Why? Because not everyone you encounter will be you. We already know, from an earlier chapter, that to be a Christian Cleric who is actually and materially empowered by the Deity, you have to be good. Neutral, Chaotic, or Lawful really doesn't matter. What matters is that you are good.
Here's the thing. In your congregation, there are going to be people...good people, kind people, folks doing their darndest to do the right thing...whose approach to being good is different than your own. If you're not careful, you can mistake that difference for evil. And when you treat good folks as if they are evil, you have a hand in creating the evil.
As a strongly neutral good cleric, for example, I'll often find myself getting frustrated by fellow walkers of the way or fellow clerics who seem to be an endless font of chaos. They're scattered and fluttery, all over the place, as they leap from one concept to another without seeming to consider the implications. They're passionate about something, full throttle all in and full of dreams, and then the next thing you know they've moved on to something else, leaving the business of maintaining the thing they've started to others.
I'll also find myself frustrated by those who focus on structure to the seeming exclusion of all else, the ones who think about every new initiative in terms of liability exposure and accountability protocols. Energy and creativity, joyfulness and playfulness, these things feel stifled. Growth and the transformative change that is at the heart of our Way starts feeling like a secondary concern, and the winds of the Spirit feel becalmed. This is a particular problem for Presbyterians, The Maker help us.
But just because these folks think differently and act differently does not mean they are evil. Chaotic Good and Lawful Good, sure. But not evil. As a cleric whose primary focus is the furtherance of the good, being aware of the joyful and necessary balance between the two is essential. As a walker of the Way, you know that the narrow path is filled with individuals who have all kinds of different gifts, abilities and skillsets. Again, encouraging that balance is key for we Neutrals, but for both lawful folk and the chaotic creatives, being able to support the different soul who seeks the good is a central part of our Way.
That encouragement comes both for you personally in your clerical journey, but also as you encounter Lawful and Chaotic Good types chafing against their difference within your community. They'll get frustrated with one another, and resentful of one another, and resistant to one another, as they feel order or freedom threatened. Or annoyed at you, if you're a Neutral, as you stand wishy-washily in the balance.
Where you encounter such conflict, a cast of Know Alignment is best followed by a cast of Bless. Casting Know Alignment in such a situation is best done so that everyone sees what you're doing, and so that the subsequent Bless spell hits everyone with equal beneficence. The effect of that is to letting all partners in that tension to focus on the good in one another, and to realize that their common purpose to serve the good has primacy.
So...how to cast this one? Like the related but simpler Detect Evil, Know Alignment requires that you open yourself to the fullness of a system or network of relationships. It is a spell that requires indirect seeing, a setting aside of yourself so that your own place within the system does not cloud your vision.
This stepping outside of oneself is best done through a combination of contemplative practice, self-stilling, prayer, and reason. Also helpful in the casting are two forms of scroll, from both the Meyers Briggs and the Enneagram Schools of Alignment Assessment. These don't approach alignment in the traditional way, and require the participation of the spell targets to cast, but both have proven useful over the years. I prefer the former scroll, but the latter has some significant proponents among clerics I respect.
Finally, another reason to cast this spell regularly on your leadership team is to watch for twitches and variances towards evil. It can happen to the best of us, if we are stressed and in a place of challenge. The yearning for power over others and obsession with selfish ends that define the dynamics of evil will often overcome communities or suddenly begin to consume individuals.
It even overcomes clerics. There are, as all can plainly observe, evil clerics. Being able to tell one from another is central. Particularly if the cleric who may be bending towards evil is you.
That's the greatest challenge in casting this one, because a good group cast will naturally include you in it. And when the message is returned from the Deep Real that you're not quite as pure as the driven snow, you need to be ready to hear it.
As an Order that cares deeply for the furtherance of the Good, there are few spells more important than know alignment. Add it to your spell book, and remember to include yourself in the casting.
