Media

Environmentalism, the Tower of Babel and the Disintegration of Culture | with Paul Kingsnorth
In this video I interview Paul Kingsnorth, an English writer and thinker. We talk about environmentalism, the Tower of Babel, how he came to Orthodox Christianity, the decline of Christianity in the West and our current cultural crises, and finally, the counter-intuitive solution of true selflessness that Christ offers mankind.

The Tower of Babel and the Disintegration of Culture | with Paul Kingsnorth
In this video I interview Paul Kingsnorth, an English writer and thinker. We talk about environmentalism, the Tower of Babel, how he came to Orthodox Christianity, the decline of Christianity in the West and our current cultural crises, and finally, the counter-intuitive solution of true selflessness that Christ offers mankind.

A Call to Christian Artists
This is a transcript of a video from a few weeks ago, given for the Breath and the Clay's 2021 event. Thanks to Norm Grondin for the transcription. We are at a crossing. Can you feel this? Can you touch the fear and dizziness of our moment? Can you sense the ground...

Monkey Man | The Emergence of Chimeras in Our Culture
In this video we look at the meaning of hybrids: mixtures between categories of identity. With emerging technologies it’s become possible to artificially create hybrids of different types of animals, or even to interbreed between humans and animals. A recent development at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California has sparked public debate given their experimentation with a monkey-human hybrid embryo. The ancient word for such a hybrid is chimera. Like the sphinx and cherubim these mixed beings indicate a breakdown and confusion of identity and act as a buffer between existence and non-existence. What can the (quite literal) emergence of chimeras tell us about the state of our world today?

New Online Icon Carving Class
Jonathan Pageau is offering an exclusive icon carving class. This workshop, refined over several years through in person seminars, is offered for the first time as an online training due to Covid restrictions.
Articles

The Tripartite Symbolism of Man
One hundred men stand solemnly in a perfect circle. All eyes are focused on the single man, about 40, a tall and athletic viking of a man. He is called forward, and is blessed and anointed by the elder. In this ritual, he is to share a commitment of purpose from his soul with the circle of men. He steps towards the blazing fire and falls to his knees…

A Call to Christian Artists
This is a transcript of a video from a few weeks ago, given for the Breath and the Clay's 2021 event. Thanks to Norm Grondin for the transcription....

Introducing Rene Girard to the Symbolic World, and Placing Him Within It
Rene Girard’s theories are introduced to the Symbolic World; certain problems are described and analysed, and Girard is placed within proper bounds.

Possibility, Intelligibility, and the Incarnation
I make the case that the Incarnation does not break the intelligibility behind the non-reductive naturalist worldview, in an attempt to move forward the discussion I had with John Vervaeke and Paul Vanderklay on miracles a few months ago.

The System of The Beast
This is the text version of a video by the same title published in March 2021. Thanks to Gareth Boyd for the edition. With the crazy situation in...

The Symbolism of Graffiti
Ari Fisher explains how graffiti is the inevitable conclusion of modern architecture, its equally disharmonious bride.

Disembodied voices: spirits in a material world
A voice is coming closer from a nearby road, so loud that it carries down the hill, the words resounding off the walls of the inner city terrace...

Perilous Ascent: An Exploration of Actaeon and Revolution
The myth of Actaeon expresses the pattern of revolution. The purpose of this article is to analyze how this pattern is imaged within the story. In...
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About

Jonathan Pageau
Professional Icon Carver
Jonathan Pageau is a professional artist, writer and public speaker, giving workshops and conferences all around North America. He teaches carving, speaks on art, but mostly explores symbolic structures that underlie our experience of the world.
Through his YouTube channel and podcast, The Symbolic World, he also furthers the conversation on symbolism, meaning and patterns in everything from movies, to icons, to social trends.
Articles on the The Symbolic World are contributed by several writers engaged with Jonathan in the exploration of Symbolism across all fields.
To see the Jonathan’s art, please visit his carving website, his Patreon Art page or follow him on social media.