He was happy during the day, to all appearances – but did not sleep well, and had been having nightmares for some time. He was deeply immersed in a pretend world, and liked to dress up as a knight, with a plastic helmet and sword. She had a son – my nephew – who was about five years old, very verbal and intelligent. When I was about half way through writing this manuscript, I went to visit my sister-in-law and her family. Each knight enters the forest, to begin his search, at the point that looks darkest to him. Each knight leaves on his quest, individually. They set off to look for the holy grail – which is a symbol of salvation, container of the “nourishing” blood of Christ, keeper of redemption. King Arthur’s knights sit at a round table, because they are all equal. Where is what you most want to be found? Where you are least likely to look. I thought they would serve as a good introduction to the book, which was the source of many of the ideas that I develop in 2018’s 12 Rules for Life, the lectures at Jordan Peterson Videos, and the Jordan B Peterson Podcast. Here are three short excerpts from Maps of Meaning. You can find a clip of that recording at Penguin, who holds audio rights. I believe that the audio version will make the book much more accessible, as I was able to highlight the meaning of the more complex sections with careful intonation. I recently recorded an audio version of Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief (Routledge, 1999), now available at Audible.

Maps of Meaning by Jordan B. Peterson