1 00:00:00,360 --> 00:00:06,480 Esau steals the garments of skin and then is chased for so long that he 2 00:00:06,639 --> 00:00:13,800 is completely exhausted and completely famished. And so he bursts into Jacob's tent and 3 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:18,600 he trades his birthright. But now, in the context of our story, 4 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:23,600 what is Esau's birthright? And this is of course where we could kind of 5 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:30,879 push these things further. Esau's birthright in this context is the garments of skin. 6 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:39,679 Why because Esau is in some ways something of Cain in his approach in 7 00:00:39,759 --> 00:00:43,240 the what he is as being the older brother, as being the older brother 8 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:49,240 that wanted to kill Jacob. But he's also the descendant of Seth, and 9 00:00:49,320 --> 00:00:54,960 so by stealing the skins back from Nimrod, he is taking back his birthright. 10 00:00:55,240 --> 00:01:00,960 But immediately, because of his weakness and because of his excess, because 11 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:04,920 he's a passionate person, then he immediately gives up his treasure for something as 12 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:23,000 immediate as his belly. This is Jonathan Peshel. Welcome to the symbolic world. 13 00:01:34,719 --> 00:01:38,159 So hello everybody today, I want to tell you a story. It's 14 00:01:38,239 --> 00:01:42,480 usually not the approach that I take, although I talk about stories all the 15 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:46,599 time, but telling my own story and telling aspects of my story is not 16 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:49,519 something that I delve into too often, but I thought it would be interesting 17 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:55,799 to look at, you know. Sometimes I know some people have written me 18 00:01:56,200 --> 00:02:00,680 or I've talked to me and told me about their own experience and their own 19 00:02:00,719 --> 00:02:04,439 kind of discovery of the symbolic world, And so I thought I could take 20 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:08,159 you on a little bit of a trip to see how the idea, the 21 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:14,719 ideas that I deal with inter the symbolic world, as well as that which 22 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:19,360 led me to Orthodoxy, but also that which also led me to write with 23 00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:23,080 my Brother God's Dog, and some of the ideas that are behind it all 24 00:02:23,159 --> 00:02:28,280 kind of come together in a specific image that I've talked about so many times 25 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:32,520 on this channel, which is the garment of skin. The garments of skin 26 00:02:34,319 --> 00:02:38,080 are surprisingly or understanding, the garments of skin are surprisingly one of the big 27 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:46,599 things that actually led me into Orthodoxy, and I would say it started I 28 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:52,439 with postmodernism. That is that in the work of the postmodernists, I especially 29 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:58,159 Jacques de Hida, talked about the idea of the supplement and mentioned this notion 30 00:02:58,199 --> 00:03:05,400 of the problem of the sub and how he reads that in Plato's Fedra, 31 00:03:05,879 --> 00:03:09,960 where you know, Socrates talks about the problem of writing, and of writing 32 00:03:10,039 --> 00:03:15,199 as a supplement to meaning a supplement to intelligence. And then Deda goes into 33 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:21,840 this question of supplement as the notion of pharmicon that is the supplement, but 34 00:03:21,879 --> 00:03:24,879 pharmacaia, that is, the medicine or the drug that which is a supplement 35 00:03:24,919 --> 00:03:30,319 in the sense of eating, and all of these questions and how he deconstructs 36 00:03:30,319 --> 00:03:35,560 this problem of the limit between the inside and the outside using the question of 37 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:39,240 the supplement. And so I was really troubled by that, or let's say, 38 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:44,719 affected by that question because it seemed to have to do with this question 39 00:03:44,919 --> 00:03:47,000 the problem of what was happening in the world already when I was in my 40 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:53,280 twenties about you know, what was going on into the postmodernism and this obsession 41 00:03:53,280 --> 00:04:01,199 with the margin and this this kind of obsession with transfer and change and strangeness 42 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:05,840 all of that, because I was also fascinated by that stuff as someone who 43 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:12,520 is studying art. And so one of the things that happened, of course, 44 00:04:12,599 --> 00:04:16,399 is I was kind of approaching orthodoxy. Is I read this book, 45 00:04:16,759 --> 00:04:20,920 which is the Life of Moses, which I've mentioned many many times, of 46 00:04:20,959 --> 00:04:27,040 the Channel, which is an astounding book about the ascent of Moses up the 47 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:32,759 Holy Mountain, this entering into the divine darkness and discovering the pattern of the 48 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:39,399 Tabernacle. But there's a process as he moved where Saint Gregor Nissa talks about 49 00:04:39,759 --> 00:04:44,160 the removing of the garments of skin, and he makes these amazing analogies between 50 00:04:44,399 --> 00:04:49,879 the garments of skin and foreskin and the stranger. You know, all of 51 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:55,800 these added elements, are these elements about that which is outside. He does 52 00:04:55,879 --> 00:04:59,839 all these wonderful things with the analogies and talks about how you have to remove 53 00:04:59,879 --> 00:05:02,959 the garments of skin, you if to remove this outer aspect right the foreskin, 54 00:05:04,439 --> 00:05:10,120 how Moses kills the stranger, the Egyptian if to remove this outer part 55 00:05:10,439 --> 00:05:15,720 in order to attain the divine darkness. But even in reading that, there 56 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:19,959 was something about that that I thought rang very much true. But there was 57 00:05:19,959 --> 00:05:25,120 also something more, and I had the intuition there was something more. And 58 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:28,439 it's interesting, you know, when you have these questions, these deep questions 59 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:33,959 in your heart, all of a sudden things pop up in your life, 60 00:05:34,079 --> 00:05:38,199 right, things kind of just manifest themselves. And this is something that I've 61 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:41,639 experienced many times, where you know, it's as if you almost have to 62 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:45,040 just reach your hand out and whatever it is that you grab is going to 63 00:05:45,079 --> 00:05:47,600 be the thing that will answer your question or the thing that we'll bring you 64 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:51,000 further on that line. And so you know, this was now we're in 65 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:55,160 two thousand and two, so quite a long time ago, and I was 66 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:59,680 reading, and I was struggling, and I started to take some classes in 67 00:05:59,879 --> 00:06:03,879 Orthodox theology. Although I wasn't Orthodox yet myself, I was still a catechumen. 68 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:09,680 And in my search and in my questioning, I came upon this book 69 00:06:10,199 --> 00:06:17,519 called The Deification in Christ by Panie Panaiotis Nellis. And in this book there 70 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:26,000 is a chapter called the Garments of Skin, and so very interesting. I 71 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:29,680 fell right into it. You know, it's interesting because I picked up the 72 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:34,560 book at a bookstore and I didn't notice, you know what. The person 73 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:38,600 there just told me that it was there's a great book for Orthodox theology. 74 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:43,120 And I fell right into the second chapter. And at that moment, I 75 00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:46,240 didn't read the first chapter, and I didn't read the third chapter right away. 76 00:06:46,279 --> 00:06:49,639 I just read this chapter on the Garments of Skin. And what he 77 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:55,839 does in his book, which is astounding, is that Panaiotis Nils Nellis shows 78 00:06:55,959 --> 00:06:59,639 us how, in fact, there is also a positive aspect to the garments 79 00:06:59,639 --> 00:07:01,959 of skin, and that is that there's a sense in which that which is 80 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:09,079 added, you know, that which is added is not just negative, because 81 00:07:09,079 --> 00:07:14,560 it's also the law. It's also the notion of marriage, and of all 82 00:07:14,639 --> 00:07:18,199 social institutions, the city. All of these things are this supplement, this 83 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:25,720 addition of death that fights death. And so, you know, in kind 84 00:07:25,759 --> 00:07:29,759 of a counterpoint to San Gregor of Nissa, who tends to present the garments 85 00:07:29,759 --> 00:07:33,000 of skin to something quite negative, although there is a secret suggestion that they're 86 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:40,879 not, because in the pattern of the Tabernacle, Saint Gregory Moses discovers the 87 00:07:40,879 --> 00:07:44,759 garments of skin that are added to the tabernacle, and San Gregor Nissa talks 88 00:07:44,759 --> 00:07:48,759 about the crucifixion there. But you know, nonetheless he's mostly described them as 89 00:07:48,759 --> 00:07:56,560 negative, but in panaeanis Nantilysts he talks about how they are also this positive 90 00:07:56,600 --> 00:08:01,959 thing in some ways, like the power of civilization or the power of externality. 91 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:07,399 And so I was really fascinated by this question. And you know, 92 00:08:07,519 --> 00:08:15,680 once again, it's one of those very strange things that happens where you know, 93 00:08:16,639 --> 00:08:20,680 for some reason I was reading all kinds of things at the time, 94 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:24,000 and I had this strange intuition, and I don't know completely where it came 95 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:28,399 from, but I had the strange intuition that I had to look in the 96 00:08:28,439 --> 00:08:31,600 Book of Jasher. And I had the Book of Jasher, and I had 97 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:35,120 a lot of these apocryphal books, like the Book of Jubileez and all of 98 00:08:35,159 --> 00:08:39,879 these books. I was able to get some copies of them, and so 99 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:43,480 I had this intuition to look in the Book of Jasher about this question. 100 00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:46,200 And so I'm kind of going through the Book of Jasher and then reading the 101 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:52,000 Book of Jashure, and I come on to Jasher chapter seven, and so 102 00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:56,799 FiOS who don't know the Book of Jasher kind of goes through the those through 103 00:08:56,799 --> 00:09:00,679 Genesis and fills in the blanks. And the reason why you talking to you 104 00:09:00,759 --> 00:09:03,759 right now is because Richard Rowland sent me a message the other day where he 105 00:09:03,919 --> 00:09:09,320 saw this text again and it reminded me of how in two thousand and two 106 00:09:09,919 --> 00:09:13,559 I had fell upon this text as I was asking myself this question. And 107 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:18,840 so in the Book of Jasher chapter seven, it says, and the garments 108 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:22,759 of skin which God made for Adam and his wife, they went out of 109 00:09:22,799 --> 00:09:28,159 the garden. When they went out of the garden were given to cush for 110 00:09:28,279 --> 00:09:31,559 after the death of Abraham and his wife, the garments were given to Enoch, 111 00:09:31,799 --> 00:09:33,960 the son of Jared, And when Enoch was taken up to God, 112 00:09:35,279 --> 00:09:39,039 he gave them to Methuselah his son. And at the death of Methuselah, 113 00:09:39,279 --> 00:09:43,080 now what took them and brought them to the Ark, and they were with 114 00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:46,399 him until he went out of the ark. And in there, going out, 115 00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:48,759 Ham stole these garments from Noah, his father, and he took them 116 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:54,159 and he hid them from his brothers. And so when I read that, 117 00:09:54,320 --> 00:10:00,960 I was astounded, because here was a mythological version about what it is that 118 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:03,080 the garments of skin meant. You know, It's like, I'm not sure, 119 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:05,960 you know, said Gregor. A Benissa might have had access to these 120 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:11,039 traditions, maybe not, who knows, But Saint Gregory really has the right 121 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:18,399 intuition and understanding this idea of this power that is related to the garments of 122 00:10:18,399 --> 00:10:22,480 skin, and this externality which is related to the garments of skin. Because 123 00:10:22,519 --> 00:10:24,840 in the tradition there is this sense in which the garments of skin are like 124 00:10:24,879 --> 00:10:31,440 this relic that are passed down from generation to generation and brought all the way 125 00:10:31,519 --> 00:10:35,600 into the arc, you know, and are related to the sons of Kush. 126 00:10:35,639 --> 00:10:39,320 Now, the sons of Kush are those that built the Tower Babbel and 127 00:10:39,399 --> 00:10:43,399 are ultimately the ones that would lead to Canaan and the idea of the Canaanites 128 00:10:43,759 --> 00:10:48,600 in the land that Israel is going to take. And so, you know, 129 00:10:48,639 --> 00:10:52,600 it's like I was really amazed by this idea. And so at the 130 00:10:52,720 --> 00:10:58,159 time, in two thousand and two, I wrote a text called the Garments 131 00:10:58,200 --> 00:11:01,919 of Skin that I wrote for a class that I was taking, a theology 132 00:11:01,919 --> 00:11:05,279 class that I was taking at the time with a teacher named Professor Simeon Roger, 133 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:11,159 who was my who was teaching dogmatics, and I wrote a text on 134 00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:15,120 the garments of Skin, and I remember that it completely surprised him. You 135 00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:18,440 know, he gave me a very high grade, and he wrote in the 136 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:22,600 comments, where did you get the idea of writing about such a thing? 137 00:11:22,639 --> 00:11:24,759 And so, you know, just for the heck of it, what I'm 138 00:11:24,759 --> 00:11:28,759 going to do is I'm going to put a link in the description for those 139 00:11:28,799 --> 00:11:31,080 who want to read that old text from two thousand and two, all the 140 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:35,679 way back then, and see, you know what I was thinking back then, 141 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:39,559 and how all so many of the things that I talk about right now, 142 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:43,600 we're already being developed in two thousand and two, because in that text 143 00:11:43,759 --> 00:11:48,000 I talk about Saint Christopher already in two thousand and two, and about the 144 00:11:48,039 --> 00:11:52,200 idea that the dog man Christopher, you know, is related to this question 145 00:11:52,759 --> 00:11:56,759 of the garments of skin. So this of course brings us to God's Dogs. 146 00:11:56,799 --> 00:11:58,960 You know, for those who have read the first book of God, 147 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:03,000 God's Dog, you've already seen a glimmer about what it is that all this 148 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:07,519 question of the garments of skin, how it comes together. But for those 149 00:12:07,559 --> 00:12:09,200 who have it, we're going to go. I want to go through the 150 00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:13,559 first pages with you to see what it is that's going on, and it 151 00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:18,679 will help us understand also how we can integrate some of these traditions into storytelling 152 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:24,200 in a manner that also helps people see what the meaning of these traditions are. 153 00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:28,799 And so, you know, in our version of God's Dog, I 154 00:12:28,879 --> 00:12:33,000 start we start in Genesis and book one of God'zog, where we you know, 155 00:12:33,039 --> 00:12:37,080 there's this legendary part of the story that isn't That isn't part of the 156 00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:41,559 main story, but it's like the backstory that appears to help people understand what's 157 00:12:41,559 --> 00:12:43,360 going on. It says, on the sixth day, God created man. 158 00:12:43,679 --> 00:12:48,279 Authority was given to him to rule over the beasts of the world. But 159 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:54,480 one of the beasts tricked him and he fell, and man was made subject 160 00:12:54,519 --> 00:12:58,120 to death. So then we see a version already. You know, I 161 00:12:58,200 --> 00:13:03,159 had been developing this very long time ago of the image of everything, where 162 00:13:03,159 --> 00:13:07,480 you see this image of the garden of Eden, you know, with Adam 163 00:13:07,519 --> 00:13:11,360 and Eve that are being chased from the garden. And so he was bandished 164 00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:13,440 from the center of the world and forced to wander in the wilderness. Sense, 165 00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:20,000 so they go down the hill wearing the garments of fig leaves and run 166 00:13:20,039 --> 00:13:26,039 into the thorns. So because they run into the thorns, they encounter the 167 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:30,360 cherub. But then it says that God took pity on Man. He showed 168 00:13:30,399 --> 00:13:33,360 him away to stop the fall, to survive in the world of death. 169 00:13:33,799 --> 00:13:37,279 He offered him a gift with mysterious powers, the garments of skin. But 170 00:13:37,399 --> 00:13:43,600 this gifts was both a blessing and a curse. And then it says the 171 00:13:43,639 --> 00:13:46,679 skins of Adam were handed down from generation to generation. With their power, 172 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:52,159 Man has kept death at bay, pushing back the limits of darkness, postponing 173 00:13:52,159 --> 00:13:56,799 the end. The skins of Adam were handed down from generation to generations. 174 00:13:56,840 --> 00:14:01,759 They have to be handed down until the end of the world, when the 175 00:14:01,799 --> 00:14:07,480 serpent is defeated and the world begins a new And so you get the idea 176 00:14:07,639 --> 00:14:11,000 that basically the skins of Adam had to be handed down generation to generation. 177 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:13,600 And a lot of people, you know, when they read Book one, 178 00:14:13,679 --> 00:14:16,279 they thought that we were, of course making this up. But we are 179 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:22,960 not making this up. These are taken from these traditions. But the way 180 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:28,480 in which my kind of insight and our insight into this idea of the periphery 181 00:14:28,559 --> 00:14:31,480 and the role of the periphery that both Materia and I had at the time, 182 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:35,679 you know, got kind of crunched together. So by the time that 183 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:39,840 we wrote the story of God's Dog, it all got brought into this mythological 184 00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:43,279 form in a way that hopefully will help people understand what are these garments of 185 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:48,200 skin, What is this power of the margin and the power of the periffhery 186 00:14:48,559 --> 00:14:56,639 that is being brought about. Now there's another part of the story in the 187 00:14:56,679 --> 00:15:03,759 Book of Jasher. It says that so Ham steals the garments of skin from 188 00:15:03,919 --> 00:15:09,440 his father Noah. And it says that and when Ham begat his first born, 189 00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:13,519 Cush, he gave him the garments in secret, and they were with 190 00:15:13,639 --> 00:15:18,440 Kush many days. And Kush also concealed them from his sons and brothers. 191 00:15:18,799 --> 00:15:22,039 And when Kush had begot to Nimrod, he gave him those garments, threw 192 00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:26,840 his love for him, and Nimrod grew up. And when he was twenty 193 00:15:26,879 --> 00:15:31,519 years old, he put on those garments. And Nimrod became strong when he 194 00:15:31,559 --> 00:15:33,919 put on the garments, and God gave him might and strength. And he 195 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:37,279 was a mighty hunter in the earth. Yea, he was a mighty hunter 196 00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:41,399 in the field. And he hunted the animals, and he built the altars, 197 00:15:41,559 --> 00:15:46,080 and he offered up upon them the animals before the Lord. And Nimrod 198 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:50,679 strengthened himself, and he rose up from amongst his brethren, and he fought 199 00:15:50,679 --> 00:15:56,799 the battles of his brethren against all their enemies round about. And so this 200 00:15:56,960 --> 00:16:03,759 idea that you know, uh, that the garments of skin are passed down 201 00:16:03,799 --> 00:16:08,360 to Nimrod, who built the Tower of Babbel really shows you this powerful image 202 00:16:08,360 --> 00:16:12,679 of how the garments of skin and he's a mighty hunter before God. That 203 00:16:12,759 --> 00:16:17,320 he's powerful because he puts on these garments, and you can see that these 204 00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:21,960 garments are kind of becoming this image of a strength, kind of like Samson's 205 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:23,879 long hair, right, the idea of this hair, this thing that is 206 00:16:23,919 --> 00:16:29,039 on the outside is really this power that is being added. And that on 207 00:16:29,639 --> 00:16:33,879 the one hand, Nimrod is a hunter and so he is able to defeat 208 00:16:33,919 --> 00:16:37,960 the animals, but he's also a builder of a great city and a build 209 00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:41,519 of a great civilization and ultimately a tyrant, you know in the end, 210 00:16:41,559 --> 00:16:48,080 because he you know, he overdoes the civilizational aspect in a manner that becomes 211 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:52,279 excessive. And so so I'm going to show you a little peak of book 212 00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:56,480 two of God's Dove because I'm so excited about how we kind of brought all 213 00:16:56,559 --> 00:17:04,160 this together. Here you can see, of course Adam giving the garments of 214 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:11,799 skin to his son, but I'm not going to show you what happens because 215 00:17:11,839 --> 00:17:15,200 there is a part that we that we took away. Well you'll see it 216 00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:18,079 in the book, but I'm not going to show it. You right now. 217 00:17:18,119 --> 00:17:22,839 But obviously his son Cain, who receives the garments of skin. When 218 00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:33,160 he kills Abel, he loses them and they are they are given to his 219 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:37,839 brother. So when Cain kills Abel, of course he loses the garments of 220 00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:42,359 skin, and so they are given to the third son, Seth, who 221 00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:47,359 represents the kind of restoration of the line. And so you can see here 222 00:17:47,799 --> 00:17:53,160 how Seth, you know, gives the skins all the way down to the 223 00:17:53,240 --> 00:18:00,400 different people and down to Methuselah. And so you see Methuselah, the old 224 00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:04,559 man who's sitting in a wreckt world where everything has been destroyed, and so 225 00:18:04,599 --> 00:18:11,759 he brings Matthusaa brings the skin the skins to Noah, who is building the 226 00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:15,119 ark. And you see, of course the daughters of men and the sons 227 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:22,920 of God bringing about the problem of the giants. And then of course the 228 00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:26,200 flood. Skipping a few pages because I don't want to show you all the 229 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:32,519 mysteries, These beautiful, amazing pages are all drawn by Jesse White and colored 230 00:18:32,519 --> 00:18:36,359 by Matt Krotz. And so we see the end of the flood. And 231 00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:42,279 after the flood, we see our friend Ham here who is coming down into 232 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:47,559 the settlement. You can see the arc up on the little mountain up here 233 00:18:48,200 --> 00:18:51,680 in the second page, which is kind of shining. He goes, of 234 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:56,839 course into the tent and he steals the garments of skin, and so we 235 00:18:56,960 --> 00:19:03,160 obviously wanted to have the idea that he steals the garments of skin when he 236 00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:08,559 sees his father naked, and then he is able to leave with those garments 237 00:19:08,559 --> 00:19:11,839 of skin as he is being exiled, and so all of a sudden, 238 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:15,880 the image of the exile and the image that Ham is exiled from the world 239 00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:21,200 becomes also an image of why it is, just like why Cain built the 240 00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:26,680 city, why it is that Ham is also going to build. His descendants 241 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:30,599 are going to build the great city because they are exiled, and just like 242 00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:36,440 Cain's descendants, they have to now cover the world with power in order to 243 00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:40,960 protect themselves in their state events exile. And so Ham repeats that in his 244 00:19:41,039 --> 00:19:48,200 story with his descendants and who ultimately lead to Nimrod. So we also obviously 245 00:19:48,279 --> 00:19:56,000 show the descendants of Ham moving forward until we get our friend Nimrod, who 246 00:19:56,039 --> 00:20:00,480 now wears the mark of Cain here on his on his vestment. If you 247 00:20:00,559 --> 00:20:07,079 remember seeing the the book one of God's dog. They wear this dark mark, 248 00:20:07,119 --> 00:20:08,839 which is the mark of Cain. And here it is that he is 249 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:15,160 identifying with Cain as a great city builder and as the one that is owed 250 00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:22,720 and should have the garments of skin. So here we see our friend Nimrod 251 00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:30,640 holding up the garments of skin in his power for the building of the tower 252 00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:33,880 Babbel. Now, of course that doesn't last. The tower gets destroyed. 253 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:42,079 That's because there is another part of the story which appears in the book of 254 00:20:42,200 --> 00:20:49,599 Jashure, and this is where it gets really interesting. And so this is 255 00:20:49,640 --> 00:20:55,880 also will help you understand how tradition works and how sometimes you don't say things 256 00:20:56,119 --> 00:21:00,799 or you hint at things, and that leaves up an interesting space that opens 257 00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:07,519 up for other people to also step in to that space. And so you 258 00:21:07,559 --> 00:21:14,359 know, for example, we brought about the idea that Ham steals the garments' 259 00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:18,279 skin from Noah when he sees him naked, he takes his garment away, 260 00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:26,960 and so that's not said in the text in a It doesn't say that in 261 00:21:26,039 --> 00:21:33,079 the text in Jasher, but it makes complete sense in terms of understanding how 262 00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:37,079 stories come together, that he would have taken the skins from his father when 263 00:21:37,119 --> 00:21:42,319 he went into the tent and took his clothing away, just took the clothing 264 00:21:42,359 --> 00:21:48,880 away in order to discover his nakedness, you could say. And so in 265 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:52,640 the book in Jasher twenty seven, the story continues, and it says, 266 00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:59,279 and when Esau saw the mighty men of Nimros. And now we're talking about 267 00:21:59,519 --> 00:22:04,200 Esau, the son of Isaac and the brother of Jacob Right, the first 268 00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:07,319 born of Isaac's And it says, and when Esau saw the mighty men of 269 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:12,319 Nimrod coming at a distance, he fled and thereby escaped. Sorry, I 270 00:22:14,079 --> 00:22:18,000 forgot a part of the verse. It starts and says that Esau kills Nimrod. 271 00:22:18,039 --> 00:22:22,200 And so Esau sees Nimrod, and he kills them. And then all 272 00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:26,759 of a sudden his men, mighty men, who doesn't say that they're giants, 273 00:22:26,799 --> 00:22:30,000 but the mighty men of Nimrod are coming at a distance, And so 274 00:22:30,319 --> 00:22:37,039 Esau flees and escapes. And esa takes the valuable garments of Nimrod, which 275 00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:42,000 Nimrod's father had bequeathed to Nimrod, and with which Nimrod prevailed over the whole 276 00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:48,480 land. And he ran and concealed them in his house, and Esau took 277 00:22:48,519 --> 00:22:52,400 those garments and ran into the city on account of Nimrod's men. And he 278 00:22:52,519 --> 00:22:56,400 came unto his father's house wearied and exhausted from fight, and he was ready 279 00:22:56,440 --> 00:23:02,160 to die through grief when he approached his brother Jacob and sat before him, 280 00:23:02,359 --> 00:23:04,519 and he said to his brother Jacob, behold, I shall die this day. 281 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:10,640 Wherefore then do I want the birthright? And Jacob acted wisely with Esau 282 00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:15,039 into this matter, and Esau sold his birthright to Jacob, for it was 283 00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:22,400 so brought about by the Lord, so super interesting. So basically, Esau 284 00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:29,079 sees Nimrod out in the wilderness and then kills Nimrod so that he cuts his 285 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:32,599 head off in the text for God to put it in there. But he 286 00:23:32,680 --> 00:23:37,160 kills Nimrod, and then he encounters the mighty men of Nimrod. What do 287 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:41,119 we mean by these mighty men super interesting? He has to fight them, 288 00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:44,960 he has to run away from them, and he takes Nimrod's garments. Now, 289 00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:47,839 in the text, it doesn't say that it's the garments of skin. 290 00:23:48,799 --> 00:23:52,480 Doesn't say that, but it also doesn't have to because it says the mighty 291 00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:59,200 garments by which he ruled the kingdom and back in Jasher seven, it says 292 00:23:59,319 --> 00:24:03,680 that, you know, it is by putting on these garments that he became 293 00:24:03,279 --> 00:24:10,440 very powerful. And so there's this like suggestion hint that isn't quitely made explicit 294 00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:15,759 in the text, but that it is in some ways our possibility to then 295 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:18,759 take this and kind of take it that one step further in order to help 296 00:24:18,759 --> 00:24:23,119 people understand what it is that's going on in the story. And so what 297 00:24:23,279 --> 00:24:30,400 is it that we do in the In God's Dog, So here we see 298 00:24:30,559 --> 00:24:37,240 our friend Nimrod who is moving away from the destroyed Tower of Babel because of 299 00:24:37,279 --> 00:24:41,519 his excess, and so now he is hunting, and he's hunting this line 300 00:24:41,559 --> 00:24:45,880 and Jesse does like it is amazing job at drawing Nimrod killing this line, 301 00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:49,680 you know, wearing the garments of skin as a kind of cape around, 302 00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:55,279 you know, on his back. And so he kills the lion very dramatically. 303 00:24:55,319 --> 00:25:00,480 But they're in the shadows, you know, behind is this strange character 304 00:25:00,519 --> 00:25:04,920 in the darkness? Who is it? Obviously it is our friend Esau. 305 00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:12,400 And Esau kills Nimrod. Now we had him shoot Nimrod with an arrow. 306 00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:18,279 It's different from the cutting of the head off but it has to do with 307 00:25:18,359 --> 00:25:22,759 the spearing of the serpent and something which will also have to do with other 308 00:25:22,799 --> 00:25:30,240 images that will appear later in the story. And so he shoots Nimrod through 309 00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:36,319 the heart, and then he takes the garments of skin. And when he 310 00:25:36,359 --> 00:25:40,599 takes the garments of skin, he flees away from the mighty men. And 311 00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:45,160 now we know who those mighty men are, because Nimrod is a giant, 312 00:25:45,599 --> 00:25:48,920 and so are the mighty men. And this is of course a tradition we've 313 00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:53,000 talked about. How you know, the idea that Nimrod, although he's after 314 00:25:53,039 --> 00:25:56,920 the flood, is a giant, is one which is attested to in many, 315 00:25:57,039 --> 00:26:00,640 many traditions, and so in the Book of Jasher doesn't say that explicitly, 316 00:26:00,839 --> 00:26:03,720 although by calling the mighty man, it's hinting at that. And so 317 00:26:03,799 --> 00:26:07,839 now we can bring it all together. In the story, Esau steals the 318 00:26:07,839 --> 00:26:15,519 garments of skin and then is chased for so long that he is completely exhausted 319 00:26:15,559 --> 00:26:22,799 and completely famished, and so he bursts into Jacob's tent and he trades his 320 00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:27,359 birthright. But now, in the context of our story, what is Esau's 321 00:26:27,359 --> 00:26:33,480 birthright? And this is of course where we you know where we could kind 322 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:41,839 of push these things further, because Esau's birthright in this context is the garments 323 00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:49,680 of skin. Why because Esau is in some ways something of Cain in his 324 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:55,319 approach in the what he is and being the older brother, as being the 325 00:26:55,359 --> 00:27:03,039 older brother that wanted to kill Jacob. But he's also the descendant of Seth. 326 00:27:03,599 --> 00:27:07,640 And so by stealing the skins back from Nimrod, he is taking back 327 00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:14,920 his birthright. But immediately, because of his weakness and because of his access, 328 00:27:15,079 --> 00:27:18,240 and because he's a passionate person, then he immediately gives up his treasure 329 00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:23,440 for something as immediate as his belly, and so he sells his birthright to 330 00:27:23,559 --> 00:27:29,160 Jacob. And so, you know, what I wanted to show you is 331 00:27:29,319 --> 00:27:33,559 just how it is that we can take these legends and these stories, and 332 00:27:33,599 --> 00:27:37,359 how it is once you understand that when you enter into the language that they 333 00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:41,480 propose, how you can find ways to even add little steps to them, 334 00:27:41,519 --> 00:27:45,599 like even kind of hint or push or nudge a little further so that the 335 00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:49,279 story becomes more understandable. And that is of course what it is that we're 336 00:27:49,319 --> 00:27:52,960 doing in God's Dog, because we're going to take a lot of these this 337 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:56,440 is the garments of skin, but there are other traditions that will be part 338 00:27:56,480 --> 00:28:03,440 of it. And by connecting them together through this story, which is fictional, 339 00:28:03,599 --> 00:28:08,440 ultimately we will nonetheless be diving deeper into these traditions than many people have 340 00:28:08,519 --> 00:28:15,559 in the past and helping bring about these images together in a way that will 341 00:28:15,599 --> 00:28:18,680 help you understand them. And so, you know, in the tradition, 342 00:28:19,519 --> 00:28:23,440 the garments of skin pretty much end there. Right. It's like, if 343 00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:29,599 there are other traces of the garments of skin in the tradition, the apocryphal 344 00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:33,240 tradition, I don't know where, I have never seen them, but in 345 00:28:33,279 --> 00:28:37,720 the Bible there are still garments of skin that are there. And so it's 346 00:28:37,759 --> 00:28:42,039 interesting to then go back into the story and then bring those out once again. 347 00:28:42,119 --> 00:28:48,680 And so here we have our friend Elijah who is sitting in the cave 348 00:28:48,839 --> 00:28:52,160 wearing now the garments of skin, because in the story of Elijah it says 349 00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:57,799 that he wore a hairy garment. And you know, when now Elijah is 350 00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:07,000 taken up into heaven and drops his garment down to to Elisha, then it 351 00:29:07,039 --> 00:29:11,240 appears as again a kind of transmission of the garments of skin. And so 352 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:15,200 it's like going into this story and teasing out the elements that help you, 353 00:29:15,319 --> 00:29:19,519 that are connected to the meaning of what it is we're doing. And so, 354 00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:26,039 and it's not arbitrary, because that which he gives down to Elisha is 355 00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:29,440 his power, you know. And so you know, Elijah asks for a 356 00:29:29,519 --> 00:29:33,119 double a double version of his blessing, like a double version of this kind 357 00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:38,759 of glory or power that that Elijah had. And then you can take that 358 00:29:38,839 --> 00:29:41,759 all the way up to where right, you can take it all the way 359 00:29:41,839 --> 00:29:47,359 up to maybe John the Baptist, maybe further. And that's what we're doing. 360 00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:49,319 And so by the time we get to our story, we have of 361 00:29:49,319 --> 00:29:55,839 course Saint George who is the guardian of the skins and has them as a 362 00:29:55,920 --> 00:30:00,720 continuation of all these traditions that are found both in Scripture and in the Book 363 00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:04,440 of Jashure and represent just like Saint George. By the way, Saint George 364 00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:11,640 is the word George means the agriculture, the agriculturalist. That's what the notion 365 00:30:11,720 --> 00:30:15,119 of Saint George comes from. And so Saint George with his red hair, 366 00:30:15,599 --> 00:30:22,599 as an agriculturist and as a representation of Rome itself becomes of course another version 367 00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:29,759 of Cain, now in this case a positive version, but nonetheless related to 368 00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:36,960 the very same symbolism that we find in the early images of the question of 369 00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:40,799 the garments of skin, and also the question of spearing or of killing, 370 00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:45,519 you know, the other. And so of course in our store we have 371 00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:51,359 him spearing his brother, just like George is spearing the dragon. Of course 372 00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:56,119 it's not the same meaning, but it's structurally the same. So this can 373 00:30:56,200 --> 00:31:00,559 help you understand a little bit how it is that symbolism can function, why 374 00:31:00,599 --> 00:31:04,400 it is that the garments of skin are so important to me. They're right 375 00:31:04,440 --> 00:31:10,319 there at the very beginning of my introduction into Orthodoxy, and they've been with 376 00:31:10,359 --> 00:31:12,880 me all along to help me kind of understand the world in which we live, 377 00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:15,599 this kind of world of the fringe, the world of the chaos, 378 00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:19,920 the world of the edge. And so, you know, don't forget to 379 00:31:21,839 --> 00:31:25,960 read that early text if you're interested in seeing to what extents saying Gregor v 380 00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:29,400 Nissa and the garments of skin were there right at the beginning of my journey 381 00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:33,720 towards towards your Orthodox church. And please, if you can do not forget 382 00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:37,480 to back God's dog. There's you know, like just a few days left 383 00:31:37,759 --> 00:31:41,839 and we really want to tell the story. You'll notice that it's already becoming 384 00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:45,440 more epic, and as the books get go further, it's going to become 385 00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:51,880 more and more epic. And the art is absolutely ravishing, both the art 386 00:31:52,039 --> 00:31:56,680 by Jesse White and by Matt Shean. So please if you can't go and 387 00:31:56,880 --> 00:32:01,279 back God's Dog Kickstarter today. Thanks everybody, and I'll talk to you very 388 00:32:01,319 --> 00:32:15,240 soon. In twenty twenty one, my brother Mets you and I, with 389 00:32:15,359 --> 00:32:19,599 the help of Corneilsen of Philip Carton, introduced all of you to a new 390 00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:24,039 vision of storytelling. We launched a God's Dog monster graphic novel through crowdfunding, 391 00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:30,519 introducing the dog headed Saint Christopher, the dragon slang Saint George to full view 392 00:32:30,039 --> 00:32:36,279 as a new epic story. Again. The response was astounded, reaching over 393 00:32:36,319 --> 00:32:40,079 two hundred and fifty thousand dollars and ultimately selling out our first print of the 394 00:32:40,079 --> 00:32:45,319 book. Now book two of five in this series, God's Dog Worried moves 395 00:32:45,359 --> 00:32:51,000 into the meat of this epic story where our dog headed stranger must be integrated, 396 00:32:51,279 --> 00:32:54,359 must be trained, and must fight. The cosmic stakes behind the story 397 00:32:54,400 --> 00:33:00,359 become clear. The characters shine, and heart wrenching choices must made. Book 398 00:33:00,359 --> 00:33:06,240 two will surprise you more monsters, more giants, and a deeper exploration to 399 00:33:06,279 --> 00:33:10,640 the mythology underlying it all. Since Book one of God's Dog, I've also 400 00:33:10,759 --> 00:33:16,359 started a publishing company called Symbolic World Press with some amazing partners to deal with 401 00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:22,680 the timely production, printing, and shipping of all future books. We've already 402 00:33:22,759 --> 00:33:28,519 successfully published Snow White and The Widow Queen and will expand our activities rapidly. 403 00:33:29,279 --> 00:33:32,759 The money we raise is to build this whole project and even move towards other 404 00:33:32,839 --> 00:33:37,480 media. We now have three full time people working with us, plus nine 405 00:33:37,559 --> 00:33:44,440 artists six writers collaborating towards at least fourteen upcoming books, and all of this 406 00:33:44,640 --> 00:33:49,680 without any outside funding, no outside control. It's all of you making this 407 00:33:49,839 --> 00:33:54,359 possible. This is why crowdfunding is so powerful. It's on this crowd funding. 408 00:33:54,799 --> 00:34:00,200 We've partnered with professional comic artist Matt Chian, Jesse White to the Our 409 00:34:00,200 --> 00:34:04,960 Tim and Martin Frattz to bring together God's Dog Warrior. But on top of 410 00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:09,119 that, I'm also introducing an entirely new comic book series called The Garments of 411 00:34:09,159 --> 00:34:14,880 Skin, which will explore the lore the mythology around God's Dog, bring the 412 00:34:14,920 --> 00:34:20,719 story into the contemporary world where new heroes try to resist on the global system 413 00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:25,480 of control. We are at a turning point in culture, a turning point 414 00:34:25,599 --> 00:34:30,920 in storytelling, and I know I can count on all of you to make 415 00:34:30,960 --> 00:34:35,440 it possible. We have to take back the reins of storytelling, move past 416 00:34:35,480 --> 00:34:38,679 the gatekeepers, and I thank all of you for trusting us to play a 417 00:34:38,760 --> 00:34:45,880 part in that. Thank you for backing God's Dog Warrior and Kickstarter today.