The Hermetic Hour

Mesopotamian and Canaanite Mythology with Frater Isa (re-broadcast)

On Thursday June 18th, 2015 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will
present a discussion on ancient Mesopotamian Mythology and its relation to
the Canaanite myths that comprise the Seasonal ceremonies of the Order of
the Temple of Astarte. As our in studio guest we will have Frater Isa from
our Ubar Encampment in Dallas, Texas. We will touch on such subjects as the
Annunaki (Elder Gods), How Man was created by the Earth Goddess as a slave
of the Gods, how Oannes brought civilization to the Sumerians, and the
numerous parallels between Canaanite and Mesopotamian myth and legend. Our
primary text will be John Gray's Near Eastern Mythology which is
cross-comparative. If you have been curious about the similarities between
Ishtar and Astarte, or Baal and Marduk, then tune in and we will try to sort
out the pre-Biblical family-trees for you.
 

Adonia, the Summer Solstice festival of the O.T.A.

On Thursday June 18th,2020 at 8:00 p.m. Pacific time the Hermetic Hour hosted by Poke Runyon will broadcast live the 46th Consecutive annual performance of the Order of the Temple of Astarte's Summer Solstice "Adonia" celebration. Based on the ancient Canaanite Ra Shamrah tablets the drama depicts the death of the Year King Prince Baal at the hands of the Dark Lord Mot on the longest, brightest day of the year after he has joyously served the Dew of Heaven to the celebrants in a Golden Goblet that would be remembered as the Holy Grail. He is mourned by his consort the Goddess Astarte who promises to resurrect Baal and vanquish Mot in the the Festival of Seven Gates at Autumn Equinox. This is the second time we have had to perform one of our Seasonal Rites on the radio rather than in our sacred henge at Rivendell but we urge you to vue our video version of this event in "Rites of Magick" on YouTube.
 
 
Baal: "Behold the Golden Dew of Heaven
       Born of Thunder Clouds on High
       Drink with me this Life Elixir!
       Dance ye round 'til the Cup be Dry!"
 
Astarte: "Each rose is the blood of the Year King
          Burn it and thy sorrows be forgot
          These waters are the tears of the Goddess,
          Shed them and thy sadness shall pass."            

Hermetic Origins of the Sepher Yetzirah

On Thursday June 11th, 2020 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the Pagan Hermetic origins of the Sepher Yetzirah. This ancient book is the Philosophical and mystical foundation of the Medieval Hebrew Kabbalah. And eventually the Hermetic Qabalah which seems to recover its actual origins. It is traditionally attributed, by the Hebrews, to Father Abraham and was said to have been written by him in Harran where he is said to have “Made Souls” The Harranians were star-worshipers who preserved the star lore of ancient Babylon and eventually joined the Pythgorean - Hermetic magical tradition. The Sepher Yetzirah or Book of Creation describes how the Universe was created by the Word of God, using the proto-Hebrew Phonecian alphabet, the first alpha-numeric letter system. Which acquired twenty-four letters to accommodate the entire celestial sphere and the elements, and then became the origin of ancient Greek—which passed on its alpha-numeric heritage to Medieval Hebrew and Arabic. It has even been suggested that the second century Valentinian Magician Marcus wrote the earliest version of the Sepher Yetzirah. Even Gershom Scholem admits that the philosophy of the Sepher Yetzirah is Pythagorean. So, if you want to delve in to the depths of the mysteries join us for an hour of speculation on the origins of The Book of Creation.

Weird Pennsylvania - with Frater Julian (re-broadcast)

On Thursday May 28th, 2015 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will have as its special guest Frater Julian of the Benjamin Franklin Encampment who is an expert in Pennsylvania folklore relating to witchcraft and magick. We will be discussing his paper on the mysterious Roman family in the colonial Quaker community, Johannes Kelpius "The Wizard of Wissahickon," and his Cave of Kelpius, and Apocalyptic prophecy in the 1690s. The Epherata Rosicrucian Cloister, then moving up toward modern times with Dutch pow-wow, hexcraft, the curious case of the Hexencat and its capture. The York County 1920s Hex murder case. So if you want to catch up on your American occult and witchcraft heritage be sure to tune in for Weird Pennsylvania on the air.

An Hour with British Magician Jake Stratton-Kent (re-broadcast)

On Thursday May 21st, 2015 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present an interview with British author and magician Jake Stratton-Kent. Jake Stratton-Kent is especially noted for his defense and support of the Goetic aspect of ceremonial magick and his research linking this practice to the deities and oracles of ancient Greek mythology, especially the denizens of the underworld or Tartarus ruled by Hades or Pluto. He is more partial to the Grimorium Verum than the Goetia or Lesser Key of Solomon although he stresses that both are essentially Goetic from the ancient Greek word "Goes" meaning a necromancer. So if you want to meet a master of art magical, tune in and spend an hour with maestro Jake Stratton-Kent.

The Twisted History of Christianity

On Thursday May 21st 2020 the Hermetic Hour, with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the Twisted History of Christianity. The general theme of this presentation is how the distortion of its original principles perverted its mission for the following two thousand years of world history. We will examine how the Christian religion, which was supposed to bring peace, love and comfort to the people who accepted it, brought instead War, hatred, persecution and despair. We will begin by recalling what Christianity was supposed to be and who Jesus’s Father in Heaven really was. We will remember how his wife, Mary Magdalene and later the bishop Valentinian and his follower Marcus tried to carry on the original teachings. We will recall how the Roman Church created its Inquisition to stamp out the resurgence of original Gnostic Christianity in Southern France where Mary Magdalene and Marcus had preached, and how the Roman Church launched a genocidal crusade against these innocent Cathars killing millions. The Inquisition went on to murder thousand of heretics and witches while the Church bishops exploited the poor and offered salvation for money. Finally Northern European Christians revolted in a movement called the Reformation, but the Protestants failed to correct the original mistake the Roman Church had made in accepting Yahweh as the father of Jesus and incorporating the corrupted Old Testament as part of the Christian Bible. By the 18th century all forms of Christianity were challenged by the rise of a new atheistic religion that offered the same promise: peace, love and comfort. It emerged from the horror of the French Revolution. You can call it socialism, humanism, or communism – but what ever name it goes under, it is actually a Christian Heresy. It is Christian altruism without salvation. So, If you want to want to know how the early Christians got it wrong and how we can fix it, tune in and we’ll reveal a real New Testament.

High Magick’s Aid with Ed Fitch (re-broadcast)

On Thursday May 14th, 2015 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present the second part of a discussion on Gerald Gardner's 1949 novel of medieval British Magick and Witchcraft High Magic's Aid. The emphasis will be on readings of the actual rituals from the book, including "Making the Great Circle," "the Witch Cult initiation," and "The Spirit Dantalion." Poke will be joined by his long time friend and colleague Gardnerian Elder Ed Fitch as they discuss the influence of Solomonic Magick on Gardner's original version of modern Wicca. Gardner used rituals from both the Greater and Lesser Keys of Solomon in High Magic's Aid, so if you want to get the feel of the way it was in the beginning then tune in and we'll conjure some old fashioned spirits for you.

Gerald Gardner’s High Magic’s Aid (re-broadcast)

On Thursday May 7th, 2015 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review and discuss Gerald Gardner's classic novel of medieval magick and witchcraft in England "High Magic's Aid." We consider this a very important work in the Modern Hermetic Tradition because it vividly describes the synthesis of surviving Paganism with the Solomonic school of ceremonial magick in the Middle Ages. A mix of esoteric themes that returned in the form of Gardenarian and Alexandrian Wicca in 1950s England, from which it quickly migrated to the United States. Gerald Gardner was a member of the O.T.O. and worked closely with Aleister Crowley to produce the first modern Book of Shadows. High Magic's Aid tells the story of three Saxon Solomonic magicians in the days of Robin Hood's King John 11th century, who are not able to work their magick effectively without the help of a female Witch. They rescue their priestess from the local inquisition and dig up her precious Athame and white handled knife without which they can not operate. The story is very well written and well researched. Better than Crowley's fiction although he was probably Gardner's editor. We strongly recommend this book to our neo-pagan and wiccan friends who may think that witchcraft and magick cannot co-exist. They can, and they did, and they do -- so if you want to know where and how the wizards and the witches got together tune in and "Merry Meet!" and "Blessed Be!"

Doc Smith’s Lensmen -- The Original Jedi

On Thursday April 30th, 2020 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion and review of the 1934 to 1954 science-fiction Lensman series, by Edward Elmer Smith, PhD, a scientist in the food industry specializing in pastry, whose major accomplishment in food engineering was making powdered sugar adhere to doughnuts, and whose major accomplishment in science fiction writing was the creation of a sub-genre called “Space Opera” His Lensman series and its concepts and themes influenced Frank Herbert’s Dune, Roddenberry's Star Trek, and Lucas’ Star Wars. It even re-influenced the screen version of one of Smith’s inspirations The 1912 Burroughs’ John Carter, when Burroughs's Therns were rewritten by Andrew Stanton as Smith’s evil “Eddorians” and their medallions given the powers of an Arisian Lens. Smith developed the concept of the Multiverse, laser and particle weapons and super computers years before they appeared. His concept of the Lensmen as an incorruptible Galactic police force, guided by secret masters from a hidden planet seems to have been inspired by Theosophy’s “Ascended Masters” from Tibet, and King Arthur’s knights of the Round Table and the Holy Grail. The Lensmen are obviously the origin of the Star War's Jedi.  Another imitator of Doc Smith was Issac Asimov with his Foundation Series. Asimov was so successful with his Foundation series that he beat out Doc Smith for the 1966 Hugo award for “the best all time science-fiction series.” But at least they declared that Doc’s epic was runner up. So if you would like to look deeper into this and even review what happened when Doc ran one of his Lensmen for president and how Clarissa MacDoughil became the first Lenswoman, tune in and we’ll activate the lens. 

The Rite of Memphis and Misraim (re-broadcast)

On Thursday April 30th, 2015 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the quasi-Masonic Rite of Memphis, sometimes called the Rite of Memphis and Misraim which is highly irregular in orthodox Masonic circles and is usually considered a Clandestine (unrecognized and proscribed) organization to which regular Masons cannot belong. This collection of rites or degrees (96 of them) has a long and colorful history which we will delve into consulting Mackey, Calvin C. Brut, John Yarker and Allen Greenfield. In the 1880's the Rite of Memphis infiltrated the Scottish Rites Northern Jurisdiction and went into competition with Scottish Rite itself to see which system would become an accepted Advanced (Red Lodge) along with York Rite for regular American Masons. Scottish Rite's 33 degree system won the turf war, with Albert Pike's help and the Rite of M&M disappeared into the College of defunct Masonic Rites (yes there is such an institution). The same thing had happened to it in France a hundred years earlier when the Grand Orient absorbed it and locked it up in their archives -- but the M&M is not easily suppressed. Its founder, after signing it over to the Grand Orient, sneaked it into Moldavia (one of Dracula's hang outs) and it briefly rose again. Recently Masonic mavericks Allen Greenfield and Jeff Peace have tried to resurrect it here in the United States. Jeff Peace tried to get a number of regular Masons who were interested in the esoteric involved in M&M, at their peril. So if you would like to explore a delightfully conspiratorial and deliciously controversial secret society that claims to have "All the Secrets of ancient Masonry and certainly enough of its degrees" then tune in and we'll sail up the Nile to the Pyramids. 

The Hermetic Hour’s 10th Anniversary Special

On Thursday April 16th, 2020 -- the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will celebrate its Tenth Anniversary. Like the seasonal Ceremonies of the O.T.A. the Hermetic Hour is the longest running periodic (in this case weekly) Magical podcast serving the Magical, neo-pagan community. We stayed the course for a whole decade, and will continue for another. Tonight's show will be a gathering of O.T.A, adepts familiar to our regular listeners: V'H. Frater Memnonides (Master Phylos) V.H. Soror Ariel (Lady Jo Carson) V.H. Frater Solomon (Michael) V.H. Frater SithMeth (Max) and especially V.H.Soror Zandria (Lawren) who imagined, created,on-goingly produces and edits the Hermetic Hour. She is now officially my better half and this show is more in her honor than in mine. So if you'd like to celebrate a Happy Anniversary with us, tune in  and get Magick!

”The Broth from the Cauldron” by Cerridwen Fallingstar

On Thursday April 9th, 2020 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion and review of "Broth from the Cauldron" by Cerridwen Fallingstar who will join us in the discussion of her book. Cerridwen is a Neo-Pagan Witch who writes Historical novels based on her past lives. She lectures and teaches on shamanic magick, spiritual development and ecological philosophy. She has joined us in Feraferian rituals and is a leader in the Northern California Pagan scene. Broth from the Cauldron is somewhat auto-biographical with most chapters recounting personal experiences which are almost parables, describing the lessons her life's adventures have taught her; from her childhood to maturity living and practicing her Craft. So if you would like to spend an hour with the wisest of the witches join us and sip the Broth from the Cauldron. 

The Whispering Swarm, by Michael Moorcock (re-broadcast)

On April 16th, 2015 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review the
new semi-biographical novel by fantasy grandmaster Michael Moorcock "The
Whispering Swarm." This remarkable book should be of special interest to
magicians and Hermetic students. Moorcock is the modern heir to the mantles
of J.R.R. Tolkien, and Robert E.Howard. His fiction is deeply magical and
steeped in Hermetic lore. The Whispering Swarm is somewhat experimental. His
protagonist is himself and he tells his life story up to his passage from
adolescence into adulthood through the entrance into a secret enclave in the
multiverse, inhabited by historical and fictional characters he has read
about. Raised in London during and after WWll, he discovers an ancient
hidden medieval village called the Alsacia, or The Sanctuary, inhabited by
magical monks in an old Abbey, a tavern full of swashbuckling cavaliers,
including the Musketeers from Dumas and a glamorous Hughwaywoman called
Molly Midnight. He also lives in the real world, having a wife and children
and a job as an editor, but is driven to escape into The Sanctuary by the
tumult of Whispering voices in his head (the Swarm). Most importantly it
explores Moorcock's two warring personalities in emotional spiritual and
political conflict. He is a romantic at heart and an agnostic socialist in
intellect -- so he fights to save King Charles from Cromwell's Ax because
his cavalier heroes need his abilities to walk between the worlds. One
wonders all through the book, just how much of the fantasy is real, or a
metaphor for reality. So, if you want to visit an adult's Land of Oz then
follow us through the London fog to the hidden gates of the Sanctuary and
we'll find the Swan with Two Necks tavern for a shant of ale and an hour of
High Magical Adventure.
 

The Illuminati Revisited -- ”The Secret School of Wisdom” (re-broadcast)

On Thursday April 2nd, 2015 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review and discuss the newly published book "The Secret School of Wisdom" Authentic rituals and doctrines of the Illuminati edited by Joseph Wages, Rienhard Markner and translated by Jeva Singh Anand. Host Poke Runyon (Marion Roland) will be joined by his fellow Beyond Lemuria stars Merrick Rees Hamer (Master Phylos) and Frater Solomon (Samyaza) in our discussion of the various aspects of the Bavarian Illuminati: their Masonic infiltration, Christian-based socialist ideology, and conspiratorial agenda. We will discuss Adam Weishaupt's mysticism and contradict some previously held opinions about his atheism. We will discuss his relation with Baron von Knigge and some of the later individuals and organizations influenced by the Illuminati -- so If you want to immanenitize the eschaton (whatever that means) tune in and be illuminated.

Spring Equinox/Nuptiae Ceremony LIVE on The Hermetic Hour

Supporting the National Effort to restrict public events in order to suppress the Corona Virus, we have moved our Annual Spring Equinox, Nuptiae the Spring Marriage and Communion of the Elements ceremony from the Rivendell Henge to the Hermetic Hour. All our presenters will recite the ceremony on the air Thursday March 19th, 2020 at 8:00 p.m.  pacific time. We invite all our Active and Associate Members to listen in and we suggest that you have incense (frankincense or sandal wood) and a candle, a cup on Mead and a platter of wheat crackers so you may take communion with us. If you want to see what a Hermetic Communion looks like review "The Rites of Magick" which you all should have a copy of. Let us hope and pray that we don't have to do this for Summer Solstice. But let's make the best of this alternative. Take care and be well, Thabion, Poke Runyon host The Hermetic Hour.
 

The Grand Key of Solomon the King

On Thursday March 12th, 2020 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review and discuss "The Grand Key of Solomon the King" (2009) and other works translated by Mamdouh Al Daye otherwise known as Nineveh Shadrach. Nineveh is a Golden Dawn adept whom we have known since 1998 when he sent us a copy of his first book "The Magical Tome of a Divine King;" this was also a Solomonic grimoire in Arabic called "The Medicine of Solomon" which was eventually pirated and became "The Book of Smokeless Fire." "The Grand Key of Solomon the King" is commonly referred to as "Al Ajnas" and is attributed to Asaph Ben Berechiam in the Ishtar Publishing edition, probably to help Solomonize the work. Arabic editions would be attributed to Asif ibn Barkhiya, an Arab version of the same legendary Jewish sage of Solomon's court who supposedly wrote the book. It dates back to the 12th century of the common era. Not quite as old as Picatrix but old enough to make it venerable on the magician's book shelf. I'll be joined by V.H.Frater SithMeth who has some thoughts on "The Book of Smokeless Fire." So if you would like to spend an hour in the study of forbidden and forgotten lore, sit on your magick carpet, rub your magick lamp and join us.
 

The Universal Master Key by Franz Bardon (re-broadcast)

On Thursday March 26th, 2015 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon
will present a review of the new book: "The Universal Master Key" alleged
to be a newly discovered manuscript by the late Franz Bardon. This book is
actually a reconstructed series of lectures by Bardon to his students
on mastering and balancing the four Hermetic elements in the personality
as set forth in the first section of his book Initiation into Hermetics. The texts
of the lectures are rewritten from a collection of class notes by the students
and rendered in Bardon's writing style by his publisher and editor Dieter
Ruggeberg. The book is published by Faulks Books which mistakenly
represents it on the internet as taken from a "newly discovered
manuscript by Franz Bardon." However it does not appear to be entirely a
hoax. If Dieter wrote the entire book, he has at least mastered Bardon's
style and philosophic attitudes. The book is certainly worth a place in
a Magician's Bardon collection. It is very moralistic and sermonizing in
tone with a strong emphasis on ethics and spiritual integrity. It has
its short-comings. It was supossed to be organized according to the
qualities of each element but he seems to go off the track into a
general discussion on how to live and die well in this and higher worlds
-- so if want to revisit the Bardonian internal tetragrammaton process,
tune in and we will go to Hermetic Sunday school with Reverand Franz.
Next week we revisit the Bavarian Illuminati.

The Ideomotor Effect in Hermetic Magick

On Thursday February 27th, 2020 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion of the mysterious Ideomotor effect which motivates such divinatory devices as the Ouiji Board, the Pendulum and the Golden Dawn Ring and Disc. It is also related to dowsing rods and our Zero Lite. Although the effect is considered a scientific rationale for the phenomenon, it in itself is miraculous and may be more complex and supernatural than the de-bunkers imagine.So if you want to learn how to contact your deep mind, tune in and hang out with the pendulum swingers.
 

The Lightning Flash and The Blasted Tower

On Thursday February 20th, 2020 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a lecture on the Lightning Flash or Flaming Sword on the Tree of Life and its relation to the Blasted Tower of the Tarot on the 27th Path. This is a remarkable synchronicity between Tarot symbolism and Qabalah. In this case it marks the dividing point of the united soul in its descent down the the Paths of the Tree Before the Fall. When the House of God is struck by Lightning Eve falls toward Netsach and Adam falls toward Hod. From then on the human soul is divided. The Goddess rules the Sphere of Nature on the pillar of Mercy and the Fool rules the Sphere of Knowledge on the pillar of Severity. From there on down to Malkuth they remain divided, united only in dreams. So if you want to know why you can’t find your Soul-Mate, tune in and we will tell you where to look.

Merrick Rees Hamer the Magical Mason (re-broadcast)

On Thursday March 12th, 2015 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon,
will have as its honored guest Merrick Rees Hamer a leading Masonic
ritualist and lecturer in California, a master story-teller, talented
musician, and a leader in the Golden Dawn Rosicrucian Magical
tradition. Merrick is also a classical actor having portrayed "The
Master Phylos" and his evil counterpart "Magister Abaddon" in the Church
of the Hermetic Sciences Production of "Beyond Lemuria" filmed at Mt.
Shasta in 2006 and recently re-released in a second edition. He is also
a leading officer in the Church and in its magical fraternal order the
O.T.A. Merrick will give us a history of his creative and esoteric
interests and accomplishments. So if you would like to spend an hour or
so with a modern master of traditional magick and the arts related to
it: music, drama, and poetic expression, then join us and be inspired.

The Multiverse and Chaosphere from Michael Moorcock (re-broadcast)

On Thursday March 5th, 2015 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will
have a discussion on the magical heroic fantasy fiction of British
literary lion Michael Moorcock. Although Moorcock did not coin
the term Multiverse he did much to popularize it in his Elric of
Melnibone series. H.G. Wells used it in Men like Gods, and Richard
Shaver's Red Dwarf called it the "Simultane." Parallel Worlds is perhaps
the best description of it. What Moorcock did coin was the "Chaosphere"
that mace-like symbol of the black ball with eight spearheads emerging
that was adopted by Peter Carroll as the symbol for their Chaos Magick
system. Moorcock's literary concept of the Chaos world is presented as
an ocean of swirling colors and energies dashing against the cliffs of
his fantasy world -- and periodically invading and claiming lands ruled
by the Lords of Law. The Lords of Chaos, one of which is Elric's patron,
play a constant game with men as the pawns. Moorcock was perhaps
influanced by Vance's Cudgel, to create his anti-hero The Albino
ex-emperor Elric of Melnibone, who struggles to overcome the sociopathic
heritage of his race and finally secumbs to it under the influence of
his black-magick sword which is a vampiric weapon with a evil mind of
its own. This was a perfect fictional character for the darkness that
followed the era of the flower children, a presage of the current goth
and black metal fads. Moorcock describes himself as an anarchist and is
a controversial literary figure in Britain. He is presently writing a
Dr. Who novel, his first using someone else's character. So if you want
to discover the magick of Michael Moorcock tune in and we'll navigate
the multiverse.

Beginning Magical Training in the O.T.A.

Hermetic Hour host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the beginning of magical training which we sometimes call "Franz Bardon for Dummies". We will certainly concede our debt to Bardon, and to Crowley but we will point out our improvements in their programs and explain the psychological and physical factors involved in conjuration to visible appearance, creative visualization, trance states, scrying and channeling and other skills and techniques the magician needs to master. So if you really want to know how to DO IT, remember the wisdom of the Sphinx who said: "In order for you to learn our teachings, we must first teach you how to learn." He also said:"He who doubts his powers, only lends power to his doubts."
 

Hieronymus Bosch vs. The Spanish Inquisition (re-broadcast)

On Thursday February February 12th, 2015 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the late medieval Dutch surrealist painter Hieronymus Bosch whose remarkable works have not yet become the secret code behind a Dan Brown novel (hint Bro. Dan) but would certainly provide a great background for such a story. His most famous work "The Garden of Earthly Delights" is a phantasmagoria a of bizarre and nightmarish symbolism. Which scholars relate to the Gnostic sect of the Adamites -- a cult of mystic nudists who were trying to recreate the Garden of Eden. Super Catholic Spain had taken over the Netherlands in those days and the Inquisition was burning the Dutch Adamites as fast as Bosch could paint them but the King of Spain was Bosch's biggest fan, which probably kept Bosch alive. So you can look at some great Bosch graphics on your computer while you listen to us recount the tale of the Devil's painter.

Lucifer, the Cathars, and the Holy Grail

On January 16th, 2020 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the controversial themes and symbols of the Medieval Holy Grail legend. We will first establish that the entire concept of “Lucifer the Light bringer” is a hoax launched in the Old Testament to cover-up Jehovah’s palace coup (the War in Heaven) and the subsequent exile of Elyon and his Elohim (the Fallen Angels). Next we will examine the Medieval Cathars, their origins and beliefs. We will consider the survival of Valentinian Gnosticism in Southern France and the Troubador Courts of Love. We will describe the Grail and its Hermetic-Sabian Celestial origin as set forth in von Eschenbach’s Parzival – and we will reveal what the physical Holy Grail really was. So if you want to know what those nasty French knights were hiding in their castle, join us on the quest.

Dan Brown’s ”Inferno” and Transhumanism (re-broadcast)

On Thursday February 5th, 2015 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon
will present a discussion on the recent Dan Brown novel "Inferno" and
the the cult of Transhumanism that it seems to advocate. This is a
highly controversial subject and deals with issues that are deeply
challenging from a moral and ethical position. We will also go back to
an earlier novel by H.G. Wells "Men like Gods" which deals with the same
issues and projects a genetically perfected future utopia that seems to
be the goal of the transhumanists. We will compare this form of human
elitism with the process of Hermetic self development and ask ourselves
which way we would rather follow to become "more than human?" So tune in
and find out what's coming in the next 100 years.
 

Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (re-broadcast)

On Thursday January 29th, 2015 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion and review on a newly published collection of Old Testament pseudepigrapha (apocryphal works) edited by Bauckham, Davila and Panayotov from Erdmans. What makes this 800 page doorstopper of particular interest to us is "The Legend of Melchizedek" and Solomon's Hygromancy which is very similar to the medieval Greater Key of Solomon and may be a later version of the Key's original source. Poke will be joined by Biblical scholar Frater Solomon who first discovered this very interesting publication and brought it to our attention. So if you want to hear about some strange old magical manuscripts that have just come to light, tune in and we'll delve into this collection.

The Hermetic Hour 2019 Year in Review

On Thursday December 26th 2019, the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will
present a review of the new shows we aired during 2019. These programs are all
available for listening and download on our Hermetic Hour Blog Talk radio
web site: > http://www.blogtalkradio.com/the-hermetic-hour > so have your note
book and pencil handy as you listen and jot down the ones you missed so you can
catch up with us. And Merry Christmas, Happy New Year from Zandria and Thabion.

Hermetic Magical Ethics (re-broadcast)

On Thursday January 22nd, 2015 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon
will present a discussion on Hermetic Magical Ethics. This will be
somewhat controversial in that we will examine the ethical aspects of
Hermetic philosophy in comparison to Christianity and other Gnostic
variations including Crowley's Thelema and Golden Dawn Rosicrucianism.
We will also question the merits of egalitarian collectivism compared to
the American/Masonic work ethic and personal responsibility standards.
We will review our newly adopted Code of Conduct for members of our
magical lodges and explain some of the reasons for establishing these
guidelines. So if you want to know how well-behaved and nice to each
other magicians ought to be, tune in and we will give you our Golden
Rules.
 

The Tarot of Ceremonial Magick, New Edition with Lon DuQuette

The Hermetic Hour for Thursday December 12th, 2019 -- will feature a discussion and review of the
new edition of The Tarot of Ceremonial Magick by Lon and Constance DuQuette which was first issued
in 1995 along with the book of the same title. Your host Poke Runyon will have as his guest the Maestro
himself, Lon Milo DuQuette, who will describe and explain his masterpiece. The new deck has improved color
separation and is more attractivly packaged and available at a lower price than previous editions. These
cards describe a 360 degree magick circle with symbolic connections to the three Great Pillars of Magick:
Astrology Enochian Magick and Goetia. They are a marvelous tool for the practicing magician and even the
armchair magician. The book is still in print and this new issue of the deck is a welcome manifestation
of the the wisdom of the Master and the symbolic art of his Lady. Although this deck is not intended for
fortune telling, we invite you to join us as we shuffle the deck of the Multiverse and let the Maestro
deal the cards.
 

Parzival, The Hermetic Grail Romance (re-broadcast)

On January 8th, 2015 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will
present a reprise of the 1977 article in the old Seventh Ray number
nineteen by author Janine Renee titled: Parzival and the Hermetic
Grail. The author researched and wrote this at our request. It forms an
important element in our reconstructed linkage of ancient Phoenician
rituals to early Valentinian Christian Gnosticism and to medieval Grail
lore. The major source for Janine's article is the 1965 "The Krater and
the Grail: Hermetic Sources of the Parzival by Henry and Renee Kahane.
Modern neo-pagans have never lost their fascination for the Holy Grail
quest. The idea that the Grail was originally pagan (The Hermetic
Krater) goes along with the recent revelations of Jesus and Mary
Magdalen and the paganizing of Christianity. So if you want to start on
your own Grail Quest tune in and we will give you directions to to the
Grail Castle Montsalvat.
 

”Aleister Crowley in India” by Tobias Churton

On Thursday November 21st. 2019 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review Tobias Churton's "Aleister Crowley in India." This is another in a series of books by Churton covering portions of Crowley's life and work, We have already reviewed his "The Beast in Berlin" and will certainly get to last year's "Aleister Crowley in America," but Crowley's India adventures should probably have been first in the series. I personally found this book to be fascinating. In its pages I rediscovered Crowley and relived the excitement of his early magical experiences along with big-game hunting and mountain climbing adventures. Churton had access to many records and archives not available to previous writers. We have a more Crowley-favorable version of the infamous Kangchenjunga tragedy than previously reported. The primary theme of this book is magical yoga or yoga for magick. We start with Crowley and Bennett in Ceylon studying Theravada Buddhism together and then on to Crowley's discovering and adapting the Gnostic tantric system of Sabhapaty Swami. So if you'd like to return to the thrilling days of yesteryear, then join us and sit down, shut-up and get-out with Aleister Crowley.

Canaanite Mythology in Magick (re-broadcast)

On New Years Day 2015 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the importance of Canaanite/Phoenician mythology in Magick and magical Qabalah and in Solomonic ceremonial magick. We  will explore how it can relate to Alchemy, astrology, and Hermetic Solarism. We will discuss the Alchemical symbolism of our Canaanite Seasonal rites and the relation of Canaanite Gods and Goddesses to the Sumerian and classical Greek Pantheons. So if you want to explore what lies behind the myth of Solomon being the Master Magician, tune in and we'll introduce you to the real "oldest religion".

The Zero Lite and the ”Bloody Mary” Evocation

On Thursday, November 7th, 2019 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the scientific technology behind modern ceremonial magick and reveal for the first time a device he developed in the early 1970s for training students to make use of the "Troxler Effect" (facial reflection-distortion in a dark mirror; the "Bloody Mary" effect) for Magical spirit evocation. This device called "The Zero Lite" was based on U.S. Army battlefield research and it is so sensitive to human will power that it can respond to non-verbal telepathic commands in group practice. We stopped using it in the late 1970s but in recent years we have encountered students who subconsciously override the Troxler effect in the mirror, even when they consciously want it work for them, and so we are going back to Zero Lite training for Second Degree candidates. And so, if your spirit doesn't want to show up for you, then listen in and we'll tell you how to solve the problem.

Books and Films that Inspired the O.T.A. (re-broadcast)

On Christmas night December 25th, 2014 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a special program in which Frater Thabion, your host and the founder of the Order of the Temple of Astarte, will trace the books and films that influenced and inspired him to create and develop his unique American system of Magick. I grew out of the Oz books and graduated to the Mars books (John Carter) then into a teenage fascination with Richard Shaver's hi-tech Lemurian survivor stories. I will go to my 1950s early college days watching films such as Jean Cocteau's Orpheus, and Orson Welles Black Magic (on Cagliostro and Mesmer) and move on through to a study of Voodoo in line with my Caribbean adventurer-fiction writer persona. The Saragossa Manuscript for Kabbalah and mirror magick, Graves The White Goddess. Then my illness which I tried to cure with self-hypnosis. This led to a serious study of hypnosis along with Tibetan Tantra (Evans-Wentz) and finally Western Magick. Mastering the Goetia with the mirror method led to Jungian psycho-philosophy and the study of anthropology culminating in a Master's Degree in the subject from California State University. During this program I created the modern Hermetically oriented Neo-Canaanite Seasonal ceremonies for our magical order The Temple of Astarte, The main purpose of our Goetia was to bring up and reestablish the Secret Goddess of old King Solomon himself. We use the 1770 Hermetic-Masonic rite of Crata Repoa as a structure for our system and I will discuss the sources behind this. Perhaps some of these books and teachings will help others to understand our perspective on the Western Tradition and what we expect to accomplish by what we call The Great Work.

The CHS/OTA Mission Statement (re-broadcast)

On Thursday December 18th, 2014 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will
present a discussion on the Mission Statement of the Church of the Hermetic
Sciences and the Ordo Templi Astartes. This is one of the topics that was
discussed at our last Board of Director's Meeting as especially important
with our membership increasing and new lodges begin opening around the
country. In the magical community we are known as the folks that know how to
make ritual magick work, but that in itself is not enough of a reason for
people to join us unless they simply want to learn our techniques and
methods to use for their own purposes. Frankly, that is not what we are here
for and we are not teaching magick so that it can be misused. We consider
magick to be a system of mental and spiritual development that leads to what
we refer to as enlightenment -- which we define as a close personal
relationship with God. We follow a pattern of hermetic mytho-philosophy born
in Alexandria in the first century and perfected by the Renaissance
neo-platonic/hermetic magi in 14th-15th-16th century Europe culminating in
the Rosicrucian tradition. We combine paganism, Qabalah, astrology and
alchemy in line with Jungian psychology in a neo-romantic Quest for the Holy
Grail based on a linage of eternal goddesses and dying gods from the time of
Melchizedek to the beginnings of Christianity. So, if you have wondered just
why we do what we do and where we are going with it, tune in and be
enlightened.
-- 
 

Enoch Adamson for President in 2020

On Thursday October 17th, 2019 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will announce and open Enoch Adamson's campaign for President of the United States. As the Hermetic Party candidate Adamson is uniquely qualified for the office, having mastered the thirtieth and thirty-first Paths of the Tree of Life and attended a meeting of the Grand Council in the Library of Hod. He will outline his program to solve all the major problems and issues the country is facing. He has the solution for gun-control, social justice, race relations, immigration, education, credit card debt, foreign relations, the space program, climate change and UFO disclosure. So if you want a candidate who can really get it done, don't vote Republican or Democrat. Vote Hermetic. "Let's make Humanity Great Again!"

The Lost Gospel, by Jacobivici and Wilson (re-broadcast)

On Thursday December 4th, 2014 the Hermetic Hour with Host Poke Runyon will review and discuss the latest controversial book attempting to prove a marriage between Jesus and Mary the Magdalene: "The Lost Gospel" by Simcha Jacobovici and Barrie Wilson. This is basically a reinterpretation of an ancient text, the elaborated story of Joseph and Aseneth from Genesis seen as a coded allegory for Jesus and Mary the Magdalene being married and having a family. They make some very good arguments for this interpretation. Apparently this is not a new idea but this "Lost Gospel" has been speculated as a coded text for hundreds of years. We find it particularly important because it lines up with the Nassaene Hippolytus document behind our conception of the secret Holy Grail history suggested in From Ritual to Romance. Frater Solomon discovered a link from The Lost Gospel to the Crata Repoa that I find is quite significant. It also seems that Mary the Magdalene (Mary the Lady of the Tower) may have been known to the original Rosicrucians. So if you want to get a Hermetic view on "The Lost Gospel" tune in and we will start decoding.

”Seeking Light, the Neophyte’s Notebook” by Corrington Wheeler

On Thursday October 3rd, 2019 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review and discuss "Seeking Light, the Neophyte's Notebook" by Corrington Wheeler. The author will join us for the discussion. Corrington Wheeler is an American singer, songwriter, voice actor, video film maker and ceremonial magician. He is also a Scottish Rite Mason and a student of several magical traditions. His book is only sixty pages long but is well worth reading. Some of it is catharsis (wisdom from personal experience) but there is much derived from research and study. I was reluctant to invite Corrington on the Hermetic Hour until he explained to me that he wanted to lead other young people to the Light. Reading his book confirmed this. Most of the youthful musicians attracted to magick whom I have encountered are on the dark side which I consider spiritually corrosive. Corrington is a delightful exception to this trend and can hopefully be a positive voice in his peer group. So if you want to meet a young magician who is pouring new wine into our old bottles, listen in and meet Corrington Wheeler.
 

The Chakras and The Book of Revelation (re-broadcast)

On Thursday November 13th the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the relationship between the mystic roses or chakras of yoga with the Seven Seals of the Book of Revelation in the Bible. This is of special interest to Rosicrucians and the Rosicrucian tradition in our own Inner Order the O.R.C. We will follow the order of the Seven branch candlestick as does the Golden Dawn but we will mention other arrangements, such as suggested by James Pryce (1910) in Apocalypse Unsealed and his current imitator: Zachary Landsdowne, author of "The Revelation of Saint John" (2006). Revelation has been the cornerstone of Christian mystical texts since the first century of the common era. So if you want to discover what those Seven Seals are hiding then tune in and let's open them up.

Magical Fiction and Films (re-broadcast)

The Hermetic Hour, hosted by Poke Runyon, will present a lively review of magical fiction and films. We will go from "The Saragossa Manuscript"(1841) through Dion Fortune's "Moon Magic", Somerset Maugham's "The Magician" (novel and film), Chambers "The King in Yellow", Lovecraft's dream cycle, Merritt's lost worlds (that influenced Shaver), Jack Williamson's "Darker than You Think" (Jack Parson's favorite), Clark Ashton Smith dream-maker extraordinary, his imitator Jack Vance (from which we got Dungeons & Dragons), "Valis" by Philip K. Dick -- just to name a few. Then the films: Orson Welles' "Black Magic" on Cagliostro, Jean Cocteau's "Orpheus", Merrian Cooper's "She", "Simon King of the Witches," "What Dreams May Come," "Crowley," and Jodorowsky's "The Holy Mountain." A smorgasbord of mind-benders. Tune in and feast on it!
 

Angel Magick (re-broadcast)

On September 23rd, 2010 at 8:p.m. the Hermetic Hour, with host Poke Runyon,
will lead a discussion on Angel Magick (good spirits too) with an emphasis
on crystal ball scrying techniques, training, equipment, and talisman
construction and charging. We will discuss the recent books recounting Dr.
Thomas Rudd's 17th century work in this field, and relate some experiences
we've had in the circle doing this work. This will be call-in night, so have
your questions ready on any topic we've covered. Tune in and get
Theurgerated, or Thaumatergified. 
 

Hermetic Yoga - Beyond The Middle Pillar (re-broadcast)

On Thursday October 16th the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will
present an advance review on his forthcoming book Hermetic Yoga Beyond
the Middle Pillar this is a new offering from CHS/OTA that has been a
long-time in the works. The yoga system described and brought to life in
this book has been practiced by the O.T.A. since 1975 and is an
extension of Israel Regardie's Golden Dawn Middle Pillar exercise
following the Lightning flash going down the spheres from Kether to
Malkuth forming a complete straight line chakra system similar to the
Hindu system of Laya Yoga, In this case the Spheres of the Tree of Life
are the planets within. this system traces its origin to two German
Rosicrucian mystics Jacob Bohme and Johann Gitchel. The late Frederick
Adams of Feraferia was also working on a similar system and an essay of
his is included Adams also provided the beautiful cover art depicting a
Goddess in the stars. Also included is an essy by Frater Osiris (Michael
S. Downs) linking Hermetic Yoga to The Chemical wedding of Christian
Rosencreutz via Johann Gitchel' s spiral path of the planets in his
natural man drawing which is one of the keys to the Hermetic Yoga
conception. The book will be followed with a deck of Yoga cards which
will enable the practitioner to carry the system in his pocket for
meditation and study. This is going to be a great aid to magick and
spiritual development and provides a vital resource that Western
magicians have needed for centuries. Now we can call on the Gods within
and exercise all of the powers that our oriental colleagues have called
upon for centuries. So if you want to get a head start on the latest
magical tools of empowerment tune in and we'll start warming up for the
session.
 

The Book of Abramelin - New Translation

On Thursday August 29th, 2919 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review and discuss the new translation (2006) of the 15th century German Book of Abramelin attributed to Abraham von Worms, translated by Steven Guth and edited by Georg Dehn from Ibis Press. This new translation directly from the original German manuscript supersedes MacGregor Mather's translation of the French version in 1893 Which has been a cornerstone of magical libraries since the beginning of the last century. The new Abramelin is excellently introduced by my esteemed colleague Maestro Lon Milo Duquette. The old French version was poorly translated (from the German) and incomplete. The original has all four books and completes all the magic squares. This German version was used by Franz Bardon to name his solar spirits. It should go on the shelf of every magical library. So if you want to square-up with the Angels tune in and we'll run the numbers.

The Mysterious Naassene Document from Hippolytus (re-broadcast)

On Thursday October 9th 2014 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the mysterious Naassene document featured in Hippolytus's influential refutation of all brassieres. Everybody loves a secret document especially if it is ancient and reveals secrets, and the good bishop Hippolytus had a real doozie in his purported Naassene Gnostic sermon, which forms chapter five of his marvelous refutation of all heresies which before Nag Hammadi yielded much of our knowledge of what the Gnostics were actually preaching. This Naassene Gnostic sect is according to the good bishop venerating the cosmic serpent hydra draco et all there are several. but they are mainly trying to do is equate the Christian passion and resurrection with a series of ancient dying gods from Osiris Persephone to Adonis Phoenician and Attis Anatolian and establish Jesus as the last of the year kings or green men of antiquity. Fortunately Hippolytus provides us with a full transcript of his copy like Beowulf his original has suffered rewrite by both Jewish and Christian editors in attempts like making Grendal a descendant of Cain to add Old testament prophecy and New Testament symbolism into the otherwise pagan dying god theme.The Naassene document has influenced many modern occult writers For us in the O.T.A. the main inspiration for our seasonal ceremonies besides the Ras Shamrah tablets was Jessie Weston's From Ritual to Romance (1920) which owes much to the Naassenes. So if you want to find out where the Holy Grail's first holy blood came from tune in and we'll open the old bishop's secret book.

The Sibylline Oracles

On Thursday August 15th,2019 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the ancient "Sibylline Oracles" created, or re-created,in Greco-Roman Alexandria in the first centuries of the common era.These prophetic verses, attributed to the Sibyls, or prophetic priestesses of ancient Greece were actually a hoax, written by Jewish and Christian Gnostics in an attempt to recast the legendary lost prophetic books of ancient Rome to include the Bible and predict Christianity. They were so successful and popular that the early Christian Church approved of them. They were accepted into the Hermetic tradition, along with The Orphic Hymns and the Chaldean Oracles.They became an influence on western magick and Fairy lore. We will refer to Jake Stratton-Kent's summary of the Oracles in "Geosophia" (2010) and Milton Terry's translation 1899. So, if you want to catch up on this often forgotten aspect of western magical lore, tune in and we'll lift the veil.
 

The Orphic Hymns - Magick’s Oldest Liturgy (re-broadcast)

On Thursday September 25th, 2014 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon
will present a discussion of The Orphic Hymns which are the Western Esoteric
Tradition's oldest liturgy. These hymns to the planets, the gods and
goddesses, the stars and all aspects of ancient Greek mythology were used by
the Orphic sect before the Golden Age of Greece, in the days of Pythagoras,
to guide the dead souls on their spiritual journey up through the celestial
spheres and into the realm of the zodiac and beyond. This was a special and
separate aspect of Greek mysticism which had its influence on Pythagoras`,
the Gnostics, the Mythraites, and the Italian Renaissance Hermetics. Most
recently Christopher Warnock has included the hymns in his "Planetary
Magick." We will concentrate on the 18th century Thomas Taylor
translation -- which we use -- and read a Robert Graves poem combining a
number of Orphic memorials into a connected instruction which may have
played some part in the Elusinian Mysteries. So. if you want to know what
that strange stuff they sing to harp music accompaniment at the beginning of
Seasonals, then tune in and we'll take you back three thousand years.
 

Gnostic Christian Marcus - the First Rosicrucian? (re-broadcast)

On Thursday September 18th, 2014 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon
will present a discussion on the career and contributions of Marcus the
Valentinian (died 175 a.d.). Marcus was as much a Hermetic as he was a
Gnostic Christian. The Church Fathers accused him of being more Pythagorean
than Christian. He was the developer of the Soma Sophia system of celestial
Greek qabalah which we have decoded and perfected (see The Seventh Ray, Book
III ) and, according to Kieren Barry, Marcus had an influence of the creation
of the later Sepher Yetzirah. Marcus developed some of the basic concepts of
what became the qabalah. Marcus was a Phoenician, influenced by the earlier
Samaritan Simon Magus. Like Simon Marcus had a Priestess whom he venerated
as an equal. He gave communion with his priestess by his side and turned
water into wine at the altar. The early Church Fathers considered this
blasphemous. Marcus's cult spread from the Middle East to Southern France in
the days Gnostic Christian Marcus - the First Rosicrucian? before Constantine
force-reformed Christianity. So, if you want to explore the most ancient
origins of what we call "The Western Tradition," then tune in and we will
spend an hour with a man who may have been the first Rosicrucian.
 

”The Chemistry of Alchemy” by Cobb, Fetterolf, and Goldwhite (re-broadcast)

On Thursday September 11th, 2014 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon
will review the new book "The Chemistry of Alchemy" by three chemists Cathy
Cobb, Monty Fetterolf and Harold Goldwhite. The authors are all chemists and
chemistry teachers, but they have a fond affection for Alchemy and reveal
the Art as their hobby. This is a one-of-a-kind book: an introduction to
practical laboratory Alchemy through history from a scientific perspective
so that the student learns what alchemical terms really mean ( for instance
Mercury can mean any metal in liquid or molten form, and Sulfur is any
sulfide) and what the old alchemists were trying to do and how they actually
tried to do it -- and in some cases did it. The book is filled with
fascinating experiments that the apprentice can try in his or her kitchen
laboratory with the professional chemists' emphasis on safety and with safer
substitutes for dangerous materials such as real mercury. They even have a
recipe for making what some alchemists thought was The Philosopher's Stone.
You will also learn how to make "alchemical gold" good enough to have gotten
you buried alive or burned at the stake in the Middle Ages. Although the
authors retain their scientific perspective they have profound respect for
the genuine accomplishments of The Art and its venerable adepts. This book
is a must-have for anyone who aspires to be a modern alchemist. -- So tune
in and we will spend an hour in the laboratory with modern masters of the
ancient Art.
 

”American Cosmic” by D.W. Pasulka

On Thursday July 18th, 2019 the Hermetic Hour will review and discuss "American Cosmic" by Diane Pasulka. Again our guest reviewer will be Frater Dumuzi. Diane Pasulka is a professor of religious studies and approaches the UFO phenomenon from her academic perspective. She is a colleague of Jacques Vallee and shares many of his views. She quotes Carl Jung and cites the experiences and work of numerous "experiencers" (her term for contactees). She compares the UFO sightings and encounters to religious and mystical encounters such as the Miracle of Fatima and UFO artifacts to the Shroud of Turin. She also suggests that popular media feeds and perpetuates the phenomenon. Her approach is very subjective and impressionistic and her narrative is rambling and not well focused, but this, in and of itself, reflects the history of the activity she is attempting to describe. So, if you think "The Truth is Out There" tune in and we'll look in Dr. Pasulka's X-Files.
 

Graham Hancock’s ”Magicians of the Gods” and ”America Before” with Frater Dumuzi

On Thursday July 11th, 2019 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon and his colleague Frater Dumuzi will present a review and discussion of the recent Graham Hancock books Magicians of the Gods (2015) and America Before (2019). These works are the latest in a series of speculative efforts to support the long-standing theory that our present civilization (especially Western Civilization) was preceded by an advanced antediluvian culture that might have been Plato's Atlantis. The survivors of which, according to Hancock, created the monolithic architecture of the late neolithic and passed on their knowledge of mathematics and astronomy to the Sumerians, and Egyptians. Recent discoveries such as the 12,000 year old temple complex of Gobekli Tepe in Turkey lend these ideas credibility but they are still resisted by the Cultural Marxists who believe that civilization must evolve from the simple to the complex. Hence Hancock's books are controversial. So, put on your fedora, oil up your bull-whip and join us for an hour of adventure.
 

Shamgar, The Phoenician Judge of Israel (re-broadcast)

On Thursday September 4th, 2014 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on Shamgar, son of the Canaanite War Goddess Anath "who killed 600 Philistines with an ox goad and saved Israel "(over a hundred years before Samson) and became a Judge (ruler of all the tribes) of Israel. Shamgar's story is briefly told in the Biblical Book of Judges. Beyond that lies the realm of myth and legend in which it is suggested that Shamgar was a Phoenician pirate called "Tekheleth Tholi." The Purple Dragon based in Tyre and sent by King Abi Milki to aid the Israeites against the Philistines. He joins the host of the Hebrew Judge Ehud, and marries his daughter Jael, who eventually tries to kill him. His ox goad is said to have been a magical weapon forged by the blacksmith Tubal Cain. The legend is perpetuated in the Gnostic Christian tradition of Marcus from whom we get the Greek Qabalah. Shamgar's exploits should be considered symbolic rather than historic, like the story of Hiram Abiff in Masonry or the Labors of Hercules in Phoenician and Greek astrological lore. If you want to return to the days when Gods and Giants walked the earth, tune in and we'll evoke the shade of Shamgar.

When an Esoteric Society Becomes a Cult (re-broadcast)

On Thursday August 21st, 2014 at 8:00 p.m. Pacific time the Hermetic Hour
with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the historical
development of "cultism" in esoteric societies, staring with Baron von
Hund's Masonic Strict Observance in the mid 1700s, which in turn influenced
Weishaupt's Illuminati, Blavatsky's Theosophy and even The Golden Dawn with
their "Secret Chiefs" and more modern groups we will tactfully leave
unmentioned.This is an important issue because the paradigm that began with
Strict Observance and was adapted by Blavatsky has since been applied to any
esoteric group that has an initiatory structure. So if you want to find out
what was and what is behind esoteric cultism, tune in and we will lift the
veil.
 

The Sixth and Seventh Degrees of The Crata Repoa Reformado

On Thursday June 20th, 2019 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a report on the modern versions of the 6th and 7th degree initiations of the 18th century Crata Repoa. This system was originally intended to replicate an ancient Alexandrian mystery school initiatory program. Manley Hall called it "Egyptian Freemasonry." It was created by a committee of German Masonic scholars who accessed the Classical pagan works of Iamblichus, Porphyri, Plutarch and others to create an outline for a system of Seven Degrees, intended to convey the secrets of ancient Hermetic magick to initiates. But it was far from complete. It was an outline. It declared what was to be taught without providing the actual lessons. When we adopted it as an initiatory structure in 1970 we updated it with additional source material extending from Classical times through the Dark Ages, Medieval times, the Renaissance and the Rosicrucian era. We made the Crata Repoa the repository of the Western Esoteric Tradition, from King Solomon to the Holy Grail, to Christian Rosencreutz. We have discussed the degrees from Pastophoris through Alchemia on previous Podcasts so tonight we will put the cap on it (the four-corned red cap) with the final chivalric degrees the 6th Astronomus, (At the Gate of the Gods) and the 7th Propheta (one who knows the mysteries). So tune in and we'll tell you how the modern Crata Repoa culminates.
 

The Magick of the O.T.A. from Gnostica 1977 (re-broadcast)

On Thursday July 24th, 2014 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a reading of his 1977 article in Gnostica No. 44, "The Magick of the O.T.A." This article described the philosophy, structure and activities of the Order thirty-seven years ago. You may be surprised to discover how long some of our advanced programs have been operative, such as our unique Hermetic Yoga system, our Celestial Magick Vault and our Magical journal The Seventh Ray. The article is short enough for the author to informally update the information given out at that time. So, if you want to learn where we were and what we did back then, and how we have evolved in the intervening years, tune in and be enlightened.
 

The O.T.A. Method of Astral Time Travel (re-broadcast)

On Thursday July 17th, 2014 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the Order of the Temple of Astarte's unique method of Astral Time Travel. We first conceived and developed this method back in the early 1970s as an outgrowth of our Pathworking program. It has much in common with remote viewing in that a "target area" and, in our case, a time in the past, is selected and mapped. Then a celestial reference point and distance in light years is selected. This data is absorbed and studied. For example: if we want to visit ancient Alexandria (one of our favorite tours) we consult archaeological books with accurate graphic recreations to set the general environment at the time. We can use the overhead mirror or the Soul Door as our launch portal. We can use Kusor's Boat if we are launching through the Soul Door. In either case we will use a constellation rather than a Tattwa for a concentration point on the mirror. This is a second degree practice because previous Pathworking experience is required for it to be effective. It is a deep trance activity and can produce significant results. The more precise, well documented and prepared these operations are, the more impressive they will be. So if you want to read lost books in the Great library you should at least know what ancient Greek looks like. Tune in and we'll take you on a very long journey. 

Kiefer and Oren, the Story of a Tree by Merrick Rees Hamer

On Thursday May 23rd, 2019 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a reading of Kiefer and Oren, the Story of a Tree by Merrick Rees Hamer. Merrick is a leader in Masonry, The Golden Dawn and the Church of the Hermetic Sciences. As a Librarian he is also a professional story teller. This particular story is about a boy and a Tree. The story is a beautiful expression of the rapport we can have with nature if we personify it, and the depth of meaning we can find in the loss of natural beauty. If time permits we will present another short story by our host from The Seventh Ray 1975, Daughter of the Oak, about a boy and a girl and a Tree. In this tale the Tree comes to a similar fate but the boy learns the wrong lesson. So if you want to visit the forest with us, tune in and have a seat on the stump.
 

Secrets of Sufi Freemasonry (re-broadcast)

On Thursday June 19th, 2014 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will
present a discussion on the English translation of "Secret Practices of
the Sufi Freemasons" by Baron Rudolph von Sebottendorf first published
in German in 1924. This is a highly controversial book by a notorious
author. Sebottendorff was the founder of the Thule Society which
Germinated (pun intended) into the Nazi Party. When he tried to take
credit for that the Nazis kicked him out and sent him back to Turkey.
How he managed to be a devout Muslim and a Nordic pagan at the same time
is one of the many mysteries this book conjures up. Transcending his
politics and fanaticism there is very provocative and profound occult
knowledge in this book --- much of it hidden even to European students
until recently. We will compare Sebottendorff's revelations with Gerard
de Nerval's "Sufi" version of The Masonic Temple Legend, and P.B.
Randolph's discovery of a Syrian Love Cult which may have been the
original source of the O.T.O.'s 9th Degree. So, tune in and find out how
the Sufis get a grip on themselves.
 

”Hunt for the Skinwalker” by Colm Keller, with Frater Heracles

On Thursday May 9th, the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on interdimensional alien phenomenon inspired by the book “Hunt for the Skinwalker” by Colm Kelleher (2005). Our guest will be Very Honored Frater Heracles of Avalon Lodge in Texas who will recount his own close encounter with UFOs and share his thoughts on this and the Skinwalker anomaly. The book describes the long lasting ordeal of a cattle ranching family whose Utah ranch was literally haunted by these interdimensional beings and/or machines. They encountered huge wolves that were impervious to gunfire, horrible mutilations of their live stock and inexplicable physical phenomenon. A team of scientists began observations on the property and were able to confirm the family’s incredible accounts. This haunted ranch was called “A Pathway for the Skinwalkers” by the local native Americans. This book is similar to “The Mothman Prophecies” by John Keel (1975) So, if you want to peek behind the curtain, tune in and spend an hour with us in the Land of Oz.
 

The CHS/OTA Vision and Mission Statement

On Thursday May 2nd, 2018 The Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present the official Vision and Mission Statement of the Church of the Hermetic Sciences and its fraternal order, the Order of the Temple of Astarte. This is the same document that is in our training manual and delivered to new initiates when they begin training. It gives our history, our philosophy, our traditional initiatory system, our accomplishments, our special programs: yoga, visualization, ceremonial magick, alchemy, divination, soul-travel and celestial qabalah. As a bonus feature we will discuss the mystery of the Pagan Communion Set and the mysterious magical alphabet inscribed thereon. We will direct you to our website where you can see it and perhaps help us solve the mystery. So join us and get magical.

The Magical Multiverse (re-broadcast)

On Thursday June 12th, 2014 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will
present a discussion on ancient and modern Multiverse concepts in relation
to Hermetic Magick, the Qabalah, astrology and Fortean phenomenon. We will
examine philosophical. scientific, literary and cinematic models of the
Multiverse, sometimes called the "Holographic Universe" or "Parallel
Worlds." We will trace the idea through the "nesting spheres" of the
geocentric age, to the heliocentric Renaissance, the invention of the
telescope and the discovery of other galaxies and anti-matter, both in terms
of science and the pages of science fiction. Our references will be
Mary-Jane Rubenstein's "Worlds Without End," Michio Kaku's "Parallel
Worlds," the science fiction of Phillip K. Dick, and Richard S. Shaver, and
films such as "The Matrix," "Dark City," and "Lost Highway." Our challenge
will be to reconcile ancient Hermetic philosophy with the Multiverse
concept --- so, if you want to go through the looking glass or down the
rabbit hole, tune in and we will tour the endless "nows" of the Simultane.  
 

Artificial Intelligence vs. the Human Mind

On Thursday April 18th, 2019 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will air a discussion on the future impact of Artificial Intelligence on human creativity and individual expression. Will it serve us or will it dominate us? We will start with a recent article in the L.A. Times April 16th: "That Computer can call my Agent" which deals with A.I.s writing screenplays. We will look back at Asimov's "Foundation." We will visit "Drell Master" (2001) and its World dominating computer "Jaskamoor" and finally the final chapter of "Adamson's Quest" for the Hermetic perspective. So if you wonder whether they will serve us, or we will serve them. Tune in and make up your mind (before they make it up for you!)

Return to Pluto’s Cave, with Frater SithMeth

On Thursday April 11th, 2019, the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon
will invite V.H. Frater SithMeth to discuss his recent expedition to Pluto's Cave north of Mt. Shasta.
This is the same Lava-tube cavern complex that we used as a location in
our 2007 science-fiction film BEYOND LEMURIA. It is considered a
spiritual location and has been used for Shamanic visionary retreats. It
has also been connected with the legend of J.C. Brown's  lost Lemurian
treasure. We discussed the Cave on our broadcast "Mystical Mt. Shasta"
in January, 13th. 2011. Which you can still access. So, join us as we
once more enter the underworld and share mystic experiences.
 

Negative vs. Positive Gnosis - from Gnostica no. 40, 1976 (re-broadcast)

On Thursday, June 6th, 2014 The Hermetic Hour will present a reading by Poke Runyon (Fra. Thabion) of his 1976 essay "Negative vs. Positive Gnosis" from Gnostica magazine, no. 40. This is an important instructive paper dealing with the ancient and modern spiritual differences between Thelemic (libertine) Gnosticism, Hermetic neo-Platonism and ancient and modern Paganism (wiccans, druids, etc.) These differences are so deep and so misunderstood that many New-Agers involved in the Occult do not know what they profess to believe in. They participate in various groups simply because they are attracted to the style and glamor of the organization and because it provides a rebellion against the religion of the parents. The article explains the fundamental differences between  Gnosticism of the negative world view and Hermetic magick of the positive world view, comparing them to the Pagan and neo-Pagan "natural" world view. You will discover how similar Thelemic Gnosticism is to the Fundamental Christianity it rebels against, and how similar Hermetic magick is to Tantric Buddhism. This paper will be reprinted in text form and posted as an instruction on our web site. So tune in and become transcendentally demystified.

The Music of Pythagoras by Musicologist Kitty Ferguson (re-broadcast)

On Thursday May 28th, 2014 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will
review the 2008 book "The Music of Pythagoras" by musicologist Kitty
Ferguson. This is a wonderfully erudite and deeply meaningful book on
the accomplishments, and lasting influence of the most important of the
pre-Socratean philosophers, and perhaps the most important ancient
avatar of the Western Esoteric Tradition. As a musicologist Ferguson is
able to fully expound on the master's development of "The Music of the
Spheres" from mythical Orpheus through Kepler to Close Encounters of the
Third Kind (we can all whistle that one). The Pythagorean harmonious
universe of music, mathematics, and geometry has been re-validated in
modern times with the advent of new theories in quantum physics. It was,
of course, the bed rock of Qabalah, Alchemy and Magick. We will
demonstrate some applications of the Pythagorean magical scale used to
activate psychic centers (chakras) and discuss the employment of these
techniques in magical operations. So tune in, tune up and we'll sing
along with the planets.
 

The Underworld Around the World with Frater Solomon

On Thursday March 21st, 2019 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the various traditions of the Underworld from the mythologies, religions and folklore of cultures around the world with our guest Very Honored Frater Solomon. Michael Johnson (Frater Solomon) is a Bible scholar with a background in Social Science. Mike has compiled maps of the underworld which locate the Hells of the major religions. Your host (Frater Thabion) will join in with references to Kenneth Grant’s “Tunnels of Set”, Shaver’s dero caverns, the underground kingdom of Agartha and the Shamanic under and over worlds and the proto-psychological Kabbalistic metaphore of The Nepesh, the Nechamah, and the Ruach. So if you want to take the E-ticket ride through the Great Fun house below the horizon, tune in and we’ll go below.

The Hermetic Link by Jacob Slavenburg (re-broadcast)

On Thursday May 22nd, 2014 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will
present a review on a very important recent book on the Hermetic Tradition
by Dutch author Jacob Slavenburg titled: "The Hermetic Link." Reviewing this
book will be a team effort between the host and our esteemed guest Frater
Ophis (Freeman Presson) who beat us to the punch and reviewed Slavenburg's
book on his website two years ago. How did we miss it? No excuse because it
should not have been missed. Certainly there have been other surveys of the
Hermetic Tradition, usually combined with other related elements such as
Kabbalah, Rosicrucianism, magick, etc. but this is the best and most
complete tracing of the great Hermetic Gnosis from ancient Egypt, through
Alexandria, Harran, the Dark Ages, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the
so-called "Enlightenment" and the present modern age. Slavenburg takes us
from Zosimus to the Kybalion in a sympathetic, very thoughtful and
comfortably philosophical style. He quotes Peter Kingsley ("Reality")
frequently and does as good a job as Kingsley in getting across the deepest
meaning of the Hermetic Mystery (the Great I AM) - perhaps he does it better
in that he uses excerpts from Hermes to reveal the treasure we ardent
Hermetic devotees hold so dear, whereas Kingsley in Reality depended on
pre-Hermetic Parmenides and Empedocles. If all this is Greek to you, it
shouldn't be and Slavenburg goes a long way toward establishing the true and
enduring magnificence of our venerable Tradition. Tune in and get yourself
Hermetically sealed. (Preserved for the next incarnation.) 
 

Prometheus II – Prophecy and Initiation

On Thursday March 7th, 2019 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review and comment on the 1948 science fiction novel by Stuart J. Byrne “Prometheus ll” recently republished by Armchair Fiction. This remarkable work, like so many early science fiction efforts was set in a future time, in this case 1970, and predicted a Third World War between the United States, its traditional allies and post Soviet Russia. Of course Russia did not become post soviet until the 1990s, but the Russian leader in Byrne’s novel seems and acts a lot like Putin. In this story the Russians are allied with China and they have conquered all of Latin America. They are on the verge of swarming our southern border. But their leader Nicholas (not Valdamir) has literally made a deal with the devil (the deros of the subterranean world) which has escalated World War lll into another dimension and brought in the forces of Agartha, the subterranean good guys and finally the Elder Gods (the original ancient astronauts) who arrive from hyperspace just in time to save the human race. Of course we have a pair of young Army officers and their sexy Army nurse girl friend, who team up with the underground good guys and Space Gods to help save America and humanity. It would have made a great Saturday Morning serial but at least it got its debut in Amazing Stories, March 1948.
 
So tune in and we’ll put it on old time radio for you.

The Eighth Tower by John A. Keel -- A Modern Charles Fort

On Thursday February 28th, 2019, the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon
will review and discuss "The Eighth Tower" by the late UFO investigator
John A. Keel (1930-2009). He was most noted as author of "The Mothman
Prophecies" (1975) and film (2002). Keel was more interested in monster
sightings, like the mothman and big-foot than he was in UFOs but he
believed that the two phenomenon were related and emanated from the same
source. He was an ardent successor to Charles Fort "The Book of the
Dammed" (1919) which was a collection of fantastic anomalies such as UFO
sightings, monster sightings and other fantastic events such as rains of
frogs and ghost ship sightings. Mostly newspaper clippings collected
from the beginning of the industrial age to the First World War. Like
Charles Fort, Keel was a journalist who continued the collection from
the 1920s, through the UFO era. The Eighth Tower is a Fortean book but
with an agenda that Fort was very cryptic about. What do all these
strange things mean mean? Fort concluded that "We" humankind, "Are
property." Keel expands on that. After continuing Fort's bizarre
collection he brings in Carl Jung's Collective Unconscious, the world
soul, universal mind and the Seven Demonic Towers of the Yazidis and
postulates an Eight Tower that is a sort of empyrean Godforce over the
rest. This is not an easy book to get through but it will take you down
the rabbit hole, so join us for some Fortean adventuring.
 

Kabbalah, Cabala, and Modern Hermetic Qabalah (re-broadcast)

On Thursday February 21st, 2019  the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon
will reprise a discussion on different interpretations and conceptions
of Qabalah. This is a subject we have covered before, however, that was
years ago before we started climbing The Tree in our weekly lectures.
Now that we have arrived at The Abyss and and are venturing onto The
Eleven Sphere "Tree Before the Fall", it is appropriate for us to review
our Hermetic Qabalistic structure and establish the philosophical,
mythological and metaphysical differences between the various Kabbalahs,
and the particular innovations we have made in our modern Hermetic
version of the ancient system. Tune in and we'll play Monopoly on the
greatest board game in the universe.
 

The First Ancient Astronaut Theorists - Richard Shaver and Ray Palmer

On Thursday February 14th, 2019 The Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon
will present a discussion on the first Ancient Astronaut Theorists,
before Van Daniken, Sitchen, and the rest there was Richard Shaver and
Ray Palmer and the Shaver Mystery. In recent years more and more of
their fantastic 1940s revelations about Ancient extra-terrestrial Aliens
and their high technology and their continued influence on, and
interfearence in, earthly affairs (mind control and child trafficking
and madness) has been confirmed and exploited by later whistle-blowers
such as Tom Delonge, Corey Good, David Witcock and others. It seems that
Shaver and Palmer wrote their History Channel documentary scripts but
are never credited as the source. Are these Ancient Aliens still with
us? "Our original Ancient Astronaut theorists say yes!" So tune in and
let's return to the thrilling days of yesteryear and revisit The Shaver
Mystery.
 

Gateway to The Abyss - The Eleven Sphere Tree (re-broadcast)

On Thursday April 3rd, 2014 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will
present a special program discussing the O.T.A.'s Pathworkings beyond the
Sphere of Chesed. These Paths lead to the re-manifested Sphere of Da'ath,
which in the Eleven Sphere Tree becomes Saturn, the beginning of the
physical universe and the gateway to the Abyss. This concept and its
practical applications are covered in "New Tarot Trumps for an Eleven Sphere
Tree of Life" in THE SEVENTH RAY, Book III, "The Red Ray." We will also
discuss the Golden Dawn's eleven sphere tree and the idea of the Tree before
and after "The Fall." This is a Key lecture and lesson in our study program.
So tune in and we will journey to Mot's Back-o'-Beyond.
 

William Morris -- Victorian Age Socialist and Romantic

On Thursday January 31st, 2019 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon
will air a discussion on the life and work of Victorian Age British
artist and writer William Morris (1834-1888) on the modern Hermetic
revival. Morris was a Renaissance man of many talents. An Oxford scholar
who idealized and romanticized the medieval period and yearned to
recreate Camelot in the modern era. He was appalled by the pollution,
social misery and esthetic mediocrity caused by the industrial
revolution and he believed that Karl Marx held the key to creating a
utopia (although Morris admitted that he could not understand Marx) But
we need to understand Morris in order to fathom the continuing
fascination our cultural elite have for Marx's continually failing
system. So, come with us back to the Gas-light era and we will see where
a lot of today's progressive ideas got started.
 

The Eleusinian Mysteries with Feraferia’s Jo Carson (re-broadcast)

On Thursday March 27th, 2014 Hermetic Hour host Poke Runyon will talk with Jo Carson, leader of Feraferia, about Eleusis and the Mysteries of Death and Rebirth. What happens to the soul after death? What can be expected in the afterlife? Jo has written a new book, Celebrate Wildness—Magic, Mirth and Love on the Feraferia Path which includes a discussion of the Eleusinian Mysteries. The Mysteries of Demeter and her daughter Persephone were held at Eleusis, in Greece, for almost 2,000 years. These Mysteries had the goal of providing a first hand experience of certainty in the continuity of life after death. The Mysteries were established around 1450 BCE, and ended only when the Roman Christian emperor Theodosius I forcibly closed them in 392 CE. They were centered around the myth of Demeter, the earth mother Goddess, and her daughter Persephone. In this story, Persephone was abducted by Pluto and taken to the Underworld, and eventually was able to return. This myth provided a key to giving real revelations to the population of that world. Thousands of people journeyed to Eleusis each Fall to experience the Eleusinian Mysteries, which means hundreds of thousands were initiated. However, so tight was the secrecy, or so inexpressible was the experience, that no one has ever revealed its profound secrets. We will explore what is known, what is conjectured, and how Feraferia honors the Eleusinian experience. So tune in and peek behind the veil of death.
 

The Cygnus Mystery and Key, by Andrew Collins

On Thursday January 17th the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will
review and discuss "The Cygnus Mystery" (2006)  and "The Cygnus Key"
(2018) by Andrew Collins. These recent books are in the tradition of
"Hamlet's Mill" (1969), "The Sirius Mystery"(1976) and Gordon White's
"Star Ships" (2016) and they all fall into the category of popular
celestial archaeology. Most importantly for us in the Hermetic community
they all seek to validate our ancient Initiatiatic Code which holds that
we descend from the Heavens and to the Heavens we shall return via the
Milky Way as our "River of Souls." Like so many of his predecessors in this
Collins locates the ancient Shamanic origins of this in old Hyperborea
in North Central Asia. He presents a good case for Cygnus the Swan
bringing down the souls like the stork brings babies. He suggests that
the  Paleolithic genius-giant Denisovian hominids recently discovered in
Siberia were the originators of of our Celestial mythology and that they
carried it all the way down to ancient Egypt. I am not sure I agree with
all his ideas but for the most part he seems on the mark -- so if you
want to follow the Starry Path to immortality, tune in and we'll fly
with the swans.
 

The Hermetic Hour 2018 Year in Review

On Thursday January 10th, 2019 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon
will review and highlight the twenty-six live shows we presented in
2018. As most of you know these programs are all archived on our
Hermetic Hour website with abstracts describing them. So you can catch
up on what you missed at any convenient time. Be sure to have a note pad
handy as you listen so you can jot down the dates and titles
of the shows you want to find. Such as "Count Cagliostro, the Wizard who
invented himself" aired on February 22nd, 2018 -- or "The real secrets
of the Hypnerotomachia" on May 24th. You can find all these episodes
ready for listening or downloading on our website:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/the-hermetic-hour
so tune in and catch up on what you've missed.
 

”Parzival” -- Secrets From the Holy Grail

On Thursday December 20th, 2018 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the Hermetic origins of the Holy Grail as presented in Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Medieval romance “Parzival. This is a follow-up on an earlier broadcast from three years ago in which we read Janinne Rene’s Article on Parzival from The Seventh Ray issue number 19, January 1977. In the introduction to her article I stated that: “Much of the symbolism and the allegory of Kellner’s original O.T.O. derived from Parzival.” This and other fascinating secrets embedded in Wolfram's medieval masterpiece will be the subjects of tonight’s broadcast. So, if you want to find the Grail we have the clues for you. Eschenbach’s Parzival is like Colonna’s Hypnerotomachia. Its one of those old books full of secrets and magick. And our job on the Hermetic Hour is to dig them out for you.
 

”The Spiritual Meaning of the Sixties” by Tobias Churton

On Thursday December 6th, 2018, the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review and discuss “The Spiritual Meaning of the Sixties” (2018) by Tobias Churton. This is a 653 page door-stopper of a book subtitled: “the Magic, Myths & Music of the Decade that Changed the World,” And it certainly lives up to its subtitle. Even though Churton’s previous books have been in the mystical, occult genre, this one should break into the mainstream and be read by every thoughtful reader interested in the present spiritual, philosophical and political divisions in what we call Western Civilization. Using the Music, films, television, and popular fads of the period as his mirror of reflection he leads us through the decade. The cultural impact of the Beatles, and rock music, the sexual revolution, psychedelics, the Bomb, the Vietnam War, Civil Rights, and the rise of feminism are all dealt with in turn. And the inability of established religion to cope with the spiritual challenges of the time is considered. The author was a child in England and Australia during the period and gives us a remarkable picture of the era from a growing child’s perspective. My one criticism of the book stems from Churton’s memory picture. I was a teenager in 1950s America. I recall that repressive era which preceded the social liberation of the sixties. I think Churton should have added “The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit.” (1956) to his list of media catalysts. So if you want to look back at the days of Flower-Power and Strawberry Fields Forever, turn-on, tune-in and give a listen.

Son of Chicken Qabalah with Lon Milo DuQuette

On Thursday November 15th 2018, the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon
will review "Son of Chicken Qabalah" and interview its distinguished
author Lon Milo DuQuette. This 2018 book is a sequel to Lon's popular
"Chicken Qabalah of Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford" (2001). Lamed Ben Clifford
is Lon's fictional creation. Lon thought all of us Hermetic Qabalists
needed our own Rabbi, who would not sneer at our Tarot cards and pagan
corospondences on the Tree of Life. Ben Clifford's Qabalah was for all
of us and it was presented in a humorous style that made the otherwise
dry subject come alive. It became one of the best introductions to the
subject at least from a Hermetic perspective. The fictional Ben Clifford
has passed away but he has left a legacy: a three degree Qabalistic
initiation system based on the Sepher Yetzirah's Cube of Space and the
Golden Dawn's Hermetic Hebrew alphabet corospondences. Starting with the
Three Mother Letters in the first degree (the original tetragrammaton)
the candidate next internalizes the Seven Double Letters attributed to
the planets, and finally, in the Third and last degree, he or she,
installs the Twelve Simple letters internalizing the entire Hermetic
Qabalistic universe. This is all accomplished with mudras, flashing
colors a pitch pipe and geometric mandalas. What we did with a  yoga
system in "Hermetic Yoga, Beyond the Middle Pillar" (2015) Lon has done
in a Temple initiation format. This little book of his is a treasure and
will make Hermetic Magick come alive for everyone who conscientiously
studies it.
 

Cecco d’Ascoli and the Mirror of Floron

On Thursday October 25th, 2018 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon
will present a discussion on the late Medieval astrologer magician Cecco
d' Ascoli who was burned at the stake by the Inquisition in 1327 a.d.
for publishing books connecting astrology with magick, necromancy and
demonology. In several ways he presaged the sad career of Giordano Bruno
who went to the stake 273 years later in 1600 for a similar offense.
Cecco expounded his magick on a geocentric universe model, whereas Bruno
paganized (or demonized) a later Coperican universe. Cecco d' Ascoli may
be considered the father of Solomonic ceremonial mirror magick. One of
his most heretical revelations was a description of summoning (evoking)
the demon "Floron", in a mirror of polished steel. Floron had fallen
from the Order of Cherebum and served under the Goetic king Amaymon.
Such a mirror was described in Picatrix and later depictions of it
reveal that it was in fact a hand mirror. After Cecco's execution
magicians no longer wrote of magick mirrors but their use continued
until the present day. We will draw primarily from Lynn Thorndike's
"History of Magic and Experimental Science", Volume 2 (1923) with
current material from Christopher Warnock. So if you want to find out
where this dark mirror magick got started, tune in and we'll pull
another Italian magus out of the fire.
 

Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition by Frances Yates

On Thursday October 11th, 2018 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review the classic study on Renaissance Magick by Dame Frances Yates (1899 - 1981), "Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition." (1964) This is a book that should be the cornerstone of any Hermetic student's library. Although the Italian philosopher and magician Giordano Bruno (1548 - 1600) is the main figure on which Yates centers her work, the book is in fact a broad study of Renaissance Hermetic Magick evolving from its Italian origins in the late Middle Ages and on through to Bruno's exposition of its post Copernican version. Hermetic Humanists accepted Copericus but the Church refused to abandon the geo-centric universe. Bruno, a Dominican monk was burned at the stake. Many considered him a Scientific martyr, but Yates contends that his heresies were Hermetic as well as scientific. So if you would like to explore the life and beliefs of Giordano Bruno, join us for a Hermetic Renaissance Faire.