Soft polytheism

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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"

The Greek Gods provide an example. The ancient Greeks believed that their Gods were independent deities who weren't aspects of a great deity and did stand on their own. Soft Polytheism means that the person practicing a polytheistic religion believes that their gods are aspects of another god or goddess. In the case of the Ancient Egyptians this comes in the form of triads or triple Gods or Goddesses. They believed that certain Gods were aspects of a great God. Amon was an aspect of Ra and was usually known as Amon-Ra. The triple Gods Ptah-Sokar-Osiris to give an example shows that even though their Gods may have distinct personalities and traits, they are considered to be aspects of another deity.