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===========
The West has become "disenchanted"--closed to the idea that the universe contains the supernatural, the metaphysical, or the non-material. Christianity is in crisis. People today are leaving the Church because faith has become dry and lifeless. But people aren't leaving faith for atheism. They are still searching for the divine, and it might just be right under their noses.
In Living in Wonder, thought leader, cultural critic, and New York Times bestselling author Rod Dreher shows you how to encounter and embrace wonder in the world. In his trademark mixture of analysis, reporting, and personal story, Dreher brings together history, cultural anthropology, neuroscience, and the ancient Church to show you--no matter your religious affiliation--how to reconnect with the natural world and the Great Tradition of Christianity so you can relate to the world with more depth and connection.
He shares stories of miracles, rumors of angels, and outbreaks of awe to offer hope, as well as a guide for discerning and defending the truth in a confusing and spiritually dark culture, full of contemporary spiritual deceptions and tempting counterfeit spiritualities.
The world is not what we think it is. It is far more mysterious, exciting, connected, and adventurous. As you learn practical ways to regain a sense of wonder and awaken your sense of God's presence--through prayer, attention, and living by spiritual disciplines--your eyes will be opened, and you will find the very thing every one of us searches for: our ultimate meaning.

===========Other books mentioned===========
- Passport to Magonia: https://www.amazon.co.za/Passport-Magonia-Folklore-Flying-Saucers/dp/0987422480 
- Free version: https://archive.org/details/passporttomagoni0000vall_m8g5
- American Cosmic, by D.W. Pasulka: https://www.amazon.com/American-Cosmic-UFOs-Religion-Technology/dp/019069288X 
- The Mountain of Silence, by Kyriacos C Markide: https://www.amazon.co.za/Mountain-Silence-Search-Orthodox-Spirituality/dp/0385500920 

===========Christian Wonder Tales course===========
Sign up for Dr. Martin Shaw's first-ever live online course, Christian Wonder Tales. 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 

===========Timestamps===========
00:00 - Coming up
01:13 - Intro music
01:38 - Enchantment is having a moment
06:54 - A strange enchantment
21:20 - A positive aspect of this
23:19 - Psychedelics and the Californian Buddhist
25:37 - Rod's journey to Christianity
30:23 - What's on the horizon? AI
33:01 - UFOs and the great religious deception
38:39 - UFO spiritual influences
40:37 - Pay attention
46:04 - Rod's book's reception
49:35 - Propositional vs being in person
52:24 - Embodiment
55:08 - Christian re-enchantment

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My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson.

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, the Remnant: https://youtu.be/PBNkmLxUYHk?si=QQPkLg6VVx57o2GC 
2. Universal History: The Surprising Irish Origin of Purgatory - with Richard Rohlin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBdXgwl1VYU 

Read more about Irish saints. The book Richard recommends is in two volumes: The Lives of Irish Saints, edited by Charles Plummer. Links:
- Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Lives-Saints-Oxford-Reprints-Volumes/dp/0198213891
- Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/bethadanemnr01plumuoft/page/n7/mode/2up

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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 
💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com
🔒 BECOME A PATRON: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe 

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Timestamps:
00:00 - Coming up
00:46 - Intro music
01:12 - Start
03:04 - A corrective to the Universal History series
12:05 - The 12 apostles of Ireland
14:19 - St. Brendan
21:25 - Fun stories about St. Brendan
39:26 - Next episode of the Voyage of St. Brendan
46:13 - The foundation of a church
49:09 - How to keep the liturgical calendar
56:14 - The torment of Judas
01:04:30 - Did Brendan go to North America?

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My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson.

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, and Fr. Silouan Justiniano. 

• Buy the Symbolic World Summit Video Package: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/summit-2024
• Symbolic World Summit photo gallery: https://thelightboxphotography.pic-time.com/-symbolicworld/gallery

Timestamps
00:00 - Coming up
00:57 - Intro music
01:23 - Introduction
03:22 - What happens when you die?
07:34 - The body
12:42 - How identity works
16:25 - Find our identity
17:41 - The bodily resurrection
19:00 - Relating to time
31:53 - The triumph of joy
35:00 - In Scripture
41:29 - One life
44:13 - What about the dead
48:48 - Fr. Stephen's answer
50:02 - Eternal death and hell

💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com
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Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/ 
My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson.

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 

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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 

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Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/ 
My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson.

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.

"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
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Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/ 
My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson.

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 

SYMBOLIC WORLD COURSES:
Don't miss out on our upcoming live courses hosted on the Symbolic World Circle community platform:
- The Cognitive Science of Ritual with John Vervaeke, starting October 7: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/the-cognitive-science-of-ritual
- Christian Wonder Tales with Martin Shaw, starting November 12: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/christian-wonder-tales

💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com
🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau 
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Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/ 
My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson.

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.

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.

I had a wonderful time talking with Jordan Hall, who has recently converted to Christianity from a secular worldview. We talk about his conversation, societal engineering, artificial intelligence, and the fundamental distinction between vertical and horizontal qualities. We also talk about the problem of delusion, how to know what’s real, the meaning of faith and memory, using technology safely, and not getting lost in our daily life problems.

Don't miss my and Richard Rohlin's new 5-week live course on Dante's Divine Comedy: Purgatorio. Classes started August 27th, but you can still join us. Involved patrons get 10% discount. Apply your unique code at checkout.
https://thesymbolicworld.com/courses/dantes-purgatorio 

Follow Jordan Hall:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JordanGreenhall/featured
Medium: https://medium.com/deep-code
X: https://x.com/jgreenhall

💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com
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Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/ 
My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson.

In this week's video I discuss what a miracle is, looking at different examples but especially at the miracles of Christ. A miracle is not just an extraordinary event, rather it's an event that reveals and restores matter to its true identity and meaning. Thank you for your continued support. 

My course with Richard Rohlin on Dante's Purgatorio has kicked off and is currently taking place live on Tuesdays 2-5 pm EST. Consider joining us on this extraordinary journey through Dante's Divine Comedy. Patrons at the Involved tier or higher get 10% off -  apply your discount code at the checkout. Register now: https://thesymbolicworld.com/courses/dantes-purgatorio

🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau 
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Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/ 
My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson.