The Hermetic Hour

On February 8th, 2018 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present the Legenda of the first Degree of Crata Repoa Reformado. Which we call the Fellowship of the Grail. A Legenda is the scenario of a esoteric degree. It describes the degree delivering most of the essential knowledge and symbolism but leaves out certain "secrets" such as grips, secret words and procedures. Crata Repoa is the oldest system of Magical degrees and is based on first century Alexandrian Hermetic writings and rituals. We will briefly outline the original 18th century system and explain some of our modern additions and inclusions. So if you'd like to find out what really goes on in a Magical Initiation tune in and be illuminated.  

On Thursday February 1st, 2018 The Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon, and honored guests will reprise a Golden Dawn memorial service for lately departed Cris Monnastre, Patricia Behman, founder of the Los Angeles Temple of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. This ceremony was held at Culver City Foshay Masonic Lodge on January 21st. Patricia Behman was a close associate of the late Francis Israel Regardie and received her original dispensation from him to establish a Temple of the Golden Dawn in Southern California.The memorial and requiem was performed by officers of the R.R. et A.C. who will repeat the presentation on this broadcast. Patricia Behman was  loved and honored for her dedication to preserving the Western Esoteric Tradition. Please join us as we say farewell to a great lady and a beloved Temple chief.  

On Thursday January 25th, 2018 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will re-visit and review the 1950 science fiction novel “Wine of the Dreamers” by John D. MacDonald (1918-1986) This was his first science fiction novel. MacDonald went on to become one of America’s best Detective Story writers. “Wine of the Dreamers” set twenty-five years in the future (1975) the story interweaves two sets of characters on two different planets. The director of an early United States space program Bard Lane, and his staff psychiatrist Sharan Inly on Earth and Raul Kinson and his sister Leesa on the distant planet of the Dreamers. The Dreamers are the decadent descendants of the original human race. Millions of years ago they colonized Earth and two other planets in other solar systems. They maintain contact with the colony worlds, including Earth, by the use of long-range telepathic dream-machines. They call themselves “The Watchers” and they have a prime directive: To keep the colony worlds from developing space travel.

On Thursday July 18th, 2013 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the history and the use of the Dark Mirror in Medieval and Renaissance ritual magick. We will focus on historical accounts from Lynn Thorndike's "History of Magic and Experimental Science", the Latin "Picatrix", and passages from grimoires such as "The Grimorium Verum" and "St. Cyprian," and the kabbalistic "Ispaklaria" described by the late Aryeh Kaplan, along with references from folkloric sources and the" Saragossa Manuscript." Modern use by P. B. Randolph, Franz Bardon and Joseph Lisiewiski will be examined. This is a controversial subject among some contemporary Renaissance Magick reenactors who use crystals for both evocation and invocation. We will attempt to sort this out so the newcomer to the Art will have a better understanding of the full range of magical equipment and technique. So, tune in and go through "The Looking Glass."

On Thursday January 11th, 2018 the Hermetic Hour with Host Poke Runyon will review all of the live broadcasts of the preceding year 2017 so that our listeners can go to our archives with the title, subject and date of a show they missed. So keeping a note book at hand while you listen is recommended. Following this recap of 2017’s broadcasts, we will discuss what we have planned for 2018 and a look at forthcoming publications and productions from The Church of the Hermetic Sciences, So if you want to know where we’ve been and where we are going, tune in and get caught up. 

On July 4th, 2013 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the symbolism and meaning of the 29th Path of the Qabalistic Tree of Life leading from Malkuth to Netsach. This is the Path of the Moon (Tarot trump) and is a watery route up to the seventh Sphere of Netsach (Venus) which is attributed to the realm of Nature and natural philosophy. Once again our texts will be Dion Fortune's "Mystical Qabalah" and Gareth Knight's "Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism." We will also summarize our own version of this Path as recorded in our special Pathworkings DVD used in our Associate Member Program. In our system the Goddess Astarte resides in the Temple of Netsach and Her divine body contains all the psychic centers (chakras) of the Lightning Flash. So, if you want to get up close and magical with Mother Nature tune in and we'll pay The Goddess a visit.

On Thursday August 8th, 2013, the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the 30th Path of the Hermetic-Qabalastic Tree of Life. This is the Path of "Resh" and The Sun, called "The Collective Intelligence." It is the first Path in which we employ "Kusor's Boat," a magical device unique to the O.T.A. derived from ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian myth sources ( also inspired by A. Merritt's "Ship of Ishtar"). The Boat enables us to fly over Paths already walked in the astral journeys at the base of The Tree. The Boat is shown in our Pathworking video available to Associate Members. Our text will again be Gareth Knight's "Practical Guide to Qabalastic Symbolism, Vol. 2," and "Adamson's Quest" from THE SEVENTH RAY. This Path leads from Yesod, the Lunar sphere of memory, emotion and astral foundation to Hod, the Sphere of Mercury, reason, science and positive Solar-zodiacal progress. It questions the male and female spiritual perspectives and raises the current debate between techno-indus

On December 21st, 2017 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon, will review Dan Brown's new novel "Origin" (2017). Other reviewers have called Origin either Brown's best or his worst novel. On a scale from one to ten we would give it an eight. As in all his thought provoking thrillers he follows the Dean-Koontz formula plotting for maximum suspense and action while keeping the big secret hidden as long as possible, thus managing to tantalize and entertain his readers as well as educating them into the essential mystery or problem central to the plot. In the Da Vinci code, it was the Holy Grail, in Inferno, it was the population explosion, in Origin it is the origin of life on earth and the destiny of the human race. Once again Brown creates a modern Frankenstein in the person of a billionaire inventor, computer programmer and futurist, Edmund Kirsch. Kirsch and his Android Igor "Winston" have decided to destroy religion by releasing a scientific documentary proving that there is and never was a divine creatio

On Thursday June 27th, 2013 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion of the Thirty-first Path of the Tree of Life from Malkuth to Hod, reviewing its esoteric meaning and symbolism in the Hermetic Qabalah. This is the Path of Fire leading up the Pillar of Severity to the Mercurial Sphere of Hod. Texts for our talk will be Gareth Knight's Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism, Dion Fortune's Mystical Qabalah, and Poke Runyon's Adamson's Quest. We will also review our video presentation of this Pathworking in our DVD offered to Associate Members. So, tune in and "Walk the hot sands" of the Astral Plane.

On Thursday December Seventh, 2017 on the 77th Anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a report on the conditions and events that led up to the "Day of Infamy". This report will be based largely on information from Nicholson Baker's 2008 book "Human Smoke, The Beginnings of World War Two, the End of Civilization." We will trace the Pearl Harbor story from 1934 to 1941. Revealing beyond any doubt that Washington knew the attack was coming, where and even when. The attack was used to get us into World War Two and lay the foundation for an American socialist dictatorship, on the European model, empowered by a military-industrial complex which has ruled in Washington ever since the end of the war in 1945. Pearl Harbor was our first great disillusionment, followed by the Kennedy Assassination, the Viet Nam war and 9 -11. We need to look back at ourselves and examine the evil that has crept into our Republic under the mantle of what is called "Democ

This is the Hermetic Hour for November 30th, 2017. I'm your host Poke Runyon and tonight I'm again channeling the spirit of Howard Beale. In March of 2017 we reviewed Paddy Chayefsky’s 1976 film classic NETWORK on the Hermetic Hour. I gave my own dramatic reading of Ned Beatty’s speech in which he converted news caster Howard Beale from a critic of incipient Globalism and its mass media brain-washing propaganda machine into an advocate of The New World Order. Of course Beale’s ratings tanked and the Network had their left-wing terrorist group kill him right on camera. I was certain that even before Howard’s mythical spirit passed the Pearly Gates he would have realized that his original vision was the True perception of International political-economic and social corruption. I imagined him looking down on us from heaven – a sort of Ascended Master if you will, who would watch over us and perhaps communicate with us again. “The Mad Prophet of the Astral Plane.”

On Thursday June 20th, 2013 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the symbolism and meaning of the Thirty-second Path on the Tree of Life. This lecture will include a review of our special Path Working on this subject which we have recorded for members and associate members. The Tarot symbolism, the relation to Saturn in the Cube of Space, and the traditional qabalistic associations will be covered. Text for this lecture are The Garden of Pomegranates by Israel Regardie and Volume Two of Gareth Knight's Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism. Tune in and start the journey upward.

On Thursday June 13th, 2013 The Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the Qabalistic Sphere of Malkuth and its significance in Hermetic Magick. This will be the first of a series of lectures starting at the bottom of the Tree of Life and working upwards following the path of the Serpent of Wisdom. These lectures will actually be lessons in the Associate Member Program which we will later collect in one package. They will be interspersed with current topics, such as significant new books, important guest interviews, and such, but you can expect at least one or two Otz Chiim lectures per month. --- Malkuth is not just the physical world of Ashiah below the Yetzirah astral, it is a most important magical-mystical realm in which a significant visions are received -- especially the Holy Guardian Angel experience, which is done entirely in Malkuth (each Sphere contains an entire Tree). Our texts will be Dion Fortune's Mystical Qabalah and Gareth Knight's A Practical Guide to Qabalistic Sy

On Thursday June 6th, 2013 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon, will present a speculative discussion on the ancient Phoenician God Dagon and his counterparts in Mesopotamian, Hindu, and African mythology. We will explore his connection to Astrology and the Kabbalah. He was the father of Baal, God of the maratime Philistines, and probably a legacy from Atlantis. The concept of Dagon's reincarnation in later humans as a sort of spiritual "bloodline" will be considered. -- So, tune in and find out what might be swimming in your think-tank.

On November 2nd, 2017 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the Biblical mystery man Melchizedek who appears in the first book of the Bible, Genesis, and later in the New Testament. Melchizedek literally means King and Priest or Priest-King. He was said to have given the first communion to Abraham in the days before Joseph became a leader in Egypt. Although legendary he was said to have established an order of priesthood to rival that of Moses brother Aaron. He represented the original Canaanite god El ("the most High God") whereas Aaron's priesthood was that of Moses' Jehovah (Yahweh). After the Babylonian captivity Ezra attempted to overwrite all references to El in the Bible and make Jehovah the supreme being. The New testament declares twice that Jesus the Nazareen is a priest after the Order of Melchizedek -- We will look at this in relation to the Egyptian and Phoenician situation at the time and later Gnostic Christian writings. So if you want to do some Bib

On Thursday October 26th, 2017 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a preview of our annual Dark Mother of All Halloween Parties and the infamous Mot Mass -- A symbolic journey to the underworld where the Canaanite Dark Lord Mot, the original Grim Reaper, challenges each celebrant with: "What say you to honor the Dead." and then bids them drink from the Cup of Souls. We began holding this event here at Rivendell in 2004 and finally formalized the ritual in 2010. Incorporating the Orphic hymn to Death and Lord Byron's "Lines Inscribed upon a Cup formed from a Skull." Last year we culminated the rite with the summoning of the spirit of King Solomon. Mot evoked our ancient avatar Solomon and V.H. Frater Solomon received the spirit and channeled a remarkable oracle. This year we will call up the spirit of Melchizedek. Halloween has become one of America's favorite holidays, but like Christmas, we often forget to celebrate its true meaning. At the culmination of the rite Mot pours the dregs of the

On Thursday May 30th, 2013 the Hermetic Hour, with host Poke Runyon, will present a discussion on the practical aspects and ritual techniques employed in the Holy Guardian Angel retreat. This is the modern three day intensive solo operation developed by Charles Russell for the G.B.G. and adopted by the O.T.A. in the 1970s as the central requirement for the Melanophoris Third Degree of our Crata Repoa system. The medieval origin of the H.G.A. retreat was the much longer vigil of "Abramelin The Mage." Our weekend intensive uses the Paths of the Tree of Life as a ritual frame work, requiring twenty-two separate rituals within the three-day time period. If done correctly and resolutely it can be the spiritual experiece of a lifetime. We will discuss the traditional background, from Hermes, through Agrippa, to Abramelin and the Pauline Art, detailing what the retreat should be and what it should not be. No one seriously interested in the art of Magick should miss this; it is the Keystone of the Great Work.

On Thursday October 12th the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon and special guest Frater Soun of Ubar will discuss the mythical Labours of Hercules in relation to the Hermetic tradition. We will develop the background of the myth evolving from Babylon's Gilgamesh through Melqart of Phoenician Tyre into the ancient Greek hero myth so often seen in films and television. We will look at works by Manley Hall, Albert Pike, Robert Graves , Alice Bailey and especially the French author Charles Francois Dupuis (1742-1809) who seems to be the only scholar who has sequenced the twelve labours in proper Zodiacal order. The labours of Hercules are a chart of the souls journey through a cycle of lifetimes. They represent the great wheel of birth and death and are considered one of the Keys to the mysteries. So If you want to follow the big guy with the lion skin and the club tune in and we'll go adventuring.

On Thursday October 5th, 2017 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon joined by Frater Soun, Magister of Ubar Lodge in Dallas, will air a discussion on the evolution of the the Solar Hero in mythology from the Sumerian Gilgamesh who was the model for the Phoenician Melqart, who in turn inspired the Greek Heracles. Gilgamesh is a four thousand year old epic adventure story which circulated throughout the whole Middle East with copies found among the Hittites and the Canaanites. Even as Ishtar and Tammuz were translated into Astarte and Ba'al, and subsequently became Aphrodite and Adonis. Gilgamesh like Hercules slays a lion, a bull, a giant and many-headed monster. His victories and Hercules' labours are seen as representing the sun's yearly progress through the signs of the Zodiac. So tune in and we'll go back to the  days of myth and legend and make our way through "The Circle of the Beasts" as the Zodiac was originally called.  

On Thursday May 16th, 2013 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a review on the new book "Love Sex Fear Death" The Inside Story of The Process Church of the Final Judgment, by Timothy Wyllie, edited by Adam Parfrey from Feral House. Timothy Wyllie will call in and give us his inside story on "The Inside Story" of one of the strangest, and most influential "Cults" of the psychedelic 60s-70s era. The Processians were a spin-off of Scientology who worked a neo-Bibical mythology in which Lucifer, Satan, Jehovah, and Christ were equally venerated and extolled. The Process was a communal Millernarian (apocalyptic) cult that fascinated the youth subculture and frightened the older generation. They were very creative and dedicated to spreading their radical doomsday philosophy. They were masters of what we now call "disinformation." We will discuss their influence on the 1990s Satanic Ritual Abuse mass delusion, and the subsequent Demonic Illuminati conspiracy obsessions that pollute the internet. So,