Polytheism is complicated. While I'm a believer in distinct Gods and I have long since dropped terms like "hard" & "soft" polytheism, over years of both study and practice, I have undeniably witnessed that the Gods meld with one another. 1/7

This doesn't mean they are malleable per se, but they are far more complicated and interconnected than we, mortals, realize or understand. Gods subsume other Gods and spirits, both in cult and in spiritual reality (i.e. not only from a human POV). 2/7

When I call upon Hekate, I don't call a monolithic, one-dimensional entity. Even without epithets, calling upon Her draws forth Selene, Artemis, Kybele, Ennodia, Despoina, Iphimedeia, and countless more whose names may have been lost in the annals of history. 3/7

Gods share names and epithets-as-names because these are aspects we interpret from *our* POV and understanding. In our limited capacity, we apply them on each other so we can symbolically comprehend common aspects, powers, and domains. 4/7

Who can say where a God begins or ends and where another takes their place? Who amongst mortals has such authority and divine insight? Perhaps in the throes of Mystery, we get a transcendental understanding of this but it is ineffable. 5/7

History is extremely helpful but we cannot reduce the journey of religions & cults and their divinities to purely social evolution and politics. This is a mistake most academics do and it's why they are so many dead-ends in academic theories on Gods and religion. 6/7

This is why, over the years, I've grown more flexible in accepting other people's beliefs that conflict with mine (with the exception of historical facts). I might disagree with a view & I will explain why but I cannot profess to hold the absolute or only truth of the Gods. 7/7

P.S. This doesn't mean I don't roll my eyes at silly takes or get annoyed by what I perceive to be potential lies or overdramatic BS. I just won't outright reject a theological belief just because it's not how *I* experienced the Gods.