Not So Beginner Article. Discernment.

Let’s talk about discernment again. Why? Because it’s everywhere, especially in the craft and online spaces. It’s practically a buzzword at this point, but it’s also genuinely important. Discernment isn’t a personality trait or a badge you earn. It’s a skill. One that requires practice and intention in all contexts.

If we gathered a random group of Substack readers to talk about misinformation, sooner or later, someone would bring up literacy. And having worked in education for years, I can tell you this: people’s reading skills haven’t suddenly collapsed. What has collapsed is discernment—especially media literacy. Our curriculum has not even come close to catching up with modern media. Education, as a field, is about two decades behind students’ lived experience.

But I digress. (I always digress.) What matters here is this: how modern witches learn and communicate is primarily online. That’s just reality. Most mentorship now comes from books, social media, videos, and short-form content. We can’t talk about discernment in the craft without talking about media literacy and the impact of fast, consumable content on meaning.

Why discernment matters in the craft

The craft, like most Western spiritual traditions, and honestly most ideas in the U.S., is commodified. There is almost nothing that won’t be packaged and sold once there’s a niche market for it. Witchcraft’s growing popularity has created a lucrative market, and with lucrative markets come sales pitches, snake oil, false urgency, misinformation, and self-proclaimed experts and gurus.

At the same time, there are authentic teachers who deserve to make a living. So how the hell are we supposed to tell the difference? How do we know if we’re on the right track in our practice? How do we know if we’re actually connecting—or just lighting a candle because someone told us to?

HOW DO WE KNOW ANYTHING IS REAL?!

Just kidding. We’re not going down that rabbit hole today.

Discernment.

Discernment is how we find truth in noise.

But how do you know if you’re actually practicing discernment? Are you being thoughtful—or just judgmental? Are you engaging critically—or stuck in an echo chamber? Are you listening to intuition—or just anxious? Is that your gut telling you to avoid something, or are you just uncomfortable? Or maybe…just a little gassy?

What discernment actually is

Before we can build it, we have to define it. Not mystify it. Define it.

Merriam-Webster defines discernment as the ability to grasp and comprehend what is obscure.

Oxford defines it as the ability to judge well; the faculty of discriminating between things.

Cambridge defines it as the ability to judge people and situations well.

Three dictionaries, one word, a lot of nuance. Context matters. Application matters. And across all of them, judgment is always present.

The etymology makes this clearer. The Latin root discernere means “to separate, sift, or distinguish.” Originally, it referred to physical separation. Over time, it shifted toward mental discrimination and evaluative judgment.

Discernment, at its core, is the process of breaking information apart, examining it carefully, and then coming to a conclusion.

Which brings us to the real problem: in a world full of quick judgments, how do we tell the difference between discernment and just being judgmental?

Where it gets tricky

This is where it gets tricky. Context, values, intuition, judgment, and even neutrality all play roles in building spiritual discernment, and there isn’t always a particular order or hierarchy. So I have no choice but to get personal.

Discernment isn’t about finding one singular, objective truth—because much of human experience doesn’t live there. That doesn’t mean objective truths don’t exist. Science is real. Evidence matters. Gravity still works whether you believe in it or not.

But we also live in a world of intangibles: love, ethics, meaning, spirituality, consciousness. These things are real too, even if they can’t be measured the same way. We know this because we have shared experiences of them.

This is where plurality lives. And unfortunately, so do misinformation, propaganda, and manipulation. The existence of many truths and experiences creates space for meaning, but also for exploitation. Plurality isn’t the problem. The lack of discernment is.

So let me try to build it from concept to practice. Slowly. Honestly.

Building discernment, step by step

My first step toward discernment in the craft was to listen to my “vibes”.

I wish I had something more sophisticated to say here, but I don’t. If I didn’t like the vibes of a book or a creator, I dismissed it. That was intuition leading.

Intuition is immediate knowing without conscious reasoning. It’s fast, non-verbal, shaped by experience, and difficult to explain. It answers one question: something feels right, off, or true.

That wasn’t discernment—but it was a starting point.

Next came reflection. I had to look at what my intuition was telling me about me, not just about external sources. We like to think intuition is about reading others, but often it’s about recognizing where we fit—and where we don’t.

This is where neutrality came in. I sat without judgment, observing patterns, contradictions, and alignment between my values and my actions. I noticed where I said one thing and did another. I sat with the discomfort of that. (Highly recommend. Terrible experience.)

I think of this as the sorting phase of discernment. It’s necessary, but it can’t be a permanent state. Without judgment, discernment doesn’t form. But judgment without intuition and neutrality first is just opinion—usually loud, usually empty.

Only after that could I begin forming meaningful judgments. I could ask myself things like:
Do these values still fit my life?
Do these beliefs still serve me?

That’s discernment.

Once I practiced this internally, I could apply the same process externally—to books, teachings, videos, and messages about my craft. Not perfectly. Not always. You have to hold the intention.

Fast media works against this process. It pushes us toward judgment first, because fast judgment drives engagement, consumption, false urgency, and—surprise—misinformation.

You see? I told you that media literacy mattered.

| Aspect | Discernment | Judgment | Intuition

| Speed | Moderate | Variable | Fast |

| Conscious reasoning | Yes | Sometimes | No |

| Accuracy | High (developed) | Variable | Variable |

| Bias-resistant | Relatively | Often low | Low unless trained |

| Trainable | Yes | Yes (ethics, logic) | Indirectly |

| Context awareness | High | Medium | Low–medium |

| Requires explanation | Often | Often | Rarely |