#vpg

Wasted Melee Designs,

WMD: Salty and Peppery

I’ve had a few comments on my posts lately asking what the term UPG means. In this post, I’ll break down what UPG, SPG, and VPG mean in a few examples.

UPG - My ancestor or other spirits explained something to me and it works for me. This is a personal experience of knowledge gained that may or may not be backed up by research and reliable sources. Can be a personal correspondence for example that speaks to you and may not be sourced or historically documented.

SPG - I shared my UPG with somebody and they confirmed they heard the same and it works for them. This is a step closer to VPG. Might find some written material.

VPG - My UPG and SPG can be verified through research and reliable sources. Through either historical contexts or many shared collective experiences. Articles sourced with historical information are often found here.

Let us pray, let us wish... to partake in communion.

The slightly confusing (but also kind of cool) aspect is that these facts don't have to be seen as 'true' by EVERY practitioner who works with that deity, spirit or entity and it'll still be completely valid (as long as it's not completely removing the spirit, entity or deity from their source)

UPG - Unverified Personal Gnosis.

An Unverified Personal Gnosis is a 'fact' about a deity, spirit or entity that a practitioner knows to be true that may only apply to that one specific practitioner (according to them at least). An example, to help explain, may be that Lucifer appears to practitioner A as having white hair and a Floridian accent, to Practitioner A that is a fact, and no-one has any right or place to tell them otherwise. However Lucifer may appear to other practitioners as having other accents (like an Italian accent) and different coloured hair, the length might differ too! It is an "unverified personal gnosis" because it only applies to that one, unique, deity/practitioner relationship and might not necessarily be mentioned in their source myth.

SPG - Shared Personal Gnosis

Now slightly different to a UPG - this is a fact about a deity, spirit or entity that applies across multiple deity/practitioner relationships, its something multiple practitioners view as fact. Following our Lucifer example: Lucifer may appear to multiple practitioners as having long, dark hair and commonly wearing a leather jacket; because multiple practitioners can "confirm" it, that's what makes it an SPG. However, SPGs do not necessarily (have to) apply to EVERY deity/practitioner relationship—so while practitioners B, C, D and E all see Lucifer as "tall, dark haired and handsome", practitioner A may still see him as a white haired surfer—neither is "wrong" or "fake" and SPGs are in no way "better" or "more correct" than UPGs just because it's a shared 'fact'.

VPG - Verified Personal Gnosis.

Unlike UPG and SPG, Verified Personal Gnosis CAN be verified by the deity, spirit or entity's source myth. For instance Artemis being associated with bees is a verified personal gnosis.

How can this work?

It is important to remember that deities and most spirits and entities, do not abide by human laws—they can sound and appear to practitioners however they please, they are not bound to one physicality, nor one 'role' - they may appear parental or formal to some and friendly and casual to others! Deities and most spirits and entities are multifaceted Beings meaning they have many "faces" and it's one of the reasons why they appear differently to different practitioners.

It is VERY important that you mention whether something you share is UPG/SPG because it can be very confusing especially to beginner practitioners

Lore vs UPGs

Mythology and Lore is one of the few ways we can accurately research a deity, spirit or entity, and important points about them will be true - Goddess Sif will appear will golden hair, God Hephaestus will appear disabled - these are physical traits that are key to who they are and their stories, so while Hephaestus may change his hair or face shape - he will almost certainly appear with leg braces to some practitioners or with a cane or support of some sort. This applies more to personality as well, and can somewhat help you identify whether someone is not necessarily being honest about an interaction they had with a deity, spirit or entity—For instance it would be extremely rare for King Haides to view someone as "more than" Queen Persephone (we've all seen the tiktoks), God Apollon to be driving the sun chariot because no where in accurate and true Greek myth does it mention Apollon replacing Helios, and GoddessHekate will never help to harm or curse children (this videos have been see too)etc. While UPGs are valid and should always be respected - they usually align within a deity, spirit or entity's recorded mythology or lore.

Note: No practitioner can accurately determine another practitioner's relationship with a deity, spirit or entity as fake, because that's just not how it works—however if someone speaks about their interactions with a spirit, entity or deity and it vastly differs from their mythology or lore or just doesn't sound that believable, I would be wary. This can also help you recognise tricksters (if tricksters are apart of your belief system)!

What happens when I find someone else who is very much NOT a witch who correctly identified that I have a Loki happening??? And then we talked and figured out we both have the exact same way of sensing this shit??? And neither of us have ever heard of this being A Thing??? Help???

So to be pagan doesn't always mean being a witch. Just because they work with Loki and experience Loki's presence doesn't mean witchcraft is involved in the particular way they worship.

What you are both experiencing is a SPG (shared personal gnosis). Many of us have UPG (unverified personal gnosis), at least to some extent, when it comes to the deities we worship. These are things we experience or believe about the deities we work with, without it ever being historically verified. A VPG (verified personal gnosis) is when you have a personal gnosis that you CAN back historically. Simply what has happened is that you both have a UPG that you can verify with each other, and say "this is CLASSIC LOKI BEHAVIOR", thus making it an SPG.

ALWAYS cool when you find an SPG.