Why the Carmelite Saints Distrusted Spiritual Experiences

Teresa of Ávila and John of the Cross on the Danger of Attachment to Visions, Consolations, and Phenomena

The great Carmelite mystics consistently warned against valuing spiritual experiences. Despite receiving extraordinary visions themselves, both Teresa of Ávila and John of the Cross taught that consolations, visions, and phenomena can become obstacles to union with God. The only reliable measure of spiritual progress is growth in virtue—especially humility and charity—not the intensity of experiences.

The Paradox of Mystical Saints Warning Against Mysticism

This teaching seems paradoxical. Teresa of Ávila experienced visions of Christ, heard interior locutions, and underwent profound mystical states. John of the Cross received divine touches that left him transformed. Yet both spent considerable effort warning their followers to distrust such experiences.

The reason is not that experiences are inherently evil, but that attachment to them is dangerous. Spiritual experiences can become:

Sources of pride — feeling special or advanced
Substitutes for God — loving the gift instead of the Giver
Obstacles to growth — refusing to move beyond consolation
Grounds for self-deception — mistaking the imaginary for the divine
Targets for demonic counterfeits — the enemy can produce false visions

"The soul that is attached to anything, however much good there may be in it, will not arrive at the liberty of divine union."— St. John of the Cross, Ascent of Mount Carmel

Teresa of Ávila: Submit Everything

Despite her own mystical experiences, Teresa developed rigorous criteria for testing them. She never trusted her own judgment about extraordinary phenomena, always submitting them to her confessors and spiritual directors.

Her Key Warnings

1. Do Not Seek Experiences

Teresa insisted that souls should never desire or seek visions, locutions, or revelations. Those who seek them are in danger of deception. God gives such experiences when and to whom He wills—they cannot be manufactured.

2. Do Not Trust Your Own Interpretation

Even genuine experiences can be misunderstood. The imagination can embellish them. Memory can distort them. Self-love can inflate them. Always submit interior experiences to qualified spiritual direction.

3. Virtue Is the Only Measure

"I used to pay attention only to the virtues that remained after these experiences," Teresa wrote. A genuine divine touch leaves humility, peace, and increased charity. If an experience leaves pride or restlessness, something is wrong—regardless of how vivid or sweet it was.

4. The Enemy Can Counterfeit

Teresa believed the devil could produce false visions, locutions, and consolations. The counterfeits may feel spiritual but leave subtle traces of pride, confusion, or anxiety. Only lasting fruit reveals the true source.

"The important thing is not to think much but to love much; and so do that which best stirs you to love."— St. Teresa, The Interior Castle

John of the Cross: The Path of Nada

John of the Cross developed the most systematic critique of attachment to spiritual experiences in Christian mystical literature. His teaching on "nada" (nothing) extends even to spiritual goods.

Why Even Good Experiences Must Be Released

They Are Not God

Visions, consolations, and raptures are created effects. God Himself is infinitely beyond any experience of Him. To cling to the experience is to stop at the signpost instead of continuing to the destination.

They Can Become Idols

Any created thing—even a spiritual experience—can become an idol if we prefer it to God Himself. The soul that craves consolations may unconsciously be loving the comfort more than the Comforter.

They Block Pure Faith

Union with God happens in pure faith—a dark knowing beyond images and feelings. Clinging to experiences keeps the soul in the realm of sense and imagination, blocking the transition to deeper union.

The Enemy Uses Them

John warns that the devil readily manipulates souls through their desire for experiences. Offer someone a spiritual experience, and you have their attention. This vulnerability makes detachment essential.

"All visions, revelations, and feelings from heaven are not worth as much as the least act of humility."— St. John of the Cross, Ascent of Mount Carmel

Types of Spiritual Experiences and Their Dangers

The Carmelite saints identified various categories of spiritual experience, each with its own risks:

Consolations

Feelings of warmth, peace, sweetness, or joy in prayer. While these can be genuine gifts, the danger is spiritual gluttony—praying only when it feels good, becoming discouraged in dryness, measuring progress by feelings.

Right response: Receive with gratitude, release without clinging. Continue faithfully when consolations fade.

Visions

Visual experiences in prayer—corporeal (seen with the eyes), imaginative (in the mind's eye), or intellectual (pure knowing without images). The danger is pride and deception—feeling special, trusting the content uncritically, or being led astray by counterfeits.

Right response: Neither seek nor reject. Submit all content to a director. Look for lasting fruit, not the experience itself.

Locutions

Interior words heard in prayer. The danger is following false guidance—acting on "messages" that contradict prudence, Church teaching, or proper authority. Many have been misled by "words from God."

Right response: Test against Scripture and doctrine. Consult a director before acting on any locution.

Raptures and Ecstasies

States where the soul seems transported, losing awareness of surroundings. The danger is spiritual ambition—desiring dramatic states, comparing oneself to mystic saints, or manufacturing emotional intensity.

Right response: Never seek. If they occur, let them pass without analysis. Return to ordinary practice.

The Dark Night: Purification from Attachment

John of the Cross teaches that God Himself purifies the soul from attachment to spiritual experiences through the dark night. When consolations withdraw, the soul learns to love God for Himself, not for His gifts.

What the Dark Night Teaches

Faith over feeling — To love God even when nothing is felt
Humility — That progress was never about "my" experiences
Pure intention — Seeking God alone, not His consolations
Trust — That God is present even in absence
Freedom — Release from the need for spiritual highs

The dark night is painful precisely because it strips away what we thought we needed. But this stripping prepares the soul for union with God Himself—not merely with experiences of God.

Practical Guidance

How should we handle spiritual experiences according to the Carmelite tradition?

Never seek them. Approach prayer desiring God alone, not experiences of God. If something unusual occurs, receive it; do not pursue it.
Do not cling. When experiences pass—and they will—let them go. Do not try to recreate them. Do not mourn their absence.
Submit to authority. Share significant interior experiences with a qualified spiritual director. Do not trust your own interpretation of visions, locutions, or revelations.
Test by fruit. Does the experience increase humility, charity, and peace? Or does it leave pride, restlessness, or self-focus? Fruit reveals the source.
Continue faithfully in dryness. When consolations withdraw, this is not punishment but purification. Keep praying. The relationship deepens in the dark.
Value virtue over phenomena. A single act of patience or charity is worth more than a hundred visions. Build your house on solid ground.

The Carmelite paradox: The mystics who experienced the most warned most strongly against valuing experiences. They understood that the experiences were never the point—God is.

What This Is NOT

Not rejection of all experience. The Carmelites do not deny that genuine mystical experiences occur. They warn against attachment to them, not against receiving them.
Not spiritual coldness. Loving God in pure faith is not emotionless. It is love beyond the need for feelings—deeper, not shallower.
Not anti-mysticism. The Carmelite tradition is deeply mystical. The warnings protect authentic mysticism from counterfeit and self-deception.
Not discouragement. If you've never had unusual experiences, you are not inferior. Virtue matters; visions do not.
Not suspicion of God's gifts. Consolations and touches are genuine gifts. The problem is not the gift but our clinging to it.

Discernment Guardrails

When evaluating any spiritual experience, apply these tests from the Carmelite tradition:

Does it produce humility? Divine touches leave the soul more aware of its smallness before God, not inflated with importance.
Does it increase charity? Authentic experience overflows into love for neighbor. Self-absorption is a warning sign.
Does it align with faith? Nothing authentic contradicts Scripture, doctrine, or the teaching authority of the Church.
Does peace endure? Divine experiences leave lasting peace. The enemy's counterfeits fade into anxiety, doubt, or pride.
What does your director say? Teresa insisted on submitting all experiences to spiritual authority. Do not be a judge in your own case.

For comprehensive guidance, see Discernment in Contemplative Practice.

Frequently Asked Questions

If experiences are dangerous, why did Teresa and John have so many?

They did not seek experiences—God gave them unsought. And notably, both saints de-emphasized their experiences in favor of teaching virtue and love. John barely mentions his own mystical states in his writings. Teresa repeatedly insists that her experiences proved nothing about her holiness.

How can I tell if an experience is from God?

By its lasting fruit, not its immediate feeling. Divine experiences produce persistent humility, deepened charity, increased faith, and lasting peace. They also align with Church teaching and are confirmed by wise spiritual direction. But even authentic experiences should not be clung to.

Is it wrong to enjoy consolations when they come?

No. Enjoy them as gifts—but hold them lightly. The problem is clinging, not receiving. When consolations pass, let them go without grasping. Continue loving God in dryness as in sweetness.

What if I've never had any unusual spiritual experiences?

You are in excellent company. Most saints lived ordinary prayer lives without visions or raptures. The Carmelites would say you are blessed—fewer opportunities for attachment and deception. Focus on love and virtue, not phenomena.

How does this relate to the dark night?

The dark night is God's method of purifying the soul from attachment to spiritual experiences. When consolations withdraw, the soul learns to love God for Himself alone. The teaching on distrusting experiences prepares us to embrace the night when it comes.

Carmelite Mysticism — Overview of the Carmelite tradition.
From Images to Union — The Carmelite path beyond imagery to divine union.
Teresa on Inner Imagery — How Teresa used imagination while warning against attachment.
Discernment in Contemplative Practice — Essential safeguards for testing experiences.
John of the Cross — Life and teachings of the Doctor of Mystical Theology.