Glossary Of  Working Definitions                                -- Associated With This Website (1)       1. Please note the meaning of the following signs associated          with many of the terms in this glossary:         (*) Term closely associated with the Exercises text             (either actually used in the text of the Exercises or by              the translators of the text);          (+) My own technical designation for a word or concept             used in the Exercises or in the spiritual direction of the             Exercises journey in our present cultural context;         (!) Traditional designation still in use by commentators,             Jesuits, and spiritual directors as a code language for              words and concepts in the Exercises;            (<) Term presently in use by practitioners of the             Exercises and likely to enter into the tradition of             Ignatian spirituality.     2. Also please note how some terms have been capitalized to         indicate technical words associated with the Exercises or         those particularly significant in this manual.

Actual Poverty (*)
The actual lack of material goods. It can also mean the vowed poverty of a person belonging to a religious order. In the time of Ignatius, many followers of Jesus continued to take literally Jesus' call to the devout rich young man: "Go and sell what you have, give to the poor. You will have treasure in heaven. Come and follow me..." (Lk 18:22). They often joined mendicant religious orders and begged for the necessities of life -- a sign of their trust and dependence on God. Even in our own time, people commit themselves to God through a vow of poverty. According to the constitutions of different religious orders, this vow is explained and exercised in different ways. For many, it is a commitment to share their resources with the others in the community by contributing all they earn through their work and by dependence on the others according to their real needs. The goal of a life of vowed poverty has always been to grow in Poverty of Spirit. See Poverty, Spiritual Poverty.

Additions(!)
Refers to notations [73] of the Exercises. They give directions on how to keep oneself properly disposed for God's initiatives during the Exercises journey. They are written primarily for the Exercises according to notation [20] which, in Ignatius' time, were often given in settings different from our present retreat houses. For example, since a directee would have to walk through the village to attend worship, it was very important to keep one's eyes cast down to avoid filling one's mind with images and thoughts that would interfere with the Grace being sought. Throughout the Exercises, Ignatius gives notes on how to adapt these suggestions for the different phases or Weeks.

Affections(!)
In popular culture, affections mean tender feelings. In some philosophies, affections can stand for anything outside the purview of the "faculty" of reason. In the Exercises, affections refer to interior reactions such as feelings, spontaneous thoughts, desires, deep emotions, and any combination of these. They spontaneously and automatically take place within us in response to our "sensing-thinking-remembering-imagining" which is engaged when we reflect with our hearts. Our feelings are always intertwined with thought components. We can say that there is an intentional or meaning quality behind them since they correspond to objective data that can be known. When we notice our affectivity in prayer and/or in day-to-day living, we are noticing the movement of spirits. During the Exercises journey, the director of the Exercises attends primarily to those Affections that occur in response or reaction to the directee's life before God. See Movement of Spirits, Noticing.

Affective Prayer (!)
Prayer by which our affections are allowed to surface. This prayer is dialogical -- we respond to God and God to us, personally and intimately [15].

Affectivity(!)
Since the mid-sixties, in the oral tradition of Ignatian spirituality, this term has come to mean the area of interior reactions and spontaneities. See Affections.

Afterglow(!)
The experience (of feeling, and/or thinking, and/or interpreting, etc.) that occurs after a Consolation Without Cause is received [336].

Agere Contra (!) (*)
This Latin phrase literally means "to act against." It comes from notation [97] where it is expected that the more zealous followers of Jesus desire to act against their Sensuality and from notation [319] where we are instructed to act against the desolating spirit. It has also come to mean an act of discipline or mortification in which one makes a choice that goes against one's personal preference.

Analogy
A comparison or an intuitive inference of a similarity of an actual or assumed relationship, in some way, between two things in order to go from the known to the unknown. For example, when we finally arrive at some understanding of a thing, we commonly say, "Oh, ... I see it now." We don't actually "see" but we are using an analogous way of speaking (in this case, a metaphor) based on sense perception. This particular comparison goes all the way back to Aristotle who wrote: "As sight is in the body, so understanding is in the soul, while each is disparate." Analogy is essential to human knowing because knowledge develops from the known to the unknown.  In literature, figures of speech such as metaphors, similes, allegories, parables, etc., are specific kinds of analogy.

In science, models and paradigms imply analogous ways of knowing; for example, the atomic structure understood as a galaxy within itself is one such model. On July 4, 1997, scientists began to send photographs from Mars from a vehicle that had just landed there. They knew how to do this even though the human race had only studied aspects of Mars through astronomy, physics, etc. By analogy with the physical laws operative on our own planet, they could recognize and extrapolate the similarities and differences of Mars from those of Earth. However, they had to assume the existence of some relationship with aspects of Earth which they already understood. To do this, they had to use an analogous way of thinking. Theology and spirituality, based on the critical reflection on our religious experiences and those of others, such as those recorded in the bible, cannot develop without the use of analogy. It is suitable to speak of the "parenthood" of God because there is something about God's relationship towards us that is reflected in our own experience of parenthood. The bible itself uses such an analogy (Is 49:14; Ps 131).⁽²⁾

We understand the text of the Exercises not only by reading it according to its historical and cultural context, but also by analogy with our own spiritual experiences and those of others. In the Exercises text itself, we often understand certain concepts and make applications in an analogous way. Here are some examples:

We recognize certain experiences as meaning this-or-that simply because we have had experiences like them, and so by analogy, we can recognize and understand, in some way, the experiences of our directees.

Though the first or prime meaning of Deception is related to the Second Set of Guidelines for Discerning Spirits, we can apply this concept by analogy to a temptation more properly understood as belonging to the First Set.

There are two basic risks in using analogy:

Risk #1 is the univocal risk. If we presume that an analogy gives us complete understanding, then we might mistakenly understand the comparison as if there existed a univocal relationship to the two objects being compared -- a one-to-one relationship with respect to all aspects of the two things being compared. Thus, with the idea of the parenthood of God, we would be reducing the parenthood of God to our own understanding and experience of parenthood.

Risk #2 is the equivocal risk. If we presume that the words used by directees mean the same thing for them as they do for us, we end up misunderstanding and misinterpreting what they are attempting to express. This is not using analogy appropriately at all! This occurs frequently through the phenomenon of projection. In a spiritual direction setting, a directee begins to talk about "struggling over being misunderstood about something." The prayer guide hears the word "struggling" and jumps to the conclusion that his/her own "struggle" with such-and-such has exactly the same meaning as the directee's "struggle." The word used, in fact, may be the same, but the reality signified by the word is totally different. The point the prayer guide infers as the comparison in the two "struggles" is completely different from that intended. The effect of this equivocal risk is that of discounting a directee's experience.

Angels(*)
Messengers of God as in Isaiah 6 or Luke 2. In Roman Catholic teaching, they are created beings which are totally 'spiritual'-- that is, without matter or any materiality. They are referred to as pure (i.e., total, complete) spirits. See Good Angel, Lucifer, Bad Angel.

Annotations(!)
Refers to that section in the Exercises text, notations [1]-[22], in which Ignatius gathers together his preliminary observations about the purpose and use of the Exercises as a whole. Some are intended for both director and directee; others, for the one or the other.

Application of Senses (*)
The method of prayer described in notations [121]-[126]. Ignatius introduces it as a method by which "it is helpful to pass the five senses of the imagination through the first and second [Gospel Contemplations]." In suggesting how to apply the senses of smell and taste, he writes: "to smell and to taste, with the sense of smell and the sense of taste, the infinite fragrance and sweetness of the Divinity" [124]. This implies that he includes something deeper than the physical imagining of tasting, smelling, seeing, touching, etc., something more intuitive -- called by some 'the spiritual senses.' The Application of Senses is not so much the active application of one's senses but more the passive reception of deep intimacy. In the Exercises journey, this is helped by the use of Repetition which fosters a passive and gradual simplification of the mystery that one is contemplating. ⁽³⁾

Appropriate (verb) (<)
Through spiritual direction, a directee is helped to appropriate his/her own interior consciousness; that is, not only to notice and take in, but to make it a part of his/her own being. See Self-appropriation.

Archetype
Archetypes are primordial energies of recurring mythic patterns that channel, in a less-than-conscious manner, human psychic energy. For example, the warrior archetype by which one experiences oneself as battling perceived enemies in one's environment; or the playful child archetype by which one frequently turns the vicissitudes of life into play. In Jungian theory, archetypes are universal primordial images found in the collective unconscious.

Asking for a Grace (*)
In each prayer exercise, the directee is instructed to "ask for grace" -- that is, to express his/her desires to God. We know that, ultimately, it is only from God and not from one's own effort that one can receive what one desires in the prayer exercises. The very asking for a Grace or the articulation of one's desires for a deepening of one's relationship with God in some particular way, comes from God. The initial impulse, the consequent shift in one's consciousness, the openness to the gift, the reception of the gift, the presence of God's self in one -- all this is grace. See Grace.

Awareness Examen (!) (+)
A prayer method of discernment used to reflect upon one's interior movements and their influences on one's day-to-day choices and consequent activities. Through this exercise, one attempts to discover where and in what ways God has been present or revealed in one's daily experiences. The Examen is to the day what the Review is to the prayer exercise. This Awareness Examen should not be confused with the General Examen [32] even though many people use the same five headings which Ignatius outlines for the General Examen [43]. Other names sometimes used for this prayer method: consciousness examen; examen of consciousness; awareness exercise; awareness process. See General Examen.

Bad Angel (*)
Lucifer or one of her/his lesser angels or spirits [50], [331]. In notation [332], the Bad Angel is described as leading the generous person astray with a Temptation Under the Guise of Light (or Good). "Light-bearer" is the translation of the name Lucifer. See Angels, Good Angels.

Basic Disorder (!)
Over the years, this term was used by directors to help their directees come to a greater knowledge of the source of what is keeping them from a deeper love for God. It was considered that one of the 'capital sins' or one 'predominant fault' was the root or source of one's sins, faults or disordered activities. This concept does not occur in the Exercises. See Disorder of One's Actions.

Blessed History (<)
Often used to denote that specific Consolation which is experienced when one becomes deeply aware of how one's own personal history is a salvation history analogous in meaning to the salvation history of the bible. This phrase is also used to connote the prayer exercises given to a directee "to help get in touch with one's Blessed History." As God had a unique relationship with the Israelites, so God has a unique relationship with each individual. As God encountered the community of Israelites and of the early Christians in unique ways, so God encounters each person in unique ways. In salvation history, the rhythms of God's activity were understood in terms of such thematic patterns as God's covenant, God's spousal love for God's people, Jesus' death and resurrection, etc. In the Consolation experienced through "the appropriation of one's unique personal history in faith," ⁽⁴⁾ an individual can often discern a unique thematic pattern illuminating God's faithful activity in one's own personal history. The blessed-history approach became accessible to spiritual directors through the work of John English, S.J., and the Guelph Centre of Spirituality at a time when many people in North America were becoming interested in discovering their roots and when psychological studies were making family-of-origin techniques popular. In addition to the use of this blessed-history concept in spiritual direction, this concept is also used effectively in group facilitation. ⁽⁵⁾

Call Mode (<)
Directees are considered to be in a Call Mode when they make the Exercises journey more intentionally and explicitly to discover God's call and are ready to make particular decisions concerning God's desires for them in the development of God's reign. Such directees focus predominantly on how God is calling them to work in God's household in spite of their own need for healing. Healing issues may still be present, but these issues are not in the foreground at the time of making the Exercises journey. See Healing Mode.

Capital Sins (*)
The seven deadly sins: gluttony, pride, greed, lust, sloth, anger, envy. This listing is a traditional summary (going back further than the 13th century) used to categorize the general ways by which we sin. They are not sins in the proper sense, but they can be understood as tendencies within us that lead to sin. See Basic Disorder.

Carnal and Worldly Love (*)
The adjective 'carnal' by itself means the same as Sensuality. However, the phrase, 'carnal and worldly love,' also includes the need for a good name, status, pleasure-seeking, self-centredness, ambition, living up to the expectations of others, competitiveness, manipulativeness, over-responsibility, undue preoccupation with the need for affirmation, etc. See Sensuality, World.

Cartesian Mind or Attitude
Follows a fundamental belief associated with the philosophy of René Descartes (1596-1650). According to Descartes, that which is to be taken as true and trustworthy must be mediated by clear and distinct ideas known directly by the conscious mind. In the history of ideas, Cartesian philosophy led to rationalism and to the emphasis on quantification and measurement in the scientific method. The classicist worldview borrowed Descartes' belief in the use of reason but did not embrace the later scientific development which emerged from this belief.

Catechisms
Manuals of doctrine in a question-and-answer format; one of the first was Martin Luther's. The Roman Catechism of the Council of Trent (1566) was the basis for other catechisms such as the Baltimore Catechism, first printed in 1885, and used widely until the late 1950s.

Centering Prayer (<)
A contemplative prayer form or method in which a person empties oneself before God and attempts to create an inner stillness, sometimes by using a mantra.

Christian Perfection
See Evangelical Perfection, Life of the Counsels.

Classicist Worldview
In theological circles, this is a term that often connotes an amalgam of a late medieval worldview and an early modern worldview. In embracing rational logic that was present in the early modern worldview, it undermines the more intuitive logic intrinsic to the medieval worldview. It stresses that all true knowledge is objective to the exclusion of so-called subjective contributions. Universal theory and principles mediated through rational logic are stressed. This has been questioned by the modern worldview (Muldoon). See Cartesian Mind, Modern Worldview.

Collective Unconscious
The deeper-lying portion of the unconscious postulated by Jung to be the repository of universal dispositions toward certain forms of experience represented by the archetypes (Wulff).

Colloquy (*)
The conversation in which a directee engages at any time during a prayer exercise and which Ignatius places at the end of his models for the prayer exercises [53], [54], [199]. This dialogue can be with Jesus, with God the Father, with the Holy Spirit, with God by some other name or image, or with some saint or Saint. See Communion of Saints.

Communal-Societal Spirituality (+)
Exists when mature Christians understand and accept themselves humbly, as a small part of the larger universe, while using discerning processes for making decisions and implementing actions with others in cooperation with God's desires for humanity and for this planet. ⁽⁶⁾

Communion of Saints (*)
All those who have died and are with God; they are all saints. In the Roman, Orthodox and Anglican traditions, Saints (with a capital "S") are those who have died and have been recognized officially as having lived a life of outstanding discipleship and goodness.

Compassion (!)
Comes from two Latin words which, together, mean "suffer with." We have come to use this word to describe the Grace for which Ignatius instructs us to ask during the Third Week [193]: "sorrow, grief, deep feeling with Jesus in suffering." It is an ability to be truly present to another person in his/her suffering, not just physically present but with the focus of one's heart and spirit.

Composition of Place (*) (!)
Literally, "composition, seeing the place" (Mullan). In each prayer exercise, the Composition is the 'prelude' which instructs a directee to settle into the prayer exercise by composing (gathering together) oneself to become interiorly stilled and as present as possible to God through the material of the prayer exercise. Ignatius suggests that this be done by making use of one's imaginative powers; that is, by recalling and making oneself present to certain aspects of the mystery upon which one is contemplating or meditating. This helps a directee at prayer to disregard what is going on around oneself and to give oneself to the exercise with a relaxed but focused attention. ⁽⁷⁾

Confirmation (!)(*) (!)
The last phase in the decision-making process which brings it to closure. God confirms the person making the decision, not the decision. Confirmation is not the seal of approval that the decision will have successful consequences. It is a Consolation, accompanied by the sense of closure, that one has made as good a decision as one can make at this time [183]. In addition to this subjective and experiential Confirmation, a married directee may need to seek the 'objective Confirmation' from one's spouse; a directee living as part of a community, from the community.

Conscious
The content of one's own mind or mental functioning of which one is aware.

Consciousness Examen (!)
Another name for the Awareness Examen.

Consider/Consideration (*)
When Ignatius uses the word "consider," he does not mean what we mean by "analyze." For Ignatius and those in a medieval culture, the powers of imagination, memory and intellect were interwoven and not separated as they are for us with our more analytical, scientific methods [94].

Consolation (*)
See notation [316]

Consolation With Cause (*)
This Consolation is received because of some outside cause and can be explained by it. This outside influence can be any interior event such as one's own personal insight and understanding, or exterior event such as a beautiful piece of music to which one is listening, or a gift received from someone, or a compliment, or a job well done, etc. In other words, there is some outside influence that can explain the Consolation. Much of our work with directees involves this kind of Consolation and, therefore, requires discernment.

Consolation Without Cause (*)
This Consolation is sometimes referred to as taking place without proportionate cause because no accompanying interior or exterior event can explain completely how the Consolation has come about. The Consolation is beyond its cause. For some Christians, their "calling" was experienced this way. Notation [175], the First Time during which a sound Election can take place, is one example of this. Notation [15] suggests that this experience of Consolation Without Cause is not necessarily out of the ordinary during the notation-[20] Exercises journey since the director of the Exercises is to allow the Creator to communicate immediately with the creature. ⁽⁸⁾ English writes that this Consolation Without Cause suggests "an experience of the presence of God that takes over our whole person. I describe this experience as the confluence of two things: a passive experience of the unconditional love of God and an active experience of unconditional response to this love. Such a Consolation is self-authenticating and cannot be doubted." ⁽⁹⁾

Contemplation (*)
Working descriptions for this term are given in the first few pages of Chapter 23, "Concerning Gospel Contemplation." See Gospel Contemplation.

Contemplative Attitude (<) (+)
The ability to allow God into one's heart. When one is able to allow one's real reactions to surface and allow oneself to be vulnerable with God in more than a momentary way, then that person has the Contemplative Attitude.

Correct and Good Choice (*) (<)
This is Puhl's translation of part of the title in notation [175] translated by Mullan as "a sound and good election." Such a choice requires, among other things, that one is experiencing Consolation and Spiritual Freedom.

Counterfeit Consolation (+)
The term I use for a Consolation With Cause [331] during which, in Ignatian language, the Bad Angel is influencing one's heart. Spiritual directors sometimes refer to this as "false consolation."

Countertransference
The helper's partly unconscious or conscious emotional reactions to the person, client, or directee being helped (adapted from Psychiatric).

Criteria(+)(<)
A criterion is a standard of judging -- a rule or test by which anything is tried in forming a correct judgement respecting it. In every decision-making process, many variables are pondered in order to arrive at the final decision. With respect to all these variables, Criteria, whether implicit or explicit, determine what things to consider and the priority of each of them; what to reject; and finally what to accept as the final resolution of the whole process. When the Criteria are not made explicit (as often happens in discerning a decision), they are imbedded in a decision-maker's assumptions, values, beliefs, etc.

Critical Reflection
Reflection itself is a natural human process by which one thinks about and judges some object or event. Critical reflection is the same natural human process but with a disciplined focus which involves analysis of the different
aspects of its subject and evaluation of their significance in the light of other relevant frameworks of understanding. See Social Analysis, Theological Reflection.

Dark Night
One of the stages of spiritual growth in the overall spiritual journey, elucidated by John of the Cross. He uses images of darkness with its different intensities as metaphors for the experience of the soul moving with greater surrender toward union with God. There are different forms of darkness such as the Dark Night of the Senses and the Dark Night of the Spirit, etc.

Deception (*)(<)
Strictly speaking, Deception is a Temptation Under the Guise of Light. It comes to the generous and spiritually mature person during the time of authentic Consolation and Spiritual Freedom when the Bad Angel tempts one towards what seems to be wholesome but, in actuality, contains some "trickery" (misinformation, misjudgment resulting from ambiguity, etc.) to lead that person astray [332]. See Temptation Under the Guise of Light.

Defense Mechanism
Unconscious, intra-psychic process(es) serving to provide relief from emotional conflict and anxiety. Conscious efforts are frequently made for the same reasons, but true defense mechanisms are unconscious. Among the common defense mechanisms are these: denial, displacement, projection, reaction formation, rationalization, etc. (adapted from Psychiatric).

Desire (*)
See Grace I Desire.

Desolation (*)
Desolation, with a capital "D" in this manual, refers to what Ignatius calls "spiritual desolation" in notation [317]. The adjective "spiritual" together with the term Desolation is found only this one time in the Exercises even though Desolation by itself always means this spiritual condition. Notation [317] gives Ignatius' own working definition. Desolation is often a form of resistance to our loving God. Sometimes our psyche is less consciously aware of something it does not want to surface into consciousness and Desolation is the conscious symptom of that resistance before God's love. In popular language, desolate feelings, desolate, and desolation may or may not have anything to do with one's relationship with God. See Resistance, Dryness.

Detachment (*)
One of the aspects included in the concept of Spiritual Freedom. A person has to be 'free from' in order to be 'free for.' Detachment denotes the 'free-from' part of Spiritual Freedom and implies more of a voluntaristic and static quality than the loving, dynamic quality implied in the 'free for.' Consult the first sentence of notation [316]. See Indifference, Spiritual Freedom.

Developmental Worldview (+)
The present worldview that acknowledges how all life on planet earth is developing through stages of growth, and is interactive with other life-forms with consequences for good or ill. This worldview has left behind the classicist and early modern worldviews which believed in a fixed, objectively knowable universe. It embraces the historical consciousness of a later modern worldview. With the discovery of the unconscious and its influences on our perceptions and conscious choices, it acknowledges how we understand ourselves by paying close attention to our historically conditioned, subjective experiences. See Ecological Worldview, Modern Worldview, Postmodern.

Directee (+)(<)
Denotes the one who is receiving spiritual direction in a closed, directed retreat setting or in the setting of ongoing daily life. I use this term whether the directee is making the Exercises or not.

Director of the Exercises (*)
Identifies the one who is giving the Exercises and suggests a kind of competency and skill in discernment that is associated with this ministry. Such a person should have such deep understanding of the Exercises text that this understanding has become second nature, and he/she is skilled enough to give the Exercises in a team setting with peer-peer supervision.

Discernment (*)
In the Exercises, discernment specifically denotes the discrimination and judgement concerning the kind of spiritual movements that take place in a directee's heart as he/she is preparing for, and engaged in, discovering God's desires for him/herself in the process of moving towards greater Spiritual Freedom and conscious decision-making. Spiritual directors often use this term less specifically for all the ways they help another spiritually, such as helping a directee interpret the meaning of a Gospel Contemplation. Consult Chapter Twelve for the differences between monitoring the correct use of, interpreting, and discerning Gospel Contemplations. See Interpretation.

Discursive Prayer (!)
A form of mental prayer in which the use of one's analytical powers of reasoning predominate. In the classicist worldview, this form of mental prayer was called 'meditation'; unfortunately this term came to be equated with Ignatius' use of the term "Meditation Using the Three Powers of the Soul." When Ignatius used the word meditation, he did not mean discursive prayer; rather he meant a pondering of the heart, not an analytical exercise separated from the use of imagination and the reflections of the heart. Discursivity or analysis, as our educational systems have very adequately communicated to us, was unknown to persons like Ignatius who were steeped in the medieval worldview. ⁽¹⁰⁾

Disorder of One's Actions (*)
This phrase occurs in the Third Exercise of the First Week [63]. I refer to this as Hidden Disordered Tendencies. Ignatius would consider an action disordered if one does the right thing but is motivated by affections and attachments that are not oriented to the praise and service of God. The love which moves and influences one to choose anything "should descend from above" [184]; that is, the affection that ultimately motivates one's choice is for one's Creator [166].

Disordered Attachment
One has a disordered attachment if one is attached or inclined to a thing inordinately; that is, if one is inclined to any person, place, thing, attitude, or stance, etc. that is not primarily for the purpose of cooperating with God's desires. Behind all attachments are affections. In the language of the Exercises, the terms "inordinate" and "disordered" are very close in meaning as are the terms Disordered Attachment and Inordinate Affection. See Disorder of One's Actions.

Disposition Days (<)
This term has been employed at the Guelph Centre of Spirituality to denote the preparatory phase before the Exercises proper begin. ⁽¹¹⁾ Though there is daily personal spiritual direction in this phase, there are also presentations on themes that fit the general spiritual/cultural needs of the directees. Traditionally, over the years, in the closed, directed retreat setting, there were always two to three days of preparation on themes implied in the Principle and Foundation. Since the early 1970s, the Disposition Days usually take five to seven days. See the opening six chapters of the Running Commentaries of this manual for one paradigm of the Disposition Days for the notation-[19] setting. Chapter 31 is an application of this concept in the early stages of ongoing spiritual direction.

Dryness (!)
Means that prayer or the spiritual journey has become difficult and one's experiences with God are not as pleasant as one may have experienced before. The road has become cumbersome. Spiritual directors often refer to some directees as experiencing dryness in their prayer or in their day-to-day lives. Such terms as "dryness," "aridity," "going through the desert," and "desert experience" are commonly used in spiritual writings. None of these words or phrases appear in the Exercises text. During the Exercises journey, dryness can be a sign of either Consolation, Desolation, Incipient Desolation, Tranquility [177], fatigue, resistance, some biological reaction, etc. Of itself, dryness is ambiguous. Even if it were merely a biological symptom, it is the way a directee relates to the experience of dryness that determines the nature of the spiritual movement. See Dark Night, Desolation, Consolation, Resistance, Tranquility.

Dynamic Model
An illustrative structure to help one understand a complex reality; for example, a plastic model illustrating the molecular structure of a unit of matter. A model can be static or dynamic. When a model illustrates a process of human development, we can call it a 'dynamic model.' Erik Erikson's (1902-1994) eight stages of human development comprise such a dynamic model. The notation-20 Exercises also give us a dynamic model; the Conversion Cycle explained in Chapter 32 is another dynamic model. Such dynamic models are used to explain the meaning of human processes and/or to make further discoveries about them. Because they have the capacity to stimulate further discoveries, they are also called 'heuristic structures.' See Heuristic Structure.

Easy Consolation
A phrase developed by John Govan, S.J., to denote the kind of Consolation that is easily recognizable. See Hard Consolation.

Ecological Worldview
The worldview that has been taking root in the last part of the twentieth century. It acknowledges how we are participants with other life-forms on planet earth and it stresses how we are responsible for cooperating with other human beings to protect the environment for the future. See Developmental Worldview.

Election (*) (!)
From the Spanish meaning "choice." Since the primary example or analogy used in the Exercises for discerning a choice is that of choosing a major and permanent way of life, the word Election has come to mean the choosing of a permanent way of life -- a calling or a vocation as in notations [169]ff. See Vocation.

Empathy
The quality by which a helper, such as a prayer guide or spiritual director, has imaginative participation in the experience of another person without the loss of objectivity. It is an essential element in the process of listening and understanding (adapted from Wulff and Frigo). See Noticing, Grace of Inadequacy.

Enthusiasm (!)
Notation [14] refers to a directee who experiences what seems like intense consolation and, as a result, is likely to make impulsive and inappropriate judgements and decisions. Actually this enthusiasm may be Consolation, Counterfeit Consolation, or even Desolation. Psychologically it may represent a state of euphoria. Whatever it may be, it is safer for the director of the Exercises to judge it as Counterfeit Consolation [331] or Consolation like a drop of water on a stone [334]. If the directee is naive and/or emotionally immature, it should not be interpreted as a sign of Spiritual Freedom. Historically, in all religions, enthusiasm has been the context for decisions and movements that have led to various kinds of fanaticism.

Eucharist (*)
This terms comes from the Greek and means "thanksgiving." In churches of the Catholic tradition, the term Eucharist means Communion itself or the worship service that leads up to and includes Communion. The latter is often referred to as the liturgy, the Mass, or the eucharistic liturgy. See Mass.

Evangelical Perfection (*)
Traditionally, this phrase has been used to communicate a radical discipleship and a more complete following of Jesus. It is similar in meaning to the phrases "life of the beatitudes" and "life of the counsels" used in Roman Catholic literature of the 1900s. Like these other designations, the term Evangelical Perfection implied a life dedicated to God through the making and practice of vows. In notation [135], this is referred to as "the second state -- that of evangelical perfection." See Life of the Commandments, Life of the Counsels, Perfection, Vows.

Evil Spirit (*)
A demon; that is, a fallen angel of lesser rank than Lucifer. In notation [141], Lucifer is pictured as sending demons to all places and persons to lay traps to lead them away from God. In the medieval understanding of the psyche, spontaneous feelings and thoughts were thought of as being caused by good and bad spirits. In Roman Catholic teaching, the term 'spirit' can mean a good or bad angel.

Examen (*)
See Examen of Conscience, Particular Examen.

Examen of Conscience (*)
This is not the same as the Awareness Examen. It is the activity a person does when one reflects upon oneself in the light of one's "conscience" to judge whether one has acted/not acted in thought, word, or deed according to one's Christian values. Before going to bed, many people reflect over the day in this way as part of their nightly prayer ritual.

Existentialism
The existentialist maxim is "existence precedes essence" (Jean-Paul Sartre). The point is that we are what we make of ourselves and we are responsible for the self we create. Existentialists can be divided roughly into the theistic and atheistic wings; they understand some of key issues of 20th-century philosophy from one or other of these perspectives (adapted from Creamer).

First Kind of Humility (*)
See notation [165].

First Set of Guidelines for Discerning Spirits (+)
The phrase for what spiritual directors refer to as "First-Week rules." It includes the guidelines [313] and [315]-[327] which are relevant for all persons and directees who are going from good to better; that is, who are earnestly seeking to develop their loving relationship with God. Many of their interior attitudes and affectivities are aligned with God's desires even though they may be a long way from being spiritually free. The aspect that distinguishes the First Set from the Second Set is subtlety; the First Set envisages a good person "who has not been versed in spiritual things, and is tempted grossly and openly" -- having, for example, temptations of fear which present obstacles to persevering in God's service, such as laborious work, shame, human respect, and fear of losing human status [9].⁽¹²⁾

Four Weeks of the Exercises (*)
The four major phases of the Exercises journey according to either notation [19] or [20].

General Examen (*)
This is an all-embracing Examen of Conscience -- a searching inventory of all the thoughts, words and actions by which a person has compromised oneself with evil -- much like the practice of the Fourth Step of the Alcoholics Anonymous program and similar twelve-step programs. A person can make this General Examen daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, etc., depending on one's needs. The detailed explanation of how to determine exactly the nature of one's sins, described in notations [32]-[42], is based on some of the ascetical practices in Ignatius' time.

Good Angel (*)
See Angel. In our present cultural language, the Good Angel of the Second Set of Guidelines for Discerning Spirits can be understood as a manifestation of God's Spirit or the Holy Spirit.

Good Spirit (*)
See Spirits. In our present way of speaking, the good spirit can be understood as the spontaneous influences for good which originate from within a person's own psyche.

Gospel Contemplation (+)
The prayer method whereby a person takes a passage from the gospels and participates imaginatively in the event just as if it were happening in the present moment. Some people refer to this method as Ignatian Contemplation. Ignatius himself simply uses the word "contemplation." Further distinctions and working definitions are given in Chapter 23, "Concerning Gospel Contemplation."

Grace (*) (!)
The word which Christians have used over the centuries to denote and connote God's personal relationship and consequent activity with humankind as a whole and with each person individually. Since earliest times, we Christians have believed that anything we do that has any relationship whatsoever to our salvation or to our growth in God's love comes as a result of God's initiatives. "It is by God's favour [grace] that we have been saved" (Eph 2:5). "It is not we who love God but God loved us first..." (1Jn 4:10; Rom 5:8). Grace is a freely given and unearned gift. It refers to the abiding presence of God's life within us, which, in Roman Catholic theology, has been called sanctifying grace. It also refers to those impulses, initiatives, inspirations, etc., that ultimately encourage us into deeper involvement in God's life which, in Roman Catholic theology, has been called 'actual grace(s).' See Asking for a Grace.

Grace I Desire (*)
Or its Latin equivalent, "Id quod volo" (!), is a concept used frequently throughout the Exercises: "The Second Prelude is to ask God our Lord for what I want and desire" [48]. Ignatian spirituality could be called a spirituality of passionate and ordered desires. Frequently during the Exercises journey, a directee is asked to attend carefully to his/her desires because, in some ways, the process of the Exercises can be understood as a purification of one's desires.

Grace of Inadequacy
Standing before a directee, a spiritual guide often finds him/herself unable to comprehend fully the other's mystery. This can be due to the guide's own darkness, shadow, or limitation, etc. But it can also be due to a recognition that grace is not yet been given on either side to unpack or unfold the mystery (Whelan). See Spiritual Poverty.

Guidelines for Discerning Spirits (+)
The phrase for the "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" [313].

Hard Consolation
This term was developed by John Govan, S.J., to denote the kind of Consolation that is not easily recognizable because it involves unpleasant and difficult experiences such as suffering, grief, worried concern, being distraught, etc., which can be misinterpreted as Desolation. This type of Consolation fits the description of the last sentence of notation [316]. See Easy Consolation.

Healing Mode (<)
Directees are in the Healing Mode when their primary focus is upon their own personal growth issues. Their predominant desire is for God's continuing help in dealing with these personal growth issues. This focus prevents them from entering into a discernment concerning their more public role as disciples. Directees can be in the Healing Mode at one time in their life and then in the Call Mode at another. See Call Mode.

Hell (*)
A definitive stance and choice of non-response to love (Frigo). The final and eternal separation from God.

Heuristic Structure
The word 'heuristic' comes from the Greek meaning "discover." In modifying the word model or structure, heuristic more clearly denotes how such a model or structure can be used not only to understand and explain but also to discover. See Dynamic Model.

Hidden Disordered Tendencies (+) (<)
This is the term I use for Ignatius' phrase "disorder of my actions" [63]. It contains his meaning about the non-relationship-to-God aspect inherent in certain of one's actions. In addition, my phrase stresses the hidden, the dynamic, and the affective aspects implied in Ignatius' phrase. All these aspects influence conscious and less-than-conscious choices behind one's actions.

Id
In Freud's model of the psyche, the Id is the unconscious and enduringly influential reservoir of instinctive and irrational tendencies (Wulff).

Identity (<)
In Erik Erikson's usage, identity on a psychological level is the feeling of an enduring and integrative inner sameness that is affirmed by others with whom a person has a sense of solidarity (adapted from Wulff). Spiritual directors sometimes use this word to mean the above along with an enduring inner conviction and felt sense that one is both a sinner and a beloved child of God.⁽¹³⁾

Ideology
An integrated system of ideas and values that serve to define reality and to unite individuals in a common cause (Wulff). Sometimes this word is used in a pejorative sense when an institution's or person's founding myth is no longer effective.

Illuminative Way (*)
In the traditional understanding of the lifelong spiritual journey towards complete union with God, after a person has completed the more basic Purgative Way and before one enters the Unitive Way, one enters the Illuminative Way. "Once the soul is purified from past faults by a long and arduous penance in keeping with the number and gravity of these faults, once it has been grounded in virtue through the practice of meditation, of mortification, and resistance to the disordered inclinations and to temptations, then it enters into the Illuminative Way. This stage of the spiritual life is thus named because the great aim of the soul is now the imitation and the Following of Christ by the positive exercise of the Christian virtues..." (from Tanquerey⁽¹⁴⁾). Jesus is the light of the world, and whoever follows Jesus shall have the light of life (Jn 8:12).

Imagination (*)
Imagination is that power within each of us which equips us to make present what is not present. Imagination is intimately connected with our senses which take in the data coming to us from our environment. Imagination is also linked intimately with our memory by helping the memory to access data from within us. Enmeshed with our cognitive powers, imagination is essential to our grasp of meaning and to the communication of the same.⁽¹⁵⁾ In conjunction with our power of memory, imagination can be a gateway to the unconscious and to deep feelings. The imagination is key to our ability to use and to create symbols that are essential to us as rational beings.

Imitation of Christ (*)
The Christian practice of imitating in one's own life the values manifested in Jesus' life. Ignatius uses this phrase for the close following of Jesus [104], [167]. This is also the title of a famous, small book containing insights of practical spirituality and attributed to the fifteenth century German monk, Thomas à Kempis (died circa 1471) [100].

Incarnation (*)
The name given for the Christian teaching on the Word become flesh; namely, that the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity took on human nature -- the person of the historical Jesus had both the nature of God (was completely God) and the nature of a human being (was completely human).

Incipient Desolation (+)
The beginning of Desolation which is not recognized because the directee is still able to pray, seems happy enough, and at the same time, is not aware of a lack of God's presence. Left to its own dynamic, a growing arduousness, distancing or boredom within prayer will probably develop.

Indifference (*)
Described in the Principle and Foundation [23], and with greater precision in the Second Kind of Humility [166], and more dynamically, in the Third Kind of Persons [155]. See Spiritual Freedom, Detachment.

Inordinate Affection (*) (!)
See Affection, Hidden Disordered Tendencies.

Inordinate Attachment (*) (!)
See Disordered Attachment.

Intentional/Intentionality
Intentional or intentionality for Bernard Lonergan (Jesuit philosopher, 1904-1984) does not mean deliberate or wilful. By intentionality, he means that the operations of experiencing, understanding, judging and deciding, in their very operation, intend objects -- i.e., when I open my eyes, seeing is an intentional operation (Creamer). A directee's interior reactions, to which he/she attends in spiritual direction, have intentionality; they have some meaning which can be understood.

Interpretation(+)
The word 'interpretation,' written with single quotes, denotes that level of judgement made before, and implicit in, discernment in the strict sense. Often, particularly in sessions of ongoing spiritual direction, only this activity is required without the need for the interrelated skill of discernment.

Intimate Knowledge (*)
A deeply felt knowledge that escapes analysis, but nonetheless, deeply impresses itself upon our hearts and minds. For example, the farmer who has worked the family farm for many years may have more intimate knowledge of the land than one who is a scientist and/or agriculturalist.

Lectio Divina
A method of prayer in which a person listens with one's heart to God's word in the scriptures or to some other manifestation of God such as in a personal experience, or in a sunset, etc. Unfortunately, some spiritual directors often explain Lectio Divina as meditative reading only (which can be one way of going about it), but it was practised in early Christian times by monks who often who could not read. It developed as a key form of meditation in the monasteries. It is a natural process which, when one begins to listen with the heart ('lectio'), moves through a pondering or reflection with the heart ('meditatio'), through a response of the heart ('oratio') to a resting in God ('contemplatio'). In some instances in the classicist worldview, Lectio Divina was the name given for the divine office which, in the Roman and Anglican traditions, is read alone or is chanted with others in choir.

Less-than-conscious (+)
My term to denote all those areas of the psyche that are not fully conscious.

Life of the Commandments (!)
A moral life basic to what it means to be a good, moral person. In the Roman church before the Second Vatican Council, this was understood as the ordinary calling of every Christian. On the other hand, the life of Evangelical Perfection was understood as the more extraordinary calling of those who were chosen by God to follow a special form of discipleship, such as a vowed life in a religious order or monastery. In notation [135], the 'life of the commandments' is referred to as "the first state of life -- that of observing the Commandments." See Evangelical Perfection, Perfection.

Life of the Counsels (!)
A life dedicated to radical discipleship and holiness expressed in the beatitudes. See Evangelical Perfection, Life of the Commandments.

Mass
The central Catholic worship service which celebrates the paschal mystery -- the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus -- through the reading of God's word in the scriptures and through the presence of the body and blood of Jesus with the symbols of bread and wine. In the time of Ignatius, the Mass was celebrated daily in early morning. During the Exercises journey of notation [20], a directee would usually attend Mass each day. Consult notations [20], [72]. See Eucharist.

Medieval Worldview
In the medieval worldview, everyone took for granted that God not only existed but was also intimately involved in our world. One Christendom was the ideal. The whole cosmos was understood as being interconnected in a hierarchical order which was more than an ordering of hierarchic logic. The hierarchical order represented a metaphysical reality of inclusion; for example, animals included everything that vegetables had but went beyond them; humans included everything that animals had but went beyond them; etc. Even the choirs of angels were ordered hierarchically. This hierarchic perspective, in conjunction with the truths of the bible, was believed to foster understanding of the nature of things. In this worldview, each person had his/her appropriate place in the scheme of things. In this worldview, everything was filled with powers, mystery and transcendence; miracles could always be expected to happen; spirits influenced our thoughts; gold could be made from iron. In this worldview, people automatically made use of intuitive logic⁽¹⁶⁾ to understand the world. This intuitive logic differed from the rational logic embraced and emphasized by the classicist worldview. See Classicist Worldview.

Meditation Using the Three Powers of the Soul (*)
The powers of the soul to which Ignatius refers are Will, Memory, and Understanding. He calls each prayer exercise of the First Week a Meditation Using the Three Powers [45]. This is NOT a method of discursive prayer. For a person of the medieval worldview (as psychologists and philosophers are once again rediscovering!), imagination was considered very much part of a person's memory and enmeshed with one's reasoning powers leading to a felt understanding. When exercising oneself in this meditative practice, a person decides (WILL) to attend and to focus on an image or truth that arises from some scriptural or personal story (MEMORY with imagination presumed), in order to come to a felt understanding (UNDERSTANDING). See Imagination.

Model
A structure which helps illustrate or explain, in some analogous way, a complex reality; for example, the juxtaposition of billiard balls connected by wire can illustrate and explain the ways certain molecules are bonded together in a unit of matter. See Dynamic Model, Heuristic Structure, Paradigm.

Modern Worldview
Is one that values objectivity and has its roots in the 17th century. In its early inception, it insisted that such objectivity be obtained through experience mediated by rational logic. Later on, what was to count as objective had to be submitted to scientific research. In time as science developed, the notion of objectivity was found not to be a univocal concept. This gave rise to an historical consciousness about knowledge in general. Further, with the discovery of the theories of relativity and of quantum physics, with the knowledge of the expanding universe, and with the evident failure of science to understand and manage planet earth for the benefit of humankind, this modern worldview has been giving way to a postmodern worldview. See Cartesian Mind, Classicist Worldview, Postmodern.

More (*) (!)
In Jesuit spirituality which developed from the spirituality of the Exercises, and after the Society of Jesus was established, this word has come to take on great significance. Its source is primarily in the personal life of Ignatius as recorded in the spirituality of the Kingdom Exercise [97] where the medieval knight who, just newly converted as a follower of Jesus and filled with the passion of courtly love, desires to do more than anyone else as a proof of his love, loyalty and dedication. With the constitutions of the Society of Jesus, this theme became a criterion for the choice of ministries according to which Jesuits were encouraged to choose what was for the greater good of the church. The phrase, "Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam" (for the greater glory of God), encapsulates this spirituality. The theme of the 'more' runs through the Exercises.

Mortal Sins (*)
Serious sins that, when done freely -- with sufficient reflection and with full consent -- are death-dealing. These sins separate us from God's life of grace. The Christian teaching, which is that of the Exercises, is that if someone dies in the state of mortal sin without repentance, that person is divorced from God forever. See Hell, Venial Sins.

Movement(s) of Spirits (*)
Our interior and spontaneous reactions -- thoughts, feelings and their various combinations -- considered in a faith context in terms of the direction they are leading. These interior reactions include all the feelings and spontaneous thoughts that occur within us -- boring, angry, exciting, fearful, depressed, anxious, challenging, insightful, meaningful, etc. What makes these very human interior experiences 'spiritual movements' is their meaning through the perspective of faith along with the direction that is perceived as part of or within them. See Intentionality, Movements, Spirits.

Movements (*) (!)
From the Spanish, "mociones," literally "motions," is the term Ignatius uses from scholasticism. It means interior experiences, such as thoughts, impulses, inclinations, moods, urges, Consolations, Desolations, etc. (Ganss).

Mystery (*) (!)
As in the phrase, "contemplating a Gospel mystery." To contemplate an event from Jesus' life is "to enter into the mystery." In the Roman Catholic practice of praying the rosary, one contemplates a different mystery for every cluster of ten beads. Jesus is the revelation of God's mystery as Paul frequently teaches (Eph 1:1-23). In the memory of the risen Lord Jesus, all the events of his life are present. These are mysteries for they reveal, in a more concrete fashion, aspects of the Christ who reveals God's mystery.

Myth
Myths can be expressed in stories, songs, images, etc. They operate on both the conscious and the less-than-conscious levels of our psyche. Myths can give direction to our lives and help us to connect with the world of ultimate meaning, the sacred, and the ineffable. As a working definition, a myth is a significant image or story that incorporates values, images, insights, dreams, plots, meanings, etc., which, together in this image or story, give energy and focus to our lives.⁽¹⁷⁾ Myths are a form of symbolic discourse. See Analogy, Symbol.

Notation (*)
One of the numbered paragraphs in the edited texts of the Exercises. These numbers have been standardized and commonly accepted by editors to permit easy reference to the different parts of the Exercises.

Notice/Noticing (<)
The fundamental help that a spiritual director gives a directee in order to establish the possibility of discernment. In listening to the experiences of a directee, a spiritual director helps the directee to notice his/her deeper interior reactions and how, through these interior reactions, expressed or implied, God has been influencing his/her heart. This word has been introduced as a technical term by Barry and Connolly.⁽¹⁸⁾

Order and Disorder (*)
According to Ignatius' thinking, to order one's life is to bring its details into harmony with the Principle and Foundation (Ganss). As expressed in notations [1] and [21], the whole purpose of the Exercises is to help a directee to become ordered or spiritually free so that one's desires, choices and actions are aligned with God's desires.

Paradigm
In science, a paradigm is a prototype of scientific protocol -- including theory, principles, methods, results, and applications -- that guides the continuing research of a community of adherents (Wulff). In general parlance, a paradigm is a particularly clear example of something. Often this word is used to connote the mind-set or pattern by which a person perceives the data of experience. Paradigms act as filters that help screen or illuminate the data of one's reflections. See Model.

Particular Examen (*)
A more particular Examen of Conscience in which a person focuses (frequently and more intently) on one fault, one attitude, or one pattern of behaviour that one desires to modify. As a help, one can tabulate the frequency of successes or failures in a little book. During the Exercises journey, Ignatius recommends that the directee use the Particular Examen to monitor how well he/she is keeping the Additions; that is, keeping oneself in harmony with the graces of the Exercises. See notations [24]-[31].

Penance (*)
Exterior penance [82]-[90] is usually a self-imposed discipline to help develop a greater harmony between body and spirit. Exterior penance ranges from bodily discomfort (such as fasting, making a vigil, etc.) to the performance of good works (such as visiting the elderly, donating to charities, etc.) that a person does for a variety of reasons:

To make up to God for one's sins [87];

To discipline one's inappropriate sensuality in order to be aligned with the desires of the true self [87];

To dispose oneself for the Grace that one is seeking [89];

To help rid oneself of faults [90].

Ultimately, exterior penance is the externalization of one's interior penance (such as a desire for the gift of gratitude or forgiveness, etc.).

Perfection(*)
Perfection is the name Ignatius gives to the state of those who habitually love God with their whole heart, mind and will. Persons growing in perfection are those who earnestly strive to cleanse their hearts from all evil and align their choices and their lives, based on these choices, with the desires of God. The more they live in harmony with God's desires, the more they manifest this love towards their companion human beings. Thus it can be said that they are "progressing to greater perfection" [335]. See Evangelical Perfection, Life of the Commandments.

Pietism
Goes back to the reactionary times of the great theological debates after the Protestant Reformation when theology became abstruse and was separated from the experience of ordinary people. It is a way of thinking and speaking about God's mystery from a more devotional and tender point of view. It can be uncritical in reflecting about life because it may emphasize one's personal, private and devotional experiences in separation from, or not integrated with, one's societal experiences. See Critical Reflection, Theological Reflection, Theological Thinking.

Pleasure Principle
The Id's blind dedication to maximizing pleasure and to minimizing displeasure without regard to reality. Although eventually displaced by the reality principle, it remains a strong disposition within the psyche throughout life, sometimes even overcoming the reality principle (Wulff). See Carnal and Worldly Love, Sensuality.

Postmodern
Broadly, it means that which takes us beyond the failed assumptions of the modern worldview (Creamer).

Poverty (*)
In the time of Jesus, the vast majority of people were poor and had a very low standard of living. There was no middle class while only a minority of people were rich. Jesus called his followers, whether rich or poor, to have Poverty of Spirit; that is, interior detachment from material goods whether they possessed them or not. In Matt 6:25-33, Jesus teaches us about the spiritual value of the real poverty of the devout poor and how to view it. Poverty can be sign of, and a means to, interior detachment when inspired and accompanied by trust in God (adapted from Ganss). See Actual Poverty, Spiritual Poverty.

Poverty of Spirit (*)
See Spiritual Poverty.

Prayer Guide (+) (<)
One who has made the Exercises journey, has received training in listening skills, has made some workshops on the Exercises, and is able to guide the Exercises according to a more program-type approach under qualified supervision. Further, he/she is able to design short, prayer programs (one day, weekend, etc.) for congregational settings.

Preconscious
Not in immediate awareness but can be re-called by conscious effort.

Preludes (*)
Each of the prayer exercises has preludes. They come before the 'points' and are part of the settling-in phase as a directee begins a prayer exercise. Often a directee has to "de-mechanicalize" them in order to appreciate the natural flow which they are meant to foster. Asking for a Grace is given as one of the usual preludes.

Principle and Foundation (P & F) (*)
The overall theological and philosophical framework for understanding the thrust of all the spiritual exercises in the Exercises text [23].

Private Thoughts (*)
Thoughts that a person chooses as one's own thoughts, not the spontaneous thoughts that come and go. When one is "in one's head" and out of touch with one's heart and feelings, one is expressing what Ignatius calls Private Thoughts. During the Exercises journey, these are not the primary focus for spiritual direction. Consult notations [17], [32], [33].

Projection
A defense mechanism, operating unconsciously, in which what is emotionally unacceptable in the self is unconsciously rejected and attributed to (i.e., projected on) others (Psychiatric).

Psyche
The whole mind which includes both the conscious and less-than-conscious aspects, all of which are connected to a person's spontaneous thoughts, feelings, emotions, etc. Scripture refers to the thoughts and feelings that arise in the psyche as the "thoughts of our heart." We can refer to this sphere as "our depths," which is the gathering-place in us for our deeper values, hopes, dreams, desires, etc.

Psychological Literacy (+)
A person who has the following awarenesses and skills is psychologically literate:

An ability to listen to another's deeper feelings with empathy and basic, human-relations skills;

Sufficient self-awareness that one is able to recognize and control, to some extent, one's own and another's projections;

A habit of recognizing how we are motivated by the less-than-conscious psyche and an awareness of the value and need for defenses;

Some facility in making use of the language of symbols and feelings.

 

Psychologism
Exaggerated belief in the use of psychology as a way of dealing completely with the human person.

Psychotherapeutic Counselling
Basically, it is a process in which a person, who wishes to relieve symptoms, or to resolve problems in living, or to seek personal growth, enters into an implicit or explicit contract to interact in a prescribed way with a psychotherapist. Throughout this manual, I use this term as a generalized category for anyone -- whether psychiatrist, psychotherapist, family therapist, social worker whose degree includes a large psychiatric component, etc. -- who, in a trained way, applies the focused insights of psychology to help another grow and appreciate aspects of the psyche whether conscious or less-than-conscious.

Purgative Mode (+)
The term 'purgative mode' is the terminology suggested by Elaine Frigo, CSSF, to denote one who is in need of forgiveness (hence, purification), at any time, no matter where one is on the path of the lifelong spiritual journey.

Purgative Way (*)
See Illuminative Way.

Purgatory (*)
In Roman Catholic teaching, this is the realm in which one may need to be purified after death before entering heaven -- the full enjoyment of God's presence. Purgatory is the realm after death where one deals with the unfinished business of this earthly life. In Hindu theology, this concept is embodied in the belief in reincarnation.

Rationalism
Reliance on reason, as opposed to sense experience, for establishing what is true (Wulff). Rationalism is the philosophical position that reality has a logical structure that can be known by means of deductive reasoning (Creamer). Rationalism, which flourished in the 19th century, was influenced by such earlier philosophies as that of Descartes. See Cartesian Mind, Classicist Worldview.

Reformation of Life (*) (!)
Notation [189], "To ... reform one's own life and state" (Mullan), refers to the changes that a directee might consider making within his/her already established state of life. Within Ignatius' context and social framework, when one has entered the Exercises journey and must continue living in one's permanent commitment or state of life, one cannot make an Election but only a "reformation of life" and state [171].⁽¹⁹⁾ See Election.

Repetition (*)
A spiritual exercise by which one intentionally returns, in a later prayer exercise, to a point where one has experienced some movement in prayer [62] -- moments of Consolation (a sense of being lifted up, a sense of God's presence, an unexpected understanding or meaning, etc.); or moments of Desolation (struggle, uncomfortableness, a sense of God's absence, etc.); or moments of spiritual appreciation (a sense of the beginning or deepening appreciation of some insight or awareness).

Repression
The exclusion of disturbing impulses, images, or thoughts from consciousness by an ongoing process that itself lies outside of awareness. Repression is the most basic defense mechanism (Wulff).

Resistance
In general, resistance is any force that tends to oppose a motion. In psychological terms, resistance can be described as a person's psychic defenses against bringing unconscious and preconscious material (thoughts, feelings, images, memories, etc.) to light. In spiritual direction, resistance is any conscious or less-than-conscious block that hinders a person's deepening relationship with God; this can occur in prayer itself, in a directee's relationship with the spiritual director, and vice versa. See Dark Night, Desolation, Dryness, Projection, Transference, Countertransference.

Review (*) (!)
A distinct method or spiritual exercise used in the Exercises journey by which the directee reflects, by oneself, on his/her own experiences of the prayer exercise just finished and notices, by oneself, the spiritual movements that were taking place during the time of the prayer exercise [77].

Rosary
A Catholic devotion, centering on the mysteries of the life of Jesus and Mary, recited with the aid of a circular string of beads called a rosary. The most common rosary consists of 50 Hail Mary's (the angel's salutation to Mary on telling her that she was to give birth to Jesus), arranged in groups of ten (decades), with each decade preceded by an "Our Father" and followed by a "Gloria" (adapted from Wulff). See Mystery.

Scrupulosity
Anxious over-attentiveness to the details of moral or religious requirements (Wulff).

Second Set of Guidelines for Discerning Spirits (+)
The set of guidelines, contained in notations [328]-[336], is for the more subtle understanding of the movement of spirits. These are the guidelines that would benefit directees who are quite interiorly free and experiencing a personal closeness, other-centredness, and generosity towards God. If they experience temptation, it is likely to be a Temptation Under the Guise of Light. Many of their interior attitudes and affectivities are aligned with God's desires in such a way that they are close to being spiritually free. The aspect that most distinguishes the Second Set from the First is subtlety, for the Second Set envisages a good person who is more skilled in spiritual awareness and is seduced not so much by obvious disordered attachments, but by being misguided in loving generosity [10], [332].

Second Vatican Council
The twenty-first ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic church, the second such council held in the Vatican, took place between 1962 and 1965. Such councils are called ecumenical because they are intended to bring together all the Roman Catholic bishops from the different parts of the world. Vatican II has been called the most important event in the history of the church since the Protestant Reformation and the Council of Trent (adapted from Creamer).

Secularization
The progressive substituting of non-religious and frequently scientific interpretations of events for the traditional religious ones (Wulff). Secularization also takes place when traditional religious values are replaced by non-religious values; for example, the value of leisure on the Sabbath by the values of competitive business; or the value of mutual forgiveness and reconciliation by the value of financial and legal justice; or the guilt of personal sin by the guilt of not appearing in socially acceptable ways; or the discipline of asceticism and mortification by the discipline of fasting for good health, etc.

Self-appropriation
Is important in the thought of Bernard Lonergan. Only with the knowledge and appropriation of our interior consciousness, we come to appreciate who we are as human beings and what is true and good (Creamer). This certainly takes place when a spiritual director helps a directee to notice and to reflect upon what is going on in his/her prayer and life experiences. See Noticing.

Sensuality (*)
Pertains to the undue gratification of the physical appetites -- the 'carnal pleasures' that are associated with our body. It is also called the 'concupiscence of the flesh.' There has been a tendency to interpret sensuality as pertaining more to sexual pleasure than to other bodily pleasures (such as the curiosity of the eyes or ears; an undue need to be comfortable and to relax; an undue care for one's personal looks; undue pleasure-seeking in general; etc.) [87], [97].

Serpent's Tail (*)
After the slithering serpent-devil has caused its havoc by its deception, a person can see the serpent's tail by the trail of evil resulting from yielding to the temptation [332].

Shadow
A term used in Jungian psychology to name the denied and undeveloped side of the personality. At times, it is the unconscious opposite of what an individual expresses in consciousness.

Sin (*)
A person commits a sin whenever one chooses to think, say or do something that one recognizes is contrary to the desires of God. Thus sin is a choosing of what is evil over the good. This includes sins both of commission and of omission.

Social Analysis
Originated in the Latin American context when ordinary and disempowered people needed methods to gain power in oppressive situations. Social analysis is usually done in a facilitated group process to understand the social situation more completely in order to make important decisions for group action. It is an example of critical reflection. See Critical Reflection, Theological Reflection.

Societal(+)
Denotes the awareness and appreciation of how our life experiences are affected by organizational structures and systems which affect the paradigms and mental structures by which we think, feel, and make decisions about ourselves and our environment.

Soul
Often when Ignatius uses the word "soul," he means the person, the whole self considered as body and soul together. As many Christians have done throughout the ages, Ignatius frequently names the part (soul, from the Latin "anima") to express the whole self, the living human being (adapted from Ganss).

Spirits(*)
For Ignatius, spirits are always persons, that is, intelligent beings (Ganss). In the biblical and medieval worldviews, a belief in spirits was very much alive as it is in many religious cultures today. According to this belief, there co-exists, in addition to the visible world which can be seen, an invisible world of spirits which continually influence us for good or ill. The psychology of the Exercises takes for granted the existence of spirits. However, to appreciate the subtleties of Ignatian Guidelines for Discerning Spirits and to use them for discriminating and judging spiritual movements, we do not need to believe in the human psychology of the medieval worldview. See Good Spirit, Evil Spirit.

Spiritual Director
In the context of Ignatian spirituality, a spiritual director would be expected to have the competencies of a director of the Exercises. As well, he/she would have had training and supervision in the skill of ongoing spiritual direction. He/she would have a working familiarity with spiritualities of other traditions and their connections with aspects of Ignatian spirituality. He/she would have the Psychological Literacy described in this glossary and would be able to engage in ongoing practical theological reflection with peers in similar ministries. See Director of the Exercises, Prayer Guide.

Spiritual exercises with a small "s" and "e" (*)
The various prayerful programs, techniques and practices which Ignatius gives in his little manual called Spiritual Exercises. He explains this term in notation [1].

Spiritual Exercises with a capital "S" and "E" (*)
The little manual composed by Ignatius Loyola.

Spiritual Exercises in Daily Life (<)
The Exercises journey according to that described in notation [19].

Spiritual Freedom (<)
The term developed and made popular by John English, S.J. In its meaning, it includes what is meant by indifference, detachment and Poverty of Spirit. Spiritual Freedom exists in those moments when a person is grasped so completely by the love of Christ Jesus that the desires of one's heart and the actions, affects, thoughts, and decisions that flow from these desires are oriented toward God. In those moments, one desires to return love for love through one's service and praise made manifest in cooperating with God's desires for our planet and its people. Ignatius' first description of Consolation in notation [316] is itself a good working definition of Spiritual Freedom.

Spiritual Poverty (*)
Another term for Poverty of Spirit. It means an attitude of one's heart according to which a person grows in total dependence on God. It does not mean that one is lacking in spirituality! Since a directee is instructed to pray to be able to follow Jesus in highest Spiritual Poverty [147], this is understood as a special gift from God. Some of the characteristics of a person who lives in highest Spiritual Poverty are these: self-acceptance as a limited and created being; self-acceptance as having made peace with one's own history; dependence on God rather than on one's own resources; acceptance of the fact that one is never totally spiritually free (Whelan); ability to follow the leadings of the Spirit; readiness to let God pierce one's most precious defenses; acceptance of being ordinary; indifference as expressed in notation [166]; etc. See Actual Poverty, Grace of Inadequacy, Spiritual Freedom.

Spirituality
People refer to spirituality as a life of piety, the devout life, the interior life of prayer, etc. Urs von Balthasar wrote that spirituality is the way one understands one's own ethically and religiously committed existence, and the way one acts and reacts habitually according to this understanding. There are many different expressions of Christian spirituality manifesting different aspects of the one mystery of Christ Jesus. The great variety is also influenced by the variety of human psychological types as well as by differences in theology. Although systematic treatment of the spiritual life belongs more to the Catholic than to the Protestant tradition, both traditions have produced spiritual classics (adapted from Dictionary).

Suffer With (*)
See Compassion.

Symbol
True symbols are not just signs. Etymologically, symbol means "to put together." A symbol reveals a non-perceptible order through a perceptible figure. This revealing function defines the symbol and distinguishes it from a simple sign. Road signs, for example, are figures employed by convention to control chaotic traffic on our highways. They are humanly contrived and do not point us toward any awareness that deepens and enriches our experiences of the physical world. On the other hand, symbol denotes a perceptible figure which evokes an experience that embellishes our worldly existence; it does this by revealing more than what the objective world presents to us in physical perception. The meaning of this experience is never exhausted in a literal or objective definition. It opens a fissure of consciousness that discursive reason cannot easily close (Muldoon).

Temperance (*)
Moderation and balance in the use of food and other necessities of life.

Temptation Under the Guise of Light (*)
The temptation that may be experienced by a spiritually mature, generous person and is described in notation [332]. See Deception.

Theological Reflection
A form of critical reflection that attempts to understand some event or personal experience within its social system in the light of the Bible and trained Theological Thinking. Theological reflection became a developed skill in many theological centres by the late 1970's when teachers of theology, who had reached a more developmental worldview, began to appreciate how their specialty had to be connected to human experiences and, therefore, to other fields of knowledge in order to make their theological theory credible and relevant. It is intended for a group setting. See Critical Reflection, Theological Thinking.

Theological Thinking (+)
A way of thinking used by some spiritual directors when they employ concepts and language based on trained theological understanding. For example, instead of thinking about a directee's lack of self-acceptance either in a generalized fashion or in a more psychological mode, they perceive the issue more from a theological viewpoint such as the directee's need to experience one's creaturehood or to believe in the Incarnation. In other words, spiritual directors think theologically when they perceive the implied theological principles behind human experiences and use these principles in the discerning activity. See Theological Reflection.

Third Kind of Humility (*)
The Third Kind (degree, mode, manner) of Humility is described in notation [167].

Thoughts Caused by Angels (*)
In the Second Set of Guidelines for Discerning Spirits, Ignatius implies that certain types of thoughts are caused by angels rather than by spirits. This distinction does not exist in Roman Catholic teaching. The thoughts caused by angels start out (primarily) as ideas from which affections (secondarily) emerge. Whereas the thoughts that come from spirits start out (primarily) as affections within a person's psyche from which ideas (secondarily) emerge. Consult notions [32] and [331].

Thoughts Caused by Spirits (*)
Consult notation [32]. See Spirits, Angels.

Times of Election (*)
When a directee is on the Exercises journey and discerning a significant decision, there are certain moments in which a decision can be made well. Ignatius calls these moments Times for Making an Election. The three of them are described quite clearly in notations [175], [176], [177]. The Exercises according to notation [20] are written from the perspective of the Second Time [176], the context of Spiritual Freedom discerned from the movement of Spirits.⁽²⁰⁾

Tranquility (*)
Ignatius uses this concept in notation [177] in the context of the decision-making process. It is "a time of quiet, when the soul is not acted on by various spirits, and uses its natural powers freely and tranquilly." When experiencing Tranquility, a directee is still in Consolation and could even be experiencing Spiritual Freedom. But in the context of decision-making, the spiritual movements are not clear enough; that is, the indicators of the affective experience do not point to the Unconfirmed Decision with sufficient clarity. See Times of Election, Unconfirmed Decision.

Transference
The unconscious assignment, to others, of feelings and attitudes that were originally associated with important figures in one's earlier life. The transference relationship follows the pattern of its prototype. In certain fields of psychotherapeutic counselling (for example, in psychoanalysis), the helper utilizes this phenomenon as a therapeutic tool to help the patient understand emotional problems and their origins. In the patient-physician relationship, the transference may be negative (hostile) or positive (affectionate). In spiritual direction, transference can also take place and can contaminate the process, particularly when the spiritual director is not aware of it and countertransference develops (adapted from Psychiatric).

Trinity (*)
Ignatian spirituality is definitely Trinitarian. It is rooted in the most central and fundamental belief of Christianity that God is one and yet manifests God's self through the persons of the Father, Son and Spirit. The prayer exercise on the Incarnation draws the directee's attention to the foundational belief that the work of Jesus is the work of the Trinity for our salvation [101]. One of the key mystical experiences of Ignatius was related to the Trinity.

Triple Colloquy (*)
The Colloquy which Ignatius suggests at significant points during the Exercises journey and which incorporates three dialogues -- first to Mary, then to Jesus, and then to God the Father -- as in notations [63], [147], [157], [168], [199] and continually in the latter half of the Second Week.

Unconscious
That part of the psyche of which the content is only rarely subject to awareness. It is a repository for data that have never been conscious [primary repression] or that may have become conscious briefly and later repressed [secondary repression] (adapted from Psychiatric).

Unconfirmed Decision (+)
Special term for denoting the decision that a directee has arrived at through a process of discernment before the final phase of Confirmation. See Confirmation.

Vatican Council
See Second Vatican Council.

Vocation (*)
Generally means the same thing as a "calling." In Ignatius' day as well is in present Roman Catholic parlance, a vocation is primarily a calling to a permanent state of life such as marriage, priesthood, single state with vows (vowed celibacy, or vowed commitment to a religious congregation). See Election.

Vows (*)
A serious and binding promise to God within the context of the church by which one commits oneself to a way of life.

World
In notation [63], the directee is instructed to ask for "a knowledge of the world" so that he/she might not be influenced by it. In our culture, the 'world' would refer to our environment of greed, competition, materialism, workaholism, individualism, and our affluent need to possess things, etc. More subtly, the world implies the influence of our culture which prejudices the way we listen to God's word and keeps us trapped in our mental structures through which, in a vicious circle, we make choices that support the institutions that influence our thinking and choosing.

Worldly Love (*)
See Carnal and Worldly Love.

Worldview
The way a person perceives the world. It is a symbolic, mental, emotional framework by which one allows oneself to experience, think about, and judge one's environment and what happens to oneself and others within it. See Classicist Worldview, Ecological Worldview, Medieval Worldview, Model, Modern Worldview, Paradigm.

 Endnotes 1. This glossary is made up of my "working definitions" of words and concepts actually used or implied in the manual. I have used the following as a help:

David Wulff, Psychology of Religion: Classic and Contemporary Views (New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1991); referred to as (Wulff).

American Psychiatric Association, A Psychiatric Glossary, 5th ed. (Boston: Little Brown and Co., 1980); referred to as (Psychiatric).

David G. Creamer, Guides For The Journey (Lanham: University Press of America, Inc., 1996); referred to as (Creamer).

Mark Muldoon and John Veltri, "From Symbolic Rapport to Public Rhetoric in the Roman Catholic Church,"Grail: An Ecumenical Journal, vol. 11, no. 4 (1996), pp.25-43; referred to as (Muldoon).

Alan Richardson, ed., A Dictionary of Christian Theology (London: SCM Press Ltd., 1972); referred to as (Dictionary).

Also from conversations with Elaine Frigo, CSSF (Frigo), Mark S. Muldoon, Ph.D. (Muldoon), Frank H. Whelan, S.J. (Whelan).

2. Consult Ian G. Barbour, Myths, Models and Paradigms: A Comparative Study in Science and Religion (New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1976).

3. Commentators with a more classicist worldview explain the rationale for this method by suggesting how it is an easy method to use after the directee is tired out at the end of a full day of prayer. Their comments refer to the Exercises according to notation [20] in which four one-hour prayer exercises come before the daily Application of Senses suggested for the latter part of the day. Since, in a classicist worldview, these four prayer exercises were considered to be primarily 'discursive,' this would make sense. Why would their conclusion be a valid one for them?

However, in the light of a developmental worldview and with a more profound understanding of the medieval worldview, we have rediscovered and appreciated the importance of the imagination in its intimate connection with memory, intuition and reason. Consult the closing pages of Chapter 23 of this manual.

4. This phrase was created by John English, S.J., in Choosing Life: Significance of Personal History in Decision-Making (New York: Paulist Press, 1978).

5. Consult endnote¹ page 1 of this manual. The ISECP group (Ignatian Spiritual Exercises for the Corporate Person) contributed a great deal to the development of this concept. The ISECP group called this concept "Graced History." Its manual, Focusing Group Energies, Volume 1: Structured Resources for Group Development (Scranton: University of Scranton, 1992). In it participants are asked to pray over their own "Personal Graced History" and, then, by making use of the group's "History Line," to pray over its "Communal Graced History."

6. For me, this term means the same thing as the term or phrase, "communal spirituality," which is being introduced into the working vocabularies of spiritual directors by John English, S.J., Spiritual Freedom (Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1995), p.275ff. The difficulty with using "communal" by itself as an adjective describing spirituality is that communal connotes any interpersonal faith-sharing group or a religious group that lives together as in a monastery or a village such as an Amish settlement. For me, the adjective "societal" in association with the adjective "communal" draws our attention to a spirituality that also includes the social justice, political, and systemic aspects. The use of the adjective "communal," without another adjective, can lead to much confusion in our psychologically literate culture.

7. Consult endnote 34 in George E. Ganss, S.J., The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius: A Translation and Commentary (St. Louis: Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1992). Ganss translates Ignatius' Spanish as: "A composition, by imagining the place...." This is quite close to Mullan's translation used in this glossary.

Other translations, such as Puhl's, which render the Composition as "a mental representation of the place," may contribute to the continuation of a classicist interpretation. In the classicist worldview, the context for many commentators prior to 1960s, the Composition was presented as a separate step in which a directee had first to imagine the place like a stage on which the play was to be enacted. This led to the teaching that a directee was to imagine first the place and then, while still imagining the place, continue with the rest of the prayer exercise -- and all this was to keep the mind from being distracted. I have never met anyone who was capable of doing such a mental gymnastic. Have you? Why would such a teaching be consistent with the classicist worldview?

8. "Immediately" here means "without mediation" -- "without any previous sense or knowledge of any object through which such Consolation would come, through one's acts of understanding and will" [330] or through some outside influence that could explain the experience.

9. John J. English, S.J., "Mysterious Joy of the Poor and the Complex Causes of Consolation," Review of Ignatian Spirituality [CIS], no. 85 (Rome: 1997), pp.74-75.

10. So when you read traditional works on meditation that go back to the 16th century, do not interpret them with a Cartesian Mind.

11. The Spiritual Exercises, according the notation-20 closed retreat setting proper, begin with the First Exercise of the First Week.

12. Note the kind of temptations which Ignatius considers "gross and open." They are not the same as those associated with notation [314].

13. In the mid-1980s, some directors of the Exercises began to speak of directees going through part of the Exercises in an 'identity mode' and receiving the graces of the Exercises in an 'identity mode.'

14. Adolphe Tanquerey, The Spiritual Life: a Treatise on Ascetical and Mystical Theology (Paris: Desclee & Co., 1930), p.454.

15. I am grateful to Mark Muldoon, Ph.D., for many conversations around how our powers of imagination are enmeshed with our powers of intellect.

16. Intuition is the function by which we perceive things as a whole rather than in parts. Intuition is the sense or hunch we have about a situation or some partial data even before we have the complete data for the judgment. Jesus used intuitive logic when he gave the parable of the sower and when he explained it.

17. Some myths are quite conscious. We name them ideologies. When a personal ideology no longer has positive power over us, it is time to renew our personal myths.

18. William A. Barry, S.J., and William J. Connolly, S.J., The Practice of Spiritual Direction (New York: The Seabury Press, 1982).

19. The analogy that Ignatius employs for the Election process is that of choosing a major state of life or "calling" which involves a permanent commitment -- an unchangeable state of life.

20. Why would it be inconceivable for Ignatius to write the Exercises text from the viewpoint of the First Time [175] or the Third Time?