The Symbolic World

In this episode, I look at the tradition of St. Mercurius: a warrior saint associated with St. Michael, the death of Emperor Julian the Apostate, and dog-headed men.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/_Qp3Xj153Ac

Pre-Order GodsDog: Monk now and/or get volumes 1 and 2 on sale! https://godsdog.com/

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Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/

My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson: https://matthewwilkinson.net/

I talk with Rusty Reno about the collapse of the postwar “open society” ideal and the return of people’s need for strong loyalties, meaning, and transcendence. We discuss how we got here after the world wars decimated Western civilization: emergent post-war social narratives and identities like nationalism, globalism, politics, “progress”, environmentalism, and transhumanism. Finally we discuss the crisis of masculinity and our ultimate hope in Christ.

Rusty Reno is the editor of First Things, a journal aimed at "advancing a religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society". He is the editor of the Brazos Theological Commentary on Scripture series and the author of several books, most recently Return of the Strong Gods: Nationalism, Populism and the Future of the West. For twenty years Reno taught theology at Creighton University.

YouTube version of this interview: https://youtu.be/NwTYsZfU2ak

Rusty’s book, Return of the Strong Gods: https://www.amazon.com/Return-Strong-Gods-Nationalism-Populism/dp/1621578003

Pre-Order GodsDog: Monk now and/or get volumes 1 and 2 on sale! https://store.thesymbolicworld.com/collections/godsdog

Join Dr. Zac Porcu for his course, A Demonological History of the World: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/a-demonological-history-of-the-world

6 weeks, 12 hours

Price: Only $120, and Involved patrons can get 10% off. Apply your discount code at checkout.

Live classes: Sep 15 - Oct 20

🔓 Become a patron to support us and unlock exclusive monthly symbolism content: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe

💻 Website, blog, courses: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com

📚 Store: https://store.thesymbolicworld.com/

Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/

My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson: https://matthewwilkinson.net/

Why is St. Michael often shown holding a flaming sword? I look at how this image developed, its connection to the expulsion from Paradise, the defeat of the dragon, and the emergent sacred geography known as the Sword of St. Michael.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/yE68F1pGPmQ

Pre-Order GodsDog: Monk now and/or get volumes 1 and 2 on sale! https://store.thesymbolicworld.com/collections/godsdog

Join Dr. Zac Porcu for his course, A Demonological History of the World: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/a-demonological-history-of-the-world

6 weeks, 12 hours

Price: Only $120, and Involved patrons can get 10% off. Apply your discount code at checkout.

Live classes: Sep 15 - Oct 20

🔓 Become a patron to support us and unlock exclusive monthly symbolism content: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe

I finally sit down with Diana Pasulka to talk about UFOs, alien intelligence, AI, psychedelics, transhumanism, and the strange religious framework forming around all of them. We look at how these phenomena overlap with older spiritual categories, and why the promise of technological transcendence may be a counterfeit of something Christianity already understands.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/6TqYxG9gxwc

Her books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/D.W.-Pasulka/author/B07NL6KZN5

Join Dr. Zac Porcu for his course, A Demonological History of the World: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/a-demonological-history-of-the-world

6 weeks, 12 hours

Price: Only $120, and Involved patrons can get 10% off. Apply your discount code at checkout.

Live classes: Sep 15 - Oct 20

Pre-Order GodsDog: Monk now and/or get volumes 1 and 2 on sale! https://store.thesymbolicworld.com/collections/godsdog

🔓 Become a patron to support us and unlock exclusive monthly symbolism content: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe

Timestamps:

00:00 – Coming up

01:58 – Introduction

02:52 – How a Religious Studies Scholar Ended Up Studying UFOs

08:52 – UFOs as Religious and Spiritual Phenomena

13:25 – A Demonological History of the World

14:41 – The Mythology and Narrative of UFOs

16:38 – Why Governments Use UFO Disinformation

20:56 – Technology, Magic, and Non-Human Intelligence

24:22 – Aliens, Demons, and the Modern Image of the “Grey”

27:43 – Psychedelics and Encounters With Other Beings

30:19 – AI as an Alien Intelligence

32:02 – UFOs and the Promise of a New Revelation

34:29 – Spielberg and the Alien as Saviour

38:35 – Arthur C. Clarke, Demons, and Childhood’s End

40:50 – Transhumanism vs. Christian Transfiguration

45:42 – God’s Dog: Monk

46:42 – Aliens as Our Future, “Evolved” Selves

49:06 – How the Alien Narrative Collides With Christianity

52:36 – Project Stargate, Remote Viewing, and Psychic Espionage

56:18 – Why Is the AI Project Also Called “Stargate”?

57:30 – 2001: A Space Odyssey, AI, and UFO Disclosure

01:01:29 – AI Is Feeding on Us

01:03:00 – How Should Christians Respond?

01:06:26 – AI Cannot Give Us Transcendence

01:08:42 – Recovering the Spiritual Senses

01:10:39 – Isolation Makes Us Vulnerable to Propaganda

01:11:39 – Diana’s Next Book on Christianity

01:13:00 – The Noosphere, the Singularity, and an Apocalyptic Moment

01:17:06 – Christianity Makes Us More Human

01:18:20 – Conclusion

Dr. Zac Porcu joins me to discuss his upcoming course on the demonological history of the world, looking at the pagan gods, fallen angels, magic, and technology. We explore what happens when you take seriously the early Christian claim that the gods were real, but fallen.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/WMKOzuhnib4

Learn more about Dr. Zac: https://zacharyporcu.com/Join Dr. Zac Porcu for his course, A Demonological History of the World: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/a-demonological-history-of-the-world 6 weeks, 12 hoursPrice: Only $120, and Involved patrons can get 10% off. Apply your discount code at checkout.Live classes: Sep 15 - Oct 20Pre-Order GodsDog: Monk now and/or get volumes 1 and 2 on sale! https://store.thesymbolicworld.com/collections/godsdog🔓 Become a patron to support us and unlock exclusive monthly symbolism content: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe💻 Website, blog, courses: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com📚 Store: https://store.thesymbolicworld.com/Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/ My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson: https://matthewwilkinson.net/

This was July 2026's patron video that we decided to make public. If you want to support us and get extra symbolism videos, subscribe a a paying member to The Symbolic World: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribeIn this video, I analyzed the movie Obsession, which was released in May of this year. It had a low budget and was directed by a YouTuber, yet became a massive breakout box office and critical success.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/z09N5ErcoTEJoin Dr. Zac Porcu for his course, A Demonological History of the World: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/a-demonological-history-of-the-world 6 weeks, 12 hoursPrice: Only $120, and get 15% off through September 8, 2026 at 11:55PM ET! After the early bird sale, Involved patrons can still get 10% off. (Discounts can't be combined.)Live classes: Sep 15 - Oct 20Pre-Order GodsDog: Monk now and/or get volumes 1 and 2 on sale! https://store.thesymbolicworld.com/collections/godsdog============Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/ My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson: https://matthewwilkinson.net/

Christian Roy and I discuss Jacques Ellul’s theology of technique (technology) and the way modern systems turn power, efficiency, and mediation into ends in themselves. AI brings this crisis into focus, especially in our speech and relationships, but the deeper question is whether technology still serves a meaningful purpose —or whether we have begun to serve it. We also explore the Christian idea of non-power as a way beyond the logic of domination.

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

Christian’s book: Theology and Technique: https://www.amazon.ca/Theology-Technique-Jacques-Ellul/dp/1725259788

Join Dr. Zac Porcu for his course, A Demonological History of the World: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/a-demonological-history-of-the-world

6 weeks, 12 hours

Price: Only $120, and get 15% off through September 8, 2026 at 11:55PM ET!

Live classes: Sep 15 - Oct 20

Pre-Order GodsDog: Monk now and/or get volumes 1 and 2 on sale! https://store.thesymbolicworld.com/collections/godsdog

🔓 Become a patron to support us and unlock exclusive monthly symbolism content: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe

💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com

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Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/

My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson: https://matthewwilkinson.net/

Louise Perry is a British journalist, author, and host of the Maiden Mother Matriarch Podcast. She’s a columnist for the Wall Street Journal and has been described as a leading reactionary feminist. She interviewed me for us to discuss why progressivism became such a powerful cultural force, how the postwar story shaped modern politics and storytelling, and why fairy tales still preserve patterns that our culture has tried to flatten or subvert.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/HVRY6WP4hFA

Her website: https://www.louisemperry.co.uk/

Her X account: https://x.com/Louise_m_perry

Register now for the Universal History Masterclass hosted by Dcn. Seraphim Rohlin: ⁠https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/universal-history-masterclass⁠

Pre-order GodsDog 3 and get volumes 1 and 2 on sale! https://store.thesymbolicworld.com/

Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/ My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson: https://matthewwilkinson.net/

In this conversation with artist Matt Rhodes, we explore Dead Gods, his epic comic set in the world before the biblical Flood. We talk about Nephilim, Watchers, ancient patriarchs, dragons, dinosaurs, and what civilization might look like when people live for centuries and Noah himself becomes a warrior at the end of the world.

Matt’s website: https://www.mattrhodesart.com/

His YouTube channel where you can follow the creation process: https://www.youtube.com/@mattrhodesart

Project trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP7ETbjN9yE

Support this project directly: https://www.patreon.com/MattRhodesArt

Register now for the Universal History Masterclass hosted by Dcn. Seraphim Rohlin: ⁠https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/universal-history-masterclass⁠

🔓 Become a patron to support us and unlock exclusive monthly symbolism content: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe

💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com

Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/

My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson: https://matthewwilkinson.net/

In this conversation with Jay Dyer, we look at predictive programming, propaganda, Hollywood, and the growing role of AI in shaping how we imagine the future. We also discuss technocracy, centralization, and why the most important response may be much closer to home: rebuilding strong families, parishes, and local communities.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/qdMVVyxEL3k

Register now for the Universal History Masterclass hosted by Dcn. Seraphim Rohlin, taking place live this August and September. ⁠https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/universal-history-masterclass⁠

Website: thesymbolicworld.com

Timestamps:

00:00 – Coming up

01:31 – Introduction

03:32 – What Is Predictive Programming?

08:32 – Propaganda, Art, and Soft Power

14:48 – Hollywood and the Intelligence Agencies

18:03 – Preparing the Public for War

22:33 – Hollywood’s Revolutionary Narrative

28:58 – Globalism, Nationalism, and the Nation-State

31:50 – The Power of Invisible Institutions

36:39 – Why Dystopias Can Still Condition Us

43:07 – The Real Temptation of The Matrix

46:11 – Social Engineering Through Entertainment

49:01 – Why Promote Self-Destructive Narratives?

53:39 – Long-Term Planning and the Technocratic Vision

57:55 – Toward a Global Technocratic State

01:01:40 – Has AI Replaced the Old Narratives?

01:05:23 – AI and the Logic of Inevitability

01:10:47 – Technology, Power, and Centralization

01:13:11 – The Christian Alternative: Subsidiarity

01:17:35 – Conclusion