Description
As a term, UPG is used primarily within polytheist reconstructionisms and other Neopagan communities. UPG comes about when an individual gains an understanding of a god, spirit, myth, or ritual by means of intuition or the experience of communication with a non-human entity. Such communication can take place through various forms, such as dreams, ecstatic states, and divination. Phenomenologically, it is identical to “magical consciousness” as described by Susan Greenwood (see below) and has also been referred to in anthropological literature as “extraordinary experience.”In western polytheism
Within polytheist reconstructionism, UPG is contrasted to textual knowledge, which comes from ancient texts or artifacts, or from secondary scholarship; and community knowledge, which may be received tradition, agreed-upon practice, or mutual corroboration of multiple peoples’ personal gnoseis. Because reconstructionists attempt to rebuild pre-Christian religious and spiritual practices based on texts, archaeology, and historical research, some practitioners find UPG to be counter to the point or excessively permissive. Others argue that because so much information about ancient practices is lost or inconclusive, it is a necessary aspect of reviving them in the modern world. An acknowledged risk of UPG, even by some of its proponents, relates to the propagation of white supremacist ideology among some European-derived reconstructionist groups, particularly Germanic and Nordic traditions. Some specifically note that familiarity with recent scholarly research and trends can protect practitioners from racist or nationalist interpretations of ancient sources.In anthropology of religion
UPG aligns with what anthropologist Susan Greenwood calls “magical consciousness.” In this mode, often but not always enabled by a deliberately induced trance state, a person experiences awareness of and participation with other consciousnesses. These other consciousnesses are understood in terms of the experiencer’s cultural setting, often as separate beings but also as aspects of the self or larger patterns of which the self is a small part. Greenwood describes magical consciousness as other than analytical knowledge, and observes that such experiences are often not well expressed verbally. Importantly, the experiences may be involuntary--one does not necessarily consciously direct them, and may experience unexpected events or sensations.Mayer, "Spirituality and Extraordinary Experience," 191 In reconstructionist communities, UPG is particular in that it is specifically delineated as “unverified”—that is, the subjectivity of the experience is highlighted, although the experience itself is not questioned.See also
*References
Further reading
* Hervieu-Léger, D. (2003). Individualism, the validation of faith, and the social nature of religion in Modernity. In ''The Blackwell companion to sociology of religion'' (pp. 161–175). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.