Unverifiable personal gnosis

From RationalWiki
Jump to: navigation, search
I'd rather be a

Pagan

Icon paganism.svg
Suckled in a creed outworn
Unverifiable personal gnosis (UPG) is a neopagan concept. The general idea of UPG is that some insights into divinity and the universe come unbidden to a particular individual, and cannot be tested or verified by anyone else. This is most often the case with neopagans who feel "called" to a particular god or pantheon.

When someone's UPG is mild and irrelevant to anyone else, most neopagans are willing to go along with it. For instance, when someone with a strong interest in and knowledge of a particular pantheon feels called by a member of that pantheon, most neopagans will go along. However, every neopagan has their personal limits. (Usually, when the UPG in question starts giving completely culturally inconsistent attributes to a deity, like considering Durga a caring figure of love, other neopagans start to avoid the person in question.)

Sometimes, however, a neopagan will attempt to push their particular UPG on a whole group. This usually becomes either a cult or a really lonely neopagan.

Of course, strict rationalists will consider the whole idea to be a pile of bunk. Even some more rational neopagans look askance at the whole idea (even while secretly accepting it), while others tend instead to subscribe to the Socratic saying, "I know that I know nothing."

[edit] See also

Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
Navigation
Community
Tools
support