Podcast Benomtad

Music, Memory, and Death’s Motley Garb:

This extraordinary figure, this amoral bringer of a moral lesson!  

A magical user of beauty clad in motley, a traveler of worlds.  

He lures rats and the town’s children in with his music.

This true crime fairy tale is an account of a German town’s loss of its children in 1284.  Over the years the tale has had some additions, but it blends nonfiction and fairy tale elements and we discuss its meaning here.  

Chapters:

00:00 Int...

Vervaeke et. al. trace the progression of secular apocalypses from HG Well's "The War of the Worlds," through the zombie variety.  

We break down what this progression might mean, and what we can do about it.

(From a discussion on “Zombies in Western Culture: A Twenty-First Century Crisis,” by John Vervaeke, Christopher Mastropietro, and Filip Miscevic (Chapter 3, second half)

Thank you for watching!  Please see below for the full conversation:

The full video episode:

https://youtu.be/gyJIFSjpqho

Audio epis...

The Metaphor of the Apocalyptic Disasters: Before the apocalypse in "Revelations," there is a series of disasters, and that can be taken as the mental disorder before the personal "revelation" in spiritual development. Something much like this has been discovered in other religions and philosophies.

(From a discussion on “Zombies in Western Culture: A Twenty-First Century Crisis,” by John Vervaeke, Christopher Mastropietro, and Filip Miscevic (Chapter 3, second half)

Thank you for watching!  Please see below for the full conversation:

The full video episode:

https://youtu.be/gyJIFSj...

Hair of the Dog that Bit You: the hair of a rabid dog used to be thought of as a cure for rabies, which seems to operate on the logic of like cures like.

In the Brothers’ Grimm’s “The Boy Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was,” he boy--now a young man married to the princess--is finally able to shudder when water with fishes--a symbolic parallel of the moat into which he'd thrown the haunted castle's demons--is thrown onto his face while he is sleeping.

(From a discussion on the Brothe...

Ian and I discuss Vervaeke et. al.’s writing on the symbol of the zombie apocalypse.  They show that our use of “apocalypse” is a telling transformation of the original Christian one.  The modern, secular apocalypse gradually lost vestiges of its Christian roots, and it and the zombie found each other almost magically, in an unholy marriage.  Then this union broke out into the real world.

We discuss the meaning of zombies and this apocalyptic symbol.  We interpret it partly as a movement within the individual soul and link it to other kinds of spiritual transformat...

A poor man’s son leaves his large family with great sorrow so he will not be a burden.  He joins the army of an emperor and turns the tide of a large battle and is given treasures and the chance to marry the princess.

She has a strange requirement, however: whoever marries her must agree to be buried with her if she dies first.  He agrees because she is so beautiful.

She gets ill and passes away, and he is put in the tomb with her.  He survives by rationing bread a...

These rational characters do not accept what others say, in their fear, and go forth.  Hamlet's story continues with his indecision, but this boy is oriented to action.

(From a discussion on the Brothers Grimm’s “The Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was”)

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If you’re interested, please enjoy–by yourself or with your children–this comedic story with a powerful, yet light ending.

Full Texts of the Story:

https://site...

Choosing to be Oblivious: Zombies may be a warning from our unconscious.  "The danger of the zombie is the danger of unconsciousness to life's problems." --Jordan Peterson

The etymology of monster is "omen, divine portent," and the fact that zombies are a monster of our time must be reflected on.

(From a discussion on Vervaeke’s “Zombies in Western Culture,” Meaning, and Ritual)

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Vervaeke et. al.’s book:

“Zombies in Wester...

Who Do You Think You Are?   Anyone interested in the education of the individual might enjoy a few minutes with this light, yet important tale.  There is a folktale trope of the dummling who, useless at home, ventures forth to find his fate.  This story’s idiot seems to lack something fundamental–the ability to shudder at ghost stories or at fearful experiences–but he knows this, and reminds himself continually that he wants to learn.  

A waggoner who was striding behind him heard this and asked, “Who are you?” 

“I don’t know,” answered the y...

The zombie might be a sign that people feel a lack of purpose in the world.  Ian and I discuss this idea from John Vervaeke et. al. in their book.  We go on to talk about developing meaning in life through getting back to one’s true nature, as we discuss the aspects of the zombie and its story.

“Zombies in Western Culture: A Twenty-First Century Crisis,” by John Vervaeke, Christopher Mastropietro, and Filip Miscevic (Chapter 3):

http://dx.doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0113

(From a discussion on “Zombies in Western Culture: A 21st Centu...

In the Brothers Grimm’s “Fur-of-All-Kinds,” the princess demands a fur made of all the kingdom’s animals for a marriage gift from her widowed father.  It doesn’t prevent his wicked proposal, but she takes it with her on her escape.  We see this as psychological protection from trauma.

Later in the story, the neighboring kingdom’s king rips the fur off, and we talk about the reason for this.

(From a discussion on the Grimm’s “Fur-of-All-Kinds (Allerleirauh)”)

Thank you for watching!  Please see below for the full conversatio...

A wealthy, childless peasant feels something is missing and is mocked for not having a child.  He wishes, “I wish to have a child, even if it is a hedgehog!”  He and his wife are given one, and they have it baptised but do not give it a godfather.  The priest says its quills prevent its sleeping in a bed, and they put it behind the stove for several years. Father is going to the fair and asks people what they want.  Hans asks for bagpipes.  He soon asks to have the cock-rooster shod, and promises to go away and never...

Zombies are everywhere in our culture, in movies and shows, and even in real life (on zombie walks).  They’ve gone from being an object of horror to one of fascination, one that seems to reflect something back to us.  In “Zombies in Western Culture,” Ch. 2, Vervaeke et. al. discuss the change from aliens to zombies as the preeminent monster, and how this reflects the meaning crisis from the loss of the sacred canopy of Christianity.  Ian and I discuss the meaning of zombies as a symbol of mindlessness, and of solutions of meaning, community, and especially mindfulness.  We also discu...

In Grimm’s Fur-of-All-Kinds, the beautiful, dying queen makes her king promise that he will only remarry another as fair as she.  Why does she do this?  She wants to live on in his memory, and this desire powers an image that with the king becomes an obsession.  An obsession that darkens the whole kingdom.

(From a discussion on the Grimm’s “Fur-of-All-Kinds (Allerleirauh)”)

Thank you for watching!  Please see below for the full conversation:

A Summary of the Story:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allerleirauh

This ancient Greek concept was a big part of their culture as well as Homer’s “Odyssey,” and according to translator Emily Wilson, the poem can be treated as a study in xenia.  It facilitated travel in a time with far less safety, no hotels, etc.  There was a series of actions to the custom:

Welcome

Wash

Food

Guest gives identity

Guest given gifts to help him on his way

The suitors back at Odysseus' home horribly violate this value.

(From the...

Humans participate both in the animal and the divine nature, and I think this is behind much of the culture wars.  We veer between overemphasizing the divine or, especially, our immanent nature.  This reminds Ian of Odysseus’ need to bear his sufferings.  We, on the other hand, often try to find the easy way out.

(From the episode “Xenia: Odysseus’ Blessing and Curse”)

Thank you for watching!  Please see below for the full conversation:

The full video episode:

https://youtu.be/0b5yLnBz7e4

Audi...

Homer’s second epic starts with an incantation of a man, a man who rejected godhood with alluring Calypso, a man who pined for years to be at home and hearth with his family.  This is in contrast to the rage of Achilles that begins the first epic.  Odysseus’ not forgetting through all the twists and turns of his journey and ruses reminds us of the concentration of the Buddha.

(From the episode “Xenia: Odysseus’ Blessing and Curse”)

Thank you for watching!  Please see below for the full conversation:

The full v...

In Homer’s “Odyssey,” Book 7, Odysseus, who has at this point lost all his men and washes up alone on the Scherian beach, has through his wit and bearing, and with the goddess Athena’s help, been accepted into the royal Phaeacian court.  Here, he throws himself at the mercy of Queen Arete, and then settles himself in the ashes.  An elder at court reminds everyone of their duty under Zeus, Xenia–guest-friendship– and they honor Odysseus the wanderer.  In fact, they offer their beautiful daughter to Odysseus in marriage.  We discuss Xenia, this all-important custom in the ancient Greek world that...

Modern German philosophers like Marx, Nietzsche and Freud have spread the "hermeneutics of suspicion" in our culture.  We have a deep suspicion of appearances and, therefore, beautiful things (the beauty of which is often seen as merely on the surface or subjective).  

This is connected to the ugliness of modern buildings. It seems we are blind to beauty around us.  

I think this has something about the values of society's elites.  They don't seem to believe in an edifying transcendent.  Instead, it's more about "edginess," transgression of some sort.

(Fro...

Pornography participates in beauty, but also is consumptive, and especially, unappreciative.  This is contrasted to Odysseus' paise of Nausicaa in his speech to her, without the ritual supplication at her knees.

Perhaps in trying to own beauty, we lose it.

(From a discussion on Odysseus, Nausicaa, & Beauty’s Education)

Thank you for watching!  Please see below for the full conversation:

The full video episode:

https://youtu.be/WsujhE2muTQ

Audio episode:

https://benomtad.podbean.com/e/odysseu...

Odysseus, when he sees nubile and beautiful Nausicaa when he washes up on shore at the beginning of Book 6, does not try to capture her in any way.  This in a time with raiding parties and the famous r*pes of ancient myths.

Ian links this true appreciation of her beauty to what he needs to go on on his journey.

(From a discussion on Odysseus, Nausicaa, & Beauty’s Education)

Thank you for watching!  Please see below for the full conversation:

The full video ep...

Man is he who suffers, and Odysseus is the man “of twists and turns,” the builder and destroyer, the journeyer trying to reach his beloved homeland.  Here Ian and I discuss what draws this man forward at his nadir in Book VI of Homer’s sequel epic.

Beauty, sing to me of that man of twists and turns!

He who washed up on shore, belched from the belly of the raging sea god.

Wisdom roused young Nausicaa, who stood rooted to the ground,

Odysseus’ welcome into the world.

A dying queen demands that her husband remarry only someone as beautiful as she.  After the mourning period, his advisors scramble around to find a new monarch, but the king’s eye alights on his very own daughter.  She demands abstrusse wedding gifts, but they are manufactured.  In desperation, she flees with her dowry, including a fur made from all the kingdom’s animals, and hides in the forest.

What can come from an impossible promise to a dying monarch, and how does one redeem oneself from a horrific crime by one’s own father?  Ian and I s...

Why do we like folktales and myths?  I think one reason is that they help us learn to pay attention to instinct.  It’s not that I don’t think rationality is important–it is a key to a wise life.  But following John Vervaeke, who sees rationality as much larger than propositional logic, and more how, when, and how much to be logical, I see rationality and being wise as a larger and more embodied process.

Killing one’s lion is “self-castrating,” as Ian says, and the rationalistic knee-jerk rejection of many ways of thinking is not...

The Virtue of Beauty, the Beauty of Virtue: A king is cursed to live as an old man with his servant– now animal attendants–until they are saved by one with kindness for all life.  A poor woodcutter goes hungry while his three daughters get lost in the wood.  The birds of the forest bewilder them to save the kingdom from darkness.

Plot Synopsis of the Story: 

A poor woodcutter, his wife, and three daughters live on the edge of the forest.  When the woodcutter goes out to work, he tells his wife f...

In “Fight Club,” the protagonist tries to find meaning in life through filling his life with purchases.  But that doesn’t give him fullness–he feels dead.  So he goes to cancer support groups, and then group violence in fight clubs.

The zombie culture is a feverish emptiness eating itself.  It has no depth and builds nothing. Everything is seen as a commodity.

(From a discussion on “Zombies in Western Culture: A Twenty-First Century Crisis,” Ch. 1)

Thank you for watching!  Please see below for the full conversation:

The...

Zombies are everywhere in our culture, in movies and shows, and even in real life, on zombie walks.  They’ve gone from being an object of horror to one of fascination, one that seems to reflect something back to us.  In “Zombies in Western Culture,” zombies are analyzed as a myth of Western culture and a symbol of the meaning crisis.  In this episode, we discuss chapter one, where Vervaeke and his coauthors discuss the zombie as part of the zeitgeist, of something hugely significant in and about our culture.  They think this reflects the crisis based in the loss of th...

At the beginning of the story, the man has had his 13th child, and in a panic he runs out into the street looking for a godfather, and God shows up.  He turns him down, pontificating to the Almighty, and showing the creator his puny reasoning and narrow focus.

(From a discussion on the Brothers’ Grimm’s “Godfather Death”)

Thank you for watching!  If you’re interested in the full discussion, see below:

The full video episode:

https://youtu.be/QMR3sj33mRo

Audio epis...

A man works very hard but there is no one left to ask to be the godfather as his 13th child is on the way.  He rushes out into the street and is approached by three prospects.  The first is God, whom he rejects because of the unfair assortment of lots, the second, the Devil, he rejects because of his trickery.  The third, however, he accepts because he treats everyone equally: Death.

The boy starts to grow up, and his godfather gives him a gift that will make him rich and famous: he will be a ph...

The queen bathes in the stream in the garden with her angelic babe, a scene of pure life and innocence.  Into this scene slinks the power-hungry cook, who manipulates the scene to look like that of a beastly killing, leading to the imprisonment of the mother and his absconding with the young princeling.  

The story goes from one of God's grace to one of greed and justice.

(From a discussion on the Brothers’ Grimm’s “The Pink (Carnation)”)

Thank you for watching!  If you’re interested in the full discussi...

A queen was without child, and an angel came to her and told her she would have a child who would have the power of wishing.  After she had the child, the cook, who knew of the son’s ability, staged the son’s death and blamed the queen, who was imprisoned by the king for seven years. 

The cook, who was afraid the son would have him discovered, had the boy wish for a palace to live in, and then a beautiful companion.  The cook would go out and hunt like a nobleman every day.  B...

When the false bride finally arrives, the true bride again almost dies.  Ian sees this as a kind of initiation, a test to see if he will finally know who she is and remember his promise--and who he really is.

(From a discussion on the Brothers’ Grimm’s “The Twelve Huntsmen”)

Thank you for watching!  If you’re interested in the full discussion, plese see below:

The full video episode:

https://youtu.be/-yZySp8Qshs?si=pDyETKJjS7546OZC

Audio episode:

https://benomta...

Death of the King

A Prince, betrothed to his Beloved, is called away, for his father the King is dying.  He gives his ring to his love and says he will marry her when he is king.

The Promise

At his father’s deathbed, bereaved, he promises to marry the King’s chosen bride for him.  He forgets his previous promise.

The Disguise

The princess almost dies of sadness, and her father says he will do whatever he can, and she asks that eleven maidens like her...

I summarize John Vervaeke (& Allan Bloom) on problems of religion in modernism.  They often focus on identity, dogma, or stand for nothing.  

People don't go to it because it does not speak to them.  So why are people turning more to Orthodox Christianity?

(From a discussion on Religious Revival and Renewal)

Pew Article: https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/12/08/religion-holds-steady-in-america/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Richard Reeves’ Post:

​​https://x.com/RichardvReeves/status/2002400790208463046?s=20

AP Article about Modern Orthodoxy:

https://a...

Is there a religious revival in America?  We used data from Pew to answer this question, and we talk about cultural malaise and how religion falls on deaf ears, and how it may speak to us again.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction

00:30 Meditation & Contemplation

10:09 Key Questions about the Religious Revival

12:46 Religious Decline Has Stopped

15:40 Why are People Turning Away from Religion?

24:34 Traditional vs Liberal Mass

28:23 There’s No Such Thing as Dragons

32:23 Narrow Philosophy

35:42 Strange Philosophies in Our Time<...

The Carnation is the Prince: The carnation the heroine burns at the beginning of the story IS the prince at the end.  He requires her to speak, but she freezes up, so he has to go into a stone... So she has to go through trials until she can freely express.  But he is always there when she is ready to speak.

(Discussion on “The Carnation Youth;” A Clip from the Episode “Perfectionism, Tragedy, and Creative Blocks”)

Thank you for watching!  I love and have faith in dialogue.  Please leave a suggestion for...

The Echo of Orpheus: Narcissus' repulse of Echo reminds me of another vain god, Orpheus, master of music.  Both end up being served by poetic justice.

We see perfectionism in this, and in the refusal to join in, to dance in life, leads to destruction.

(A Clip from the Episode “The Myth of Narcissus: Seeing Only Oneself”)

Thank you for watching!  Please check out:

Audio episode:

https://benomtad.podbean.com/e/the-myth-of-narcissus-seeing-only-oneself/

The Podcast Playlist:

https://www...

We read and discuss the Spanish Folktale “The Carnation Youth,” F. Scott Fitzgerald’s tragedy both in life and in “The Great Gatsby,” and Ian’s struggles with the creative writing process.  

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction

00:12 Reading of “The Carnation Youth”

10:05 Letting the Perfect be the Enemy of the Good

14:25 Why Does She Burn the Carnation in the Fire?

24:33 The Carnation is the Prince

29:10 The Carnation Girl’s Second Chances

33:10 Creation & the Erotic

39:13 Why Are You So Afraid?

49:01 Trust, Do Wha...

This pool is a metaphor for the mind.  But there is a "healthy narcissism" that is developmentally-appropriate.

(A Clip from the Episode “The Myth of Narcissus: Seeing Only Oneself”)

Thank you for watching!  Please check out:

Audio episode:

https://benomtad.podbean.com/e/the-myth-of-narcissus-seeing-only-oneself/

The Podcast Playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vqfEOVgfclRgZNXO4boyP3T

The Episode Playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vq-TnaienDlJJ1ZdTknAqVn

For more in...

When you lack a feeling of substance, you need to be propped up by others.

(A Clip from the Episode “The Myth of Narcissus: Seeing Only Oneself”)

Thank you for watching!  Please check out:

Audio episode:

https://benomtad.podbean.com/e/the-myth-of-narcissus-seeing-only-oneself/

The Podcast Playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vqfEOVgfclRgZNXO4boyP3T

The Episode Playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vq-TnaienDlJJ1ZdTknAqVn

For more in this pod...