Doubts, UPG, and other such matters

[midara the happy banshee]

So recently I've come to a questioning phase on my spiritual path, and I'm at a loss on how to manage it without working myself up into what amount to spiritual panic attacks. So I thought I'd ask my reasonable friends in the guild about how they deal with it. xd
Recently, I've been doubting my own UPG highly, and wondering exactly how hard it would be for me to make things up and believe them. I think it would fairly easy. When the gods talk to me or I remember past lives, I have difficulty believing that these events aren't of my own imagining. How have the rest of you learned to deal with it? Do you have a system of questioning that you find helpful, or have you just learned to trust your intuition?
I really like to be progressive and look at doubts as a natural and potentially beneficial part of spirituality, but I'm having real trouble harnessing this. How can I use my questioning to strengthen my faith rather than to drive me crazy? How do you reasonable people manage it? gonk  

[Doctrix]

I figure you won't go crazy if you're worried about going crazy. Doubt is a good thing. You'll either find something more fulfilling, or come back to your true faith stronger than ever.  

[Pelta]

Don't know if this a conventional way to check, but have you ever worked with other people? If other people feel or see the same things you do it might go a long way to letting you know you're not crazy. You don't even need to work with them, just someone to talk about stuff and experience things with. It can do a world of good to have some company on such a lonely path.

Hope that all works out for you!  

[I be me]

Getting validation by other people saying they have seen the same thing you have would be the way to go.

For a while there I thaught it was just a trick my eyes played when I saw people out of the sides of my eyes but when I looked again they were gone. Untill I mentioned a little black dude I kept on seeing around my old appartment then she said that she had seen the same thing and so had my boyfriend. (than that thing haunted my in my room every night I slept alone giving me dreams that had me wondering if I had a serious mental illness untill I managed to get rid of it, but thats another story)

p.s. little black shadow people are a really bad thing especially when they realise that they can "talk" to you and there isn't anything you can do to make them shut up.  

[Deoridhe]

A good thing is to have a framework by which to check UPG. Depending on what it's about, the check can be other people in the same place or lore of some sort. Anothe rimportant thing to keep in mind is how self-aggrandizing your upg is. UPG that you were Cleopatra in a past life should be questioned more strenuously than UPG that such and such a god prefers such and such an offering, for instance.  

[TeaDidikai]

Allow me to preface this by saying this works well within my path, but might not fair as well for RHP'ers.

I have a habit of "Calling Bullshit" on gods, spirits and ancestors I work with.

Amongst my practices, there are a number of altered states I approach. Using different methods to contact the same individuals and questioning their decision can bear out any self-imposed tomfoolery.

Example: My Baba and I go rounds that would make the fight between seven cats with their tails tied in a knot tossed into a room full of rocking chairs look tame.

We yell, spit and cuss at one another. In times where I was talking to myself, she has let me know by getting away with it. Not being a masochist in nature, the repercussions of such a flaming row are not the kind of thing I would inflict upon myself.

Questioning if something was awake or not can be answered by asking something known to be awake if the other thing is sleeping.

Test how well things work. See what kinds of results you get.

Other than that- Deo (the smartaleckwoman that she is) has beat me to some of my better thoughts on the matter.  

[midara the happy banshee]

Deoridhe

A good thing is to have a framework by which to check UPG. Depending on what it's about, the check can be other people in the same place or lore of some sort. Another important thing to keep in mind is how self-aggrandizing your upg is. UPG that you were Cleopatra in a past life should be questioned more strenuously than UPG that such and such a god prefers such and such an offering, for instance.

Thanks! I see what you mean. When I first started on my path I had done a shamefully small amount of research, and I was confused as to why Dionysos always showed up with satyrs and why Aphrodite and Artemis didn't appreciate being called together. After finally getting off my a** and reading a little, it was very gratifying to know that my UPG matched up to mythology.
The pieces of UPG I question most are things of a more personal nature, like past life memories (most of which are humble enough in nature and applicable enough to my current emotional baggage for me to mostly accept them) and things like Gaia telling me that my relationship with my fiance is a gift from her that will last as long as I wish it. These things aren't out there or crazy, but because they involve things that are very emotional for me, I can't rule out wishful thinking.  

[midara the happy banshee]

TeaDidikai

Allow me to preface this by saying this works well within my path, but might not fair as well for RHP'ers.

RHP'er? I suck at abbreviations. sweatdrop

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I have a habit of "Calling Bullshit" on gods, spirits and ancestors I work with.

I wonder how well that would work with my gods. I've found them to take offence easily to things like that. Also, the Hellenes have a history of outright lying to humans (and each other).

Quote:

Example: My Baba and I go rounds that would make the fight between seven cats with their tails tied in a knot tossed into a room full of rocking chairs look tame.

We yell, spit and cuss at one another. In times where I was talking to myself, she has let me know by getting away with it. Not being a masochist in nature, the repercussions of such a flaming row are not the kind of thing I would inflict upon myself.

You're very lucky to have her. It must be nice (though painful xd ) to have someone willing to question you and call you on your s**t. Most of the pagans I'm currently associated with aren't familiar enough with Hellenism to feel comfortable working with me.

Quote:

Questioning if something was awake or not can be answered by asking something known to be awake if the other thing is sleeping.

Test how well things work. See what kinds of results you get.

Other than that- Deo (the smartaleckwoman that she is) has beat me to some of my better thoughts on the matter.

Thanks. I really appreciate your advice.  

[TeaDidikai]

midara the happy banshee

RHP'er? I suck at abbreviations. sweatdrop

Right Hand Pather.

Quote:

I wonder how well that would work with my gods. I've found them to take offence easily to things like that. Also, the Hellenes have a history of outright lying to humans (and each other).

~winces~ Not a good idea. Nuri was talking with me about some of the classic Hellenic codes.

Not a good mix with the stuff I do.

Quote:

You're very lucky to have her. It must be nice (though painful xd ) to have someone willing to question you and call you on your s**t. Most of the pagans I'm currently associated with aren't familiar enough with Hellenism to feel comfortable working with me.

It has it's merits. It also has it's drawbacks. Everything's a tradeoff and all.

Quote:

Thanks. I really appreciate your advice.

Happy to help.  

[midara the happy banshee]

TeaDidikai

midara the happy banshee

RHP'er? I suck at abbreviations. sweatdrop

Right Hand Pather.

Okay, this has been killing me. Do you have a good working explanation of right-hand versus left-hand path? I've looked around, but mostly felt that my sources were unreliable, especially since much of the information was conflicting.