Why Are People Deceived by Empty Visions and Dreams?
There are seven reasons why Christians are deceived by visions and dreams that seem to be from God: pride, vainglory, which is the first daughter of pride; the inexperienced and weak mind of Christians; the unwise zeal of some Christians who pray and fast excessively to have visions, about which St. Isaac the Syrian says: “He who has ill zeal suffers from a great sickness.” The fifth reason for deception is disobedience to spiritual fathers and the arrogance of certain believers, especially the proud, which makes them easy prey for the devil. The sixth reason is the presence of unconfessed and hidden personal sins, and the failure to sincerely confess their thoughts to their spiritual father. Finally, the seventh reason Christians are deceived by false dreams and visions is ignorance of oneself and the lack of reading of the Holy Scriptures and the writings of the Holy Fathers.
The wise Sirach speaks to this, saying: “Dreams have deceived many, and those who put their hope in them have fallen” (Sirach 34:1-7). Those who easily believe in dreams and visions without careful examination and guidance, as well as those who seek out fortune-tellers and sorcerers, should be placed under an epitimia (penance), and should be barred from Holy Communion for up to seven years.
St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) on Dreams
St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) says the following about dreams:
“Your dreams are delusions, leading to deception those who do not guard themselves against them. Do not believe in any dreams, and may God’s mercy protect you.”
Demons use dreams to disturb and harm human souls. Even inexperienced monks who pay attention to their dreams cause harm to themselves. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the nature of dreams for a person whose nature has not yet been renewed by the Holy Spirit.
God has arranged the human condition in such a way that during sleep, the entire person rests completely. This rest is so thorough that during sleep, a person loses awareness of their own existence, reaching a state of self-forgetfulness. During sleep, all activities associated with effort and those consciously directed by reason and will cease; only those activities essential to human existence and inseparable from it continue. In the body, blood continues to flow, the stomach digests food, the lungs breathe, and the skin excretes moisture. In the soul, thoughts, dreams, and emotions continue to multiply, but not under the direction of reason and will, but rather through the unconscious action of nature. Such dreams, accompanied by characteristic thoughts and emotions, constitute dreams. They are often strange because they do not belong to the system of voluntary and intentional thoughts and reflections of a person but arise spontaneously and independently, according to the law and demands of nature. Sometimes, dreams carry an unconscious reflection of voluntary thoughts and reflections, and sometimes they result from spiritual disposition. Thus, dreams in themselves cannot and should not have any significance. It is absurd and entirely illogical for some people to see in their dreams a prediction of their own future or that of others or to assign them any other significance.
The Danger of Dreams and Demonic Deception
Demons, who have access to our souls while we are awake, have even greater access during sleep. During sleep, they tempt us with sin, adding their own delusions to our dreams. When they see that we pay attention to dreams, they strive to make them more interesting, thereby drawing our attention further to these dreams, gradually awakening our trust in them. Such trust is always associated with vanity and pride, and vanity and pride distort our spiritual perception of ourselves, leading our discernment and actions astray, which is precisely what demons seek.
For those who are already far along in vanity and pride, demons begin to appear as angels of light, as martyrs and saints, and even as the Mother of God and Christ Himself, praising their lives and promising them heavenly crowns, thereby elevating them to great heights of vanity and pride. Such heights are ultimately a perilous abyss.
We must understand well that in our fallen state, which has not yet been renewed by divine grace, we are incapable of seeing any other dreams except those formed by the shadows of the soul and the deceits of demons. Just as in a waking state, we are constantly and uninterruptedly confronted with thoughts and dreams brought about by our fallen nature or by demons, so too, during sleep, we only see those dreams that arise under the influence of our fallen nature or demons.
The Rarity of Divine Dreams
Just as our consolation in a waking state consists of the compunction that arises from the awareness of our sins, from the memory of death and God’s judgment—thoughts that are given to us by divine grace living within us, planted in us by holy Baptism, and brought by God’s angels in accordance with our repentant disposition—so too, in sleep, very rarely, only in extreme need, God’s angels may show us our end, the torments of hell, or the terrible judgment after death. From such dreams, we are filled with the fear of God, compunction, and tears over ourselves. However, such dreams are given very rarely, either to ascetics or even to notorious and great sinners, according to a special and incomprehensible divine providence. They are given very rarely, not because of the stinginess of divine grace—no!—but because everything that happens to us outside the ordinary order leads us to vanity and pride, and it disturbs our humility, which is so essential for our salvation.
The will of God, whose fulfillment leads to human salvation, is so clearly, so powerfully, and so thoroughly presented to us in the Holy Scriptures that any additional intervention for the sake of human salvation, through a violation of the general order, is entirely superfluous and unnecessary. To the one who pleaded for the resurrection of the dead to be sent to his brothers to advise them to move from the broad to the narrow path, it was said: “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.” When the petitioner objected: “No… but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent,” the following answer was given: “If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead” (Luke 16:27-31).
Experience has shown that many who were granted to see in a dream the toll houses, the Last Judgment, and other posthumous horrors were shaken by the sight for a short time, but later became distracted, forgot what they had seen, and began to lead a careless life; on the other hand, those who had no visions at all, but diligently studied the law of God, gradually acquired the fear of God, achieved spiritual progress, and with the joy that comes from the news of salvation, passed from the earthly valley of tears into the blessed eternity.
