Latest / Mythic Mind Games / A Look Back and a Look Ahead

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A Look Back and a Look Ahead · Mythic Mind Games

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  Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Mythic Mind, where we pursue wisdom
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: on the past between primary secondary worlds. I'm doctor Andrew Snyder,
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: and I'm glad that you're here. Hey there, welcome back.
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  Speaker 1: As we approach the end of this year, I want
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  Speaker 1: to provide a quick look back at some of the
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  Speaker 1: places that we've been in twenty twenty five and some
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  Speaker 1: of the places that we're moving in the new year now.
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  Speaker 1: Looking back, when I first started Mythic Mind a few
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: years ago, is nothing more than a guy with a podcast.
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  Speaker 1: I didn't yet have a very clear vision for what
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  Speaker 1: it would one day become, even though I had some
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  Speaker 1: vague ideas, But you know, early what it comes down
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  Speaker 1: to is I enjoyed podcasts, and I believe that I
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  Speaker 1: had some thing to say about Kirkeguard as I worked
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  Speaker 1: on my doctoral dissertation, and so that just seemed like
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  Speaker 1: the right thing to do. Is something that I wanted
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  Speaker 1: to do at the time. And then as the podcast
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  Speaker 1: moved on, those of you who are with me at
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: the beginning, or at least those of you who have
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  Speaker 1: joined me later and listened through the early episodes, you
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  Speaker 1: witness in real time my transformation into a Tolkien and
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  Speaker 1: Lewis guy and the related directions that I took from there.
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  Speaker 1: During my Tolkien studies, I read of the great importance
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  Speaker 1: that literary societies had for Tolkien, and not only the
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  Speaker 1: more well known Inklings, but also even the earlier TCBs,
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  Speaker 1: and I started to get more of an idea of
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  Speaker 1: what I wanted Mythic Mind to become as I looked
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  Speaker 1: at the importance that these groups had for Tolkien and
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  Speaker 1: obviously Lewis and the others that were in their various circles.
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  Speaker 1: And so while it's still the flagship endeavor, the Mythic
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  Speaker 1: Mind podcast is now only one part of what the
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  Speaker 1: Mythic Mind Fellowship is. And this fellowship really is just that.
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  Speaker 1: It's a fellowship which has grown over the past year
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  Speaker 1: from forty paid patrons up to eighty, and so we've
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  Speaker 1: gained many along the way, we've lost a few. By
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  Speaker 1: looking at the net numbers, we have doubled in size
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  Speaker 1: this year, which is just fantastic. And I want to
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  Speaker 1: talk a little bit about what we have become, what
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  Speaker 1: it is that we are up to in this group.
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  Speaker 1: First of all, over in our discord server, we plan
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  Speaker 1: for our future projects together both individually as well as collaborations.
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  Speaker 1: We bounce ideas off each other. We discuss weighty matters
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  Speaker 1: of philosophy and theology and stories and literature, and we
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  Speaker 1: also have fun with lighter matters, you know, a lot
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  Speaker 1: of just jokes and memes. And out of this fellowship,
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  Speaker 1: two new podcasts emerge in twenty twenty five, Mythic Mind
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  Speaker 1: Games and Mythic Mind Movies and Shows. And while our
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  Speaker 1: roots are in literature and philosophy, I believe that allowing
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  Speaker 1: these roots to grow into more popular media such as
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  Speaker 1: video games and movies, I think this is a much
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  Speaker 1: needed enterprise. The subcreated worlds that capture human imagination for
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  Speaker 1: good or for ill deserve edifying conversation, and there's nothing
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  Speaker 1: wrong with having some fun along the way. And while
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  Speaker 1: we're talking about new podcasts, I want to talk a
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  Speaker 1: bit about a new show that I hope will come
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  Speaker 1: from Mythic Mind in twenty twenty six. Now, anyone familiar
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  Speaker 1: with C. S. Lewis knows that he has a prophetic
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  Speaker 1: voice in diagnosing the various issues relevant to our own day.
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  Speaker 1: He looked down the stream and he could see where
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  Speaker 1: the water was flowing, and so with that in Mind,
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  Speaker 1: I would like to start a new show that discusses
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  Speaker 1: current events and trends through the lens of a particular
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  Speaker 1: CS Lewis text, whether it's fiction, an essay, or one
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  Speaker 1: of his longer nonfiction books. And while this would inevitably
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  Speaker 1: touch on the political, the goal is to tie the
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  Speaker 1: moving news to the more enduring theological and philosophical realities
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  Speaker 1: to which Lewis directs us. And so we touch on
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  Speaker 1: the political, but it's not mere political punditry. I think
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  Speaker 1: it's something different than that. It's something unique, something we need,
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  Speaker 1: but it isn't but it isn't necessarily readily available right now,
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  Speaker 1: and so I really believe this could serve an important
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  Speaker 1: niche and I'll give it the green light when we
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  Speaker 1: reach one hundred patrons. We're currently around eighty, as are recordless,
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  Speaker 1: and so hopefully we'll make it there sooner rather than later. Now,
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  Speaker 1: let's review each of the existing podcasts where we've been
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  Speaker 1: and talk about where we're going with each one. Now.
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  Speaker 1: On the main Mythic Mind podcast, this year, we discussed
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  Speaker 1: the poetic eda Augustine's Confessions, and I provided my twenty
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  Speaker 1: twenty four course on the fiction and Philosophy of C. S. Lewis,
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  Speaker 1: among various other standalone episodes. And now let's look ahead
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  Speaker 1: toward twenty twenty six. To start off the year, Mythic
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  Speaker 1: Mind will be running two very significant series simultaneously, typically
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  Speaker 1: released on Mondays and Thursdays. Now, on Mondays, I'm going
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  Speaker 1: to be posting content for my twenty twenty four course
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  Speaker 1: called Life, Death, and Meaning with Beowulf and Boethius. The
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  Speaker 1: first several weeks, we'll walk through to Beowulf and secondary
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  Speaker 1: material such as Tolkien's The Monsters and the Critics, relevant
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  Speaker 1: dramantic myths and things like that. Following that, the study
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  Speaker 1: moves on to Boethius's The Consolation of Philosophy, which is
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  Speaker 1: one of my all time favorite texts. And then for
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  Speaker 1: the Thursday episodes, I'll be posting content from Josh Taylor's
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  Speaker 1: Paradise Lost course, which he taught through Mythic Mind and
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  Speaker 1: graciously gave me the right to use in this way.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: For both series, you can listen on the go through
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  Speaker 1: the Mythic Mind podcast, and you can catch the video
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  Speaker 1: of both series through my YouTube channel, so make sure
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  Speaker 1: that you are subscribed to both. That way, you can
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: listen on the go, and so that way you can
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  Speaker 1: watch as well. And then following the end of my
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: Baywolf and Boetheis course, I'll be running my Lord of
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  Speaker 1: the Rings course through the podcast through YouTube and I'm
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  Speaker 1: not exactly sure where that lands schedule wised by the
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  Speaker 1: end of that, but we'll probably be approaching the end
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  Speaker 1: of the year at that point, all right. So now
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  Speaker 1: let's talk a bit about the other podcast on Mythic
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  Speaker 1: Mind movies and shows. We've completed our Star Wars series
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  Speaker 1: covering all the numbered movies and Rogue one and Solo
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  Speaker 1: and even the holiday special. Moving forward, interested fellowship members
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  Speaker 1: will be taking turns selecting movies for us to watch
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  Speaker 1: and discuss. This should be really enriching as we'll all
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  Speaker 1: end up watching movies that we might not otherwise see
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  Speaker 1: and I'm really looking forward to taking this eclectic approach.
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  Speaker 1: I think it can be really interesting and patrens at
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  Speaker 1: any level are able to join us in these conversations
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  Speaker 1: and to direct what movies we watch and then over
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  Speaker 1: on th Mind Games this year, we started with Knights
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  Speaker 1: of the Older Republic one and two, and The Older
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  Speaker 1: Republic MMO Red Dead, Redemption two, Zelda Mass Effect one,
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  Speaker 1: through three, Final Fantasy one to six, some of the
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  Speaker 1: Morowin material from my Elder Scrolls and Philosophy study, fall
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  Speaker 1: Out one to four, and the Fallout Show. Now starting
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  Speaker 1: in twenty twenty six, we're going to be starting out
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  Speaker 1: the year with some more of my Elder Scrolls and
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  Speaker 1: Philosophy series, taking a look at the end of the
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  Speaker 1: moro Own material, looking at a Bliby and looking at
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  Speaker 1: Skyrim and the related DLCs and whatnot. And as we're
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  Speaker 1: going through the Elder Scrolls material, I'll probably keep it
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  Speaker 1: going on a weekly basis. After that we might go
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  Speaker 1: back to every other week. Just kind of depends on
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  Speaker 1: what Patroon support looks like. But that's that's kind of
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  Speaker 1: my current plan right now. Can't do everything all the time.
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  Speaker 1: That's the goal, right and so you know you'll be
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  Speaker 1: willing to help me move toward that goal. But for now, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: just know that's probably going to go to every other
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  Speaker 1: week once I finished the Elder Scrolls material, and then
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  Speaker 1: after we get through the Elder scroll stuff, I've put
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  Speaker 1: together a list of titles drawn from patron suggestions as
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  Speaker 1: well as my own interest. This may not be the
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  Speaker 1: exact order, but this run of games will include the
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  Speaker 1: Forgotten City, Red Dead, Redemption One, Chrono Trigger, Outer Wilds,
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  Speaker 1: and Expedition thirty three. After that, we're going to be
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  Speaker 1: returning to Final Fantasy for Tactics seven, seven Remake, other
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  Speaker 1: seven media stuff, and then eight. And after eight we'll
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  Speaker 1: probably do another eclectic run of games before picking up
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  Speaker 1: Final Fantasy again with nine. And I know at some
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  Speaker 1: point next year in twenty twenty six, I do want
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  Speaker 1: to spend some time talking about dragon Age. I know
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  Speaker 1: there's interest in the Witcher, so there's a lot of
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  Speaker 1: stuff that's on the plate. But those are the things
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  Speaker 1: that are defined at this point. We'll figure out the
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  Speaker 1: rest as we get a little bit closer. Now, let's
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  Speaker 1: talk a little bit about Mythic Mind courses. In twenty
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  Speaker 1: twenty five, I ran four independent studies through Mythic Mind,
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  Speaker 1: the Lord of the Rings, A Brief History of Ideas,
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  Speaker 1: plato Stoicism Until we Have Faces and the Elder Scrolls,
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  Speaker 1: and Philosophy. And additionally, two Fellowship members ran their own
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  Speaker 1: courses under our banner. Hannah Gilmore taught Introductory of Latin,
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: which is still available through her Patreon, and Josh Traylor
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  Speaker 1: taught Paradise Loss. As I mentioned a little bit ago.
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: Coming up in twenty twenty six, I'll be leading a
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  Speaker 1: study on the Silmarillion, likely starting around the beginning of
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: February or so. In the spring or summer, I'll be
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: teaching a study on the psychology of soaring Kirkey Guard,
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  Speaker 1: primarily relying on his The Constant of Anxiety and The
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  Speaker 1: Sickness unto Death, which were two of the central texts
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  Speaker 1: in my doctoral dissertation. Lastly, I know I want to
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  Speaker 1: put together another Lewis course, and I'm currently thinking modern
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  Speaker 1: philosophy and that Hideous Strength, following a similar kind of
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  Speaker 1: format that I use for the Plato Sooicism. Until we
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  Speaker 1: have faces course, I'm also in talks with a couple
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: others who might be leading courses with us as well.
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  Speaker 1: And as a reminder, all Tier three annual patrons get
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: access to all of my courses, and you get half
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  Speaker 1: off the price of any courses that are led by
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: other people in our fellowship to get all my courses
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: and half off the courses from other fellowship members. And
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: then lastly, I do intend for us to start using
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: the Mythic mind substack more regularly, again with a minimum
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: of one every month, but hopefully more than that. That's
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: the minimum goal. So there is a look back at
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: where we've been and a look forward at where we
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  Speaker 1: are going. If you believe in Mythic Mind and you
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  Speaker 1: want to join us in this great fellowship of Christians
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: of various stripes who are interested in stories and ideas
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: and creating things that matter, whether you like engaging with literature,
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: with movies or video games, just head over to patreon
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: dot com slash Mythic Mind. Even just five dollars a
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: month will provide you with full discord access and the
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: ability to join our recorded chats. You also get all
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: three podcasts delivered early in ad free into a single feed.
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: If you sign on it a Tier three annual patron
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: you'll also have the ability to join any of my
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty six courses and for the remainder of twenty
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: twenty five, so only until the end of December thirty first,
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  Speaker 1: the discount for annual patronage is increased to fifty percent.
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  Speaker 1: So this is the best deal of the year, and
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: I encourage you to act on it now if you
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: are interested. And I believe that this kind of price
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: locks in for you when you renew next year as well,
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: and so this is a great time to make that investment.
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  Speaker 1: All right. Well that's it for now. We will have
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  Speaker 1: one more episode of Mythic Mind coming out before the
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  Speaker 1: new year. But for now, I wish you a very
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: merry Christmas and I'll talk to you again soon. Until then, godspeed,