Mythic Mind

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When Boethius lost everything, Lady Philosophy told him the wound beneath the wound: you have forgotten who you are. That diagnosis still lands. Who are you when the roles, tests, and labels fall away?

In this Mythic Mind Exploring the Psyche conversation, Dr. Andrew Snyder (professor of philosophy and theology) talks with licensed therapists Jeremy Key and Tyler Finders about identity: Myers-Briggs and Enneagram snapshots, the trap of "I am my diagnosis," agency that will not go away, and Kierkegaard's claim that the self is a relation...

In this Mythic Mind Exploring the Psyche conversation, Dr. Andrew Snyder talks with licensed therapists Jeremy Kee and Tyler Finders about the value of home: roots and responsibility, the fear of committing to the wrong thing, hobbits who leave the Shire in order to save it, and C.S. Lewis’s reminder that pleasant inns are not the final destination.

Topics include belonging in a shifting world, establishing versus finding home, and why home still matters psychologically and spiritually.

Join us for our season of "Exploring the Psyche" at https://mythicmindfellowship.com

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Anxiety is usually treated as a disease to be eliminated. Medication and psychotherapy have their place, but what if, in our pursuit of so-called mental health, we are lobotomizing something essential to being human?

In this Exploring the Psyche conversation, Andrew is joined again by licensed therapists Tyler Finders and Jeremy Key to ask what anxiety actually is. We argue that anxiety is not an impediment to agency, but a call of the human spirit to take responsibility for our choices in the moment where what has been meets what might still be.

We talk about...

In this inaugural episode of our fall "Exploring the Psyche" season, I discuss "living well" with Tyler Finders and Jeremy Key, both of whom are clinical psychotherapists and Christian thinkers.

Keep up with all things Exploring the Psyche at mythicmindfellowship.com

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Between podcasts with professionals in the field, discussions of philosophy, film, and video games, Inkwell articles, a course on Kierkegaard, and more, Mythic Mind will be "Exploring the Psyche" this fall!

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Here are some quick updates about what is happening with Mythic Mind this month.

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C.S. Lewis's That Hideous Strength is a profound, still very underread story that provides penetrating insights into the growing forces of dehumanization that drive much of our culture.

In 2025, the B.B.C produced an audio drama adaptation. Here is my review.

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In this episode, I discuss our upcoming Fellowship-wide seasonal theme and share a reading from the Inkwell.

If you are not already a Fellow or Companion and you would like regular access to Readings from the Inkwell, go to https://mythicmindfellowship.com/membership/

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[This episode is best as video. Watch at https://youtu.be/tFrz6G_Avg4.

Starting at the beginning of August, we will begin transitioning away from Patreon to our new home at http://www.mythicmindfellowship.com!

This is an exciting new chapter that will facilitate deeper fellowship, more opportunities, and a better experience across the board. In this episode, I provide a tour through the new website.

Right now, we are in a soft launch period, but the full site will be available on August 1st.

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In this lecture from his "English Poems and Poets" course, classical teacher Josh Traylor provides a broad overview of literary Romanticism 19th century England.

Josh has listed his course at an incredible rate for us, so take advantage of his offer and enroll today: English Poems and Poets.

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In this lecture from his "English Poems and Poets" course, classical teacher Josh Traylor explains what Romanticism is, what it is not, why it is ambiguous, and how we should understand it as a European cultural movement in the late 1700s and in the 1800s.

Josh has listed his course at an incredible rate for us, so take advantage of his offer and enroll today: English Poems and Poets.

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Tolkien once wondered whether a film could cut Helm's Deep. In the book it still teaches how hope arrives at dawn, and how a seeing-stone can undo the unwary.

In this Mythic Mind Lord of the Rings study, Dr. Andrew Snyder (professor of philosophy and theology) walks Book III, chapters 7–11: the Hornburg and the men of Rohan, Gandalf's dawn, and the Palantir's dangerous gift of sight after Orthanc.

Topics include battle as more than spectacle, hope against despair, and why true seeing is moral before it...

What does the future hold? What has been let go by the past? How should we view the moving horizon?

In this episode, I draw from Tolkien's letters, The Lord of the Rings, and his essays, "The Monsters and the Critics" and "On Fairy-Stories," to discuss his concept of The Long Defeat.

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We live amid tribal AI arguments: every machine-made frame is "slop," or every model is just a new paintbrush. This Mythic Mind conversation slows down between those poles with a technologist and a novelist.

Dr. Andrew Snyder (professor of philosophy and theology) is joined by Josh Daws (former Disney software engineer; VP of Technology at The Blaze) and novelist Michael Kane (After Moses) to ask what AI-generated media can and cannot bear as storytelling, and what remains properly human when prediction scales into myth-shaped output.

...

What is the American heritage? To whom does it belong?

For this special episode of Mythic Mind, we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and reflect on some of the things that make the United States of America exceptional on the stage of history.

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We are continuing our Lord of the Rings study with the Book III, Chapters 1-6.

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Music: Lament for Boromir by Clamavi De Profundis<...

From Norse legend to Christian Anglo-Saxon poetry to the skies of Middle-earth, we are taking a look at Earendil the Mariner, the first enduring character of Tolkien's legendarium.

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We are continuing our Lord of the Rings study with the Book II, Chapters 6-10.
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We continue through our 2025 course on The Lord of the Rings with a focused presentation on the character of Sauron.

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We are continuing our Lord of the Rings study with the Book II, Chapters 1-5.

Purchase the entire course, including our recorded live meetings, here:Purchase Course

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We continue our Lord of the Rings study with a detour to Plato and a different ring of power.

Purchase the entire course, including our recorded live meetings, here:Purchase Course

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We are continuing our Lord of the Rings study with the Book I, Chapters 6-12 (The Old Forest to Flight to the Ford).

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<...

Tolkien is known to despise allegory, but he is also clear that fiction, including his own, has a relationship with the primary world that can be used as a conduit for truth. In this lesson from the 2025 Lord of the Rings study, I discuss Tolkien's approach to allegory and application.

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We are continuing our Lord of the Rings study with the Prologue to Book I, Chapter 5 (A Conspiracy Unmasked).

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We begin our Lord of the Rings study with the beginning of Tolkien's world: the Ainulindalë, which tells of the making of Arda and the primordial fall of the devilish Melkor.

After a presentation of the story, I briefly discuss the theology of Tolkien's world and its relationship with Tolkien's own Christianity.

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In this new series of Mythic Mind, I will be providing my lessons from the exclusive Lord of the Rings study that we did in early 2025. This is a short introduction to that study.

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Neil deGrasse Tyson told Piers Morgan that we do not need to appeal to God to answer cosmological questions because the empirical sciences have demonstrated sufficient explanatory power.

In the final episode of this C.S. Lewis and the News series, I use this exchange as an occasion to discuss Lewis's thoughts on the supposed challenges that modern science levies against theological explanations of causation.

If you would like to see C.S. Lewis and the News become a regular show, become a patron and encourage others to do likewise!

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While it is certain that any number of things may be "really going on," it is not difficult to make the case that the modern internet-saturated culture is plagued by unhealthy conspiratorial thinking.

What drives these tendencies?

How can C.S. Lewis help us to stay grounded in reality and responsibility?

In this episode, I seek answers to these questions with the help of Stephen Kent, who is a political TV commentator and columnist, author of How the Force can Fix the World, and host of Geeky Stoics.

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We were recently promised UFO/UAE files that would fundamentally disrupt biblical Christianity. In a shocking turn, these promises were not delivered, but this was a good occasion to discuss what C.S. Lewis had to say about the potential theological ramifications of discovering extraterrestrial life.

This series is a new venture that may one day become a regular show. I would be glad to hear your feedback and, if you like this idea, I welcome you to become a patron if you have not already done so. Once we reach 100 paid patrons, I will give it a...

In this episode of C.S. Lewis and the News, I discuss the ominous renaming of ICE to the N.I.C.E. and what our reception of King Charles reveals about our democratic ideals.

This series is a new venture that may one day become a regular show. I would be glad to hear your feedback and, if you like this idea, I welcome you to become a patron if you have not already done so. Once we reach 100 paid patrons, I will give it a green light!

Watch the video of this episode and...

In this episode, I introduce C.S. Lewis and the News, a new series (and hopefully one day new show) that examines the moving pieces of our world through the timeless writing of C.S. Lewis.

I discuss what the show is, what it is not, and I clarify what I mean when I refer to Lewis as a conservative.

Particularly as this is a new idea, I would love to hear your thoughts!

Watch the video of this episode and subscribe to my YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/3s7_eNfdQL8

B...

If God has perfect knowledge of all time, do we actually have choices to make? To what extent can our wills possibly be free?

In this final episode of Life, Death, and Meaning with Beowulf and Boethius, I discuss Book V of The Consolation of Philosophy and I tease where we are going next!

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In this bonus episode from Josh Traylor's Paradise Lost course, Josh shares some wisdom on studying literature. Whether you are interested in studying literature professionally or simply out of an interest in the power of the written word, this presentation will help you get started in an intentional way.

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What is time?

What is its relationship with eternity?

Does God's perfect knowledge of negate our apparent free will?

As we continue through the Boethius section of "Life, Death, and Meaning with Beowulf and Boethius," we take a look at Augustine's understanding of time, eternity, and freedom.

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As we continue through Joshua Traylor's Paradise Lost course, Josh discusses Books XI and XII.

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What is the relationship between Fate and Providence?

As we continue through "Life, Death, and Meaning with Beowulf and Boethius," I discuss Book IV Boethius's The Consolation of Philosophy.

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As we continue through Joshua Traylor's Paradise Lost course, Josh discusses Book X.

Watch the video of this episode and subscribe to my YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/EDTBKyg_6O8

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Patron and Mythic Mind contributor Jack Keoseyan recently wrote an article for our Substack titled, "Arda Healed, not Arda Unmarred," in which he discusses Tolkien's Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth with reference to Athanasius, the great Church Father and defender of orthodox Trinitarianism in the fourth century A.D. In this article, Jack discusses the nature and destiny of humanity in Tolkien's legendarium and what that reveals about Tolkien's theology.In this episode, Jack reads his article for us.

Read the article and subscribe to the Mythic mind Substack here: https://mythicmind.substack.com/p/arda-healed-not-arda-unmarred

Watch...

As we continue through Joshua Traylor's Paradise Lost course, Josh discusses Books IX.

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As we continue through the Boethius section of "Life, Death, and Meaning with Beowulf and Boethius," we take a look at Epicureanism and Stoicism, two major schools of classical thought that play a significant role in Boethius's own thought.

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Listen to all THREE Mythic Mind podcasts:
Mythic MindMythic Mind GamesMythic Mind Movies & Shows(or become a patron to get all three shows in one...