Sociosomnia: The Act of Porn-Watching 🥸

What if we dream-interpret the act of watching porn? What if we examine its prevalence symbolically as a projection of something in our collective unconscious?

I see sex representing union with the divine—two (or more) become one while remaining distinct. So the draw to porn echoes our longing for ‘nondual awakening’. And yet porn is watching sex from a safe distance. This represents wanting to be close to the divine union without having to surrender fully into it. The ego maintains control, so we don’t transcend. The longing for oneness is never satisfied. 

Guilt usually follows. I see all guilt as a reflection of a primordial guilt of feeling like we’ve done something unforgivable in separating from all-is (by having a separate self). This feeling of guilt perpetuates a cycle of self-judgment where people feel less ‘worthy’ of divine love, which increases their sense of needing that love, which leads back to getting it from substitutes like porn. The increased feelings of unworthiness can lead to needing more extreme substitutes in a vicious cycle. Luckily this guilty feeling is based on a mistaken identity—we don’t actually have a separate self, it’s just a convenient way to refer to one local experiencing. The wave is never separate from the ocean.

If this interpretation has any merit, then perhaps the best response to our cultural addiction is to make clearer avenues to a more true, lasting, and satisfying mystical union.

With love, Jordan