Polytheism is an interesting way of describing a way of interacting with deity. It is a relatively simple concept in terms of dictionary definitions. But in reality, in practice and religioning, it is a much more complex concept. There are so many ways to understand the idea of multiple deific forces that the reality in practice forms a broad spectrum of understandings.
In a simplistic examination of that spectrum, you can identify two basic poles. The ways real Pagans engage with deity can vary widely within a range between a symbolic polytheism and a literal polytheism. Symbolic polytheism is an understanding of the deities as parts of one larger unity. Literal polytheism is seeing the gods as individual persons with their own lives and ways.
How does this apply to members of a culturally based Paganism who believe firmly in the reality of their own gods, but deny the reality of the gods of other people? What about the Pagans whose symbolic polytheism is bi-theistic, rather than universalistic. These polytheisms are in a spectrum that is in three dimensions, not two. There is no simple mapping of Pagan attitudes towards deity and spiritual reality.
For myself, I am at heart a literal polytheist. The gods and goddesses, ancestors and spirits, that I know well and work with are individual people with their own personalities and their own realities. I learned many years ago that my gods are individuals who do not like to be confused with one another, at least by those who know them. I got a spiritual slap upside my head when I made that mistake once. I quickly learned why and what it meant.
However, I also learned to recognize that just because there were 2 names didn’t mean there were 2 individual deities. As an example, when I first encountered Oggun of the Yoruba and Zarabande of the Congo, I assumed they were 2 distinct individuals who had been conflated due to a need to syncretize for survival. That attitude fell apart when I spent some time with each and discovered they fond my attitude amusing. (There is no better way to get a big head deflated then getting the spiritual equivalent of “How Cute!”) These two are related in a way that makes little sense in a human mind, being not brothers or cousins or anything else we would recognize. But they are also not exactly the same person.
So where do I fit on that spectrum? In exactly one spot – mine. To truly chart a spectrum of understandings of deity within any grouping of religious people would require a single data point for each individual, at a minimum. So what use is the idea of a spectrum? It helps us understand the broad strokes of the detailed reality. As with all broad outlines, it gives a useful picture while encouraging more detailed examination of the fine points.
Here is where understanding the multiplicity of the universe is useful. If the universe is made up of multiples, then our perceptions must be complex in order to encompass some larger portion of that multiplicitous reality. And we can give ourselves permission to not get it all completely right on the first try, or the hundredth, or ever. We just keep trying.