When asked what I believe with regard to the number of the gods, my answer is generally simple, that I am a polytheist. I don’t think, at this point, that I need to explain what that means to most readers, but just for the record: I believe that the gods are many, distinct individuals. For the most part, each is a separate god- Aphrodite is not also Venus, Ares is not also Mars. I think that there are a few exceptions, such as Odin/Woden/Wotan, but I don’t know enough about them to do more than say that I suspect that they are the same deity- and they are exceptions.
Sometimes, I’ll go so far as to mention that I am also a panentheist- believing that god or the divine is within everything. I’ve seen it asked to others in the past how one can reconcile the idea of there being both many gods and god within everything. It’s fairly simple in my mind, though I’ve only recently come up with a clear explaination:
I don’t believe in any one entity called “God”. I believe in many gods. And I believe in something that I refer to as “the divine” (I don’t really like this word for this use, but I’ve yet to come up with something better). I believe that what I call “the divine” is a basic building block of life for metaphysical beings. In other words, “the divine” is to gods and spirits as carbon is to people, goats and great saguaro cacti. I also believe that some of this divine stuff is contained within anyone or anything that has a spirit or soul. No, I’m not going to go so far as to call myself an animist and say that I believe that everything has a spirit or soul. So maybe that makes me a panen(somethings)theist or something. I can deal with that, and if it’s important, I’ll eventually figure the rest out.
What I can’t reconcile in all this- and don’t get me wrong, I’m not exactly struggling, I’ve mostly accepted it as an occasional personal experience and while it baffles me a bit, I see no pressing need to justify it- is that from time to time, usually in a ritual or moments of particularly strong religious inspiration, I will abandon all belief in any other gods or any other concept of “the divine”- in these moments, there is only one god, and that god is Apollo. I can’t explain it, I don’t understand it, it just is that way.
Maybe it’s that there are times that His presence is so strong that He eclipses all possibility of any others in my limited human understanding. Or maybe something causes my perception to shift and in those moments, a monotheistic view makes the most sense.
I don’t know how it is that I can slide so fluidly between my normal polytheistic beliefs and those instances of monotheistic belief where Apollo is the only god (and please believe me, in those moments, there is no question in my mind abut it.) and just as seamlessly back to my normal beliefs, but it happens. I’d be curious to know if anyone else gets anything like this.
Note: It’s been a long time since I’ve discussed this online. The last time I did was on a list that was rife with neoplatonists who patted me on the head and insisted that Apollo most be the filter through which I understand The All. I am not a neoplatonist, I am not an emanationist, this is not what I am talking about. I welcome comment and discussion, but I do not want a replay of that.
Memories Of Pain And Light 
My guess would simply be that at those times, you are in a state of spiritual rapture with that one god so strongly that nothing else can be a part of the equation, even in your mind, even theoretically. Which is pretty damn powerful and awesome, really.
ok…. You believe in the idea of there being more than 1 god or “the devine” but you absolutely believe that your god or “the devine” is the all powerful? I’m just alil confused see my parents are “christian” sooo being who I am I tried the ouaja board well I wrote it on a piece of paper and gained a well um (demon fiend shall I say?) but I just need the typical rundown – is there 1 god and 1 lucifer idk what to call him sorry… Or is there many? And me dabling in the arts with my familys religon is that bad and can I possibly be possessed? Oh and what is wicca exactly? Ooo and if I have a um poltergiest problem what do I do to get rid of him/her…. It because late at night somthing is touching me that I can’t see I thought it just might be me being paranoid after an argument with an ouja spirit that said it was my deciesed uncle and thigs started to be nocked down when they shouldn’t be etc…. Also is the end of days (apacalypse) really gonna happen? I don’t get the idea of religions anymore is there a bad religon like I don’t neccicarily like the practice of satanism it’s to much for me to comprehend why they would but then again I can but still and what does athiest believe in exactly? That’s the just of my questons sorry if I offend anyone I don’t mean to offend I’m just confused and I would like to be informed on these thank you
Brandon
Apologies for not approving your comment and responding sooner, but I have been without regular internet access since I moved in mid-May. As I am in a library and short on internet time right now, I will comment further as soon as I am able.
All right, back online now so i can give a bit more time to answer here. So in rersponse…
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Yes, I believe in the idea of many gods. “The divine” is another concept in my mind, which includes, but is not limited to, the gods.
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No. There are some times where I have moments where I truly believe, in the moment, that Apollo is the only god- The thought has never gone so far as to consider him all powerful, even in those moments.
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I believe that there are many, including, no doubt, the Christian god and Satan, the devil, whatever you want to call him. I can’t tell you if you should believe this or not, only that that’s what I believe because it makes sense to me and because that’s what my experience tells me.
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I doubt you’re going to get possessed, but it’s always possible that you might wind up with some unfun entities hanging around. You might want to do some research on spiritual shielding and self defense. But I don’t think the fact that your family is Christian is going to be a big factor in all of that.
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Wicca is a neopagan religion, probably the most common one out there- or at least the most commonly-known. I’m not Wiccan, and not even really interested in Wicca so I’m not a source for that. You might want to check out a website, such as this one, for more information: http://wicca.timerift.net/
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Honestly, it sounds to me like the most likely thing that’s going on here is that you’ve got yourself freaked out and your mind might be playing tricks on you. It’s possible that it is more than that. Again, as I suggested, you might want to learn some more about spiritual self defense, shielding and things like that- even if there is nothing going on, i can be helpful in the future.
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I don’t think it is, I really don’t. But who knows? I’m not worried about it.
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Well, atheists basically believe that there is no god, but you might fare better by talking to atheists on that one. I can understand being confused and having a lot of questions…though I’m kinda curious as to what led you to my blog? Did you have an interest in Apollo?
ETA: uhg, wordpress ate my highlited bits of your comment. Those were supposed to be responses to quoted bits.
While I dont experience the same fellings, maybe is like falling in love and thinking of the loved one, its overwhelming and it seens the that presence is everything in the moment.
Is a God presence, the other are still there, but in that moment, there is only Him too you.
I felt once something similat to that with Aphrodite. 🙂
I do not believe Fiamma is trying to claim her relationship is monotheistic, or to ignore the other gods in the Greek/Roman or other pantheons, merely that her relationship with Apollo leaves no room for other deities.
I have also come to this point. I believe that there is a divinity in all life and matter on our planet. The “holy spirit” for lack of a better word.
I also believe and in the past have worked with deities, both from the Greek Pantheon and other religions, but in my heart there’s only room for Apollo.
I don’t believe my loyalty to Apollo lessens any other deity I worked with before, but everything I do in life is devoted to Apollo. I follow his advice and he is my safety net, my teacher and friend.
To me it is like the priestesses in the ancient temples, they believed in other gods, but their life and heart belonged to Apollo, or their deity of choice.