The Symbolic World

Jonathan Pageau
The Symbolic World

Jonathan Pageau looks at symbolism in all its forms, from its source in sacred stories and images to contemporary culture and ultimately how it shapes the world we encounter.

  1. 1 NOV

    364 - Did the Witches Win? The Hammer of Witches through a Symbolic Lens

    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 transition between the medieval worldview and what would become the modern worldview. Original YouTube version: https://youtu.be/S75AfTuzLQg We decided to make this video public for Halloween. Please consider supporting us for exclusive patron videos like this. https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe  --- Sign up for Dr. Martin Shaw's first-ever live online course, Christian Wonder Tales, starting November 12th. This 4-week, 8-hour course is hosted on the Symbolic World Circle Community. Patrons at the Involved level or higher get 10% off, apply your discount code at checkout: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/christian-wonder-tales Mythographer, writer, and storyteller Dr Martin Shaw takes us deep into the heart of what he calls Christian Wonder Tales. Profoundly mythic, these teaching stories range from the early saints through to the grandeur of the Round Table and Arthurian tradition. Shaw emphasises these stories as remerging providentially on time for the perils of modern life. Filled with vocation, sacrifice, and courage, these are an inheritance many of us simply didn’t know we had. --- 💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com 🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau  📱 SOCIAL MEDIA   Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheSymbolicWorld  Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/pageaujonathan  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathan.pageau Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/  My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson.

    20 min
  2. 19 OCT

    363 - The Double Symbolism of St. Peter: Shepherd and Satan

    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/qaoSLwmPARk?si=i2EVHFBPVpVbxTyG --- Sign up for Dr. Martin Shaw's first-ever live online course, Christian Wonder Tales, starting November 12th. This 4-week, 8-hour course is hosted on the Symbolic World Circle Community. Patrons at the Involved level or higher get 10% off, apply your discount code at checkout: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/christian-wonder-tales  Mythographer, writer, and storyteller Dr Martin Shaw takes us deep into the heart of what he calls Christian Wonder Tales. Profoundly mythic, these teaching stories range from the early saints through to the grandeur of the Round Table and Arthurian tradition. Shaw emphasises these stories as remerging providentially on time for the perils of modern life. Filled with vocation, sacrifice, and courage, these are an inheritance many of us simply didn’t know we had. 🔗 All links: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau  Become a Symbolic World patron and get access to exclusive content like a monthly patron Q&A and an extra symbolism video every month, as well as sales on our courses: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe  BUY OUR BOOKS NOW ON OUR SYMBOLIC WORLD PRESS PRE-ORDER SALE: https://store.thesymbolicworld.com  Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/  My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson.

    31 min
  3. 10 OCT

    362 - Dr. Martin Shaw - Christian Wonder Tales

    "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 of storytelling covered in his upcoming course, how to approach these tales of our inheritance, the modern taming of Christianity, and how Bible stories are different from pagan and more peripheral myths. Original YouTube version: https://youtu.be/uPQdfx5a-R4 Sign up for Dr. Martin Shaw's first-ever live online course, Christian Wonder Tales, starting November 12th. This 4-week, 8-hour course is hosted on the Symbolic World Circle Community. Patrons at the Involved level or higher get 10% off, apply your discount code at checkout: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/christian-wonder-tales Mythographer, writer, and storyteller Dr Martin Shaw takes us deep into the heart of what he calls Christian Wonder Tales. Profoundly mythic, these teaching stories range from the early saints through to the grandeur of the Round Table and Arthurian tradition. Shaw emphasises these stories as remerging providentially on time for the perils of modern life. Filled with vocation, sacrifice, and courage, these are an inheritance many of us simply didn’t know we had. --- Timestamps: 00:00 - Coming up 00:44 - Intro music 01:09 - Start 01:52 - A failure that makes honey 05:46 - Pre-Christian Ireland 08:05 - The Arthurian tradition 09:53 - A rule for life 12:29 - Follow an animal 16:09 - Return to these stories 20:20 - The soul is not only fed by logic 24:53 - Why has Christianity become so mundane? 33:39 - Stories that are too strange 36:00 - How were they preserved? 38:08 - Stories that Martin and Jonathan struggled with 44:54 - The Bible 48:57 - You can't draw Jesus with one line 53:07 - The Gospel seminar 56:06 - Let the stories do the work --- 💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com 🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau  🔒 BECOME A PATRON: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe  Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/  My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson.

    1h 3m
  4. 26 SEPT

    360 - John Vervaeke - The Cognitive Science of Ritual

    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 levels. Enjoy! Join us for John Vervaeke's new live course: The Cognitive Science of Ritual. The 6 weeks of lectures start on Oct 7th. Involved patrons get 10% discount. Apply code at checkout. Register today: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/the-cognitive-science-of-ritual Visit our brand new Symbolic World Store now to buy and pre-order our books, like Snow White and the Widow Queen (limited time offer), our new upcoming fairy tale book Jack and the Fallen Giants, GodsDog: Moster and Warrior, digital products, prints, and more: https://store.thesymbolicworld.com  🔗 All links: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau  🔒 BECOME A PATRON: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe  Timestamps: 00:00 - Coming up 00:51 - Intro music 01:17 - Introduction to Cognitive Science 04:16 - Ritual and an advent of the sacred 06:18 - Meaningful ritual 08:23 - Why work against ritual? 14:07 - Replace religious with civic 15:47 - Hermeneutics of suspicion 18:24 - Progressive rituals 23:23 - Transformation 27:51 - Marking identity 36:17 - Ritual as space Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/  My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson.

    43 min
  5. 19 SEPT

    359 - John Vervaeke and Jordan Hall - Why Christianity?

    This conversation is in part John Vervaeke's response to my previous video with Jordan Hall (The End of Strategy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnR2PYtLLnI) where we discussed Jordan's recent conversion to Christianity. John fires up some questions, and we discuss different aspects of sensemaking and religious structures to answer the question: Why Christianity? Original YouTube version: https://youtu.be/Vp_08T0Ucik REGISTER TODAY FOR OUR NEW SYMBOLIC WORLD COURSE WITH JOHN VERVAEKE: The Cognitive Science of Ritual. Live classes start on October 7th, 2024, 2-4 pm EST on the Symbolic World Circle community. This is a 6-week, 12-hour online course. All lesson recordings will be made available afterward and all materials will be provided. The final lesson will be co-hosted by Jonathan Pageau in a Q&A format. All patrons at the Involved tier or higher get a 10% discount; see your unique code at the top of the course page and apply at checkout: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/the-cognitive-science-of-ritual Join Jonathan Pageau, Jordan Hall, John Heers, and others in Florida for an exclusive, intimate weekend filled with leisure and hospitality. This November event is a fundraiser for First Things Foundation. Learn more: https://first-things.org/aot  💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com 🔒 BECOME A PATRON: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe Timestamps: 00:00 - Coming up 01:42 - Intro music 02:07 - Introduction 05:07 - John's pov on Jonathan and Jordan's conversation 08:49 - Why Christian faith? 15:38 - Jordan's answer: the Ultimate Map 18:27 - The current dialogos 21:10 - Jonathan: The Christian Escatological map 25:52 - Jordan: Relationship to Jesus 32:20 - Grief and the qualities of love 37:40 - Jonathan: Particularity beyond duality 41:43 - Jordan: A deeper capacity to suffer 44:49 - John: Being is good / Not escape 46:54 - Jonathan: Theosis 49:25 - What if this is a crypto-egoism? 55:26 - Is this the grounding of your Christian faith? 01:01:29 - Zen: Does the infinite love you? 01:11:39 - Intimacy 01:22:18 - We can't be meta 01:27:47 - Universalism 01:29:01 - We each have our callings 01:30:21 - John and Christianity Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/  My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson.

    1h 33m

About

Jonathan Pageau looks at symbolism in all its forms, from its source in sacred stories and images to contemporary culture and ultimately how it shapes the world we encounter.

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