https://youtubetranscript.com/?v=aavIH-gRLog
The reaction that I’ve had from my hierarchy has been overwhelmingly positive. Obviously, I’ve been worried about that because I’m talking about things in a way that are a little surprising to some and maybe are not from the same angle. And so I was always worried that people wouldn’t understand what my purpose was or what I was getting to. But I haven’t felt that. I’ve really been supported by my own bishop and then just by the hierarchy in general. So that’s been wonderful. Yeah, that’s awesome to hear. Also, I’m not completely surprised because the Orthodox Church is much more embedded in all of this mysterious stuff, let’s say, than the other churches. But yeah, that’s really great to hear and also reassuring, let’s say. Yeah, and I do still get some pushback because of the icon of St. Christopher. When I sympathize with that, I totally understand that some priests are not happy that I am making images of that icon or just talking about it or posting about it because it was condemned in a late Russian council, in a council that is under Peter the Great, Peter the First. But the most interesting thing about that is the reason why they are angry about me promoting the icon is actually the reason why I’m doing it. Because they think that I am demonizing the other, that I am kind of portraying this idea of the alien as a monster and all of that. And I keep trying to help them understand that it’s a saint. It’s like it’s an icon of a saint. And the people that love that icon that I’ve encountered are people who feel like that monster. It’s not like I’m saying all these evil monsters is that that image is actually calling people who feel in them an aspect of marginality, of being misunderstood, of being… They identify with that. And that’s like the weirdest thing for people to understand that some people really do, we all to a certain extent have that in us, like an aspect of the gargoyle in us. But I think some people in particular feel more that way. And so I think that that icon is playing the opposite role of what he thinks it is. He thinks it’s pushing people away, but I think it’s actually attracting people that are the weird and the strange because it’s still an icon of a saint and they can identify the story of not being able to fully fit in, but then nonetheless having a place and having a role to play in that story. So it’s a funny situation. But I still sympathize with people who are annoyed with me. That’s like the biggest thing that I’ve gotten in terms of pushback has been about the icon of Saint Christopher. That’s interesting. I thought that if you were to get pushback, I thought it would be because they themselves wouldn’t like the icon. I don’t like to see this as part of the tradition. I thought that would be the problem. But I get that too. That’s why they don’t like it because it’s talking about the stranger as almost like a monster and also because they don’t like the idea of dehumanizing people, which is right. They’re totally right. It’s like they’re completely right. But that’s the whole mystery of this encounter with the strange and how we are able to then ultimately find ways to bridge. That’s what Saint Christopher ends up being is a bridge from the inside to the outside. So it does always have a strangeness to it. Which is also, I mean, also mystery itself is like part of part of I’ve been talking about that to a friend of mine. Mystery itself is kind of part of being and part of the pattern. It’s not like mystery is something that’s only not revealed. It’s like mystery itself is a stone that fits into the wall. Something like that. I think you get what I mean. Yeah, exactly. There is an aspect of reality which is not properly represented. And because of that, it appears to us sometimes in these types of strange forms, let’s say. And so on the edge of the world, you encounter a dog-headed man. But then at the edge of the Holy of Holies, you encounter a beast with four wings. It’s like humans with wings. I know you think it’s not as weird to have a human with wings, but it’s still weird. Just because we’re used to it doesn’t mean it’s not weird like a man with a dog-headed face. Those are weird images too. They’re images that are pointing to something, like you said, which is not fully graspable in our category. Right. I mean, just think of the, I think the ophanim, like these wheels within wheels which have eyes on them. What is that? If that isn’t weird. So yeah, I get what you mean. We’re just used to the image of people with wings, I would say. It’s just more normal to us because we see it more often. Yeah, we see it more often and we think that it’s similar. But it’s like a lot of the angels are warriors too, just like St. Christopher. It’s almost like they’re reflection. St. Christopher stands on the edge of the world and the angels stand between us and God. They stand on the edge, but on the other edge, right? The bridge between the higher and the lower. And so they both appear as warriors. They both appear as a form of hybrid. But it also makes sense that their hybridity is different. That they would have something like the head of a human and then the body or the wings of a bird, whereas on the other edge, which is the very edge of the world, then you would have something like the head of an animal on the body of a human. It’s almost like the reverse, but it’s also showing the place in the hierarchy in terms of strangeness.