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Last Updated on February 7, 2024 by The Unbounded Thinker
An Introduction to the History of Semen Retention
While discussing NoFap with retainers, most of them inquired about the origins of semen retention. I, therefore, studied the history of semen retention and decided to share my findings today.
Semen Retention in the Paleolithic Era
Semen retention, a practice deeply intertwined with various cultural, spiritual, and physiological beliefs, traces its roots back to the Paleolithic age, a period when religion emerged in early human societies.
During this period, semen retention was mainly practiced by Shamans. Society members who wanted to be shamans were required to abstain from all forms of sexual activity for a certain period. This period of celibacy served as a crucial rite of passage, marking the transition from ordinary existence to the elevated role of a Shaman within the community.
Experienced Shamans believed abstaining from sex allowed them to reach a heightened level of spiritual awareness that enabled them to prophesy, heal, kill, and undo the effects of other Shamans.
The Shamans avoided sex for three months to a year to maintain a heightened state of focus, clarity, and energy, which they believed enabled them to effectively perform rituals and commune with the spiritual realm.
Religion and The History of Semen Retention
Anyway, thousands of years after the Paleolithic period, religions, particularly Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity, also promoted semen retention during the BCE and CE eras. Unlike early human societies, these religions encouraged everyone to practice semen retention.
Buddhists believed semen retention awakened the kundalini energy, resulting in an elevated sense of awareness and spiritual enlightenment. They viewed sexual abstinence as the most reliable practice on the path to liberation because it enabled them to weaken the bonds of craving and attachment that perpetuate the cycle of suffering.
Christians practiced semen retention to keep their bodies pure because they believed the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. They also believed celibacy demonstrated their belief in Jesus Christ as it symbolized the crucifixion of the flesh.
Muslims perceived semen retention as a means of spiritual purification and growth. They believed it purified their hearts and enabled them to focus more on their relationship with Allah.
Philosophers on Semen Retention
Besides religion, philosophers from the BCE era to the 19th century promoted semen retention. For instance, Socrates believed celibacy made people wiser. He said, “by keeping ourselves uncontaminated by the follies of the body, we shall probably reach the company of others like ourselves and gain direct knowledge of all that is pure and uncontaminated, that is, presumably, of Truth.”
Friedrich Nietzsche discouraged sexual intercourse, claiming that it diminishes the heightened spiritual or creative state that artists seek to achieve. For as he wrote in his book, On the Genealogy of Morality, “Every artist knows how damaging the effects of sexual intercourse are to states of great spiritual tension and preparation.”
The Recent History of Semen Retention (From the 20th century To date)
Later, in the 20th century, great men such as Napoleon Hill and Mahatma Gandhi promoted semen retention. Napoleon Hill claimed that sex destroys enthusiasm, subdues ambition, and dissipates the energy nature requires to maintain physical health. Mahatma Gandhi encouraged semen retention by claiming that “a man who is unchaste loses stamina, becomes emasculated and cowardly, and is incapable of any great effort.”
In the 21st century, semen retention resurfaced in 2011 when Pittsburgh web developer Alexander Rhodes founded NoFap, a website and community forum that discourages pornography and masturbation.
Semen retention then gained massive popularity in 2021 when many bloggers popularized its benefits. Today, many young men are embarking on the semen retention/NoFap journey, believing that they will experience many benefits, including increased clarity, heightened creativity, reduced stress, and most importantly, increased female attraction. I wish them all the best on their semen retention journey. SHALOM.
