Witch Tips-- Unpleasant Truth: Your UPG

Author: Quill / Labels:

"UPG", in case you weren't aware, stands for Unverified Personal Gnosis.  It's becoming a more and more normal part of the magical experience, especially where traditions are in short supply.  UPGs can create new beliefs, new practices, and new traditions.  So what is a "personal gnosis"?  In simple terms it means mythology that was revealed from the Gods only to you.  It doesn't reflect or connect with ancient tales of the Gods; it is new information gleaned directly from the source.  UPG is fascinating, enlightening, life-altering.

To you.

Only you think your UPG is amazing.  You were blessed and given insights only known to a few in history.  Like discovering a hand-written book in an old trunk, there's treasure in the discovery itself and dense mystery in every word within.  UPGs can inspire intense creativity, connection, and a feeling of universal adoration.  They can make you a better person, a better practitioner, and certainly a better follower of the God or Goddess who gave it to you.

To everyone else, however, it's just as interesting as you describing last night's dreams.  We'll say "uh-huh" and "wow," but there's nothing in it.  We just don't care.  And that's because no one loves your experiences like you do.  We weren't there, we didn't feel it, and we have nothing to gain from getting excited over it.

Or you may be lousy at relaying the story.

Or we may have had a contradictory UPG that now feels invalid and we have to deal with that.

Or you may be changing something essential about a deity we follow and we're choking back the words "S/He would never do that, you idiot!"

Truth is, the Gods are not static.  Eternal spirits of any kind still grow and change.  I believe that UPGs are a way to help specific followers understand this, but I can't imagine anyone but their original receiver really getting it.  Sharing this kind of information with other practitioners may seem important, even helpful, but that's rarely the case.  Instead, you'll risk feeling like others don't care about you personally (not true...probably), your experience was silly or meaningless, or even that over-exposed feeling we get when someone else has private information about us that make us vulnerable.  You can nonetheless share it if you like, just don't be too shocked if you see nonplussed faces still waiting to hear something important.

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