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In religious terms, discernment is the process of evaluating things for spiritual direction and understanding and of being willing to apply critical thinking to the experiences you have. It is a valuable skill that can help you better evaluate your spiritual goals and better define your mental health concerns or symptoms.

This is the second post in a series about discernment.

First: Are you a (god)spouse or a stan?

The Immediate

Have you taken your meds?

Have you drank any water, or anything else to hydrate?

Have you eaten?

Have you slept?

The Mundane Possibilities

Pareidolia

Ideomotor effect

Insect/Rodent Infestation – Scratching sounds, bites/rashes, etc.

Mold Infestation – Illness, hallucinations, etc.

Plumbing Problems – Unpleasant odors, etc.

Narcolepsy, Epilepsy, and Mental Illness(es)

Carbon monoxide poisoning

Lead poisoning

Entheogens in old brews

Hypnopompic Hallucinations – Occur upon waking

Hypnagogic Hallucination – Immediately preceding sleep

Infrasound – can cause anxiety, chills, and extreme sadness etc.

Testing

Start keeping a journal and calendar. Try to write in the journal once a day about daily devotions, your mental state, thoughts on the deity, recurring signs, etc. Its easier to have an overview/something to look at to find trends than it is to just trust memory alone.

Were you intoxicated in some way at your time of revelation? If so, also keep a log of other times you are in an altered state, what happened and thoughts you had.

Was your interest piqued when you saw a friend have success?

Would you pursue the path even if it meant you never had that success/praise?

While researching, look through blogs and other media of practitioners/those in the field you think you are being called to. Put yourself in their shoes.

If advice you gave led to someone hurting themselves, what would you do?

Do you have a history of “pantheon hopping”/getting bored easily?

Why do you want to serve?

What do you have to offer?

What would you be willing to give up?

Were you called, or do you just really want to be called?

Were you “chosen”(somehow better than others), or “inspired” (picked up a pencil you found on equal ground)?

What would you do if you “displeased” an entity? Flee or work?

If there was no social media, would you still do “witchy” things?

I would like to clarify that this post is not meant as an accusation or to completely invalidate someone’s experiences. It is not a good feeling to think that an incredible spiritual experience wasn’t “real”. But, this is not a reason to avoid practicing discernment. While you may have to consider you did not encounter a ghost, or that a deity did not help you pick out dishtowels with a pendulum; this does not mean any good work you did or things you learned aren’t “real”. The experience still has a spiritual value and can still be incorporated into your practice.

List originally posted on Tumblr on July 20, 2017