The Symbolic World

In celebration of the Feast of Theophany I discuss the role of St. John the Baptist, or St. John the Forerunner, as he's known in the Orthodox tradition. Why does Christ need a forerunner? What is he actually doing, symbolically? And how does his appearance, behavior, and death participate in the pattern that's already being set up in the Old Testament?Original YouTube version: https://youtu.be/dvUQXKdpJy0💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau 🗣 Join The Symbolic World Community for discussions about symbolism: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe 🔒 BECOME A PATRON: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe ==========NEW SYMBOLIC WORLD COURSE==========Join us for Annie Crawford's course on C.S. Lewis' Till We Have Faces, starting live on January 17th, 2025. If you register before Thursday, 8 pm EST, you can get 15% off with the discount code: LEWIS2025. Register now: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/till-we-have-faces-with-annie-crawford==========TIMESTAMPS==========00:00 - Introduction00:32 - Intro music00:57 - The role of St. John04:05 - Prefigurations of St. John04:21 - The flood of Noah05:15 - The Tower of Babel06:06 - The Exodus07:55 - Elijah09:37 - St. John in the wilderness12:36 - The voice in the desert13:51 - Wild15:58 - Stability in Logos17:55 - Elijah will return21:49 - Taken up before the end23:21 - Joseph in Egypt26:16 - Conclusion📱 SOCIAL MEDIA  Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheSymbolicWorld Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/pageaujonathan Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathan.pageauOur website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/ My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson.

For this interview I have a great discussion with organist, pianist, conductor, arranger, and recording artist Matthew Wilkinson, who also happened to put together the Symbolic World intro music. We delve into the symbolism of music, particularly focusing on Bach's organ works. The discussion also touches on the evolution of musical styles from the Baroque period to the Classical, modern and postmodern eras, the historical context of music, from the music of the spheres to modern dissonance, and how these concepts reflect broader ideas about hierarchy and opposites.Support Matthew Wilkinson's wonderful work: Check out his website and buy his CD: https://matthewwilkinson.net/Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/24DSGAdbVt7by0JHEqTwMh?si=ZJlpdMkcSg6SfMvz7YbkFgYouTube: https://youtube.com/@matthewwilkinson2276?si=m1gbZgTSpOALVdq5Join us for Annie Crawford's course on C.S. Lewis' Till We Have Faces, starting live on January 17th, 2025. Learn more here: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/till-we-have-faces-with-annie-crawfordOriginal YouTube version: https://youtu.be/d-9FRODiDKM  Timestamps:00:00 - Coming up00:56 - Intro music01:21 - Introduction02:18 - The album on Bach05:38 - Trinitarian symbolism14:49 - Meaning in structure vs outside it20:15 - The hero's journey22:05 - Signatures25:06 - Subject and countersubject26:19 - The organ29:25 - Going through the entrances32:39 - Various subjects35:03 - Baroque36:37 - Counterpoint37:21 - Duality in music40:14 - Music of the spheres43:54 - Hierarchy in beats47:15 - Glenn Gould49:19 - The dialectic51:04 - Hierarchy in music55:16 - Music in the modern era01:07:45 - Postmodernism💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau 🗣 Join The Symbolic World Community for discussions about symbolism: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe 🔒 BECOME A PATRON: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe 📱 SOCIAL MEDIA  Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheSymbolicWorld Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/pageaujonathan Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathan.pageauOur website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/ My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson.

This is a repost of a talk given at St-George Antiochian Orthodox Church in Montreal, originally posted in 2018.The Nativity icon is not only the image of an event that happened two thousands years ago, but rather by its form and the hierarchy of its elements, shows us the inner working of how the Divine Logos creates the world and how His incarnation acts as the anchor, the fulcrum around which all manifestation holds together.  Original YouTube version: https://youtu.be/i8xow567P74Don’t forget to check out our Christmas Symbolism playlist of all the videos I made about Christmas over the years:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVX4HUUPrIY9MeGP5IILeRzu62Q1NPT4CTimestamps:00:00 - Introduction01:10 - Intro music01:34 - Introducing the talk03:50 - The fast05:29 - Elements of the nativity icon08:04 - St. Joseph tempted by the devil10:44 - The bullseye13:24 - The ass and ox15:40 - Why born in a cave?20:31 - God with us25:44 - The real question32:44 - Q&A: The river gods35:20 - Q: The axe35:50 - Q: Early icons37:08 - Q: Children baptized38:12 - Q: Snakes under the door💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau 🗣 Join The Symbolic World Community for discussions about symbolism: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe 🔒 BECOME A PATRON: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe 📱 SOCIAL MEDIA  Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheSymbolicWorld Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/pageaujonathan Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathan.pageauOur website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/ My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson.

In this episode, I explore a dark narrative aspect of the Christmas story: the Massacre of the Innocents at the hand of King Herod, connecting it to various Old Testament variations on the pattern: Joseph and the Pharaoh, Jacob and Esau, and David and King Saul. Christ brings all of these stories together in a unique and mind-blowing way, not just in the Gospels, but also in what happens in history afterwards…Original YouTube version: https://youtu.be/cGZn-hv7disCheck out my other videos on Christmas: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVX4HUUPrIY9MeGP5IILeRzu62Q1NPT4C💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau 🗣 Join The Symbolic World Community for discussions about symbolism: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe 🔒 BECOME A PATRON: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe 00:00 - Introduction01:42 - Intro music02:07 - The text03:39 - What's going on?03:59 - Pharaoh kills children in Egypt05:48 - Joseph son of Israel07:11 - Jacob and Esau09:22 - King Saul and David10:31 - The story of Jesus12:11 - A prophecy: killed by His brothers13:43 - The conversion of Rome14:47 - Going back in time16:38 - Why is this part of reality?📱 SOCIAL MEDIA  Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheSymbolicWorld Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/pageaujonathan Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathan.pageauOur website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/ My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson.