The Symbolic World
Jonathan Pageau looks at symbolism in all its forms, from its source in sacred stories and images to contemporary culture and ultimately how it shapes the world we encounter.
Episodes
June 26, 2026 • 75 mins
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 g...
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June 24, 2026 • 109 mins
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
Times...
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
Times...
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June 20, 2026 • 19 mins
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 n...
YouTube version: https://youtu.be/6prGX3wZKI8
Buy Little Red Riding Hood n...
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Mark as Played
June 20, 2026 • 24 mins
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 a...
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 a...
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Mark as Played
June 16, 2026 • 106 mins
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-g...
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-g...
Listen
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Mark as Played
June 11, 2026 • 22 mins
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/
...
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/
...
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Mark as Played
June 9, 2026 • 18 mins
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...
Buy Little Red Riding Hood now during the month of June and get the audiobook with...
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Mark as Played
June 2, 2026 • 49 mins
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. Re...
Join Seraphim Hamilton in studying the Book of Isaiah this June. Re...
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Mark as Played
May 29, 2026 • 80 mins
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...
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May 26, 2026 • 101 mins
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: h...
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: h...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
May 21, 2026 • 26 mins
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://yo...
Watch on YouTube: https://yo...
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Mark as Played
May 8, 2026 • 23 mins
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 sto...
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April 29, 2026 • 31 mins
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, ...
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, ...
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Mark as Played
April 21, 2026 • 29 mins
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 d...
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 d...
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April 18, 2026 • 59 mins
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 und...
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April 10, 2026 • 29 mins
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 Heath...
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 Heath...
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Mark as Played
April 8, 2026 • 29 mins
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:/...
YouTube version: https://youtu.be/BG2psRcPH7o
My review of Ye's album Bully: https:/...
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Mark as Played
April 1, 2026 • 64 mins
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, pos...
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Mark as Played
March 26, 2026 • 14 mins
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...
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...
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Mark as Played
March 20, 2026 • 51 mins
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 the...
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 the...
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Mark as Played
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