Discernment of Spirits
Learning to Read the Movements of the Soul
Discernment of spirits is the Ignatian practice of reading interior movements to understand their origin and direction. Ignatius taught that movements of the soul come from different sources—God, the enemy, or our own nature—and each leaves a distinctive signature. By learning to recognize these signatures, we can cooperate with God's action while resisting what leads away from Him. This is not about predicting the future but about reading the present moment with spiritual wisdom.
What Is Discernment of Spirits?
Discernment of spirits is the art of distinguishing between the various influences on our interior life. We experience thoughts, feelings, impulses, and movements that seem to arise spontaneously—but Ignatius understood that these movements have sources and directions.
The Spiritual Exercises contain fourteen rules for discernment, divided into two groups: the First Week rules (for beginners or those in spiritual combat) and the Second Week rules (for those more advanced who face subtler challenges).
The Core Question
"Where is this movement leading me? Toward God, toward greater faith, hope, and love? Or away from God, toward darkness, agitation, and separation from my Creator?"
This question—about direction rather than origin—is the key to Ignatian discernment. We may not always know where a movement comes from, but we can observe where it leads.
The Key Vocabulary
Before examining the rules themselves, we need the vocabulary Ignatius uses:
Consolation
Any interior movement that increases faith, hope, and love; draws the soul toward God; and brings genuine peace. See Consolation and Desolation for a full treatment.
Desolation
Any interior movement that decreases faith, hope, and love; turns the soul away from God; and brings turmoil, darkness, or disturbance.
The Good Spirit
God and the angels—any spiritual influence that leads toward God, virtue, and authentic spiritual growth.
The Enemy / Evil Spirit
The devil and demons—any spiritual influence that leads away from God, toward sin, discouragement, or spiritual destruction.
Spirits
In Ignatius's usage, "spirits" refers to these spiritual influences (good and evil), not to our psychology per se—though discernment also involves distinguishing spiritual movements from purely psychological ones.
Rules for the First Week
These eight rules are for people at the beginning of the spiritual journey, or for anyone experiencing intense spiritual combat. They deal with the more obvious tactics of the enemy.
Rule 1: The Enemy's Approach to Those Going Wrong
For those going from mortal sin to mortal sin, the enemy proposes apparent pleasures, filling their imagination with sensual delights to keep them in their sins. The good spirit does the opposite—stinging the conscience, awakening remorse.
Rule 2: The Enemy's Approach to Those Going Right
For those earnestly striving to serve God and advance in virtue, the enemy does the opposite—causing anxiety, sadness, obstacles, false reasoning. The good spirit gives courage, strength, consolation, tears, inspirations, and quiet peace.
Rule 3: What Is Spiritual Consolation
Ignatius defines consolation as any movement that increases love of God, produces tears for sins or Christ's suffering, or increases faith, hope, and charity—bringing joy and drawing the soul toward heavenly things.
Rule 4: What Is Spiritual Desolation
Desolation is darkness of soul, turmoil, movement toward low things, disquiet, temptation—the soul finds itself without faith, hope, or love, slothful, tepid, sad, and separated from God.
Rule 5: Never Make Changes in Desolation
The Cardinal Rule: In desolation, never make or change a decision. Stay firmly with the resolutions and decisions made before the desolation came. In consolation, the good spirit guides us; in desolation, the evil spirit—following him leads astray.
Rule 6: Fight Back in Desolation
Though we should not change decisions, we should intensify our resistance: more prayer, more penance, more self-examination. The desolation calls for counter-attack, not passive endurance alone.
Rule 7: Remember It Will Pass
In desolation, think of the consolation that will return. Consider how God allows this trial for our growth. We are never without sufficient grace to resist. Patience overcomes all.
Rule 8: The Three Causes of Desolation
Desolation comes from (1) our own tepidity, laziness, or negligence in prayer; (2) God testing and strengthening us, showing what we are without consolation; or (3) God teaching us that consolation is pure gift, not something we earn or control.
Three Images of the Enemy
Ignatius offers three memorable images (Rules 12-14) to describe how the enemy operates:
Like a Spoiled Child
The enemy is weak when faced with firmness but becomes aggressive when we show weakness. If we resist strongly, he flees like a bully confronted. If we give ground through fear, he attacks with fury. Firm resistance is essential.
Like a False Lover
The enemy wants secrecy. He whispers temptations and suggestions that he hopes we will keep hidden. When we expose them to a wise director or confessor, his power collapses—like a seducer who loses power when exposed to light.
Like a Military Commander
The enemy studies our weaknesses and attacks at the most vulnerable point. He probes our defenses looking for gaps. This is why self-knowledge matters—knowing where we are weak helps us reinforce those areas.
Rules for the Second Week
These six additional rules address more subtle forms of spiritual deception—for those who have made progress and face a more sophisticated enemy who appears as an "angel of light."
Rule 1 (of Second Week): True vs. False Consolation
God alone can give "consolation without preceding cause"—a pure gift unconnected to any thought or circumstance. When consolation has a preceding cause (a thought, image, memory), it may come from either the good or evil spirit and requires careful examination.
Rule 2: The Angel of Light
Both the good and evil spirit can bring consolation. The good spirit brings genuine growth; the evil spirit brings "false consolation" that begins well but leads astray. The enemy enters by the "good door" (holy thoughts) but exits by "his own door" (vanity, discouragement, subtle sins).
Rule 3: The Beginning, Middle, and End
Discern by watching the whole trajectory of a spiritual movement. If beginning, middle, and end are all wholly good, it's from the good spirit. If the trajectory turns toward something evil, distracting, or less good than originally intended, the evil spirit has intervened.
Rule 4: Review When Something Goes Wrong
When the enemy has succeeded in leading us astray through false consolation, we should review the entire experience—from the beginning, through the middle, to the end—to understand where we went wrong. This builds wisdom for the future.
Rule 5: Watch the Tail of the Serpent
We must pay attention to where a movement leads over time. A thought or feeling that seems holy at first but gradually leads to anxiety, vanity, discouragement, or sin reveals its true origin by its "tail"—its ultimate fruit.
Rule 6: Care After Consolation Without Cause
Even after genuine consolation directly from God, we must be careful. In the "afterglow" period, when we're still elated, we may add our own ideas, reasonings, and judgments that are not from God but from ourselves or the enemy.
Putting It into Practice
1. Develop Interior Awareness
The Daily Examen is the primary tool for developing discernment. Twice daily, review the movements of the day—where did you experience consolation? Desolation? What patterns emerge over time?
2. Keep a Spiritual Journal
Write down significant movements—the thoughts that preceded them, the feelings that accompanied them, where they led. Over time, patterns become visible that are invisible in the moment.
3. Work with a Director
A spiritual director sees patterns we cannot see ourselves. The enemy's power is broken by exposure; sharing our interior movements with a wise guide is essential for growth in discernment.
4. Test by Fruits
Jesus said we know trees by their fruits. The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Movements that produce these fruits are from God; those that produce the opposite are not.
5. Be Patient
Discernment is a skill that develops over years, not days. Beginners will make mistakes—this is expected. The goal is gradual growth in sensitivity to what God is doing, not immediate perfection.
Warning Signs of the Enemy
Watch for these signs that a movement may not be from God:
- Urgency without peace — God's leading usually includes patience
- Isolation — Temptation to hide thoughts from director/confessor
- Grandiosity — Inflated sense of self-importance
- Scrupulosity — Anxious obsession over sins, inability to accept forgiveness
- Discouragement that paralyzes — God convicts; the enemy crushes
- Subtle exceptions — "This rule doesn't apply to me"
- Contempt for others — Spiritual pride disguised as zeal
- Loss of peace over time — What began well ends in turmoil
When to Seek a Director
Consult a spiritual director when:
- You cannot distinguish consolation from desolation
- Desolation persists for extended periods
- You suspect false consolation but cannot identify where it went wrong
- Major decisions need confirmation
- You notice patterns of resistance you cannot overcome alone
- The enemy seems to know exactly where to attack
- Spiritual experiences seem unusual or extraordinary
Discernment is not a solo sport. The tradition insists on guidance precisely because the enemy exploits our blind spots. A wise director sees what we cannot see.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know if a thought is from God or from myself?
This takes time to learn. Key questions: Does this thought increase faith, hope, and love? Does it produce peace or agitation? Does it lead toward humility or pride? Over time, with practice and direction, you develop an instinct—but certainty is rare and not always necessary.
Is discernment of spirits the same as decision-making?
Related but distinct. Discernment of spirits is reading interior movements; discernment for decision-making is applying this skill to choices. You can practice discernment of spirits daily without having any major decision pending—and you should, because daily practice develops the skill needed when decisions come.
Can psychological states confuse discernment?
Yes. Fatigue, illness, depression, anxiety, and trauma can all produce states that mimic spiritual desolation. This is why a good director considers the whole person—and why those with significant psychological challenges should also work with mental health professionals.
What if I'm not sure I believe in the devil?
The rules still work experientially even if you struggle with their cosmological framework. You can observe that certain interior movements lead toward God and growth while others lead away—whatever you call the source. Most people who practice discernment long enough become convinced of spiritual warfare through experience.
How is this different from "testing the spirits" in 1 John 4?
John's test (confession that Jesus came in the flesh) is for identifying false prophets and teachers. Ignatius's rules apply this principle to interior movements. Both are concerned with distinguishing true from false spiritual influences, but Ignatius provides detailed practical guidance for the interior life.
Related Articles
- Consolation and Desolation — The core vocabulary of Ignatian discernment.
- The Daily Examen — The practice that develops discernment.
- Rules for Discernment — Detailed commentary on the fourteen rules.
- Discernment in Contemplative Prayer — The broader framework across traditions.
- Finding Spiritual Direction — Working with a guide.
- Ignatian Spirituality Overview — The complete tradition at a glance.