DISCERNMENT OF SPIRITS
Discernment of spirits is not a doctrine that belongs to esoteric knowledge or spiritualism. This is not about special occult or spiritistic phenomena, but about quite normal movements and thoughts that any human being can perceive within himself.
Spiritual discernment is not a particular technique or method that could be taught in the same way that you can, for example, practice certain forms of meditation or certain techniques of group dynamics. When Ignatius speaks of the rules for the discernment of spirits, the very word 'rules', in the Dutch translation 'guidelines', can give the impression that the discernment of spirits would be a method normally to be learnt. Someone might think that you just must learn these rules properly by heart and then apply them correctly and then you would have mastered the methodology of spiritual discernment. That would be a huge mistake. Essential to the discernment of spirits is not methodology, but personal communion with God. Those who are personally familiar with Christ gradually get some inklings of which intentions are more in line with the Spirit of Jesus and which are less so. It is not about cleverness or common sense but an intuition: what suits me, what do I go for. What is sincere, authentic in that.
Nor, finally, is it about private revelations: such a misunderstanding occurs if someone were to believe that it is enough to follow the movements attentively and intensively in one's own heart and the promptings of prayer. You would then certainly know what God wants from you. Of course, a person must pay close attention to his inner movements when discerning the spirits, but what God wants from him or her depends on several other factors. What is happening in the outward life of the person concerned, what does Christian revelation say, what role can the teachings of the Church play. On this point, Ignatius himself had to pay a lot of learning money.
1. The definition
After this negative delineation, we can positively delineate the concept of discernment of spirits:
Discernment of spirits is a process of clarification in which a person from a personal familiarity with Christ examines the inner and outer movements and drives and tests whether they lead more towards God or rather away from Him in order to be able to decide which way to go before God.
We examine some elements of this definition separately.
'A process of clarification': discernment of minds does need to be understood as a process, as part of the whole process of life. Sometimes 'clarification' requires a process of years. Only the one who has come close to the life dynamics of Jesus can discern what fits with Christ today and what does not. That personal familiarity with Christ is essential here.
'Inner and outer movements': this aims to clarify what is meant by 'spirits'. Ignatius does not speak of spirits at all in his rules, but simply of movements (mociones), (agitations, feelings, emotions, 'stirrings of the soul'). It can be about moods, deep desires, plans, dreams - anything that arises and moves in a person. The definition refers to experienced movements, forces that the person in question perceives. So that excludes unconscious impulses, as strong as they can work, but without being perceived by the person concerned. Furthermore, there are also 'outer movements': the forces that act on a person from outside, e.g. other people, group processes, public opinion. Such movements coming from outside must also be included in the discernment of spirits.
'Testing whether they lead more towards God or rather away from Him': that is the actual event, the actual process of discernment. Every movement has a direction, a goal. In discerning, man asks the question: 'Where is this movement that I perceive directing to? What is it pointing at?' Does this feeling, this thought, or this outside impulse bring me more on the path to God or rather on the path that leads away from Him anyway?
'So as to be able to decide': discernment of minds is not a theoretical activity, but it must guide a person's movements towards a moment of decision. The discernment of different 'stirrings' makes solid, bearable decisions possible. One who has recognized where a movement draws him, is better able to decide what corresponds to God's way.
These are decisions about 'which way he will go for God'. That is the very purpose of the discernment of spirits, namely the answer to the question Paul also asks: "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" (Acts 22:10). So, the discernment of spirits asks about the will of God for my life.
2. The practice
What specifically takes place during a clarification process we call 'discernment of spirits'? To get right into it, we need to ask the question of what a person must be inwardly like to engage in a process of discernment of spirits at all.
2.1. The basics: three poles of attention
Ignatius directs the attention of the person doing the exercises in three directions: on the concrete reality of life of the person practicing, on the content of Christian revelation and on the inner movements in the person doing the exercises. Within these three poles, it delineates the field of tension in which the clarification process of spirit discernment can take place.
Attention to outer events: the discernment does not take place in a mysterious, isolated religious world or only one's own 'bubble’ but asks for the relationship with the reality of life. Actual events process something in the human being. Saint Francis, for instance, would not have converted if he had not been constantly confronted with beggars and lepers and did not want to avoid that reality. Actual outward events are the primary challenges that God places before us.
Observing external events also means getting well informed about the factual context of the choice to be made. Without such investigation, the choice hangs in the air. This also concerns the future: is a plan I have really feasible? Are the circumstances suitable for what I would like to do? A pastoral project, a new church or parish requires good research into the real possibilities.
Attention to the divine mystery: God has revealed himself to us and to understand his way with us, it is necessary that we allow ourselves to be guided by this God who communicates himself. This happens in our prayer, our meditation, in the liturgy, the reading and contemplation of Holy Scripture, in theology, tradition. Familiarity with God, perceiving the invitation to imitate Christ requires our pure sense of which movements correspond to the Spirit of God and which do not.
Attention to inner movements: this third pole brings us to the specific peculiarity of the discernment of spirits, namely the stirrings, the movements that occur in a person. A decisive condition, of course, is that a person really can perceive those inner movements. Sensitivity to movements in one's emotional life, to the course of moods and thoughts, is not a matter of course even for people who lead spiritual lives. Jealousy, discomfort with the sacred, annoyance and irritation - any alienation, repulsion from contact with the inner life are disturbing factors, even in human contact. We should not shut ourselves off from our own psyche.
"What is received is received in the manner of the receiver". An original reality is necessarily perceived in a filtered way: I am not a blank page. In my perception, my history plays a role, my cultural context, my membership of a family. Have I become a pessimist, or not, do I still have access to my distrust when others are involved in my affairs? Do I find joy in creation, and can I see it as God reality? Do I manage to figure out the reality hidden in all these things? Can I – as far as possible – comprehend God's mystery?
2.2. The basic scheme of spiritual discernment
What exactly does the inner process of spiritual discernment look like? Ignatius gives his Rules, Guidelines for the Discernment of Spirits the following title: "Guidelines for feeling and recognizing to some extent the various movements that are caused in the soul, the good ones to act upon them, the bad ones to act against them". One could distinguish five steps in this.
- The first: becoming aware, perceiving. The fog lifts. Inner movements, when they occur, must be perceived. That perception must first be done without any value judgement. If the movement is interpreted too quickly, it hinders open perception. Most have unlearned perception of inner movements. Unpleasant and unbearable feelings have then been repressed during personal development and we have almost systematically unlearned to feel them. This can bring great complications in a process of discernment.
- The second: recognizing and articulating. Perceiving a movement and acknowledging it are not the same thing. It often happens that we do notice something under the skin but have not really registered it or given it meaning. I may feel a vague uneasiness but notice only after some time that it is because of a disappointment about a particular person or situation. Real perceiving and acknowledging usually comes about when we try to put what we perceive into words (e.g., in a verbatim, verbatim record of a conversation). This is one of the essential functions of spiritual counselling: in the presence of the counsellor, the person being counselled tries to express what is happening to him. This is often the first time he/she tries to express certain moods or feelings. And that something becomes clear, clearer than just in the silence of one's own heart.
- The third: separating, differentiating. A movement is not just any movement, and a thought is not just any thought. It is necessary to differentiate exactly where stirrings, movements or thoughts come from. For example, when a novice is contemplating whether to leave the novitiate again, it is necessary for proper discernment to examine whether that thought arises from inner peace and confidence ('consolation') or whether it arises from a mood of dissatisfaction and frustration (‘desolation’). Differentiating here leads to a very different assessment of the same thought.
- The fourth: discernment itself. The different movements and 'stirrings' are tested as to whether they lead more towards God or away from Him.
- The fifth: deciding. In making this decision, am I in tune with myself, with what God wants from me, and with outer reality? Is there a certain sobriety and confidence? Ignatius speaks of confirming the decision (GO 183). He recommends offering the decision made to God in prayer to become aware of whether the decision is good. It is a typically Ignatian addition to the doctrine of discernment.
Learning to perceive one's inner life requires some affective maturity. We ourselves, as well as the 'enemy', we are very creative in mirroring to ourselves what we like to see. The facilitator, the guide has the fundamental task of pointing out to us that we are fooling ourselves or making something up. The enemy must be unmasked and defeated for inner freedom to be the winner.
1 Corinthians 12
Now in regard to spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be unaware.
2* You know how, when you were pagans, you were constantly attracted and led away to mute idols.a
3Therefore, I tell you that nobody speaking by the spirit of God says, “Jesus be accursed.” And no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the holy Spirit.b
4* There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit;c
5there are different forms of service but the same Lord;
6there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone.
7To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.
8To one is given through the Spirit the expression of wisdom; to another the expression of knowledge according to the same Spirit;d
9to another faith by the same Spirit; to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit;
10to another mighty deeds; to another prophecy; to another discernment of spirits; to another varieties of tongues; to another interpretation of tongues.e
11But one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing them individually to each person as he wishes.f
1 John 4
1Beloved, do not trust every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2This is how you can know the Spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh belongs to God
3and every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus* does not belong to God. This is the spirit of the antichrist that, as you heard, is to come, but in fact is already in the world
4You belong to God, children, and you have conquered them, for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
5They belong to the world; accordingly, their teaching belongs to the world, and the world listens to them
6We belong to God, and anyone who knows God listens to us, while anyone who does not belong to God refuses to hear us. This is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit