Épisodes

  • 420 - How Free Will Actually Works

    420 - How Free Will Actually Works
    Nov 6 2025
    This was September 2025's patron video that we decided to make public. Thank you to my supporters.
    I explore the question of free will, drawing on the insights of St. Maximus the Confessor. While thinkers like Sam Harris argue that free will is an illusion and always contingent on material circumstances, I show how the Christian understanding reframes freedom—not as arbitrary choice, but as submission to the good. True freedom is not transgression, but moving toward higher and higher goods, where life becomes more natural and effortless.

    Original YouTube version: https://youtu.be/burSzHmo4o4

    The Symbolic World Enters Paradise
    Join me and Deacon Seraphim Rohlin this November in our course on Dante's Paradiso.
    -Course length: 5 weeks, 15 hours
    -Dates of live classes: Wednesdays, November 5th to December 3rd, 2025
    -Time: 2-5 pm Eastern Time
    -Cost: 190 USD (Involved patrons can get 10% off)
    -Register today: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/dantes-paradiso

    💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com
    🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau
    🔒 BECOME A PATRON: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe

    Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/
    My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson: https://matthewwilkinson.net/
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    19 min
  • 419 - Trick or Treat: Halloween Symbolism in Little Red Riding Hood

    419 - Trick or Treat: Halloween Symbolism in Little Red Riding Hood
    Oct 31 2025
    Pre-order Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf now and get a free audiobook read by me, as well as an exclusive Q&A: https://store.thesymbolicworld.com/products/the-tale-of-little-red-riding-hood-and-the-big-bad-wolf

    💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com
    🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau
    🔒 BECOME A PATRON: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe

    Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/
    My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson: https://matthewwilkinson.net/
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    24 min
  • 418 - The Symbolism of the Entire Divine Comedy in the First Canto

    418 - The Symbolism of the Entire Divine Comedy in the First Canto
    Oct 29 2025
    In this video, I read and reflect on the first canto of Dante’s Divine Comedy — the opening of Inferno. This incredible canto puts the entire poem in perspective, serving as a microcosm for Dante's journey through inferno, purgatory, and into paradise. I discuss in detail, line by line, the rich symbolism and meaning Dante conveys.

    YouTube version: https://youtu.be/7zzQRg0muMo

    If you enjoy this kind of symbolic analysis, join me and Deacon Seraphim Rohlin as we continue through Dante’s Paradiso, starting live in November. You can get the early bird sale of 15% off if you use the code: EARLYPARADISO at checkout. Our past courses on Dante's Inferno and Purgatorio are also on a 50% sale during the month of October if you use code: DANTE50.
    Courses:
    -Inferno: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/dantes-inferno-the-course
    -Purgatorio:https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/dantes-purgatorio
    -Paradise (upcoming): https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/dantes-paradiso

    Paradiso live course details:
    The Symbolic World Enters Paradise
    Join me and Deacon Seraphim Rohlin this November in our course on Dante's Paradiso.
    -Course length: 5 weeks, 15 hours
    -Dates of live classes: Wednesdays, November 5th to December 3rd, 2025
    -Time: 2-5 pm Eastern Time
    -Cost: 190 USD-Get 15% off with the early bird sale through all of October with the code: EARLYPARADISO
    -Register today: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/dantes-paradiso

    💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com
    🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau
    🔒 BECOME A PATRON: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe
    Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/
    My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson: https://matthewwilkinson.net/
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    30 min
  • 417 - Three Things Christians Must Do to Rebuild Culture (Touchstone talk)

    417 - Three Things Christians Must Do to Rebuild Culture (Touchstone talk)
    Oct 25 2025
    This talk took place at the 2025 Touchstone conference, Great and Wonderful Days: Rediscovering the Christian Life in a Post-Christian Age. The title of my talk was “This is the Day”.
    https://www.touchstonemag.com/

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

    I explore how our modern world—built on endless disruption and self-expression—has reached its breaking point. We’re witnessing the collapse of a culture that forgot its source, but that’s also at the beginnings of renewal. From art and architecture to worship and storytelling, I share how Christians can remember, celebrate, and create once again—recovering beauty, meaning, and participation in the divine order. This is a moment of opportunity: to rediscover Christ as the pattern of reality and rebuild culture on that foundation.

    The Symbolic World Enters Paradise
    Join me and Deacon Seraphim Rohlin this November in our course on Dante's Paradiso.
    -Course length: 5 weeks, 15 hours
    -Dates of live classes: Wednesdays, November 5th to December 3rd, 2025
    -Time: 2-5 pm Eastern Time
    -Cost: 190 USD
    -Get 15% off with the early bird sale through all of October with the code: EARLYPARADISO
    -Register today: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/dantes-paradiso

    During October you can also get 50% off the Inferno and Purgatorio courses with the code: DANTE50-Inferno: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/dantes-inferno-the-course
    -Purgatorio: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/dantes-purgatorio

    💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com
    🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau
    🔒 BECOME A PATRON: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe
    Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/
    My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson: https://matthewwilkinson.net/
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    49 min
  • 416 - Tangled: The Triumph of Self-Realization

    416 - Tangled: The Triumph of Self-Realization
    Oct 17 2025
    I explore how Disney’s Tangled reimagines the classic Rapunzel story and what these changes reveal about our modern world. Tangled captures a pivotal moment in Disney’s storytelling where there was a shift from the traditional fairy tale’s emphasis on a marriage union, to a more modern emphasis on personal self-realization. I also reflect on how these themes connect to our own retelling, Rapunzel and the Evil Witch.

    YouTube version: https://youtu.be/o8BJcX61H08
    Buy Rapunzel and the Evil Witch: https://rapunzelbook.com/

    The Symbolic World Enters Paradise
    Join me and Deacon Seraphim Rohlin this November in our course on Dante's Paradiso.
    -Course length: 5 weeks, 15 hours
    -Dates of live classes: Wednesdays, November 5th to December 3rd, 2025
    -Time: 2-5 pm Eastern Time
    -Cost: 190 USD
    -Get 15% off with the early bird sale through all of October with the code: EARLYPARADISO
    -Register today: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/dantes-paradiso

    During October you can also get 50% off the Inferno and Purgatorio courses with the code: DANTE50
    -Inferno: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/dantes-inferno-the-course
    -Purgatorio: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/dantes-purgatorio

    💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com
    🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau
    🔒 BECOME A PATRON: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe

    Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/
    My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson: https://matthewwilkinson.net/
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    22 min
  • 415 - Charlie Kirk's Assassination: We have gone beyond the pale

    415 - Charlie Kirk's Assassination: We have gone beyond the pale
    Oct 10 2025
    Huge changes are happening in the political landscape. In this video, I reflect on the assassination of Charlie Kirk and how this moment has deeply affected me toward recognizing how broken our unity has become. Drawing on symbolic insights, I explore the danger of turning opposition into real enmity and the need to return to truth, forgiveness, and higher purpose.

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

    The recent interview with my brother, Matthieu, that I mention in the video: https://youtu.be/8-RWp1_lSEM?si=flnni77ae94jpuD-

    The Symbolic World Enters Paradise
    Join me and Deacon Seraphim Rohlin this November in our course on Dante's Paradiso.
    -Course length: 5 weeks, 15 hours
    -Dates of live classes: Wednesdays, November 5th to December 3rd, 2025
    -Time: 2-5 pm Eastern Time
    -Cost: 190 USD
    -Get 15% off with the early bird sale through all of October with the code: EARLYPARADISO
    -Register today: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/dantes-paradiso

    During October you can also get 50% off the Inferno and Purgatorio courses with the code: DANTE50
    -Inferno: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/dantes-inferno-the-course
    -Purgatorio: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/dantes-purgatorio

    💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com
    🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau
    🔒 BECOME A PATRON: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe
    Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/
    My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson: https://matthewwilkinson.net/
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    25 min
  • 414 - Dcn. Seraphim Rohlin (Universal History) - American Folk Magic and Christianity: From the Reformation to Mormonism

    414 - Dcn. Seraphim Rohlin (Universal History) - American Folk Magic and Christianity: From the Reformation to Mormonism
    Oct 3 2025
    Enchantment never truly disappeared from the modern world.
    In this episode of Universal History Deacon Seraphim Rohlin and I explore the world of magic and folk superstition in American Christianity.

    What is magic? Where’s the line between prayer and magic? Why did Protestant reformers ban holy water but keep belief in the devil? How did treasure-hunting rituals lead to the rise of Mormonism?

    YouTube version: https://youtu.be/o9rMy6lde0c

    Timestamps:
    00:00 - Coming up
    00:37 - Intro music
    01:01 - Introduction
    04:54 - What is magic?
    08:46 - The modern & Enlightenment ideas of superstition
    11:00 - Prayers and psalms
    13:30 - The Reformation's perspective
    24:27 - Medieval understanding of superstition
    26:53 - Example: the French "Dog-saint"
    28:11 - Reformation conclusions
    33:37 - You have an embarrassing illness
    37:21 - Christian magic hacks
    46:29 - Manifestation
    52:03 - Scapegoating
    54:31 - Categories of magic
    56:47 - Divination
    04:30 - Water witching
    07:30 - Saint Porphyrios
    08:51 - Finding water
    09:57 - Finding other things
    11:44 - Money digging
    13:33 - How money digging works
    17:34 - The symbolism of the New World
    20:54 - Joseph Smith and Mormonism
    24:18 - The human need for enchantment

    💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com
    🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau
    🔒 BECOME A PATRON: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe

    Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/
    My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson: https://matthewwilkinson.net/
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    1 h et 29 min
  • 413 - Heidi White - The Divided Soul: Duty and Desire in Literature and Life

    413 - Heidi White - The Divided Soul: Duty and Desire in Literature and Life
    Sep 25 2025
    In this conversation, I sit down with author and educator Heidi White to discuss her new book, The Divided Soul. We explore the story of the prodigal son, the tension between duty and desire, and how these themes echo through literature, culture, and our own lives. Heidi shares insights from the Bible, classical works, and pop culture, showing that many stories reflect this deep human struggle.

    YouTube version: https://youtu.be/1LjDeZpSviw

    Buy Heidi’s book: https://www.goldberrypress.com/products/the-divided-soul-duty-and-desire-in-literature-and-life
    Heidi’s Substack and podcast: https://closereads.substack.com/
    Instagram: @heidiwhitereads

    📖 Let's take our stories back. Check out our latest book in the Tales for Now and Ever series, Rapunzel and the Evil Witch: https://rapunzelbook.com/

    Fr. Stephen De Young's Jubilees and the Nephilim course is now finished and available for purchase: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/jubilees-and-the-nephilim

    Timestamps
    00:00 - Coming up
    01:40 - Intro music
    02:04 - Introduction
    02:48 - The prodigal son
    05:32 - Duty and desire
    07:17 - Paradise as unity
    13:02 - Why the duality?
    17:36 - Sins of the right hand and the left hand
    20:49 - Ordering desire
    27:30 - Examples
    33:28 - Repentance and sacrifice
    38:04 - Christ's version of this pattern
    44:24 - Heidi's vision

    💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com
    🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau
    🔒 BECOME A PATRON: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe
    Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/
    My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson: https://matthewwilkinson.net/
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    48 min