Or, why UPG is personal, and why no one else's gnosis should get in the way of your relationship with Himself.

Loki is many things - charismatic, cunning, ruthless, loyal, loving. When I was a newer Lokean (yanno, still had the new car smell!), I used to worry that the sweet Husband that I had was somehow a false Loki or a sockpuppet or whatever godphone error. Over time, I've come to realize that it's not that someone else is wrong about Loki being harsh to them, or that I'm wrong in understanding His relationship with me, it's just that I'm not living with their Loki, and they're not living with mine. I suppose some of my feelings on Him are colored by perspective - it's not as if I've never been asked to do something hard - I left my mortal spouse, uprooted my child, lost a fair amount of zie's childhood pictures and keepsakes, many of which I'll never be able to replace, but the reason why He asked it of me was of Nyd, and still done out of love, so I can't truly be angry with Him or feel it unjust.

"Comparisons are odious," Elizabeth V once said to me, and she was right, though I'd take that a step further even, and say that comparisons are useless if they don't help you understand your relationship with Him. (And if Loki's not your Deity, feel free to sub Whoever's name in there, because He's by no means the only multifaceted Holy One.) There are times when UPG that differs from yours can be instructive and interesting, even if you don't experience it personally, but some is just useless. For example, I've seen people who swear that they have UPG of Himself being EEEEVIL or of the Aesir despising Him. Guess what? that UPG? USELESS to me, because it's not how I experience any of Them. I'm sure they'd find mine equally Not Helpful.

But even fretting over that is useless, and is still living with someone else's Loki. If I worry too much over seeing Him through someone else's eyes and not my own, then I'm not paying attention to the Him that is here, Present, right now, and that isn't fair to Him or me. If you're wondering how to gauge whether to heed or toss UPG, I kindly refer to the pic above. Does the UPG make you make a face similar to the picture above? Or some variation of it? Probably not relevant to your personal path. TOSS.

Yes, that includes my blog as well. I've said it before but I'll say it again: take what you can of my experiences, discard what isn’t useful to you, and rest assured I won’t be offended if your mileage does vary. Live with your own Loki. I do, and I'm much happier that way.

Originally posted at Loki's Bruid, reposted here in response to Sam Webster's excellent post on gnosis.