and "god," respectively, are the
origin of the term "polytheism." One might wonder how polytheism came into existence. So,
consider how individuals in ancient societies attempted to comprehend the natural world. What
causes the clouds to release rain? How does the village make sure there will be adequate food
throughout the winter? What are the dazzling spots in the nighttime sky? People intuitively tried
to comprehend their surroundings and explain how and why things happen. People ascribed
natural phenomena to supreme creatures known as deities or gods/goddesses since they did not
have access to the contemporary scientific understanding of cause and effect. With the burning
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urge to comprehend the world, polytheism is thought to have initially emerged in ancient
Mesopotamia, specifically in Sumer, at least 5,000 years ago.

Around 2500 BC, Hinduism is supposed to have given rise to polytheism, or the belief in several
gods. The Bhagavad Gita, which documents Hindu beliefs, reveals that numerous gods were
subordinate to a great Brahman god. Numerous other ancient civilizations practiced polytheism,
such as Assyria, Babylonia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Ancient polytheistic belief systems held
that gods were in charge of all natural occurrences, including precipitation, harvests, and fertility.
In general, polytheistic tribes thought that offering sacrifices to the gods would please them. The
Canaanites, for instance, offered sacrifices to the male god Baal and his female counterpart
Ashtaroth. Ashtaroth oversaw fertility and reproduction, whereas Baal was in charge of the rain
and the harvest. Polytheism was evolved by the Greeks and Romans into a highly organized
pantheon of deities.

Polytheism was practiced by ancient civilizations including the Sumerians and the Egyptians.
Each city-state had its god in the Sumerian culture. Worshipping natural elements is at the heart
of the Sumerian religion. Later, Sumerian gods continued to have human features and
appearances. The Sumerians thought that it was their duty to serve the gods. The ziggurat temple,
located in the city's centre, was used for religious rituals. Later, Greek mythology appropriated
their concepts, including the designation of Anu, the principal Sumerian god, as the King of their
gods.

There are between 300 and 1,000 different gods in the ancient Mesopotamian pantheon. The
particular gods that a person worshipped were greatly influenced by the area of Mesopotamia
where they lived. Mesopotamian deities, like those in other polytheistic pantheons, were in
charge of governing the natural world and adopting human traits and ideologies (like war and
love, etc.). To respect the variations in primary deities for each, the Mesopotamian pantheon is
occasionally divided into smaller groups, such as the Sumerian pantheon or the Babylonian
pantheon. The Sumerian pantheon and the Babylonian pantheon are two examples of how the
Mesopotamian pantheon has occasionally been divided into smaller groupings to honour the
variations in the primary deities among them.

Some important Mesopotamian deities include the following:

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 Absu: Babylonian and Sumerian god of fresh water.

 Adramelech (also spelt "Adrammelech"): a Babylonian sun god, and facilitator of life.
 Anu: Sumerian and Assyrian god of heavens and the sky.

So according to several sources, Early culture and religions were typically based on cloudy
perceptions of demons, spirits, and other forces of the world that at the time couldn't be
described so this fueled the urge to comprehend who is behind all worldly matters, therefore,s
the idea of polytheism was found.

2.Types of polytheism:

Polytheism characterizes virtually all religions other than Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, which
share a common tradition of monotheism, the belief in one God. The types of polytheism that
existed around the ancient and now, the contemporary world are based on the difference that the
gods in polytheistic religions take on unique features. This was particularly true for historic
Greece and Rome. In ancient Egypt, it was common for gods to take the form or characteristics
of objects determined in nature. This covered trees, sacred herbs, and animals. There are gods
who control rain, the sun, the moon, monetary benefits, the birth of children, death, and overall
every aspect of life. So they all have different names and the believers call on them for specific
different matters.

There are numerous forms of polytheism that existed around the world, consisting of Greco-
Roman, various European mythologies, the Egyptian Pantheon, and early Indo-Iranian religions.
But in the modern world, the four major polytheistic religions are animism, Buddhism,
Hinduism, Taoism and Shintoism.

A.IN THE ANCIENT WORLD : Polytheism in the ancient world was widespread. The
Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans had quite evolved notion systems that were dependent on
multiple gods, and the gods in these religions were the cornerstones of their cultures. The
Egyptians were known to worship thousands of gods, however, only about 1,500 of them
are named. "Pantheon" is a useful differentiating term to use when discussing polytheistic
civilizations: a pantheon refers to the particular gods of a group of people. 
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We will specifically discuss some of the most well-known ancient polytheistic religions below in
detail:

 MESOPOTAMIAN DEITIES: The historic Mesopotamian pantheon includes a

extensive variety of deities, starting from 300-1,000 in quantity. The unique deities
someone worshipped become largely dependent on the vicinity of Mesopotamia in which
they resided. Like different polytheistic pantheons, Mesopotamian deities had been
accountable the natural world and taking up human characteristics and thoughts (like war
and love, and many others.).(Schneider, 2011)
o Absu: Babylonian and Sumerian god of fresh water.
o Adramelech (also spelled "Adrammelech"): Babylonian sun god, and facilitator of
life.
o Anu: Sumerian and Assyrian god of heavens and the sky.

 GREEK AND ROMAN PANTHEONS: Greek and Roman mythologies/pantheons

are both widely recognized examples of polytheism. The 2 pantheons are noticeably
similar because the Romans tailored and modified Greek ideals into their very own.
However, the Romans did have some deities of their very own, not adapted from those of
the Greeks. Each of the ancient Greeks and Romans worshipped a valuable organization
of 12–14 predominant deities, however, they believed in many different deities as well. It
changed into common for households to have non-public shrines committed to
deities(Polinskaya, 2013). A person's success in life became very much tied to the
electricity in their relationships with the gods/goddesses. In these belief structures, there
had been a couple of deities who every so often took on similar roles, however, people
may have felt extra connected to at least one unique deity over every other.(Ferrero &
Tridimas, 2018)
o Zeus, of the Greek pantheon, known as Jupiter in the Roman pantheon, is
probably considered the most important deity in each; he is the god of the
heavens and sky, and is often depicted as the king of all gods.
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o Hera, along with her Roman counterpart Juno, is the queen of the gods and
wife of Zeus. Hera was viewed as a protector of Earth and of women's
issues.
o Ares, called Mars in the Roman pantheon, is the god of war and agriculture.
One might pray to him before battle or for ensuring a good crop season.

 NORSE PANTHEON: The Norse pantheon shares much, not unusually, with the
deities of the Greek and Roman pantheons. Norse mythology turned into practiced
amongst the northern Germanic and Scandinavian areas, attaining its top between
the late 700s and early countless numbers CE. Ancient and archaeological
evidence indicates that individuals had been drawn to precise deities they felt a
near reference to, depending on the personalities of the gods and goddesses. Norse
mythology was commonly transmitted through oral tradition and story-telling,
later to be recorded in early Norse texts. The number of deities possibly ranged
among the masses. As with most different pantheons, the Norse deities had
symbols, and every now and then animals carefully related to them, which became
made glaring in testimonies, art, artifacts, etc.
o Odin: considered to be the king of the Norse pantheon, a wise and all-
knowing deity who could take on multiple forms.
o Freya: the Norse goddess of love, fertility, magic, and war.
o Loki: shape-shifting trickster and god of mischief.
o Thor: god of thunder, strength, and storms.

B. IN THE MODERN WORLD: As told before, the most popular religions in the world
right now are some forms of polytheistic religions. We will discuss them below.

 HINDUISM: Hinduism is one of the world’s oldest-practiced religions, with many

followers worldwide, even now. Many Hindus believe that Brahman is the main deity, or
single god, and all other gods and goddesses are manifestations of Brahman. Therefore,
there is a belief in multiple deities, but the deities all stem from one supreme
being(Daniélou, 2017).
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o Brahman- creator god (and most important).

o Vishnu- the protector of the universe.
o Shiva- the destroyer of the universe.
o Krishna- god of compassion and love.
o Ganesha- god of new beginnings and remover of obstacles.
 BUDDHISM: Buddhism is a religion that is based on the teachings of Siddhartha
Gautama. The main principles of this belief system are karma, rebirth, and
impermanence. Depending on the type of Buddhism practiced: Mahayana Buddhism
and Theravada Buddhism, it may be seen as polytheistic as it at least acknowledges the
existence of multiple gods. The Buddha is a leadership figure but is not meant to be
worshipped as a god. Buddhism’s tolerance of popular cults, provided that the main
essentials of the faith are maintained, means that in most Buddhist cultures several gods
are worshipped. In Mahayana Buddhism, increased devotion to the Buddha became
elaborated as a belief in many celestial beings—notably,
o Amitabha: the buddha of light
o  Avalokiteshvara (feminized and known as Guanyin in China and Kannon
in Japan)
o Bodhisattva (buddha-to-be) of compassion

 TAOISM: Taoism is a polytheistic religion; the realms of their gods are heaven,
immortals, rivers, mountains, and land.  It has many gods and goddesses. A critical idea
of taoism is “Yin and Yang”. Taoist deities include nature spirits, ancient legendary
heroes, humanized planets and stars, humans who became immortal through Taoist
practices, and animals such as dragons, tigers, and snakes.
“Three Pure Ones” or “The Three Purities” are some of the most important beliefs in
Taoism and are considered to be the highest amongst the rest in the pantheon. These three
powerful deities are the following which represents three aspects of the divinity that exists in
all living things. Highly revered, they are believed to be teachers of mankind rather than
rulers of it(Kohn, 1998).
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These three powerful deities are the following which represents three aspects of the
divinity that exists in all living things. Highly revered, they are believed to be teachers of
mankind rather than rulers of it.

o Yu-Ch’ing (Jade Pure): Yu-ch’ing is known as the central deity of the Three

Purities, and is believed to have already manifested since the beginning of time
o Shang-Ch’ing (Upper Pure) : Shang-Ch’ing is considered an attendant of Yu-
Ch’ing and has been given the task to reveal Taoist scriptures to lesser gods and
humans
o T’ai-ch’ing (Great Pure): T’ai-ch’ing is believed to have taken numerous forms
including the philosopher Laozi and is known for being an active participant in
the human realm. 

Furthermore, the jade emperor and 8 immortals are believed to be responsible for
giving life and other aspects.

 SHINTOISM: Shinto has no god within the way that western religious traditions
apprehend a god, but it has masses of kami, a concept that encompasses the spirits of the
dead, factors of the panorama, and forces of nature(Wargo, 1990). Due to this, Shinto is
regarded as polytheistic. Kami are the divine spirits or gods identified in Shinto, the
native faith of Japan. There are 8 million kami—quite a number that, in traditional
eastern culture, can be taken into consideration synonymous with infinity.

4.BELIEFS:

Polytheism is the belief in the existence of multiple gods. Polytheistic cultures typically include
belief in many demonic and ghostly forces in addition to gods, and some supernatural beings are
malevolent. A category of religious beliefs, polytheistic beliefs are very different. Like
monotheism, the term polytheism can be used in the context of a particular religion (such as
Hinduism) or outside of formal religion. Polytheism characterizes virtually all religions except
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. These religions share a common tradition of monotheism,
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belief in one God. Many historical polytheistic beliefs are commonly referred to as "myths," but
the stories cultures tell about gods should be distinguished from worship and religious practices.
Based on the idea of being dominated.Therefore, there may be water gods, mountain gods, and
desert gods, and each of these gods must be appeased. In polytheism, he cannot speak of one god
without mentioning other gods. Polytheists do not always worship all gods equally. They may be
henotists, who specialize in the worship of a particular deity, or catenotists, who worship
different gods at different times. Polytheism usually invokes a particular deity because of a
particular event, need, or deity's relationship with a community or family. The gods are
organized into a pantheon, or collection of all gods in groups of people.Pagans do not have
scriptures and therefore do not believe in an afterlife(Gries, Su, & Schak, 2012).

5.PRACTICES:

 Hinduism:The most common ceremonies practiced in every Hindu household are

puja, meditation, silence, yoga, reciting scriptures from the Bhagavad Gita or
Bhajans, reading religious texts, and attending satsangs (prayer meetings). doing
charity work, visiting temples and chanting names. of their beloved gods. Some
devout Hindus perform daily rituals such as: B. Dawn services after bathing
(usually family shrines, where lamps are lit and food is served in front of statues
of the gods). Hinduism teaches that a part of God resides in all living beings that
make up the Atman. So respect and respect for animals is taught. Many animals
are worshiped in Hinduism, including tigers, elephants, rats and especially
cows(Lipner, 2012).
 Buddhism:- The most common types of practices include worship, which is a
way of expressing gratitude to the Buddha, recitation of mantras, merit, bows,
offerings, chanting, and qualities embodied by a particular Buddha or
Bodhisattva (such as compassion and wisdom). Includes meditation on and
pilgrimage(Southwold, 1983).

6. Impacts of Polytheism:
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Polytheism, the belief in many Gods, has have had a significant impact, especially on the ancient
World, yet due to the rise in monotheistic religions, particularly Christianity it saw a slow
gradual decline. However, there are still some small groups in U.S and Africa who in spite of its
decline practice some of the tribal forms of polytheistic religions while majority of them inhabit
the parts of Asian-Pacific region where modern forms of polytheism are also proven to be found.

Polytheism was a classic form of religion before the rise of monotheistic religions and was well-
documented throughout the ancient history, beginning from the inception of the ancient Egyptian
religions to the religions extensive during the classical antiquity such as, ancient Greek and
Roman religions.

In Polytheism, the deities or the Gods that are worshipped, all are multiple, different, distinct
individuals, each of which have different personalities, perspectives, powers, and approaches to
different kinds of situations. They acted similar to the modern-day websites where you can put
your questions anytime, anywhere you want and you would get hundreds, thousands of different
answers from different websites with their contrasting insights and personal experiences.
Whenever someone had to go through any challenging task, they’d simply call on their God
depending on what power it possessed and then they’d ask them for their perspective or
suggestions and would act on those instructions similar to what we do nowadays; asking for help
from our elders (i.e. parents) while confronting the different trials in our everyday lives. So
hence, their Gods simply replaced humans whenever it came to discussion of important matters
or organizing their future objectives. This way people to some extent became more independent
as they were less reliant on others and more on their Gods which consequently, decreased their
interactions with their friends and family members and instead of grasping valuable lessons from
their elders, they became more subservient to their different Gods(Bohak, 2000).

Although Christianity is considered as a monotheistic religion, it is at times contemplated as

polytheistic due to its ideology of The God having a father, a son and the Holy Spirit. It is due to
this that some people believe that Christianity should be considered a part of polytheism.
Buddhism, on the contrary, depending on what type is being practiced, maybe seen as
polytheistic. Buddhism along with Christianity, both of them have their mammoth impacts on
this contemporary World. They have made a myriad of contributions to human progress in legion
range of fields of science and technology. They also helped preserve the rights of women and it
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was Christianity which and it was Christianity which played a role in practices such as: divorce,
incest, birth control and abortion. Christianity has greatly influenced the Western culture which
we see today in terms of their marriage rules and family life and not only that the Bible along
with the teachings of Jesus have been an important source for human rights for the West.
Festivals like Easter and Christmas are marked as public holidays and the church itself plays an
important role in culture and literacy. Furthermore, Buddhism too created opportunities for
women and brought people of all races and classes equal under the law of their religion. It was
Buddhism that started racing voice against caste discrimination and introduced the concepts of
karma (the law of cause and effect). It too introduced the path for living a faithful life on which
many other religions stress as well for example: being right in speech and in one’s action,
earning through legal ways, tending to the needs of people around you etc. Buddhism too
presents the principles of equality and justice on which the laws of Sri Lanka and Thailand
heavily rely on. Despite the challenges of the modern era, it continued to preserve it’s teachings
and used a variety of measures to counter the threats posed by, especially West. In the 19th and
20th centuries, Sunday schools were establish and worship areas were made so as to resemble
churches along with some other reforms to aimed to make Buddhism a more appealing and
effective religion.

However, polytheistic religions aren’t considered satisfactory or positive, mainly by followers of

monotheistic religions. People consider it as dangerous and previously people have also
associated with witchcraft due to making of The Multiple Gods by one’s own hands. Particularly,
Islam is very sensitive against polytheism as they as being as Muslims believe that there is only
God and that Allah, all alone, who created the heavens and the Earth and all that lies between
Him and thus, there is none worthy of worship except Him which is also the foremost priority to
believe in to become a true, faithful Muslim. Nevertheless, polytheism is still practiced today
such as the Chinese folk religion and most forms of Hinduism along with some others and their
followers find it a source of mental peace with different Gods with various powers assisting them
in different aspects of their daily lives. This gives them the security and assurance that whatever
problem comes to them, they do have Gods of different subjects who’ll surely assist them. Some
of them view it as a problem solver which greatly contradicts the monotheists which is the
suffering under the presence of an Omnipotent God.
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No matter which religion one follows, one should be given full freedom to practice it and carry
out every day tasks accordingly as religions usually promote social solidarity which helps create
an ethical framework that assists in character building and eventually leads towards a more safe,
more liberal and towards a more invulnerable world.

7.Decline of polytheism:

Polytheism mainly declined due to the emergence of the religions of the book- Islam,
Christianity and (to a lesser extent) Judaism. They emerged and expanded in regions where
powerful polytheistic faiths had previously existed.

For Christianity, for instance, the Greek-Roman pantheon served as both the forerunner and the
official religion of the oppressive system. The big attraction of early Christianity was the idea
that there was only one God you needed to serve, not a bunch of competing, warring gods that
would mess with one other's followers for fun. The pantheon gods, or rather their priests,
required continual offerings. The ease and straightforward nature of Christianity drew people
away from polytheistic religions and attracted them towards Christianity(Aurelius).

A historical example of this can be seen in roman history: fewer than 1,000 people followed
Christianity in AD 30–40. And by AD 350, it became the majority religion of the Roman
Empire. This is an example of how people were moving from the polytheism to the religions of
the book.

The Romans, however, didn't give up polytheism, but because of the growth of Christianity, it
fell, slowly and steadily.

Due to its ideology, Christianity was more widely accepted by slaves and people of lower social
classes. Even if they didn't believe in the teachings, the political elites had to change with the
times and became Christians(Rea, 2006). Over time, Christians were able to attain positions in
politics where they could exert influence for personal gain. Eventually, a well-educated and
affluent Christian elite class emerged, pushing their religious agenda on the imperial
government. To eradicate polytheism, political action was required. Similar to how Christians
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were persecuted during the early Christian years, Christians attempted to destroy anything
associated with paganism with the same ideologies and methods used against them. Temples
were either demolished or converted into churches. The Olympic Games were outlawed, and
polytheism philosophy schools were closed. Officially the end of polytheism in Rome is set
when the last pagan emperor Julian, failed to reconstitute polytheism.

As of now, Islam has over 1.97 billion followers, this is 25% of the world’s population. The
ideology of Islam is that there’s only one God (Allah) and this further shows us how polytheistic
ideologies are becoming more and more unpopular as time progresses. Islam and Christianity are
the two most popular religions in the world and they both practice the belief of one god. 31% of
the world’s population is Christian and 25% is Muslim. It can be seen that a staggering 56% of
the world’s population believes in one God, which is an anti-polytheistic way of thinking. This
shows the decline of those ideologies over the years.

But polytheistic religions are very much still around; they are just not as common and popular as
they were in the past. Hinduism is polytheistic. So is Buddhism, sort of. Shinto and Tao are
incredibly polytheistic, the number of deities in them is essentially uncountable. Polytheism isn’t
erased completely, but if compared to the past, its decline has been major and the cause of this is
the emergence of the religions of the books coupled with their increasing popularity in the world.

CONCLUSION:

Even thought, polytheism isn’t as extensive as it was in ancient times, one cannot deny the
impact it had in shaping the earliest civilizations. Still existing today in various forms, it is
practiced all over the world by people of various cultures and backgrounds. Although the
expressions of polytheism have varied over time and from culture to culture, some identifiable
characteristics can still be distinguished today in various parts of the world. In our contemporary
world, there are more than 4000 religions co existing with each other with polytheism being one
of them. Even though polytheism has seen its gradual decline, it’s still prevailing in various
societies. Everyone has the right to follow the religion of their choice so it’s critical to practice
religious tolerance for a harmonious and tranquil environment.
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