One thing I’ve noticed when reading Pagan and/or other religious texts is that many authors will talk about “ism’s.” This can range from monotheism to polytheism and everything in between. For some reason I can never keep the more obscure “ism’s” straight, and I always have to run for a dictionary in hopes the word will be there; often it is not. So I thought I would put together a little something for quick reference if you ever run across an “ism” you are not familiar with. You might find more ism’s out there, but this should get you started with some of the main concepts I have run across in my research.
Deism is a philosophy that says the world was set into motion by a god, but that god does not interfere in the things that happen or in any natural laws. This is a philosophy similar to theism, but there are no known religions focusing on deism.
Theism is “1. Belief in a god or gods. 2. Belief in a personal God as creator and supreme ruler of the universe.” (Webster’s Dictionary) Pretty much this means that theisms are how we, society, deal with the concept of the divine.
Atheism is the belief that there are no gods.
Monotheism is a view that there is only one god. Some Pagan religions, including Wicca, have been viewed as monotheistic because of the view that all gods are one god. Most Wiccans do not follow this belief, but some do.
Polytheism is a view that there are more than one god.
Henotheism is a form of polytheism. This is a practice where many or all gods are accepted as individual existing entities, however one or a small number are honored or worshipped. Most Wiccans fall under this category.
Kathenotheism is a form of Henotheism. It means a worship of one god at a time. This is not monotheism, it pretty much means that the focus will be on one god then switch to another as needed.
Pantheism is a belief that God IS all things.
Panentheism is the belief that God IS IN all things.
Animism is a belief that everything has a soul or spirit.
Duotheism is the belief that there are 2 deities, usually of opposite gender and all other deities are only aspects of these two main figures.
Ditheism is similar to duotheism however this belief specifies the 2 equal energies (not necessarily deities) are either good or evil. Makes me think of the superhero and the bad guy.
Resources
All One Wicca: A Study in the Universal Eclectic Tradition of Wicca by Kaatryn MacMorgan.
CFFN (Coven of the Far Flung Net)
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy “Monotheism” http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/monotheism/
The New International Webster’s Concise Dictionary of the English Language
Witchcraft: A Concise Guide by Isaac Bonewits
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