The Symbolic World

In this conversation with Rachel Wilson, we discuss the strange inversion at the heart of modern feminism, its occult and anti-Christian roots, and the way it has turned women against motherhood, marriage, the family, and even the feminine itself.
We also look at abortion, witchcraft, gender, the destruction of womanhood, and the vision of marriage as a path of sacrifice, love, and mutual self-giving.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/DKliIG90YDw

Follow Rachel Wilson’s work:
X: https://x.com/Rach4Patriarchy 
Substack: https://rwilson.substack.com/ 
Get her book, Occult Feminism: The...

In this conversation with Deacon Seraphim Rohlin, we continue our exploration of Genesis through the Syrian tradition, looking especially at Seth (Adam and Eve’s son after Cain and Abel), the Nephilim, and the fall of the sons of God. What begins as a discussion of the descendants of Seth becomes a way of understanding the descent from the holy mountain, the corruption of Cain’s line, and the strange traditions around giants, demons, music, desire, and the second fall before the flood.

YouTube version of this episode: https://youtu.be/3D2bRWrbKUU
Episode 1 of this series: http...

This is a talk I presented at Chesterton Academy of Ottawa earlier this year. 

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/ETaRAauDxS0

Buy Little Red Riding Hood now during the month of June and get the audiobook with for free: https://store.thesymbolicworld.com/

Join Seraphim Hamilton in studying the Book of Isaiah this June. Register now: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/the-fifth-gospel 

Timestamps:
00:00 - Coming up
00:51 - Intro music
01:05 - Chesterton Academy introduction
03:28 - Jonathan begins: art, AI, education, and the Pope’s encyclical
05:53 - Why AI is not...

There’s a lot of expectation and noise around Christopher Nolan’s upcoming movie, The Odyssey (2026). For decades after WW2 we were unable to tell many stories about kingship and fatherhood. As we move through the turbulent end of the WW2 consensus, stories like this form part of how we process the return of the father and identity.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/6prGX3wZKI8

Buy Little Red Riding Hood now during the month of June and get the audiobook with for free. More than our other fairy tales, this one emphasizes the importance of the fath...

Backrooms (2026) is a recent horror/thriller film based on a creepypasta —an internet urban legend— that emerged around the time of the Covid lockdowns. A man discovers an infinite, labyrinthine expanse of "backrooms" that becomes increasingly disturbing.

In this video, I analyze the symbolism of the film and explore the deeper reasons why it is so popular, outshining major blockbusters with much larger budgets and marketing campaigns. Enjoy.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/ZK6NaFsBGaM

Buy Little Red Riding Hood now during the month of June and get the audiobook with for free: https://stor...

I had a discussion with Gavin Ortlund about the Orthodox Church's position on salvation outside the church.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/RtC8ENpbOW4

Buy Little Red Riding Hood now during the month of June and get the audiobook with for free: https://store.thesymbolicworld.com/

Join Seraphim Hamilton in studying the Book of Isaiah this June. Register now: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/the-fifth-gospel 

Timestamps
00:00 Introduction and background to the discussion
03:08 Steelmanning each other’s positions
04:12 Gavin summarizes the Orthodox view of salvation
05:37 Jonathan explains salvation as hea...

I went to see Spielberg’s Disclosure Day and found myself watching a strange, late-stage piece of boomer propaganda about aliens, media, religion, and who we are supposed to trust. Here are my thoughts on the symbolism of the film.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/SBGPLaGfVTc

Buy Little Red Riding Hood now during the month of June and get the audiobook with for free: https://store.thesymbolicworld.com/

Join Seraphim Hamilton in studying the Book of Isaiah this June. Register now: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/the-fifth-gospel 

🔓 Become a patron to suppor...

We often think of enemies as those who attack us openly, but fairy tales also warn us about another kind of enemy: the one who comes close, pretends to be our friend, and destroys from within. I also discuss how this pattern appears in Scripture, culture, identity, and even technology, and why discernment is so important in our current moment.

Buy Little Red Riding Hood now during the month of June and get the audiobook with for free: https://store.thesymbolicworld.com/ 

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/U8VXqPX1-0Q

Join Seraphim Hamilton i...

I’m joined again by Seraphim Hamilton to discuss his upcoming Symbolic World course on Isaiah, beginning June 15th. We talk about why Isaiah is central for understanding Christ in the Old Testament, the relationship between prophecy, exile, the suffering servant, the gentile nations, and the deep symbolic unity between Scripture, liturgy, and creation.

Join Seraphim Hamilton in studying the Book of Isaiah this June. Register now to get 15% off before the early bird sale ends: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/the-fifth-gospel 

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/lPpBFh2-V90

Timestamps:
00:00 - Coming up

This is a talk I did at Hillsdale College in March 2026. In this talk, I explore mythological thinking as a way of understanding how facts become meaningful. Facts do not present themselves to us neutrally. They are always organized by care, relevance, attention, and story. I look at examples from Genesis, Icarus, Spider-Man, the Tower of Babel, and modern science to show how myths preserve deep patterns of human experience. Rather than treating myth as fiction or primitive explanation, I argue that myth reveals the structures by which we perceive reality, understand purpose, and connect psychology with theology.

...

A telling of the events in Genesis that you might never have heard before.
In this episode of Universal History, Deacon Seraphim Rohlin and I return to Genesis through the Syriac tradition, especially the Cave of Treasures. This is the groundwork for understanding the universal history of Persia.

Join Seraphim Hamilton in studying the Book of Isaiah this June. Register now to get 15% off before the early bird sale ends: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/the-fifth-gospel

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/f--wBUEAxjY

Universal History playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVX4HUUPrIY...

In this video, I look at the symbolism of the recent TV show, Pluribus. There's a lot of speculation about whether it's an allegory for AI, the internet, totalitarianism, or resisting tyranny. But I would argue that it's not allegorical at all, rather it's an exploration of a deeper ontological problem: the relationship of the one and the many, the inside and the outside, sameness and difference.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/JIk5jpmf5D0

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💻 Website and blog: http...

In this video, I explore the symbolism of decapitation in the Bible and Christian tradition. Beginning with Joseph’s interpretation of the baker and cupbearer in Genesis, we trace a pattern of “lifting up the head” through Scripture, martyrdom, the Eucharist, and ultimately the crucifixion and ascension of Christ. Along the way, we encounter Saint John the Baptist, the mystery of sacrifice, and the astonishing story of Saint Denis of Paris, who carried his own head while preaching after his martyrdom.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/uwRsUj30URk

Join us at the Symbolic World Summit | May 14-16...

I sat down with Fr. Josiah Trenham to talk about something that’s becoming harder to ignore: how to properly order your loyalties.
We discussed the tension between faith, nation, family, and personal identity, and what happens when those come into conflict. 

Join us at the Symbolic World Summit, where Fr. Josiah will be one of the keynote speakers. 
May 14-16 | Ohio | Keynote speakers: Jonathan Pageau, Fr. Josiah Trenham, Mary Harrington, Dcn. Seraphim Rohlin, Kale Zelden, Annie Crawford, and Heather Pollington
Buy your tickets: https://symbolicworldsummit.com/ 

YouTube version of this episode: https://youtu...

In this conversation with Annie Crawford, we explore the role of alchemy in C.S. Lewis’ That Hideous Strength. While alchemy is often dismissed as occult or irrelevant, Lewis uses its symbolism in a precise and meaningful way.

We look at how the novel presents two forms of transformation: one rooted in control, technology, and disembodied power, and the other in sacrifice, order, and participation in the divine. This distinction speaks directly to how we understand modern technology, including AI.
The discussion also touches on story structure, the nature of symbolic thinking, and how transformation is embedded in...

This is the final episode of our Universal History series on the American Religion. Deacon Seraphim Rohlin and I look at the religious ideas behind the American project, especially the influence of Kabbalah and the search for a “pure” and universal mystical tradition. We trace how early Protestants, thinkers like Thomas Jefferson, and figures like Ezra Stiles engaged with Jewish mysticism as part of their attempt to understand and shape America’s role in the universal history.

- Watch the YouTube version of this episode: https://youtu.be/A563i-jrZs0
- Watch the rest of this series here...

This is a repost of a past video where I discussed the icons of Holy Week in the Orthodox Church and how they relate to each other as a unified symbolic pattern. Have a blessed Pascha.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/h55O4Kxs6tU

Join us at the Symbolic World Summit | May 14-16 | Ohio | Keynote speakers: Jonathan Pageau, Fr. Josiah Trenham, Mary Harrington, Dcn. Seraphim Rohlin, Kale Zelden, Annie Crawford, and Heather Pollington
Buy your tickets: https://symbolicworldsummit.com/ 

Timestamps:
00:00 - Start / Introduction
00:48 - Palm Sunday (Entry into Jerusalem)
05:34...

With the release of Ye’s new album, Bully, many have asked about the music video for the song called “Father.” While the video is surreal and AI generated, it is not without meaning or structure. If you pay attention to broader, context, patterns, and the relationships between images, a coherent meaning begins to emerge.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/BG2psRcPH7o
My review of Ye's album Bully: https://x.com/PageauJonathan/status/2038374009382097289
Ye: Father music video: https://youtu.be/HBMy-y2wb4I?si=OKlf4_0c8y1zJwV1

SUMMIT 2026: Join us for the Symbol...

Kale Zelden is a literature teacher and writer and in this video he joins me to discuss reading, the "Great books", and what it means to recover the reading tradition in a modern context. We talk about how to encounter old texts, what reading can contribute to our lives, and how to approach authors like Homer, Dante, and Shakespeare without reducing them to modern assumptions. We also explore the limits of the novel, modernism, postmodernism, irony, and the essential rediscovery of the epic.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/9zps7RIov44

Kale’s Substack, The Underneath: https://ka...

We often assume that being “historically accurate” means getting closer to the truth, but that’s not always the case. In this video, I explore how modern, mechanical thinking can actually invert meaning, using the example of Christ’s crucifixion. 
What matters most is not just the mechanical details of how something could have happened, but what it means and its actual implications.

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/HXsbK_k8vn4

SUMMIT 2026: Join us for the Symbolic World Summit 2026! Speakers include Fr. Josiah Trenham, Mary Harrington, Jonathan Pageau, Dn. Seraphim Rohlin, and others.

In this conversation, I sat down with Mary Harrington about technology and the online world.
Mary reflects on her path as a writer, the evolution of online culture, and the growing difficulty of discerning truth in the digital environment. We also touch on memory, embodiment, cancel culture, and politics. 

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/eeBZuA0S1ZE

Mary will be speaking at the Symbolic World Summit. The theme of the conference is Retelling the Cosmic Epic, and Mary’s talk will be titled: 'Rebuild the Monasteries'
Description:
In an age of AI...

In this conversation I speak with Dr. Zachary Porcu about his book, Journey to Reality: Sacramental Life in a Secular Age, and the challenge of explaining true Christian thinking to modern people. We discuss how modern assumptions about the world make it difficult to understand ideas like sacraments, participation, and the relationship between the spiritual and material. Dr. Porcu explains why he wrote the book and how reframing basic categories—what we mean by God, religion, and reality—is often necessary before theology can make sense.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/Qd9xENDzfRo 
Please review the Symbolic World...

This is a conversation between Deacon Seraphim Rohlin and Pavel Shchelin on political theology, power, and Plutarch’s Lives. They explore how ancient biographies reveal enduring patterns of ambition, authority, and the human passions that shape political history—from Rome to the modern world. Topics include Cicero, rhetoric and power, the fall of the Roman Republic, and why the stories of ancient statesmen still help us understand today’s political landscape.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/Wo2IkgDT0q4

Please review this podcast on Spotify or Apple podcasts, it helps us a lot. Links:
-Spotify: https...

Magical beginnings, secular endings. In this episode of Universal History, Deacon Seraphim Rohlin and I start a discussion about early Mormonism (or rather, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) within the broader context of American religious history.
We look at the enchanted religious world of early America — folk magic, treasure seeking, restorationism, the Melchizedek priesthood — and how these patterns shaped movements like Mormonism. We also reflect on the recurring American impulse to “restore” a lost spiritual authority, and the impulse to, on the other hand, make all things respectably secular.

This is episode 4 of our Universa...

In this conversation, I sit down with Stephen Roach on the Makers and Mystics podcast to explore why our stories feel exhausted — and what that reveals about our cultural moment. We talk about the end of the post–World War II narrative, the collapse of the hero (and even the anti-hero), and how storytelling has drifted. We also discuss fairy tales, monsters, AI, and the future of art.

Let me know what you think in the comments and come join us at the Breath and the Clay conference, a creative arts gathering in Winston Salem, NC March 20-22, 2026: http...

In this episode I try to circle around something that is very difficult to speak about directly — the void.
From the opening verses of Genesis, where the earth is described as “empty and void,” we are confronted with a mystery that runs through Scripture, philosophy, and our own experience. What is the “not that” which underlies being? Why has the modern world become so fascinated with negativity, difference, and alterity? And how do we understand the necessary — yet possibly dangerous — role of emptiness in the structure of reality?

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/10DS7IxOVro

🎧 Listen to and rev...

In this talk at St. Michael’s Church in Charleston, I walk through the seven days of creation as presented in Genesis, exploring creation as a divine song: a rhythm of heaven and earth, light and darkness, above and below. 

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/p2kb9ggwrp0

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NEW COURSE: The Art of Imitating Heaven: Structure and Meaning in Ancient Cosmology By Joshua Sturgill
What is heaven? Where is it? For ancient people, the answer was obvious: simply look up at the night sky. For them, to see the stars and planets was to see...

Many are called. Not all are chosen.
There is a widespread idea that Christianity is about being “nice,” endlessly tolerant, and endlessly open. But that idea does not survive a careful reading of the Gospel.
In this video, I look at the parable of the Wedding Feast and explain why Christ’s invitation to everyone does not mean the acceptance of everything. Using this parable, I explore how compassion can become weaponized, how inclusion without a standard of conformity leads to chaos, and why both churches and nations must have limits if they are to remain what they are. T...

I explore the Mandela Effect from a symbolic perspective. The Mandela Effect is a psychological phenomenon where a large group of people collectively share the same false memory of an event, detail, or pop culture fact. It has stirred up conspiracy theories about parallel timelines and simulation theory. In this video I suggest the possibility that it's a strength, rather than a weakness, of human cognition - a sign of how consciousness forms coherence, how legends accumulate, and how symbols shape the way we see and remember the world.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/B-x5Ze04YEI
<...

I speak with filmmaker Yelena Popovic, who viewers may recognize as the director of the stunning film of the life of St. Nektarios of Aegina, Man of God (2021). In this interview we discuss her upcoming film, Moses the Black, releasing January 30th of this year. We talk about film making, her inspiration for the film, the people involved, the life story of St. Moses the Black, and repentance in general in the Orthodox faith.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/rzDVfbhaaGU

Film synopsis: Released from prison, a feared Chicago gang leader returns home to avenge the murder...

"Ancient people knew the sky the way that we know the highways around our cities."
Today's podcast is a bit different. Deacon Seraphim Rohlin is here to introduce you to our new Symbolic World Course presenter, Joshua Sturgill. Together they discuss ancient cosmology, symbolism, and the meaning, power, and dangers of observing the night sky. They discuss pagan views on this, Biblical astronomy, the reservations of the church fathers, and modernity's determinism on the one hand, and confusion on the other hand. I hope you enjoy this conversation and will join us for Joshua's course.

YouTube version...

In this interview, I sat down with Jean-Philippe Marceau—author of Post-Reductionist Christianity, our very first theory book at Symbolic World Press—to discuss his surprising and widely praised new Symbolic World article on the emerging global demographic crisis.

We discuss the falling birth rates and all its symbolic, scriptural, political, economic, and technological implications and causes. JP’s article likens today’s demographic collapse to the biblical Flood, looking at the dangers of both progressive dissolution and a reactionary overcorrection, proving the fact that the future belongs to those who build families grounded in meaning and tradition.

In this conversation, I sit down with storyteller and mythologist Martin Shaw to explore the Holy Grail. We talk about desire and longing, failure and mercy, chivalry and the feminine, and why the Grail stories continue to be relevant across centuries.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/3qDkPUsle3M

COURSE: The Quest for the Holy Grail with Dr. Martin Shaw
In the dark heart of January, when the nights are long and the world draws close, Dr. Martin Shaw returns to Symbolic World Courses for an intensive week-long journey to tell one of the greatest stories...

In this video I discuss the persistence of the idea that Christmas was "stolen" by Christians from the pagans, or that it's secretly still pagan. Merry Christmas everyone. Christ is born!

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/uh6rhiTrTnk
Christmas symbolism playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVX4HUUPrIY9MeGP5IILeRzu62Q1NPT4C

NEW COURSE: The Quest for the Holy Grail with Dr. Martin Shaw
In the dark heart of January, when the nights are long and the world draws close, Dr. Martin Shaw returns to Symbolic World Courses for an intensive week-long...

In this conversation, I speak with British psychiatrist, neuroscientist, and author Dr. Iain McGilchrist about intelligence, mental illness, and AI.

Original YouTube version: https://youtu.be/DRtpKyKJcss
Get Dr. McGilchrist’s books: https://channelmcgilchrist.com/home/ 

APPLICATIONS OPEN: Ralston seeks 25 students with the curiosity and courage to find light in the darkness. Our one-year MA in the Humanities begins with two months learning Ancient and Modern Greek in Greece, before moving to beautiful Savannah, GA. Full and partial scholarships are available. The deadline for priority consideration is December 18, 2025. Visit https://www.ralston.ac/humanities-ma

In this conversation filmed (by Deacon Seraphim Rohlin) in the Florida Keys, I sit down with my friend Andrew Gould to finally revisit a surprising claim he made years ago—that pirates and Orthodox monks share deep symbolic parallels. We discuss ships and treasure, costumes, death imagery, life on the edge of empire, all converging on how these two seemingly opposite extremes strangely mirror each other. Let me know if you like the format of this video.

Original YouTube version: https://youtu.be/WjMadP6DScM

NEW COURSE: The Quest for the Holy Grail with Dr. Martin Sh...

This is a repost of a patron video I made several years ago about decorating the Christmas tree as a family. Support us for access to more video like this.

Original YouTube version: https://youtu.be/9y32OFyvskg

NEW COURSE: The Quest for the Holy Grail with Dr. Martin Shaw
In the dark heart of January, when the nights are long and the world draws close, Dr. Martin Shaw returns to Symbolic World Courses for an intensive week-long journey to tell one of the greatest stories of the Medieval imagination: Parzival and the Holy Grail.<...

"Americans who think they are Christians, truly are something else; intensely religious, but devout in the American Religion."
In this episode of Universal History, I sit down again with Deacon Seraphim Rohlin to explore the roots and characteristics of the true "American religion". We trace how movements in American history shaped the spiritual landscape that eventually gave rise to Mormonism, Adventism, spiritualism, and perhaps even your own journey back to traditional Christianity.

Original YouTube version: https://youtu.be/0_RKBPaQAyk
Previous episode: https://youtu.be/o9rMy6lde0c?si=b8d-6tbkuIgAbl4K

Paradiso...

This is a repost of an interview I did a few months ago on the Catholic Unscripted Podcast after the Charlie Kirk assassination. We discuss the topic of violence, the end of the World War 2 consensus, Israel, enchantment, science and technology, sex and gender, architecture, the structure of a normal vs a crumbling society, and more. Enjoy.

YouTube version on my channel: https://youtu.be/TeCjedp6dJA
Original interview on Catholic Unscripted YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/SSn_q-HQeFg?si=K7RkdByVEFDnoP4j
The Catholic Unscripted Podcast is a UK online apostolate founded by Katherine Bennett...

Given we're still in the fall season, I watched The Conjuring and it got me thinking about how real events can become exaggerated in story form. In this video, I look at how legends are created, and that exaggeration of certain elements of an event can help amplify the meaning and purpose of why we're paying attention to it in the first place.

Original YouTube version: https://youtu.be/fA2cKrvYyTk

Paradiso live course details:
The Symbolic World Enters Paradise
Join me and Deacon Seraphim Rohlin this November in our course on Dante's Paradiso.<...