2. Hierarchy of Meaning

In lecture two, Dr. Peterson investigates the relationship between sacred and profane space, hierarchies of meaning, and the phenomenology of religious experience through the work of Otto and Eliade. Drawing on examples from film, psychology, mythology, and everyday life, the discussion examines how we orient ourselves through nested hierarchies of goals—from ordinary tasks to ideals of who we want to become—and how transformation begins when we attend to what genuinely calls us or troubles our conscience. The lecture concludes by exploring how establishing order and the right attitude at any new beginning can be understood as a sacred act that profoundly shapes what follows.