New Essay

In which I wax eloquent on Jordan Peterson, and why foxes smoke cigarettes.

I normally only post on my Substack for non-religious purposes, but Crisis Magazine, a Catholic publication, published an article of mine recently that crosses over somewhat into Piers the Plowman’s territory. The essay is titled “Jordan Peterson and the Apocalypse” and regales the reader with my visit to the Symbolic World Summit. The Symbolic World is the YouTube channel of icon maker turned YouTube star Jonathan Pageau, and I went there hoping to gain some insight into his ideas and the community (still mostly online) that it has spawned. Here’s a snippet to whet your appetite:

There was much talk of recapturing traditional stories and storytelling at the Symbolic World Summit. Pageau and company mean by this that understanding symbolism can help combat, for example, the tendency of people in Hollywood to subvert traditional stories. He is thinking of things like the forthcoming Snow White movie (2025), whose star indicated the film was meant to undermine traditional ideas of womanhood. 

Pageau’s press is actually producing an illustrated version of the Snow White story, and fairy tales occupy a large place in the universe of the Symbolic World (as you can guess, the work of Tolkien is popular among members). Richard Rohlin, one of Pageau’s YouTube associates, emphasized that teaching fairy tales, stories from the Bible, and the lives of the saints to one’s children was crucial to “reclaiming the cosmic image” and, presumably, retaking our public imagination back from Hollywood executives and other reprobates. 

Please do visit over to Crisis and read the rest. And if you think it is of value, think about sharing it as well on your social media accounts. Cheers!