Half asleep/wet dream

[biblebrother234]

I don’t know what I should do, I went to confession saturday for the same thing, but I didn’t ask because I don’t know. The good priest I have is gone wednesday so I have just have a priest who doesn’t really give feedback as much. But I have a lot of doubt on them.

I tend to wake up and then sort of go back to sleep in a half asleep stage where I wake up when I’m having an impure dream. I feel like they are mixed in with my thoughts because there’s no way I could have SO many impure dreams. Not specifically impure but borderline. I was having a dream that looked familiar to another dream and I had the sense that it was turning into something impure, and as soon as I was catching on that it was going to be bad, I quickly decided to wake up but it was too late because I had a nocturnal emission. At the time I didn’t think I was thinking, I KNOW THIS IS MORTAL SIN, I KNOW THAT IM DEEPLY OFFENDING GOD. I wasn’t desiring sexual pleasure either. The thing is I would never entertain a impure thought in real life, I don’t think I ever have until I learned that it was mortal. I know it is doubtful, but my scrupulosity is telling me to confess. But I don’t want to go to confession every other day because of my overactive mind. What do you think on this? I think people are right about not having control of all your faculties because I would never do that in real life. What do you think?

 

[dshix]

I don’t know what I should do, I went to confession saturday for the same thing, but I didn’t ask because I don’t know. The good priest I have is gone wednesday so I have just have a priest who doesn’t really give feedback as much. But I have a lot of doubt on them.

I tend to wake up and then sort of go back to sleep in a half asleep stage where I wake up when I’m having an impure dream. I feel like they are mixed in with my thoughts because there’s no way I could have SO many impure dreams. Not specifically impure but borderline. I was having a dream that looked familiar to another dream and I had the sense that it was turning into something impure, and as soon as I was catching on that it was going to be bad, I quickly decided to wake up but it was too late because I had a nocturnal emission. At the time I didn’t think I was thinking, I KNOW THIS IS MORTAL SIN, I KNOW THAT IM DEEPLY OFFENDING GOD. I wasn’t desiring sexual pleasure either. The thing is I would never entertain a impure thought in real life, I don’t think I ever have until I learned that it was mortal. I know it is doubtful, but my scrupulosity is telling me to confess. But I don’t want to go to confession every other day because of my overactive mind. What do you think on this? I think people are right about not having control of all your faculties because I would never do that in real life. What do you think?

Biblebrother, listen.

THIS IS NOT A MORTAL SIN. It is impossible to sin while you are asleep, and that’s what you were, ASLEEP.

I know exactly how you feel, and that you felt you could wake yourself from the dream before ejaculating, but you CAN’T. I know this from experience, it’s happened to me. I feel like I’m half awake, and am capable of stopping it, but the fact is it’s impossible to do so.

Let go of the guilt; the impurities you experience in dreams are not real, and not sinful. Furthermore, these nocturnal emissions are natural; your body NEEDS to do them, and the dreams come part and parcel along with them; they are not your fault.

Please, please don’t let your scrupulosity make you feel guilty, since you are not.

Speak to your priest about this as well.

 

[bzkoss236]

Sometimes it seems like we have control of our dreams (also called lucid dreaming), but there is nothing to suggest that people actually do have control. It can be more of an illusion.

No sin here.

 

[Genesis315]

In St. Peter Morrone’s (aka Pope St. Celestine V when he became Pope) memoirs (reproduced in Medieval Hagiography: an Anthology, edited by Thomas Head) he talks about how he became scrupulous about this issue and whether or not he should receive communion afterward. Then, he had a dream where he he was tied to a donkey, and he was leading the donkey up a mountain towards a beautiful church. The donkey kept defecating on its way up. Peter decided he should not enter the church with the donkey as its feces would soil the church, but he could not leave it outside. Then Christ appeared in priestly garments and encouraged him to enter the church, but Peter explained to Him why he could not. Christ then said something to the effect of, “what is it to Me if the donkey merely does what is natural to it?” and so Peter and his donkey entered the church with a clean conscience. Peter wrote that after that dream, he no longer worried about such involuntary emmissions.

 

[on_the_hill]

After looking through your posts, biblebrother, you seem to be very much preoccupied with sin. There’s a whole lot more to the Catholic Faith than sin and guilt, right?

Just an observation.

 

[Rete]

It’s not a mortal sin. When I first became celibate, I got these a lot. They came in clusters and were like attacks. The dreams feel like you can’t possibly stop and that it is hopeless to continue living a chaste life. They make you feel guilty for a sin you did not commit, and I suspect they are not always natural in origin. They are demoralizing, but they are not you doing something wrong.

 

[eyesopening]

Actually these type of nocturnal emissions (wet dreams) are a gift from God. They give you sexual release that you desire in a harmless non-sinful way. You can’t sin while you’re asleep. The body needs to rid itself of excess semen and it feels good when it happens. That’s not sinful.

 

[Robert_Sock]

Biblebrother, listen.

THIS IS NOT A MORTAL SIN. It is impossible to sin while you are asleep, and that’s what you were, ASLEEP.

I know exactly how you feel, and that you felt you could wake yourself from the dream before ejaculating, but you CAN’T. I know this from experience, it’s happened to me. I feel like I’m half awake, and am capable of stopping it, but the fact is it’s impossible to do so.

Let go of the guilt; the impurities you experience in dreams are not real, and not sinful. Furthermore, these nocturnal emissions are natural; your body NEEDS to do them, and the dreams come part and parcel along with them; they are not your fault.

Please, please don’t let your scrupulosity make you feel guilty, since you are not.

Speak to your priest about this as well.

It may be impossible to sin while asleep, but many wet dreams have their antecedents in willfully condoning sex during the wakeful state. They may also have their antecedents in the unconscious, where we willfully want sex. This is why we must uproot the source of sin, whether they be rooted in the conscious or unconscious.

 

[Robert_Sock]

Biblebrother, listen.

THIS IS NOT A MORTAL SIN. It is impossible to sin while you are asleep, and that’s what you were, ASLEEP.

I know exactly how you feel, and that you felt you could wake yourself from the dream before ejaculating, but you CAN’T. I know this from experience, it’s happened to me. I feel like I’m half awake, and am capable of stopping it, but the fact is it’s impossible to do so.

Let go of the guilt; the impurities you experience in dreams are not real, and not sinful. Furthermore, these nocturnal emissions are natural; your body NEEDS to do them, and the dreams come part and parcel along with them; they are not your fault.

Please, please don’t let your scrupulosity make you feel guilty, since you are not.

Speak to your priest about this as well.

Note also that the OP states ‘half asleep.’ This means the he was also half awake. He’s not being scrupulous here!

 

[Kamaduck]

It may be impossible to sin while asleep, but many wet dreams have their antecedents in willfully condoning sex during the wakeful state. They may also have their antecedents in the unconscious, where we willfully want sex. This is why we must uproot the source of sin, whether they be rooted in the conscious or unconscious.

We must… Not want sex? On any level?

Is that possible for a sexual person? Or healthy?

To me it sounds like the OP is being scrupulous. I used to have dreams about impure stuff pretty frequently, including times where I would think I was awake and later realize I had not consented to those thoughts. A lot of times, it can feel like we’re “half-asleep”, when in reality we still have no control over our thoughts and actions. It depends on the person.

 

[Robert_Sock]

We must… Not want sex? On any level?

Is that possible for a sexual person? Or healthy?

To me it sounds like the OP is being scrupulous. I used to have dreams about impure stuff pretty frequently, including times where I would think I was awake and later realize I had not consented to those thoughts. A lot of times, it can feel like we’re “half-asleep”, when in reality we still have no control over our thoughts and actions. It depends on the person.

At what level does willfully wanting to to engage in sex become sinful? Unless we are married, I say the level ought to be set at zero.

What the Church teaches is often at odds with what is taught in secular psychology; ‘healthy’ sexual desire is one such area.

Again, many wet dreams have their roots of willfully condoning sexual orgasm in the wakeful state or in the unconscious. Such roots need to be uprooted.

 

[eyesopening]

At what level does willfully wanting to to engage in sex become sinful? Unless we are married, I say the level ought to be set at zero.

What the Church teaches is often at odds with what is taught in secular psychology; ‘healthy’ sexual desire is one such area.

Again, many wet dreams have their roots of willfully condoning sexual orgasm in the wakeful state or in the unconscious. Such roots need to be uprooted.

Actually no. A wet dream will occur every few weeks or months (depending on the man) no matter what if you are not sexually active. It is the body’s way of releasing unused semen.

 

[dshix]

At what level does willfully wanting to to engage in sex become sinful? Unless we are married, I say the level ought to be set at zero.

What the Church teaches is often at odds with what is taught in secular psychology; ‘healthy’ sexual desire is one such area.

Again, many wet dreams have their roots of willfully condoning sexual orgasm in the wakeful state or in the unconscious. Such roots need to be uprooted.

I understand your position here, Robert; you are saying that if a person wilfully wants sex in a half-awake state, it could be sinful.

There are two things wrong with this. First, it is not objectively wrong to want sex! eek Wanting sex as a man comes along part and parcel with the biological package, whether you want it or not. It is when you channel this urge into fantasizing about sex, and making images in your mind about it, and having intentionally lewd thoughts about other people, that it becomes sinful.

Second, even if it is objectively a sin to want sex, (which it is not), it still could not be mortal. Why? Because among the three requirements for a sin to be mortal, one is that the person must give full consent; and obviously you can’t give full consent when you are half asleep, can you? When in this state, your mind is dim, you can say things you don’t remember, and things that happen to you are barely understandable. Hardly a state when the free will is in full operation.

 

[Robert_Sock]

I understand your position here, Robert; you are saying that if a person wilfully wants sex in a half-awake state, it could be sinful.

There are two things wrong with this. First, it is not objectively wrong to want sex! eek Wanting sex as a man comes along part and parcel with the biological package, whether you want it or not. It is when you channel this urge into fantasizing about sex, and making images in your mind about it, and having intentionally lewd thoughts about other people, that it becomes sinful.

Second, even if it is objectively a sin to want sex, (which it is not), it still could not be mortal. Why? Because among the three requirements for a sin to be mortal, one is that the person must give full consent; and obviously you can’t give full consent when you are half asleep, can you? When in this state, your mind is dim, you can say things you don’t remember, and things that happen to you are barely understandable. Hardly a state when the free will is in full operation.

The sin would come from willfully fantasizing about sex in a fully conscious state of awareness, or unconsciously or consciously desiring an orgasm.

 

[eyesopening]

The sin would come from willfully fantasizing about sex in a fully conscious state of awareness, or unconsciously or consciously desiring an orgasm.

I’m afraid you’re going to needlessly worry someone who obviously suffers from scruples. You cannot sin while half asleep.

 

[Kamaduck]

The sin would come from willfully fantasizing about sex in a fully conscious state of awareness, or unconsciously or consciously desiring an orgasm.

I didn’t think it was possible to sin unconsciously. :ehh:

Anyway, obviously if you consciously fantasize about sex (and you’re single), that’s going to be a sin. But it’s completely possible to not fantasize about sex when awake and still have dreams about it every now and then. It’s not a sin to have such dreams, and it’s definitely not mortal if one doesn’t have full consent.

 

[biblebrother234]

I’m afraid you’re going to needlessly worry someone who obviously suffers from scruples. You cannot sin while half asleep.

LOL, it’s already working.

 

[eyesopening]

LOL, it’s already working.

Please friend. Talk to your confessor about scruples, BUT you cannot sin without the consent to sin. You cannot sin against your control. You cannot sin by accident. You definitely cannot sin while half asleep. Your priest will tell you the same. Don’t take my word for it. Talk to your Priest. The good guys wear black. He’ll tell you what you need to know.

 

[Robert_Sock]

I didn’t think it was possible to sin unconsciously. :ehh:

Anyway, obviously if you consciously fantasize about sex (and you’re single), that’s going to be a sin. But it’s completely possible to not fantasize about sex when awake and still have dreams about it every now and then. It’s not a sin to have such dreams, and it’s definitely not mortal if one doesn’t have full consent.

Again, dreams are not sinful, but sin can be subtle and arise in our dreams. For example, we must actively deal with unconscious conflicts that can act as antecedents to sin.

“The man who only avoids the outward occasions of evil, but fails to uproot it in himself; will gain little advantage. Indeed, temptations will return upon him the sooner, and he will find himself in a worse state than before.”
-The Imitation of Christ, Book 1, Chapter 13

 

[eyesopening]

Again, dreams are not sinful, but sin can be subtle and arise in our dreams. For example, we must actively deal with unconscious conflicts that can act as antecedents to sin.

“The man who only avoids the outward occasions of evil, but fails to uproot it in himself; will gain little advantage. Indeed, temptations will return upon him the sooner, and he will find himself in a worse state than before.”
-The Imitation of Christ, Book 1, Chapter 13

You cannot control what you dream. Dreams are not sinful and neither can you have the remotest possibility of sinning while in a dream state. You can have the most perverted erotic dream and there is no way you can sin. Its a dream which you have NO CONTROL over. It is impossible. Please stop bothering this poor person with your unsound advise.