The Gift of Discernment is the ability to perceive good and evil spirits; and also to perceive the spirit of truth from the spirit of error in a profound and sublime
manner [1 Cor 12:10]. All of us are to develop skills in discernment; it is critical in the Christian life to discern truth from error, and to avoid the devil's schemes. But, some people have a supernatural gift of discernment that transcends any human skill.
Guidelines For Discerning Spirits
First Set
[313] RULES FOR PERCEIVING AND KNOWING IN SOME MANNER THE DIFFERENT MOVEMENTS WHICH ARE CAUSED IN THE SOUL THE GOOD, TO RECEIVE THEM, AND THE BAD TO REJECT THEM. AND THEY ARE MORE PROPER FOR THE FIRST WEEK.
[314] First Rule. The first Rule: In the persons who go from mortal sin to mortal sin, the enemy is commonly used to propose to them apparent pleasures, making them imagine sensual delights and pleasures in order to hold them more and make them grow in their vices and sins. In these persons the good spirit uses the opposite method, pricking them and biting their consciences through the process of reason.
[315] Second Rule. The second: In the persons who are going on intensely cleansing their sins and rising from good to better in the service of God our Lord, it is the method contrary to that in the first Rule, for then it is the way of the evil spirit to bite, sadden and put obstacles, disquieting with false reasons, that one may not go on; and it is proper to the good to give courage and strength, consolations, tears, inspirations and quiet, easing, and putting away all obstacles, that one may go on in well doing.
[316] Third Rule. The third: Of Spiritual Consolation. I call it consolation when some interior movement in the soul is caused, through which the soul comes to be inflamed with love of its Creator and Lord; and when it can in consequence love no created thing on the face of the earth in itself, but in the Creator of them all. Likewise, when it sheds tears that move to love of its Lord, whether out of sorrow for one's sins, or for the Passion of Christ our Lord, or because of other things directly connected with His service and praise. Finally, I call consolation every increase of hope, faith and charity, and all interior joy which calls and attracts to heavenly things and to the salvation of one's soul, quieting it and giving it peace in its Creator and Lord.
[317] Fourth Rule. The fourth: Of Spiritual Desolation. I call desolation all the contrary of the third rule, such as darkness of soul, disturbance in it, movement to things low and earthly, the unquiet of different agitations and temptations, moving to want of confidence, without hope, without love, when one finds oneself all lazy, tepid, sad, and as if separated from his Creator and Lord. Because, as consolation is contrary to desolation, in the same way the thoughts which come from consolation are contrary to the thoughts which come from desolation.
[318] Fifth Rule. The fifth: In time of desolation never to make a change; but to be firm and constant in the resolutions and determination in which one was the day preceding such desolation, or in the determination in which he was in the preceding consolation. Because, as in consolation it is rather the good spirit who guides and counsels us, so in desolation it is the bad, with whose counsels we cannot take a course to decide rightly.
[319] Sixth Rule. The sixth: Although in desolation we ought not to change our first resolutions, it is very helpful intensely to change ourselves against the same desolation, as by insisting more on prayer, meditation, on much examination, and by giving ourselves more scope in some suitable way of doing penance.
[320] Seventh Rule. The seventh: Let him who is in desolation consider how the Lord has left him in trial in his natural powers, in order to resist the different agitations and temptations of the enemy; since he can with the Divine help, which always remains to him, though he does not clearly perceive it: because the Lord has taken from him his great fervor, great love and intense grace, leaving him, however, grace enough for eternal salvation.
[321] Eighth Rule. The eighth: Let him who is in desolation labor to be in patience, which is contrary to the vexations which come to him: and let him think that he will soon be consoled, employing against the desolation the devices, as is said in the sixth Rule.
[322] Ninth Rule. The ninth: There are three principal reasons why we find ourselves desolate. The first is, because of our being tepid, lazy or negligent in our spiritual exercises; and so through our faults, spiritual consolation withdraws from us. The second, to try us and see how much we are and how much we let ourselves out in His service and praise without such great pay of consolation and great graces. The third, to give us true acquaintance and knowledge, that we may interiorly feel that it is not ours to get or keep great devotion, intense love, tears, or any other spiritual consolation, but that all is the gift and grace of God our Lord, and that we may not build a nest in a thing not ours, raising our intellect into some pride or vainglory, attributing to us devotion or the other things of the spiritual consolation.
[323] Tenth Rule. The tenth: Let him who is in consolation think how he will be in the desolation which will come after, taking new strength for then.
[324] Eleventh Rule. The eleventh: Let him who is consoled see to humbling himself and lowering himself as much as he can, thinking how little he is able for in the time of desolation without such grace or consolation. On the contrary, let him who is in desolation think that he can do much with the grace sufficient to resist all his enemies, taking strength in his Creator and Lord.
[325] Twelfth Rule. The twelfth: The enemy acts like a woman, in being weak against vigor and strong of will. Because, as it is the way of the woman when she is quarrelling with some man to lose heart, taking flight when the man shows her much courage: and on the contrary, if the man, losing heart, begins to fly, the wrath, revenge, and ferocity of the woman is very great, and so without bounds; in the same manner, it is the way of the enemy to weaken and lose heart, his temptations taking flight, when the person who is exercising himself in spiritual things opposes a bold front against the temptations of the enemy, doing diametrically the opposite. And on the contrary, if the person who is exercising himself commences to have fear and lose heart in suffering the temptations, there is no beast so wild on the face of the earth as the enemy of human nature in following out his damnable intention with so great malice.
[326] Thirteenth Rule. The thirteenth: Likewise, he acts as a licentious lover in wanting to be secret and not revealed. For, as the licentious man who, speaking for an evil purpose, solicits a daughter of a good father or a wife of a good husband, wants his words and persuasions to be secret, and the contrary displeases him much, when the daughter reveals to her father or the wife to her husband his licentious words and depraved intention, because he easily gathers that he will not be able to succeed with the undertaking begun: in the same way, when the enemy of human nature brings his wiles and persuasions to the just soul, he wants and desires that they be received and kept in secret; but when one reveals them to his good Confessor or to another spiritual person that knows his deceits and evil ends, it is very grievous to him, because he gathers, from his manifest deceits being discovered, that he will not be able to succeed with his wickedness begun.
[327] Fourteenth Rule. The fourteenth: Likewise, he behaves as a chief bent on conquering and robbing what he desires: for, as a captain and chief of the army, pitching his camp, and looking at the forces or defences of a stronghold, attacks it on the weakest side, in like manner the enemy of human nature, roaming about, looks in turn at all our virtues, theological, cardinal and moral; and where he finds us weakest and most in need for our eternal salvation, there he attacks us and aims at taking us.
Guidelines For Discerning Spirits
Second Set
[328] RULES FOR THE SAME EFFECT WITH GREATER DISCERNMENT OF SPIRITS AND THEY HELP MORE FOR THE SECOND WEEK
[329] First Rule. The first: It is proper to God and to His Angels in their movements to give true spiritual gladness and joy, taking away all sadness and disturbance which the enemy brings on. Of this latter it is proper to fight against the spiritual gladness and consolation, bringing apparent reasons, subtleties and continual fallacies.
[330] Second Rule. The second: It belongs to God our Lord to give consolation to the soul without preceding cause, for it is the property of the Creator to enter, go out and cause movements in the soul, bringing it all into love of His Divine Majesty. I say without cause: without any previous sense or knowledge of any object through which such consolation would come, through one's acts of understanding and will.
[331] Third Rule. The third: With cause, as well the good Angel as the bad can console the soul, for contrary ends: the good Angel for the profit of the soul, that it may grow and rise from good to better, and the evil Angel, for the contrary, and later on to draw it to his damnable intention and wickedness.
[332] Fourth Rule. The fourth: It is proper to the evil Angel, who forms himself under the appearance of an angel of light, to enter with the devout soul and go out with himself: that is to say, to bring good and holy thoughts, conformable to such just soul, and then little by little he aims at coming out drawing the soul to his covert deceits and perverse intentions.
[333] Fifth Rule. The fifth: We ought to note well the course of the thoughts, and if the beginning, middle and end is all good, inclined to all good, it is a sign of the good Angel; but if in the course of the thoughts which he brings it ends in something bad, of a distracting tendency, or less good than what the soul had previously proposed to do, or if it weakens it or disquiets or disturbs the soul, taking away its peace, tranquillity and quiet, which it had before, it is a clear sign that it proceeds from the evil spirit, enemy of our profit and eternal salvation.
[334] Sixth Rule. The sixth: When the enemy of human nature has been perceived and known by his serpent's tail and the bad end to which he leads on, it helps the person who was tempted by him, to look immediately at the course of the good thoughts which he brought him at their beginning, and how little by little he aimed at making him descend from the spiritual sweetness and joy in which he was, so far as to bring him to his depraved intention; in order that with this experience, known and noted, the person may be able to guard for the future against his usual deceits.
[335] Seventh Rule. The seventh: In those who go on from good to better, the good Angel touches such soul sweetly, lightly and gently, like a drop of water which enters into a sponge; and the evil touches it sharply and with noise and disquiet, as when the drop of water falls on the stone. And the above-said spirits touch in a contrary way those who go on from bad to worse. The reason of this is that the disposition of the soul is contrary or like to the said Angels. Because, when it is contrary, they enter perceptibly with clatter and noise; and when it is like, they enter with silence as into their own home, through the open door.
[336] Eighth Rule. The eighth: When the consolation is without cause, although there be no deceit in it, as being of God our Lord alone, as was said; still the spiritual person to whom God gives such consolation, ought, with much vigilance and attention, to look at and distinguish the time itself of such actual consolation from the following, in which the soul remains warm and favored with the favor and remnants of the consolation past; for often in this second time, through one's own course of habits and the consequences of the concepts and judgments, or through the good spirit or through the bad, he forms various resolutions and opinions which are not given immediately by God our Lord, and therefore they have need to be very well examined before entire credit is given them, or they are put into effect.
How do we know if we have the Charism Gift of Discernment as opposed to the nature discernment through the Holy Spirit within us common to all Baptized Christians? We first need to know what Charism are not. The document, Charism Gifts Building Up the Church, states:
Please see the document for full explanations of these various categories of gifts that are not Charism Gifts.
Charism gifts are for public ministry, not for personal edification or use. God can give personal gifts to people, he gives all of us a certain ability to discern spirits, but the Charism Gifts are special supernatural gifts given to persons to edify and build-up the Church. In the case of the Gift of Discernment the purpose is to protect the Church and her Faithful from error and demonic influence.
If one believes they have a Gift of Discernment, it is important to find a Spiritual Director who is knowledgeable about such things, and in my opinion, not Charismatic.
Second, the gift must be tested. That is, whatever is discerned about a spirit of error from a spirit of truth must be in 100% concert with Church teaching. An obvious and extreme example may be if a person "discerns" that abortion is okay. Such discernment come from the devil. We know this for a fact because it contradicts established Church teaching.
Does the information gathered from Discernment assist the Church or one of her Faithful in making wise choices against influences from the Enemy. For example, a person with a Gift of Discernment may see a serious danger to the faith in some book or movie that others do not see.
The discernment of truth and error is the primary way this gift manifests.
The presence of demons and angels can also be part of the Gift of Discernment when that information is needed for a particular situation. This does not happen "just because", but will always be in concert with a particular need.
The experience you had at the yard sale is a clue that you may have a genuine Charism gift of discernment since you did not see the items but perceived a presence of evil. Now, this is only a clue, not a definitive test. This experience could have been the Holy Spirit warning you of the danger by granting a "Spontaneous Inspiration and Knowledge (Impromptu Gift) of the danger. Either way, you correctly discerned the situation.
Some people are more "intuitive" than others and are thus more sensitive to spiritual matters like what happened at the yard sale. The Charism Gift of Discernment, however, goes beyond any natural intuitive gift. So, how can we know the difference? There is no formula to tell that. One just practices the discernment they have, use it for the betterment of the Church and her people, always checking to be sure that the discernment is 100% in line with Church teaching.
Since this is a subjective gift, we must have a spiritual director to help us discern our own gift. We can too easily fool ourselves and thus we cannot trust ourselves to assess our gift objectively.
You ask about what you are to do with this gift? Using the yard sale as an example, what you do with that information is to walk away from that yard sale and warn your Christian fiends to avoid that yard sale. Why? because if this woman was into the occult, which it looks like she was, there can be demonic attachments to the objects she is selling (even if the object has nothing to do with the occult) and/or demons hovering around her house in which it is possible that when you visit her house to have a demon hitchhike on you and go home with you. I have seen this actually happen in another context.
I used to live in a small town in an area filled with occultist. My priestly spiritual director came to visit me once. When he left to visit a priest friend of his who pastored a parish in a nearby town the pastor asked my spiritual director, "You brought something with you, haven't you?" He prayed over my spiritual director to get rid of that hitchhiker. God made arrangements that allowed me to move from that town.
This gives you a very practical application of how this gift can be used regardless of whether it is a natural intuition or a Charism Gift of the Spirit.
Bottomline: always be sure your discernments are in concert with the Church, seek out a spiritual director to help you discern your own gift and to develop it, use your gift to help to help others (do not keep it to yourself).
The Gift of Discernment is a very important gift in doing what I do in spiritual warfare and apologetics.
I hope this gives you a starting point of understanding Charism Gifts of the Spirit.