The feelings stirred up by good and evil spirits are called “consolation” and “desolation” in the language of Ignatian spirituality. To call these “spirits” simply recognizes the spiritual dimension of this inner struggle. Our hearts are divided between good and evil impulses. Evil is both greater than we are and part of who we are. Yet Ignatius’s language is useful because it recognizes the reality of evil. Psychology gives us other names for what Ignatius called good and evil spirits.
Talk of good and evil spirits may seem foreign to us. Discernment of spirits is a way to understand God’s will or desire for us in our life. Ignatius believed that these interior movements were caused by “good spirits” and “evil spirits.” We want to follow the action of a good spirit and reject the action of an evil spirit. From experience he knew that some thoughts left him sad while others made him happy, and little by little he came to perceive the different spirits that were moving him one coming from the devil, the other coming from God ( Autobiography, no. He did not consider nor did he stop to examine this difference until one day his eyes were partially opened and he began to wonder at this difference and to reflect upon it.
In his autobiography, Ignatius writes (in the third person): He noticed different interior movements as he imagined his future. Ignatius of Loyola began to learn about the discernment of spirits while convalescing from serious battle injuries.
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