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Jay-Z once rapped "believe half of what you see, none of what you hear, even if it's spat by me."
That's what I immediately think of when I hear the phrase "spiritual discernment."
If you Google the etymology of discernment (always an enlightening experience), it gives you this: "late Middle English: via Old French from Latin discernere, from dis- ‘apart’ + cernere ‘to separate’."
You're separating wheat from the chaff, wisdom from bullshit, sincerity from manipulation.
But it's not always easy to know what's what. If someone in 1683 saw a photo from a Lucasfilm cgi-assisted film, they'd think God or the Devil were communicating with them. They might even tie you up and burn you for even having what we call a "photo," but that's another story.
It all makes me think of a new spin on the old anti-piracy meme: 'You wouldn't download a message from God'.
We're so eager to lead meaningful lives that we sometimes seek out meaning from dubious sources.
Because of that, we also get locked into patterns of thinking, and actions that don't serve our best interest.
What I'm offering here are tools you can use to have more spiritual discernment, in a world of deepfakes, and "downloads" from the Heavens above. Let's begin.
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1) The Absolute Certainty Rule-of-Thumb
If it's pushing you towards absolute certainty, reject it.
Resting in a feeling of "not sure" is difficult, but it's in your best interest.
You don't need every answer to function in the world, just look at how many years you've lived before the moment of reading this sentence, and how many things you were and still are unaware of.
There's many things you don't need to believe in to function in this world. The pavement doesn't request that you believe in it, and yet your sneakers propel off of it.
When some message comes beamed to you from between parted clouds, or a prophet's mouth, just tell yourself "interesting, we'll see."
The burden of proof is on the Universe (or whatever deity you're in communication with), let them show their work.
2) Keep A Journal
If you stumble into some "synchronicities," or see a "portent" here and there, write it down in a notebook.
Write down your interpretation of it.
And then revisit these entries a week, two weeks, a month, three months from now.
Do you still believe it? Did it come to fruition?
On a scale of 1-10, how accurate was it?
By making a practice of examining these phenomena with a scientist's eyes, you can parse how accurate your initial assumptions are, and whether you should keep greater distance between you and these spiritual messages you're reading.
3) Learn An Oracle To Heat Check Yourself
When a basketball player is on a scoring run, sometimes he or she gets a little too confident and takes a jumpshot from the corner store two streets over.
When he or she misses, that's called a "heat-check."
It's a sign to dial back the confidence a little bit.
This is something I often do with divination.
If you have some Tarot cards, or know a thing or two about the I Ching, you can ask a question like "what is the only thing I need to know about (spiritual message/God/the truth about x/etc.)?"
And then use some of the principles I mention in the 'Strategic Divination Addendum' piece, and ask "what is this reading not saying?"
Another set of questions: Ask "what will happen if I believe this?" and "what will happen if I don't believe this?"
Look at each answer and see which you'd prefer.
This isn't to say that divination is perfect, or that you should trust it wholeheartedly. But it's wise to use it as another data point when it comes to assessing whether something is bullshit, or closer to the truth.
4) Ask If Believing This Is 'Working' For You
Asking if something is working for you, or getting the results you want, is a key question if you're seeking spiritual discernment.
Sometimes things don't need to be true to be useful.
But even when that is the case, it's helpful to know that you're using it for its utility, instead of being used by it.
If it's useful to believe that you're been provided with Heaven-sent messages that are steering you through your path in life, sure, believe it like an actor believes in his role.
But if it's leading you to inflated self-importance, maybe take a step back and be honest with yourself about that. The world isn't in need of more cult leaders.
5) Use An Awareness Sigil To Figure Out If Your Belief Is Helpful
I've written about Awareness Sigils before, and it's a concept I use daily, to a very helpful effect.
A simple one that can help your spiritual discernment is to get a notebook or a notepad open on your computer or phone, set a recurring reminder in your task manager or calendar, and ask 'on a scale of 1-10, how much did I enjoy the results of believing this' for each 'message', 'spiritual meaning', or 'belief' that you've come in contact with.
By consistently making yourself aware of these beliefs, and consistently assessing whether you enjoyed the results of believing or disbelieving it, you can separate the useful from the harmful.
And by using your awareness in this way, you can build the muscle of discernment instead of being used by the dubious.
6) The WWNTBT Question
Ask yourself 'what would need to be true for this to be a helpful thing to believe?'
Make your list, and keep it somewhere that you can periodically check.
When one of those 'need to be trues' is violated, it's time to reassess your belief.
As an example:
"What would need to be true for it to be helpful to believe that I'm getting personal messages from a God or deity?"
You might make the list:
- It doesn't interfere with my day-to-day functioning
- It doesn't make me feel emotionally bad
- It doesn't harm my relationships
- It doesn't make me feel more important than others
etc.
Now if you start feeling superior to others because of the messages or signs you're seeing, then it's time to pause and reassess whether this whole thing is working for you, or against you.
This is where being honest with yourself is essential. But the moment one of those 'wwntbt's' is violated, it's time to get very honest with yourself to avoid chaos or disaster.
7) The 'Who Wins' Question
When it comes to believing something tied to spirituality, ask "who wins and who loses by me believing this."
Is a purported guru telling you what you should do or think? That's a warning sign.
If I believe this, is someone selling a product the one that's winning?
If I believe this, how does this help me 'win' without it being at the expense of others.
Anyone can be the recipient of some 'spiritual message', and in fact many are. Whether that's through asking a question and then seeing a strange bird formation out their window, or pulling a Tarot card that resembles the person or situation that they're focused on.
Spiritual lessons, signs, messages, and predictions are cheap and plentiful. That's an important thing to remember here.
By believing this, are you taking away your initiative, making yourself complacent, or boosting your feelings of self-importance?
By believing this, are you taking away some of your power and giving it to another person you consider a leader, or authority?
Ask yourself these questions to avoid a catastrophe.
Final Thoughts
Spiritual discernment is a muscle that must get its exercise to work right.
That exercise is often, simply, the practice of cultivating healthy uncertainty and disbelief.
And another way to inoculate yourself against that craving for certainty, is to remember that even the most 'spiritual' or 'knowledgeable' among us, are also humans.
They're not any less or more than what you yourself are. And to separate fact from fiction, or useful from not useful, we all need to remember that.