The Symbolic World

This is a patron video we decided to make public. I look at the difference between Renaissance art and the symbolic language of early Christianity, especially through the mosaics of Saint John Lateran. Saint John Lateran is the cathedral of Rome and the pope’s actual seat as Bishop of Rome. This episode will be easier to understand on YouTube since it's based on visual art: https://youtu.be/Tv...

Why do Christians venerate the relics of saints, and how can these objects perform miracles? I explore the biblical and symbolic meaning of relics, from the bones of Elisha to the incorrupt bodies of saints, and what they reveal about the body, holiness, and the resurrection. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/YnopjkmE6Nk-------------------------------GodsDog: Monk is now officially in stock! You c...

This talk is a repost from the archive. It was given in Feb. 2017 at the Climacus Conference in Louisville Kentucky. Looking at the story of the life of Moses as described by St. Gregory of Nyssa, I use the pattern found there to trace a map of the cosmos which can be used to interpret other stories and images. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/hUWZllivScw This is the second part of a talk. The fi...

The patterns in stories appear as their underlying order and also as a mode of human consciousness. We can encounter the Divine Logos in ancient stories and see how these patterns culminate in the story of Christ. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/S1y-jEYNRNcThis talk is a repost from the archive. It was given in Feb. 2017 at the Climacus Conference in Louisville Kentucky. The original audio was t...

In this video, I look at the story of Prometheus and why our modern admiration for him leaves out an important part of the myth. I explore his connection to Cain, Lucifer, technology, and the recurring temptation to grasp power as if it were our own. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/zvM1RkJ_D1EGodsDog: Monk is now officially in stock! You can also get volumes 1 and 2 on sale during October! Visit...

In this episode, I look at the tradition of St. Mercurius: a warrior saint associated with St. Michael, the death of Emperor Julian the Apostate, and dog-headed men. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/_Qp3Xj153Ac Pre-Order GodsDog: Monk now and/or get volumes 1 and 2 on sale! https://godsdog.com/ 🔓 Become a patron to support us and unlock exclusive monthly symbolism content: https://thesymbolicwor...

I talk with Rusty Reno about the collapse of the postwar “open society” ideal and the return of people’s need for strong loyalties, meaning, and transcendence. We discuss how we got here after the world wars decimated Western civilization: emergent post-war social narratives and identities like nationalism, globalism, politics, “progress”, environmentalism, and transhumanism. Finally we discuss th...

Why is St. Michael often shown holding a flaming sword? I look at how this image developed, its connection to the expulsion from Paradise, the defeat of the dragon, and the emergent sacred geography known as the Sword of St. Michael. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/yE68F1pGPmQ Pre-Order GodsDog: Monk now and/or get volumes 1 and 2 on sale! https://store.thesymbolicworld.com/collections/godsdog J...

I finally sit down with Diana Pasulka to talk about UFOs, alien intelligence, AI, psychedelics, transhumanism, and the strange religious framework forming around all of them. We look at how these phenomena overlap with older spiritual categories, and why the promise of technological transcendence may be a counterfeit of something Christianity already understands. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/...

Dr. Zac Porcu joins me to discuss his upcoming course on the demonological history of the world, looking at the pagan gods, fallen angels, magic, and technology. We explore what happens when you take seriously the early Christian claim that the gods were real, but fallen. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/WMKOzuhnib4 Learn more about Dr. Zac: https://zacharyporcu.com/Join Dr. Zac Porcu for his cou...

This was July 2026's patron video that we decided to make public. If you want to support us and get extra symbolism videos, subscribe a a paying member to The Symbolic World: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribeIn this video, I analyzed the movie Obsession, which was released in May of this year. It had a low budget and was directed by a YouTuber, yet became a massive breakout box office and...

Christian Roy and I discuss Jacques Ellul’s theology of technique (technology) and the way modern systems turn power, efficiency, and mediation into ends in themselves. AI brings this crisis into focus, especially in our speech and relationships, but the deeper question is whether technology still serves a meaningful purpose —or whether we have begun to serve it. We also explore the Christian idea...

Louise Perry is a British journalist, author, and host of the Maiden Mother Matriarch Podcast. She’s a columnist for the Wall Street Journal and has been described as a leading reactionary feminist. She interviewed me for us to discuss why progressivism became such a powerful cultural force, how the postwar story shaped modern politics and storytelling, and why fairy tales still preserve patterns...

In this conversation with artist Matt Rhodes, we explore Dead Gods, his epic comic set in the world before the biblical Flood. We talk about Nephilim, Watchers, ancient patriarchs, dragons, dinosaurs, and what civilization might look like when people live for centuries and Noah himself becomes a warrior at the end of the world. Matt’s website: https://www.mattrhodesart.com/ His YouTube channel whe...

In this conversation with Jay Dyer, we look at predictive programming, propaganda, Hollywood, and the growing role of AI in shaping how we imagine the future. We also discuss technocracy, centralization, and why the most important response may be much closer to home: rebuilding strong families, parishes, and local communities. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/qdMVVyxEL3k Register now for the Univ...

In this conversation with Josh Nadeau, we talk about art, beauty, symbolism, and the recovery of a Christian imagination. We explore why traditional art still speaks so powerfully, how beauty can reveal realities that arguments often cannot, and why the work of artists may matter more than ever in a fragmented world. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/mE1EMCxGuvI Check out Josh Nadeau’s work: Sword...

Story time with Fr. Andrew! In this episode with Fr. Andrew Damick, we explore the symbolism of paradise through a fairy tale, a Norse saga, and the Christian tradition. We look at how the path to paradise is often revealed through humility, sacrifice, death, and transformation —and how these old stories can help us understand the relationship between heaven and earth. YouTube version: https://www...

Part 4. Deacon Seraphim and I continue our journey through the strange world surrounding Noah, the Flood, and the ancient traditions that grew up around Genesis. We get into the Ark, Adam, Melchizedek, sacrifice, priesthood, and a few details I had genuinely never heard before. There’s a lot here that changes the way the story fits into the larger pattern of Scripture. YouTube version: https://you...

I sat down with Martin Shaw to talk about the underworld and the deep pattern of descent and return. He also gave his own fresh perspective on Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey movie. We explored what it means to come home changed, how these ancient stories illuminate the Bible, and why resurrection is inseparable from the journey through death. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/vLHZ-IQzltA Join us...

In this video, I compare The Odyssey and Masters of the Universe to explore two very different visions of masculinity and heroism. While one reduces masculine strength to fantasy, insecurity, and mockery, the other confronts its dangers while still moving toward repentance, reconciliation, and the return home. The difference is not simply political. It is the difference between a story that despis...

It's not hard to find your tribe. The real challenge today is not losing yourself within one. Luke Burgis and I discuss why we struggle as modern people to belong without losing ourselves, how technology fragments our desires, why family, friendship, and real communion are essential to becoming a person, and also the opposite, that to really connect with others you must be true to yourself. Yo...

Deacon Seraphim Rohlin joins me for an emergency Universal History episode to debate Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of The Odyssey. We discuss what the film gets right and where it misunderstands the ancient world. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/lKIxTvWNDNw Join us September 24–26, 2026 for a summit, hosted by Symbolic World in St Giles’, Oxford, United Kingdom at Pusey House: https://symbolicw...

Spoiler alert. In this video, I offer a full symbolic breakdown of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, going through the entire film sequence by sequence to examine its use of trickery, guilt, hospitality, memory, and the return of the father. I explain that I think Nolan is deliberately unsettling both the left and the right, and why the story he tells is definitely a contemporary retelling, but ult...

Malcolm Guite is a poet and Anglican priest. He is a Life Fellow of Girton College, Cambridge and lives in Norfolk, England. He lectures widely in England and North America on Theology and Literature. His books include Sounding the Seasons; Seventy Sonnets for the Christian Year (Canterbury 2012). The Singing Bowl; Collected Poems (Canterbury 2013) and Parable and Paradox (Canterbury Press 2016) a...

In this video, I discuss Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated new film adaptation of The Odyssey after watching it at the premiere. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/K3wkrDbRgDs Sign up for the Universal History Masterclass during the month of July and get 15% off: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/universal-history-masterclass 🔓 Become a patron to support us and unlock exclusive monthly...