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-IQzltAJoin us September 24–26, 2026 for a summit, hosted by Symbolic World in St Giles’, Oxford, United Kingdom at Pusey House: https://symbolicworldsummit.com/=====Into the Underworld: Tales of Spiritual Initiation in Martin Shaw’s online course that launches in September. It's Martin's most ambitious course yet, venturing into entirely new territory: stories from the Bible and the lives of the Saints.The course includes more than 6 hours of recorded teaching from a live workshop, plus a limited number of seats for an intimate series of live lectures and interaction over Zoom. Enrollment will be open for a limited time, and space for live sessions is scarce - sign up for the waitlist at JAWBONESTORIES.COM to get early access to Enrollment. Also, get a special surprise from Martin just for joining the waitlist! https://www.jawbonestories.com/ In this course, Martin will tell and teach on: Joseph, Jacob and Esau, Ruth and Naomi, Blind Tobit, The Voyage of Brendan, St. Patrick's Bell.=====Register now for the Universal History Masterclass: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/universal-history-masterclass http://www.thesymbolicworld.comOur website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/ My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson: https://matthewwilkinson.net/

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 despises the hero and one that seeks to restore him.Join us September 24–26, 2026 for a summit, hosted by Symbolic World in St Giles’, Oxford, United Kingdom at Pusey House: https://symbolicworldsummit.com/Register now for the Universal History Masterclass: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/universal-history-masterclass Price: $180 USD (Get 10% off if you're an Involved patron)Course Length: 6 weeks, 12 hoursLive classes are on Wednesdays at 3-5 pm Eastern Time, starting August 5th through September 9th, 2026🔓 Become a patron to support us and unlock exclusive monthly symbolism content: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau 🎧 Listen to and review The Symbolic World podcast:-Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0gI8bUwPtT3gkduHqNh6M5-Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-symbolic-world/id1386867488 Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/ My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson: https://matthewwilkinson.net/

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.YouTube version: https://youtu.be/bZfRs9TWSIgLuke's book, The One and the Ninety-Nine: https://www.amazon.com/One-Ninety-Nine-Forging-Identity-Contagion-ebook/dp/B0FLYVP6WDJoin us September 24–26, 2026 for a summit, hosted by Symbolic World in St Giles’, Oxford, United Kingdom at Pusey House: https://symbolicworldsummit.com/Register now for the Universal History Masterclass: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/universal-history-masterclass Price: $180 USD (Get 10% off if you're an Involved patron)Course Length: 6 weeks, 12 hoursLive classes are on Wednesdays at 3-5 pm Eastern Time, starting August 5th through September 9th, 2026Timestamps:00:00 – Coming up02:38 – Introduction02:52 – Luke Burgess and The One and the Ninety-Nine03:19 – The tension between individuality and belonging04:10 – The lost sheep, the one, and the many06:30 – Why the modern self has become fragile08:57 – When celebrating difference turns into isolation10:50 – Why “selling out” no longer carries the same stigma12:01 – Differentiation, imitation, and false individuality12:55 – Choosing a vocation beyond market niches15:18 – Symbolic World Summit in Oxford17:31 – How technology reshapes the human person18:02 – Social media as a source of mimetic desire20:02 – Why online models become so powerful20:48 – Technology, distraction, and the loss of strong desire23:09 – Parasocial relationships and vicarious participation24:42 – Can religious identity become another performance?25:22 – Thin religion, online faith, and performative belonging27:39 – Receiving an identity rather than inventing one29:22 – Suffering, friction, and the consequences of the Fall31:56 – Is it acceptable to “fake it until you make it” spiritually?33:38 – False piety and performative religion34:51 – The danger of the online “Orthobro”36:16 – The family as a school of communion38:32 – Differentiating yourself from your family40:57 – Homogenization versus communion41:09 – Teenage rebellion as hostile individuation42:00 – Rebellion as a substitute rite of passage43:51 – Why identity must serve something higher45:43 – The family should not become an isolated unit47:26 – Does it take a village to raise a child?48:47 – When political identity is built through opposition49:34 – Internal family systems and the divided self52:23 – How algorithms feed fragmented parts of ourselves53:21 – Monetizing anger and online performance54:56 – What hope is there for young people?55:47 – Give young people a name, not a niche58:05 – Communities we cannot easily abandon01:00:04 – Choosing deliberately what previous generations inherited naturally01:02:25 – Friendship, commitment, and cultural renewal01:04:03 – Final thoughts on individuation and communion🔓 Become a patron to support us and unlock exclusive monthly symbolism content: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau 🎧 Listen to and review The Symbolic World podcast:-Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0gI8bUwPtT3gkduHqNh6M5-Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-symbolic-world/id1386867488 Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/ My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson: https://matthewwilkinson.net/

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/lKIxTvWNDNwJoin us September 24–26, 2026 for a summit, hosted by Symbolic World in St Giles’, Oxford, United Kingdom at Pusey House: https://symbolicworldsummit.com/Register now for the Universal History Masterclass: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/universal-history-masterclass Price: $180 USD (Get 10% off if you're an Involved patron)Course Length: 6 weeks, 12 hoursLive classes are on Wednesdays at 3-5 pm Eastern Time, starting August 5th through September 9th, 2026🔓 Become a patron to support us and unlock exclusive monthly symbolism content: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau 🎧 Listen to and review The Symbolic World podcast:-Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0gI8bUwPtT3gkduHqNh6M5-Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-symbolic-world/id1386867488 Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/ My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson: https://matthewwilkinson.net/

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 ultimately more traditional than many viewers realize – and that’s exactly why it’s needed in our world right now.YouTube version: https://youtu.be/ESIzQNfmAo4Register for 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 symbolism content: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau 🎧 Listen to and review The Symbolic World podcast:-Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0gI8bUwPtT3gkduHqNh6M5-Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-symbolic-world/id1386867488 Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/ My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson: https://matthewwilkinson.net/

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) and Mariner: A Voyage with Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Hodder 2017) After Prayer (Canterbury Press 2019) and The Word Within the Words (DLT 2021) and Lifting The Veil, Square Halo, 2021.In 2023 he was awarded the Archbishop Lanfranc Medal for Education and Scholarship by the Archbishop of Canterbury.He is presently working on Merlin’s Isle: an Arthuriad a four volume epic poem on The Arthurian legendsHe has a Youtube series called ‘A Spell in the Library’ at https://www.youtube.com/c/MalcolmGuitespellYouTube version of this episode: https://youtu.be/E5En6DZTYFkGalahad and the Holy Grail: https://store.rabbitroom.com/products/merlins-islePatrons of The Symbolic World can watch the 30 minute documentary here: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/premium-content/merlins-isleSubscribe here if you’re not already a patron: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribeRegister for 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 symbolism content: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.comTimestamps:00:00 – Coming up01:29 – Introduction03:05 – Malcolm Guite’s Calling as Priest and Poet06:39 – Can the Imagination Be Dangerous?09:27 – Imagination as the Organ of Meaning11:58 – Fantasy, Escapism, and Enchantment15:46 – Why Arthurian Stories Resist Modernization19:57 – Galahad and the Grail21:20 – What Arthurian Stories Reveal About Human Brokenness23:27 – The Scope of Malcolm’s Arthurian Project26:05 – The Dolorous Stroke and the Origin of the Wasteland30:54 – “You Live in Just Such a World”33:20 – The Wasteland as a Pattern of Reality37:51 – Recovering the Christian Meaning of the Grail40:44 – Universal History Masterclass42:42 – Why Malcolm Chose the Ballad Form44:59 – The Collapse of the Materialist Worldview49:41 – Remembering Without Falling into Unreason51:46 – Tradition as Active Remembrance53:19 – Tradition as the Roots of a Living Tree54:40 – How Irony Destroys Old Stories57:56 – Daring to Be Naive Again58:28 – The Four-Volume Arthurian Series59:54 – Why the Beauty of the Book Matters01:01:10 – Chivalry, Masculinity, and the Civilized Warrior01:02:23 – Fellow Travelers in the Recovery of MeaningOur website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/ My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson: https://matthewwilkinson.net/

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/K3wkrDbRgDsSign 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 symbolism content: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/ My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson: https://matthewwilkinson.net/

I speak with Andrew Stokich, co-founder of Logos Cinema, about building a home for beautiful Christian storytelling. We discuss the limits of modern Christian film, the need to recover deeper symbolic stories, and Logos Cinema’s vision for supporting Orthodox filmmakers and audiences.Special discount link: https://www.logoscinema.com/the-symbolic-world-summit YouTube version: https://youtu.be/LATR7_QsQLYParadise Imagined. Join us from September 24–26, 2026 for a summit, hosted by Symbolic World in St Giles’, Oxford, United Kingdom at Pusey House. Only 150 tickets will be sold. Don't miss out. https://symbolicworldsummit.com/http://www.thesymbolicworld.com🔓 Become a patron to support us and unlock exclusive monthly symbolism content: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe

In this episode (Part 3 on our series that will soon become about Persia), we continue reading The Cave of Treasures with Deacon Seraphim, looking at Noah, the world before the flood, the strange traditions around the Ark, and how Adam, Paradise, priesthood, and Melchizedek are all carried through the waters into the new world.Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/IMd160ye1OMRegister now and get 15% off the Universal History Masterclass! https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/universal-history-masterclassPart 1: https://youtu.be/f--wBUEAxjY?si=thM3QIB4jcwnqpzuPart 2: https://youtu.be/3D2bRWrbKUU?si=odQ6p9ehqS912PEb🔓 Become a patron to support us and unlock exclusive monthly symbolism content: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau  Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/ My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson: https://matthewwilkinson.net/

In this conversation I speak with Gregg Hurwitz about his new Orphan X novel, Antihero, and the surprising role Orthodox Christianity plays in the story. We discuss the assassin who is forced to face mercy, the limits of violence, the exhaustion of modern storytelling, and why we may need a new kind of hero, one who can hold together justice, sacrifice, and humanity.YouTube version: https://youtu.be/lPpZnZWdPGkGregg Hurwitz books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B001IXPXTGLatest Novella, The Delivery: https://www.amazon.com/Delivery-Novella-Gregg-Hurwitz-ebook/dp/B0FX5Y9FQGAntihero: https://www.amazon.com/Antihero-Orphan-Novel-11/dp/1250479916📢 Join Seraphim Hamilton in studying the Book of Isaiah. Register now: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/the-fifth-gospel🔓 Become a patron to support us and unlock exclusive monthly symbolism content: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau  Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/ My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson: https://matthewwilkinson.net/