The Symbolic World

I recently had the privilege to visit Ralston College where I had a wonderful discussion with Gregg Hurwitz about meaning, art, and the future of culture. We also gave advice to the young students at Ralston College about navigating the life of an artist. RALSTON COLLEGE: A revival and reinvention of the traditional university. A fellowship for anyone, anywhere who seeks the truth with courage. Wh...

In this conversation with John Vervaeke and Christopher Mastropietro we discuss their collaborative work on the 'Awakening from the Meaning Crisis' project, exploring the dynamics of their partnership, the impact of their ideas on contemporary discourse, and the challenges of making complex concepts accessible. They delve into the importance of narrative in understanding philosophical ideas, the r...

The world is changing rapidly, and the transformation we’re witnessing—especially within the Church—has been astonishing. Across America, Orthodox churches are growing at an unprecedented rate, and cultural shifts that once seemed impossible are now unfolding before our eyes.   For this week's video, we revisit my very first public event with Jordan Peterson, at The Resurrection of Logos event, wh...

I had a wonderful discussion with James Orr. Dr Orr is Associate Professor of Philosophy of Religion at the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Cambridge. He was also one of the panel members for the Daily Wire Plus Exodus and Gospels seminars, which we discuss in this video. We also talk about our difference approaches and perspectives on Scripture, the current cultural shift and Christianit...

This is a repost of the patron video for January 2025. Given the recent announcement about project Stargate I delved into modernity's quest for forbidden knowledge and how it relates to today's obsession with UFOs, AI, psychedelics, and even transgenderism. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/h79SINKwmjA =========== NEW COURSE: The Symbolic World Goes to Middle-Earth Join us for an in-depth study of...

For the past few decades we have heard from the new atheists just how horrible religion is, that religion is responsible for all these terrible things like the inquisition and witch burnings - but what if I told you that there are patterns or structures behind this kind of behaviour that are simply human, and are not unique to religious people, nor to your ideological or political opponents, but e...

In this episode Richard Rohlin goes solo to give us an introduction about JRR Tolkien's vision for Universal History. Later this month he will be teaching a course on this topic. Register now for the Tolkien and Universal History course by Richard Rohlin on The Symbolic World website: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/tolkien-and-universal-history Cost: $150 Discount: 10% off for all Symbol...

In this conversation, Jonathan Pageau and Annie Crawford delve into C.S. Lewis's work, particularly focusing on 'Till We Have Faces.' They explore the significance of this book in understanding Lewis's thought, its mythic elements, and the interplay between paganism and Christian themes. The discussion also touches on the evolution of Lewis's writing style, the role of myth and fairy tales, and th...

Fr. Stephen De Young is back on the podcast to discuss his latest book, St. Paul the Pharisee. St. Paul is at the core of many modern misunderstandings about Christianity; Fr. Stephen presents how we can understand St. Paul’s writings within the context of who he was, when he lived, and who he was addressing in his epistles, ultimately bringing us closer to the vision Christ Himself gave us. -Buy...

Paul Kingsnorth gave a provocative talk for First Things' Erasmus Lecture of 2024, titled "Against Christian Civilization". In this episode, we discuss the essence of his argument, delving into the fundamental tensions between Christianity and civilization. How does faith interact with culture? What is the Biblical narrative around cities and governance? Are we misusing Christianity as a tool for...

In celebration of the Feast of Theophany I discuss the role of St. John the Baptist, or St. John the Forerunner, as he's known in the Orthodox tradition. Why does Christ need a forerunner? What is he actually doing, symbolically? And how does his appearance, behavior, and death participate in the pattern that's already being set up in the Old Testament? Original YouTube version: https://youtu.be/d...

For this interview I have a great discussion with organist, pianist, conductor, arranger, and recording artist Matthew Wilkinson, who also happened to put together the Symbolic World intro music. We delve into the symbolism of music, particularly focusing on Bach's organ works. The discussion also touches on the evolution of musical styles from the Baroque period to the Classical, modern and postm...

This is a repost of a talk given at St-George Antiochian Orthodox Church in Montreal, originally posted in 2018. The Nativity icon is not only the image of an event that happened two thousands years ago, but rather by its form and the hierarchy of its elements, shows us the inner working of how the Divine Logos creates the world and how His incarnation acts as the anchor, the fulcrum around which...

In this episode, I explore a dark narrative aspect of the Christmas story: the Massacre of the Innocents at the hand of King Herod, connecting it to various Old Testament variations on the pattern: Joseph and the Pharaoh, Jacob and Esau, and David and King Saul. Christ brings all of these stories together in a unique and mind-blowing way, not just in the Gospels, but also in what happens in histor...

This is a repost of the November 2024's patron video where I take a closer look into the restoration of Notre Dame de Paris. After a devastating fire in 2019, and 5 years of reconstruction, Notre Dame is now officially open. But did they get it right in how they rebuilt the church? 🔒 BECOME A PATRON: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe  💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com 🔗 L...

I sat down with Fr. Josiah Trenham, archpriest at St. Andrew Orthodox Church in Riverside, California, and founder and director of Patristic Nectar Publications. With over 30 years of experience as a priest in America, Fr. Josiah has a wealth of knowledge about the state of Orthodoxy in the West and the challenges converts face. We discuss various aspects of Orthodox and contemporary life: beauty,...

A clip has been circulating from the upcoming Christianities movie, hosted by John Heers, of Tucker Carlson recounting a terrifying experience he had where he woke up with bleeding claw marks on his sides and is convinced it was a demonic attack. In this video I discuss such experiences. How is it possible that a spiritual entity can physically manifest? Support the Christianities movie and check...

Rod Dreher and I had a great discussion about his latest book, Living in Wonder. We discussed re-enchantment, UFOs, AI, attention, the internet, and more. Enjoy! Get Rod's book - Living in Wonder: Finding Mystery and Meaning in a Secular Age: https://www.amazon.com/Living-Wonder-Finding-Mystery-Meaning/dp/0310369126 YouTube version: https://youtu.be/KvNM1AefXN0 ===========Book description=========...

This episode is part of our miniseries of Universal History episodes focused on Ireland. We talk about the voyage of St. Brendan the Navigator, one of the mythical founders of Ireland, along with a general exploration of what it takes to create culture and being a Christian in the world. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/nlzEUV5sV2o Previous UH episodes on Ireland: 1. Universal History: Ireland, t...

This talk by Fr. Stephen DeYoung is from the Symbolic World Summit that took place in Florida on the weekend of February 29th, 2024. All other talks and discussions from the event can be accessed through the Symbolic World website if you buy the video package. Other speakers included myself, Jordan Peterson, Dr. Martin Shaw, Richard Rohlin, Neil DeGraide, Fr. Dcn. Nicholas Kotar, Vesper Stamper, a...

WARNING: The following episode discusses difficult subjects and may not be suitable for children. This is a repost of January 2020's patron-only video where I talked about a book called Malleus Maleficarum, translated as The Hammer of Witches, which appeared in the late 15th century. This controversial book has become the central point of our imagination about witches and exemplifies the uneasy tr...

In this video, I discuss the double symbolism of St. Peter as described in the Scriptures. This is related to my last video about Lucifer and the issue of how a representative or a vicar is always in a dual situation where they can become transparent to authority from above, or take authority for themselves... My previous video on this topic: The Real Meaning of Lucifer: https://youtu.be/qaoSLwmPA...

"The soul is not fed entirely by logic, we are fed by images. Ideas are interesting, but when we want to be absolutely poleaxed by wonder it is a story that's going to do it." I had a wonderful discussion with the captivating storyteller and mythographer, Dr. Martin Shaw, about the value of - not only understanding - but also telling and entering into stories. We talk about the various traditions...

In this video I discuss the meaning and symbolism of the title Lucifer, or the Morning Star, drawing on the Old and New Testament. How it is that this title both refers to Christ, as well as the Adversary? BOOKS Pre-order Jack and the Fallen Giants and GodsDog 2 at a discounted price. Limited stock of Snow White and the Widow Queen is also available for purchase: https://store.thesymbolicworld.com...

John Vervaeke and I discuss the cognitive science of ritual: the many different aspects of ritual and its importance even in the pursuit of reason, among sacred and secular spaces, to mark time and identity, to establish transformation, and more! John is truly making headway in giving us the concepts and vocabulary to understand symbolic and ritual participation across different participatory leve...