Skateboarding and the Divine Chariot 

This is radical Christianity

This is Jonathan Pageau, Welcome to the Gnarly World.

We're about to get gnarly, dudes.

"Getting Air" is something which lives inside of every little boy. No matter the modality, building jumps, ramps, swings is one of childhood's greatest pleasures.

SKATEBOARDING MENTIONED BY JONATHAN PAGEAU LET'S GOOOOOOOOO

He actually did it. He discussed the symbolism of doing a kickflip.

Life is really a trip, all of a sudden I see one of my favorite speakers talking about my favorite hobby. Awesome.

The Garments of Spin

as a Christian who surfs and skates this was so cool . thank you Jonathan i was smiling during this whole presentation . skate or die

New dream unlocked. To skate with Johnathan!

Anxiously awaiting an on the ground skateboarding tutorial from Jonathan to Jordan.

I love Jesus & I love skateboarding.

Skateboarding and Surfing is a great hobby. Our former Bishop encouraged the young to skateboard in the plaza rather than doing abused drugs and street fighting. It worked! The City has now less drug problem and gang fights. That Bishop was loved by the people of that Diocese in the Philippines. He retired and stayed in that Diocese the rest of his life.

I came to know Christ in jail in 2013 by reading a book, "Overcoming spiritual blindness" by James P. Gills MD. The veil was taken off my eyes. Heaven came through for me in my finances too, getting $25,000 monthly. I can support God's work and give back to my community. God is absolutely more than enough!

At first I thought, "Jonathan is really going to have to stretch to connect these things." But by the end, I was like "YES! It's so obvious now!"

JP Pro Skater for PS5 would be sick. Imagine all the orthodox board designs.

I saw a tweet on Twitter say "skateboarding is a spiritual tool" and it's stuck with me ever since.

As a surfer, I am so so glad that you made this video. Over the last 4 or 5 years listening to you, Peterson, Vervake, and others, I have noticed so many conversations that are analogized very naturally to surfing. The living water; chaos; waves of pattern; and, the sacrifices made to navigate it all - and drop in. Thanks.

The chaos under the board is the footwork needed, the obstacles plainly visible, that bit of crushed stone that'll stop your wheel, the coping not being waxed, the sun in your eyes, etc- it's always the recovery and near miss that best showcases talent. (Tricks are great, but recovery plainly illustrates the risk and chaos being mastered) i used to effectively live at the skatepark, thanks for this episode.

When I cycled to Switzerland it was magical to climb the mountains with my bike. I was ascending through suffering. The surf feeling kicks in during the descent when you take the corners and lean in without crashing into the chaos.

Just started skating at 36 Greetings from Italy

Fellow skater here, not many skaters i know in the Catholic/Orthodox world. Ive been thinking about the symbolism of skateboarding too, its cool to see this video. Space & time, the deck is space, and the wheels are time.

Like the cross of Christ, skateboarding invites us into the Mastery of ourselves, overcoming fear and finding brotherhood through love, discipline and suffering. I pick up my cross and become a greater version of myself through suffering. I pick up my board and a similar result occurs. Because of this simple piece of wood, it causes a mere human being to do things that seem to defy physics. As both a Christian it an and skater, I’ve found a deeper connection to both of these things because of their cross applications… no pun intended. God bless you Jonathon!!! Thank you for this 🙏

Holly! I had no idea! This is amazing. Let’s skate.

As a skateboarder and someone who is very much into ancient mythology and religions... This was efing rad AF. Subscribed. Thanks my dude.

super cool look on the symbolism of how angels work and how we can go out and ride our own chariot God gave us.

I don`t know how much I can connect the OT imagery to skateboarding, but I think JP is totally on point here regarding the mystical/spritual dimension to skateboarding.

I just started learning at 22. Very fun. Lot's of cosmic lessons to be had during the activity. The principle of Wu Wei comes to mind.

I had no idea about your brother. I just looked him up, and wow, he was doing things that today's pros wouldn't even do.

now we're talking

Love this Vid! God Bless You :D+

Somebody send this link to Tim Mackie.

This is so crazy because it's so true. Never would've thought this about skateboarding and surfing. I guess it's the same or similar for rollerskating and iceskating

I got back to skateboarding at 38 as well :D thanks for this video. And keep it up, its a great sport and hobby

I just started back up at 45. Skateboarding parallels life. Overcoming pain and fear/apprehension. "Grain of Sand" progress. It has "fear exposure therapy" baked into it. Balance mentally and physically. The Search for Animal Chin, skate video, Animal Chin is a symbol for the animal/primal force in us. Skulls, Dragons, Demons, Horned Beast, etc...

Ahhh I love this! As a female orthodox skater and artist… Johnathon Pageau doing a vid on this topic is my dream come true!! Please do more dude 🙏🙏

The words your looking of is; interpretation and intuitive ✌️

Thank you for this, as someone who recently got into Carl Jung and Symbolism this was very helpful and really fascinating, I’ve been skating since I was 12, 25 now and still skating now, but as I get older and more experienced, I start to relate the things that come with getting older with skateboarding, if that makes sense. Thank you again amazing video 🙏

Crazy, used to watch dan pageau skate back in the day. Had no idea they were brothers

Great talk. The artistic aspect also comes to mind, especially with Rodney Mullen. He strives for perfection, for mastery of extremely difficult tricks, he works towards doing as much as he possibly can with a board, but he also innovates, and tries to make what he does look fluid and beautiful. Some of his videos are art in motion.

Also I think your bro is a really humble guy who tried one of the gnarliest tricks ever attempted, Switch board down El Toro. Unbelievable guts.

I am 38 and I started riding skate 6 days before you uploaded this. Also coincidentally the same date that would be my moms birthday, she passed away four years ago. I was riding rollerblades aggressively a lot when I was younger in elementary and high school, but riding skate is such a different experience and I would say, at least for me, a much more then just a glimmer of mystical experience 😁

Duuude. I got back into skating a year or so ago after like 20 years off. I thought this was another skater I follow and had a double-take moment

Now i want to see an edit of the chariot race at the beginning of the Prince of Egypt set to punk rock skater music!

Im 31 years old havent touched a skateboard since i was 16. And a few weeks ago i buy a skateboard wanting to get back into it. Crazy timing seeing this video

I'm 50. Love skateboarding. Did so in the late 80s and 90s. Have a board now, just afraid to fall now.

🤙🤙🤙 Stay chill dudezzz

I just got back from skating to this. Sweet

Ive always thought that an interesting relationship between surfing and skateboarding is that surfing is about controlling or harnessing nature, while skateboarding is about harnessing the “nature” that we’ve built for ourselves in our modern society

“Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.” ― Bruce Lee

Loving this. I have always incorporated spirituality in my skating

I love skating so much

If this video didn’t blow my mind already by being about my two fav things, the clip at 14:36 is my skatepark here in Chatt, TN 😆

Thank you from a skateboarder... I'm 46 and still at it.

This is so bizarre, just last night I watched Ben Hur with my daughter and thought, I wonder if JP has ever done a video on the symbolism of the elements of this movie. A day later, a video posted on chariots. Very cool video

I love you Jonathan! Not only did you bring me to Christ but you gave my two favorite hobbies cosmic significance; Whitewater kayaking & Surfing

Awesome, I'm more of a nerd and getting a bit too old to skateboard, but no one's sold me skateboarding this good before.

To put together the last part, the wheels on a skateboard in some sense turn destroy the formal constraints of civilization and turn them into chaos and fluidity (water) and the skateboarder proceeds to master the chaos he just created. It’s like destroying something and building something new out of its fragments. Like baptism.

Hey Jonathan, if you’re back to covering the symbolism of pop culture, could you do a video on the symbolism of the Dune movies? I feel like there’s a lot to unpack there 🙂

I'm a skateboarder, and there is something very spiritual about it that's hard to explain. a sacred wisdom to it😅.

The carnival aspect really makes me think of the Wall of Death and Globe of Death motorcycle carnival stunts. Using a mount of technology and riding with the perfect speed to master the circle of chaos. Those stunts have to be some of the best forms of this symbolism.

This symbolic explanation also works for playing a drum kit

For more on the mystical aspects of Skateboarding, look up Rodney Mullen. This was the first guy to do an Ollie (get air by popping the board on flat ground). The Ollie is the trick that makes all of the modern skateboard tricks possible. Rodney is a completely mystical dude. There are some outstanding interviews with him.

As an old skateboarder I find this very interesting

Lead: Just watched Jude Law's first (or early) film 'Shopping' - He doesn't skate, he drives dangerously, but there is a nostalgia element showing his "Aloha, Hawaii" skateboard and another key vehicle, The Millenium Falcon (toy).

Been longboarding since 2010. Started skating earlier this year.

Very cool insights Jonathan, i noticed a recent instanciation of this symbol in Dune, when Paul is learning to ride the sandworm, and struggling to stand while doing it.

Yoooooo this is so FRESH. Keep on keeping it real Jonathan!

Woah this is crazy, im a follower of Christ Yeshua and recently started skateboarding again after 15 years for strength,and mental conditioning. Then this video gets recommended. I do notice their is a lot of pride in skateboarding which is why i skate alone on my property so im not defacing the world, and allowing my ego to influence my walk

This better be real.

Great. Also that gives another dimension to the lesson of Bhagavad Gita . Love it!

Jung wrote about 4 stages of development; physical power, planned action, master of The Word, and Spiritual Guide. is this relevant? I'd be very curious to see other examples that update ancient tropes and rites of passage. I had always linked the chariot(Auriga) with getting a driver's license but felt that lacking. Surfing is way better!

I very much enjoyed this video, thank you Jonathan. As I was watching, I imagined mount Sinai as a Tony Hawk Pro Skater level and Moses being an unlockable character by descending the whole mountain in a continuous grind and bringing the tablets of the law down to Israel. Other random ideas were going through the red sea by balancing on a manual coast to coast, doing a handstand on the Ark of the Covenant, grinding around the walls of Jericho. Forgive me I guess.

I loved this.

Lifelong skateboarder, but stopped recently because I was afraid it was boosting my ego. I haven’t felt the same release from it in a long time. I never expected a video like this tbh. Super excited to start skating again when my toe heals. Thanks Jonathan

I LOVE THISSSSSSSSSSSSSS

"That's not flying, that's falling with style" -Woody

Let’s gooooo!🤙👊✝️❤️

Radical dude

This reminds me how rappers have to ride the beat while they are rapping. I'm not sure if there's a relation, but they have to master the beat like they are surfing.

Motocross and extreme enduro dirt bike racing might be modern pinnacles of these concepts in a man and machine framework. Motocross from a competitive perspective, and man vs chaos (terrain) in the extreme enduro world. And watch X-Games moto quarter pipe of you want to see man and machine dare to reach the heavens 🤠 BTW the outdoor motocross series kicks off this weekend 🍿

Dear Mr. Pageau, thank you for another wonderful explanation. You were used by the Holy Spirit to change my life, and thanks to God, now I can also do so with my family, friends, and colleagues. Can you please make a video about how God manifests itself in a remote place? Does He still use his servants to cure and heal people on mission trips? My dad is a pastor and he told me about missionaries telling such stories, but I'm skeptical about that... am I undermining the power of God?

Dan is your brother. That’s awesome.

Switch front board down El Toro. Who even thinks about attempting that? Your brother is/was/always will be an absolute legend. Wow! ps - as a 50 year old that still skates. Stick to carving hills and perfecting your cruise style. Learned a hard lesson doing a simple no-comply up a curb last year. Landed too far back on the deck and the board kicked out. Slammed hard on my elbow. Missed 3 weeks of work. No insurance so I couldn’t even get it looked at. Took almost 7 months to fully recover. Needless to say, I just cruise now. A to B with as much surf style as I can. I hardly even attempt ollies anymore. It ain’t worth it.

Righteous!

I like Stephen Kings idea of skateboarding from the book IT: "cant be careful on a skateboard, mister". The quote misses the context, but the idea is captured i think. Its about the safety in the thrill of the ride.

So true, and snowboarding as well!

That's why the Silver Surfer is a popular comic character.

Awesome

Amazing video, reminds me of the Chinese proverb 'Riding the Tiger'.

Never connected the dots to Dan. How did Dan fair after that mishap at el toro?

I can catch what you are saying. might need a second watch. Definetly seen riders who look like they are brain wipped angels riding a skateboard. Like I rode a chariot in heaven, now riding on earth gives me peace. I have no idea how your video popped up or why I clicked it, did not make the correlation of your bro dan, until you said and I saw the last name. Great video keep these coming!

I just wanna see Peterson on a Skateboard. Or at least a painting of a skateboard on his wall. All jokes aside, all my fav worlds are colliding in strange ways

It seems the fascination with skateboarding and other "Extreme" sports like parkour peaked in the early 2000s. Any explanation as to why? I know the obvious answer is internet and cell phones, but I think there's more to it than that, based on the symbolism here. These things were huge during the early days of youtube, and 2000s video games were all about extreme sports. Even if people are more indoors and online now than 20 years ago, that alone doesn't explain why nobody wants to watch a parkour video, or why skateboarding videogames don't interest people anymore. Curious.

Cool.

exceeded my expectation here.

Driving a manual transmission sports car on curvy roads and doing burnout donuts gets this feeling going to.

As a spiritual grey bearded skater I can not recommend enough you try out a Surfskate. It ads a far more surf less punk new dimension new pivot to what you are used to and you flow with gravity more than mastering it . It's far less impact on an older body. It soooo fun and God is definitely there.

Thou shall shred

Ahah nice video! Best wishes from Italy