The Symbolic World

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/