The “There are cathedrals everywhere for those with the eyes to see” meme originates from the Twitter account of conservative guru Jordan Peterson and is used to indicate something beautiful is happening around you if only you paid attention.
In March 2023, Peterson shared a photo of an Evian water bottle, which was being hit by the sunlight at an angle that created a pattern on the wall behind it. If you squint, the pattern is somewhat shaped like a cathedral window. Especially if you’re high. That doesn’t mean Peterson was high when he took the photograph or made the tweet, but it would have helped.
To caption the photo, he wrote, “There are cathedrals everywhere for those with the eyes to see.”
Both his followers and his detractors found the tweet funny and strangely profound, and people began saying it casually. Twitter user @ImogenWK even commented on it later, saying how most people don’t even realize that Peterson coined the phrase (or popularized it online).
“There’s a genre of phrases that sound like they’re from the bible or like paradise lost, but really, really aren’t. like “there are cathedrals everywhere for those with the eyes to see” which is ofc a jordan peterson tweet about a bottle of evian. what are the others?” They wrote, before offering a few examples.
What did Peterson mean and what does the phrase mean now?
We can never know exactly what anyone is thinking, but most people took his tweet to mean that even the simple Evian bottle contains the majesty and magic of God’s holy cathedral. But only if you are open to seeing it. Peterson styles himself as a wise man with many acolytes who could benefit from listening to him, so it makes sense that he’d be grandiose about his beverage.
Since the tweet took off, people tend to use the phrase humorously, especially when there’s something else to be seen around them, like a certain shape or pattern. Then they’ll switch out that word for cathedrals. And lots of people just use the phrase as is, but attach it to something silly and small.
However, despite Peterson’s mixed reputation, a lot of memes about seeing cathedrals everywhere tend to be somewhat sincere. There is beauty everywhere! But only if you are looking for it.
Cathedrals Everywhere For Those With The Eyes To See memes
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