Much has been said over the past couple of months about the new film, The Odyssey, by master movie maker Christopher Nolan.

From the sets, costumes, and acting, extending even to the physiques of those involved in the film, no stone has been left unturned in the universal search for meaning from this ancient work of art, which was reimagined and introduced to the modern audience.

Even the translation and author (Emily Wilson) whom Nolan utilized to develop his script has been brought into the fray, with criticism lobbed at both Nolan’s unique vision for his masterpiece as well as the focus of his interpretation.

For, at its root, that is what everyone from Elon Musk and on is talking about, Nolan’s individual creation, how it fits into the universal narrative of story, and how their (the commentators) individual viewpoints differ from Nolan’s own.

I’d like to contribute my particular viewpoint of the film, which I’ve seen three times at this point (as of September 6, 2026). I will not highlight differences in Nolan’s interpretation versus my own for I think we’ve had that type of thing ad naseum.

Instead, I will apply symbols from the film to my work, the Light Congress, which is a narrative story about the soul’s journey, just as much as the Odyssey is the same. Perhaps, with a comparative analysis of a few similar symbols in both works, we can come to a new understanding of the spirit worlds, similarities between the paths of self knowledge from ancient times to today, and a new appreciation of the genius of Nolan, beyond a simplistic criticism of how he shot a scene or his use of modern language in a historical drama.

One more note, before we move on, my favorite element of Nolan’s film was the music. I watched a ‘making of’ documentary of the Odyssey on Disney+ and learned that Nolan hired musicians who utilized ancient instruments to make the haunting soundtrack for the film.

As the notes rose from the flute player’s mouth and fingers, it was like the sound drew me into the screen and I walked with the Greek hero as he faced the monsters, forces of nature, and his own countrymen in his epic journey home again. Thus is the magic of music, a universal language and bridge to the divine, and why it was my favorite element of the film.

Now, for a few similar symbols from my work and Nolan’s own, and what that might mean about the universal phenemonen which could be called the Hero’s Journey. As we say in the Light Congress, game on!

For the rest of my review, please go to https://www.patreon.com/TheLightCongress/posts/christopher-168807998

Thanks for reading,

Heidi

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• Steve Cox and Matthew Walker’s Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom, a review
• Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, a review
• Edward Berger’s The Ballad of a Small Player, a review
• Otherwhere: A Field Guide to Nonphysical Reality for the Out-Of-Body Traveler by Kurt Leland
• Psychic Dreamwalking: Explorations at the Edge of Self by Michelle Belanger