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From the Church Fathers

Even a pious person is not immune to spiritual sickness if he does not have a wise guide -- either a living person or a spiritual writer. This sickness is called _prelest, or spiritual delusion, imagining oneself to be near to God and to the realm of the divine and supernatural.

Even zealous ascetics in monasteries are sometimes subject to this delusion, but of course, laymen who are zealous in external struggles (podvigi) undergo it much more frequently. Surpassing their acquaintances in struggles of prayer and fasting, they imagine that they are seers of divine visions, or at least of dreams inspired by grace.

In every event of their lives, they see special intentional directions from God or their guardian angel. And then they start imagining that they are God's elect, and often try to foretell the future.

The Holy Fathers armed themselves against nothing so fiercely as against this sickness -- prelest.

St. Seraphim of Sarov

We are all vulnerable to falling into the trap of prelest. That is why it is very advisable to find a good Spiritual Father.

Dn. Robert

Someone, I think Gordo, posted a link the other day on the ECF. I came across this one and posted in on another forum and I think it is a fair warning about prelest - but not in those words...

He also said, 'The heights of humility are great and so are the depths of boasting; I advise you to attend to the first and not to fall into the second.'

from http://www.cin.org/dsrtftin.html