In this episode, I introduce the new season of Mythic Mind! If you don't already have a copy of Tolkien's Tales from the Perilous Realm, be sure to order your copy today so you can follow along! Also, be sure to support me on Patreon to get full access to the Mythic Mind community and to support my work. patreon.com/andrewnsnyder Tales from the Perilous Realm --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast:...

In this brief episode, I lay out some exciting new paths we'll be taking in 2023, including new Patreon offerings! Patreon: patreon.com/andrewnsnyder Substack: andrewnsnyder.substack.com My Amazon Affiliate Links: The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Tales from the Perilous Realm --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/mythicmind/support

While my current content focus is primarily on the Patreon-exclusive Grimm series, I'm continuing to repurpose old content to keep the public podcast feed alive. In this episode, I read a blog post that I wrote in December of 2020 as my wife and I continued to work through child loss and empty arms. While much has changed since then, there are some experiences that remain forever-present. The joy of Christmas can become salt on the wounds of those who are mourning, so I hope that this short...

To keep the public podcast feed active, I'm continuing to repurpose old content. In this case, I've uploaded a short presentation I recorded a few years ago about what it means to be human. Enjoy! Links: patreon.com/andrewnsnyder speakpipe.com/mythicmind --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/mythicmind/support

While my focus is on new content for the Patreon-exclusive Grimm series, I'm continuing to repurpose other content to keep the public feed active, and of course to provide patrons with more content as well.   This is my first content lecture from my Christian Worldview course and it’s simply titled, “The Christian View of the Word.” Of course you don’t have to be a Christian to benefit from this podcast, but I also haven’t hidden my Christian perspective. Whether you share in the faith or...

As a reminder, the public podcast feed is on a hiatus during the current Patreon-exclusive series on the Grimm fairy tales. However, so the public feed isn't completely silent, I'm going to start dropping some recycled content over there. This episode is a lecture originally delivered for my "Philosophy and Christian Thought" course that surveys some important themes in the history of Western Thought from ancient Greece to Kierkegaard. This comes from early in my online teaching career, so...

In this episode, we continue our Patreon-exclusive series on Grimms' Fairy Tales with Hansel and Gretel. Far more than a mere cautionary tale about over-indulgence, this is story is a classic hero's journey that teaches us how to encounter the unexpected, defeat cannibalistic tyrants, and recover lost treasures that, justly earned, enrich our lives and those around us. To gain access to the rest of this series, head over to patreon.com/andrewnsnyder! --- This episode is sponsored by ·...

In this final episode of Mythic Mind's first public season, I review where we've been and finish out our discussion of Kierkegaard's The Sickness unto Death with the hope that can emerge from despair. Additionally, I discuss why Kierkegaard's legacy matters and how it might relate to modern empirical psychology. Finally, I discuss where we'll be headed next! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/andrewnsnyder Recommendations: Eighteen Upbuilding Discourses The Concept of Anxiety The...

“The greatest hazard of all, losing the self, can occur very quietly in the world, as if it were nothing at all.” - Kierkegaard, The Sickness unto Death In this episode, coming to you about 3 months late, I continue our study of The Sickness unto Death with a survey of the forms that despair can seem to take. Through personal experience, people we know, and stories we've heard, it seems that there are many ways we might lose ourselves. In the end, however, Kierkegaard tells us that there is...

After falsely announcing this a few times, we're finally starting on Kierkegaard's The Sickness unto Death, in which he discusses the nature of despair and what it means to live as an authentic human self in harmony with our design and purpose. Additionally, in response to a listener's question, I share what I believe Kierkegaard would have to say about anxious attachment and avoidance in relationships. Recommendations: - Freedom and its Misuses - The Consolation of Philosophy --- This...

In this special episode, I look toward Good Friday as I discuss some Tolkienian wisdom and the true myth of the gospel. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/mythicmind/support

Happy Tolkien Reading Day! In this special episode of Mythic Mind, I'm joined by several podcasters, professors, authors, and other fans to discuss why we're drawn to Tolkien and to share some of our favorite passages. Whether you are already an insider in this community or you just want to know what all these nerds are up to, I hope you find this to be a fun, inspiring, encouraging show that leads you to pick up and read for the first or eleventy-first time! As always, I'm glad to have you...

I had said that we would begin with The Sickness unto Death today, but I decided to put that off one more time. As we prepare to discuss Kierkegaard's take on despair, I thought it might be helpful for me to talk a bit about my own experiences on the edge of hopelessness to give some personal application to the philosophical explorations that will follow. I sincerely hope that my journeys through death and shadow provide some light for your path. Thank you for listening! Please be sure to...

In the previous episode, we concluded our study of Kierkegaard's The Concept of Anxiety. In this episode, in preparation for moving into The Sickness unto Death, we discuss Kierkegaard's relatively short discourse, To Need God is a Human Being's Highest Perfection, in which he argues just that. In this approachable, fairly straightforward discourse, he lays out some of the ideas that will be discussed in more detail and with more difficulty in The Sickness unto Death. At the end, I make...

In this episode, I conclude our study of Kierkegaard's The Concept of Anxiety with the final chapter, "Anxiety as Saving Through Faith," which uses Augustinian and Boethian themes to demonstrate the educative potential of anxiety in relation to the human task of becoming authentically human. Also, I reveal my plans for Mythic Mind following the completion of Kierkegaard's The Sickness unto Death. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. ...

In this episode, we return to Kierkegaard's The Concept of Anxiety with Chapter 4, in which he discusses, among other things, the psychology of evil and repentance. It's a longer, rather dense episode, so, if you have any questions or comments, definitely send me an e-mail at [email protected] and I will be glad to address them on the show. If you would like to support my work and gain access to exclusive content and early releases, you can head over to...

There was recently a post published to Medium, titled “No, the Lord of the Rings is not Christian.” This post, which made rounds throughout the internet, argued that, despite a popular understanding, Tolkien’s great work is not only not fundamentally a Christian work, but that it is actually fundamentally secular, and even philosophically "progressive." I provided a response post to my blog, which seems to have struck a chord with many, so I decided to read it here. The original article...

This is the second lecture from my course, "Philosophy and Christian Thought." I do a couple things in this lecture: first, I address the question posed by Tertullian, “What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?" with reference to Origen, Augustine, and Aquinas. Second, I provide some thoughts regarding Plato’s Apology.  I hope this is of some use to you. If it is, I welcome you to leave me a positive review and to consider supporting my work at patreon.com/andrewnsnyder. As always, thanks for...

As I previously mentioned, I currently have too much on my plate to regularly produce new episodes of Mythic Mind, but I still want to provide content on a regular basis. I've taught a few philosophy and theology courses, so I'm going to start uploading my course lectures whenever I'm unable to make new content for the podcast. We're going to start with a course titled "Philosophy & Christian Thought," which is an introductory philosophy course that is meant to help Christians learn what...

It has been a while, but I bring you the ninth episode of the Mythic Mind podcast! In this episode, we return to Kierkegaard's The Concept of Anxiety with the third chapter. Kierkegaard introduces the term of "the moment," which describes our willful mediation between past actuality and future potential in reference to the eternal. In the moment, we are separated from the rest of earthly existence and are able to live authentically as humans, bringing together the eternal and temporal, bodily...

In this episode, we take a break from Kierkegaard to examine the Grimm Tale of "The Frog-king, or Iron Henry" as we inaugurate a new series that, after this episode, will be a Patreon-exclusive journey through fairy-tales and folklore. At the moment, this series will be posted irregularly, but, once we hit the next goal of $400/month, they will be released every other week (on the off-weeks from Mythic Mind). This series will be available to all patrons at the $5/month tier or higher. If you...

As we continue to enjoy parenthood with our newborn twins and make daily visits to the hospital to visit our son who is still in the NICU, our schedule has been a little heavy lately. In this episode, I just wanted to briefly check in with you, let you know that I'm still here, and update you on some changes I've made to my Patreon goals. If you want to see where I'd like to go in the future, you can head over to patreon.com/andrewnsnyder.

In this episode, we discuss Chapter 2 of Kierkegaard's The Concept of Anxiety. Kierkegaard describes anxiety as the dizziness of freedom which is inherent in human existence, but is consciously experienced as we become more or less conscious of our responsibility to properly relate to the worlds above, below, and within. Anxiety is a symptom of our yearning for fulfillment, but can result in corruption just as much as it can result in authentic human satisfaction in harmony with our ideal. I...

In this episode, we finish our discussion of the first chapter of Kierkegaard's The Concept of Anxiety. We discuss Kierkegaard's understanding of what it means to be human, truly human, and the role that anxiety plays in shaping our identity, for better or for worse. Additionally, we further discuss what it means to use a mythic perspective to consider what matters rather than, first and foremost, material things. I encourage you to send your questions and comments to...

In this episode, I provide some personal lessons I've learned during the gap since the last episode and we look at the first half of Chapter One of Kierkegaard's The Concept of Anxiety. We discuss the ethical relationship between the individual human and the history of the human race. As far as we are, or should be, concerned, where does guilt reside, how is it passed through generations, and what is the individual's ethical task? Does shame have any positive value? Practically speaking, why...