The Hermetic Hour

On Thursday May 4th, 2017 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will  review and discuss "The Red Goddess" (2007) and "Lucifer Princeps"  (2015) by Thelemic magician Peter Grey. The Red Goddess is devoted to  establishing the history and mistique of the Thelemic composite pagan  goddess "Babalon", which he correctly derives from Ishtar and Astarte.  This evolution is for the most part well-researched and well reasoned  from a Thelemic perspective, although Grey is critical of Crowley and  seems to think that Babalon is too good for the Beast. Most importantly  he supports the Divine feminine in magical religion. In "Lucifer  Princeps" he does the same for Lucifer on the male side of the magical  religious pantheon. In this case he works from Isaiah back to the Book  of Enoch, correctly concluding that Lucifer was originally Semyaza and  of Canaanite origin. With the exception of his interest in Simon Magus  Grey seems to ignore the early Christian Gnostic contributions to Magick  but his books

On Thursday November 15th, 2012 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will discuss the legendary Balkis, Queen of Sheba and her place in the equally legendary tales of King Solomon. We will uncover the amazing historical facts behind her almost forgotten ancient empire, to which Arabia owed whatever traces of civilization it had remaining when Mohammed unified the Arabs under Islam. We will reveal a strange Turkish alternative version of the Masonic Temple legend, the Casting of the Brazen Sea, in which Sheba becomes one of the three Grand Masters. In this rendition of the story Sheba and the Architect are children of the Jinn, whereas Solomon is only human. We will mention Sheba in the medieval alchemical tradition, and her connection with the fifth degree of Crata Repoa. So tune in and we will learn what Solomon, Balkis and Hiram were doing behind the veil.

On Thursday April 2Oth, 2017 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon  will continue to review and discuss the modern English (2004)  translation of Otto Rahn's 1937 Lucifer's Court. This was Rahn's travel  journal from Southern France to Iceland when he researched his personal  quest to solve the mystery of the Holy Grail as described in the  Medieval romance Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach. Rahn believed that  the Medieval Cathars -- the Gnostic Heretics who were wiped out by the  Roman Catholic Albigensian Crusade in the 1300s, were the keepers of the  Grail. In this instalment we will get into the possible Persian  Manichean origin of Parzival (Aryan of course) and Rhan's fascination  with Hercules and the Argonauts legends (also Aryan) We will also  discuss Nigel Graddon's 2008 Bio on Rahn and his rundown on all of our  favorite Nazi Spook Books influenced by Rahn's quest. So tune in and we  will follow the shadow of the swastika from Southern France to Tibet and  back again.

On Thursday April 13th, 2017 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon  will review and discuss the modern English (2004) translation of Otto  Rahn's 1937 Lucifer's Court. This was Rahn's travel journal from  Southern France to Iceland when he researched his personal quest to  solve the mystery of the Holy Grail as described in the Medieval romance  Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach. Rahn believed that the Medieval  Cathars -- the Gnostic Heretics who were wiped out by the Roman Catholic  Albigensian Crusade in the 1300s -- were the keepers of the Grail and  that they were devotees of Lucifer. He was very favorable to Nazi Aryan  race theories and was invited to join Himmler's SS. Rahn's veneration of  Lucifer as the God of the Medieval French and German heretics may be the  main source of what has been called Nazi Satanism. Lucifer was actually  another name for Semyaza, the leader of the Fallen Angels in the Book of  Enoch. We will try to sort out the errors in Otto Rahn's work and give  him cr

On November 1st, 2012 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the relationship of ancient Canaanite mythology to Solomonic ceremonial magick. We will begin by establishing the legendary Biblical background of Solomon the Wizard King and his mystical powers, his relations with Hiram of Tyre, the Queen of Sheba, and his building of a temple to the Goddess Astarte. We'll mention the Canaanite priest king Melchizedek who anointed Abraham long before Moses. We will mention the Masonic legend in this context, and how Solomon united the Jews and the Canaanites to build his Great Temple. We will cover the Ra- Shamra/Ugarit Canaanite texts, their connection to the Holy Grail legend, and our own reconstruction of ancient Canaanite seasonal ceremonies. Then, the following week we will present the conclusion of our reconstructed Canaanite legend: "Prince Aqhat and the Magick Bow." -- So, tune in and get the inside story on King Solomon's magical religion.

On Thursday March 30th the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon (or Roygnon) will review and discuss the 1982 Bestseller "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln. This is the book that generated "The Da Vinci Code" and is the first mainstream modern speculation on Jesus being married to Mary Magdalene and possibly having heirs who become The Grail Family and, according to the author's become the magical, holy bloodline of the Legendary Merovingian dynasty of French Kings in the days of King Arthur. This bloodline is perpetuated and protected by a medieval secret society that still exists in modern France, The Priory of Sion (Zion). The book is a door-stopper and not very well organized. They try to make it read like a detective story rather than a straight forward documentary presentation. Unless you are fascinated by the subject you may get bogged down with all the mystery before you reach the solution -- but if you stick with it the overall effect is convinc

On October 18th, 2012 the Hermetic Hour, with host Poke Runyon, will present another appreciation of magicians and writers on magick who have influenced modern Hermetic philosophy and practice. In this particular case Paschal Beverly Randolph (1825-1874) is the man to whom we owe the most and have remembered the least! He was a genius, a scoundrel, a best-selling novelist, an idealist and a marvelous clairvoyant. He was a champion of women's rights but he was also an advocate and a teacher of sex magick. He supplied most of the practical teachings for The Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor, and also influenced Theosophy, the Golden Dawn, Franz Bardon and Aliester Crowley. He introduced concentration techniques for use with magick mirrors, but he also experimented with and recommended what are now illegal drugs. He was the bastard son of a high ranking White politician and his beautiful African American mistress. Randolph's life would make an exciting epic film. He was a merchant seaman, a world traveler, a spiritu

On Thursday March 16th, 2017 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review and discuss Joseph P. Farrell's 2014 book "Thrice Greatest Hermetica and the Janus Age".This is a confusing title for a sometimes confusing book, but it is still worth our attention. Basically it outlines an historical conspiracy theory that goes this way: The Medieval Knights Templar (the first military industrial and international banking conglomerate) in collusion with the Republic of Venice launch a Roman Catholic Crusade allegedly aimed at Palestine but deflected to Constantinople to destroy and loot the Byzantine Greek Orthodox half of the old Roman Empire. The Templars are okay with this but when the greedy Pope sicks them on the Gnostic Christians (Cathars) in their own home turf, Southern France, they back out. The Cathars are destroyed. The Pope's buddy the King of France asks a loan from the Templars, they refuse him, so he and the Pope turn on them and destroy them in France. But they survive in Scotland

On Thursday March 9th, 2017 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review Paddy Chayefsky's Oscar Winning 1976 motion picture Network. Network is a scathing satire on the intellectual and moral corruption of American Television networks, especially their News Departments. Much of the corruption Network presents was just beginning to come about in 1976, but was fully in place by the 1980s according to Dave Itzkoff in his book “Mad as Hell” 2014, and is presently erupting in the Network News Media's efforts to actually support the overthrow of the elected government of the United States of America. The focus of the 1976 film is t.v. Anchorman Howard Beale who is about to be fired for low ratings. Depression and alcohol have driven Beale to madness and he becomes The Mad Prophet of the Airwaves preaching his mantra chant: “I'm Mad as Hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!” This drives his ratings sky high until the Network entertains a bid from a Saudi Arabian conglomerate. Beale urges his viewers to

On Thursday October 4th, 2012 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the anthropologist-shaman and allegorical fiction writer Carlos Castaneda (1925-1998) and the teachings of his mysterious mentor the Yaqui sorcerer Don Juan Matus.  This serves to be more of an appreciation of Carlos and Don Juan than a critique. We will focus on what many consider his best work: "Journey to Ixtlan." So tune, turn on, and "stop the world."

On Thursday February 23rd, 2017 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present the the modern yoga ritual version of the Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosencreutz. This is the fully developed Rosicrucian version of Hermetic Yoga Beyond the Middle Pillar as presented in volume one of Hermetic Yoga, Beyond the Middle Pillar. This advanced version, draws upon The Naassene Document, the Gospel of Philip, the Gospel of Mary, the Chemical Wedding itself, and the works of Jacob Boehme and Johann Gichtel. This reveals that the Ninth Degree of the O.T.O. and the Great Rite of the Gardnerians are both derived from original Valentinian Gnostic Christian sources. So if you want to experience some R-rated Rosicrucian yoga, tune in and we'll take you into the mirrored chamber of the Sacred Marriage.  

On Thursday, Hermetic Hour host Poke Runyon will announce the release (to Associate Members) of our latest DVD video production "Pathworkings of Magick." This project has been in the works for some time and required considerable technical audio and visual effort to accomplish. It is a completely unique and original approach to magical training. We are providing hypnotic, visionary journeys to the magical Inner Planes, just the way you would experience them in an O.T.A.  temple, but on your t.v. or computer screen. We use traditional Tattwa symbols, the same narrative scripts we use in the lodge room, and the same hypnotic induction. The entry scenes were filmed in Montsalvat Temple using the Soul Door dark mirror. All four basic elemental pathworkings (Air, Earth, Fire, and Water) are included, with "Attention Points" and detailed instructions. Because these programs do require a proper attitude and discipline to be effective, they are not offered to the public. Associate Members may order the video as part o

On Thursday February 9th, 2017 The Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present the second part of The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz by Valentin Andreae 1616, followed by an interpretation of the symbolism in relation to internal alchemy, the extended Middle Pillar chakra system and Valentinian Gnostic Christianity. We will describe the Sacred Marriage within the adept him/or/herself as an analog to the operations on the Sixth Day in the Tower of Olympus. We will refer to works by Jacob Boehme, The creation of the Magical Child, Johann Gichtel and the mysteries of the Spiral and the Lightning Flash. And the Homunculus of Paracelsus. This is the lost Key to Rosicrucian Sex Magick and the ultimate secret of the Hieros Gamos. Tune in and be enlightened.  

On Thursday February 3rd, 2017 the Hermetic Hour, with host Poke Runyon, will present our interpreted and explained version of The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosencreutz (1614). The Chemical Wedding is the third of the mysterious Rosicrucian documents that appeared in Central Europe in the early 17th century. It is an alchemical fantasy that might even be called "Science Fiction." Occultists have tried to unravel it's secrets for the last four hundred years and we will offer our interpretation tonight as we accompany old Christian Rosencreutz on his visit to the mysterious castle and his participation in the alchemical operation to resurrect the King and Queen. The solving of its riddles has been just as exciting an adventure as the story itself. So tune in and come with us to the Castle of the Rosicrucians.  

On Thursday the Hermetic Hour, with host Poke Runyon, will present a discussion on the work and the influence of the 19th century French occultist Eliphas Levi (Alphonse Constant), a former Catholic priest who embraced and codefied a Rosicrucian version of Kabbalah and Hermetic philosophy. Eliphas Levi launched the modern occult revival in 1856  with his book now titled "Transcendental Magic." He developed the theory of "Astral Light," and assigned Kabbalistic letter correspondences to the Tarot trumps. He considered the Tarot more ancient than the kabbalah itself. Levi was a seminal influence on Blavatsky, Pike, Westcott, Mathers and Crowley. He was sometimes wrong in his historical assumptions, but this was almost intentional on his part. He was creating a grand, unified scheme out of divergent myth-themes which he synthesized into what we now call The Western Esoteric Tradition. Tune in and we will spend an hour remembering "The French Magus."  

On Thursday January 19th, 2017 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review and discuss the 1934 horror classic "Creep Shadow, Creep" by Fantasy Grand Master Abraham Merritt. This forgotten tale has influenced such modern films and t.v. shows as Dark Shadows and recently "Outlander." It deals with a family feud that carries on for thousands of years between reincarnating ancestors of two ancient Breton Celtic clans. The lord of Carnac and the Royal family of the legendary sunken city of Ys. In their present (1930s) incarnations an anthropologist, specializing in the occult (like Indian Jones) and a psychiatrist specializing in hypnotic age-regression with a beautiful daughter who was and is a reincarnating evil soul-stealing witch. This story was the second in a series of such tales by Merritt, being the sequel to "Burn Witch, Burn" (1934) which was made into a film with Lionel Barrymore and influenced both Twilight Zone and the "Chucky" series. So if you want to discover the roots of ancient evil surv

On Thursday the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the persistent legend and rumor of Secret Underground Cities ruled by occult masters in Central Asia, Tibet and Mongolia. We will approach this subject from three directions: first the actual Asian source material: Shambalah, Oolamorang and the cave temples of India, second the Theosophic ruse of hiding their Hindu and Sikh masters in Tibet, resulting in a wide-spread Western misconception of Tibetan Buddhism. Third we will look at the confabulated writings of Lobsang Rampa (Cyril Hodgkins) and the German traveler's tale "Darkness Over Tibet" by T. Illion -- which may have influenced Himmler to send Nazi expeditions to Tibet in search of "The Masters". We will consider the more factual and authentic work of Ferdinand Ossendowski, "Beasts, Men, and Gods" and the Mongolian version of Shambalah which he confused with a French author's astral journey to Agartha in India. Finally we will consider the ancient evidence that has recently

The Hermetic Hour will feature a discussion by host Poke Runyon on the 1st century " Alexandria Connection" where the elements that make up the Western Esoteric Tradition (Hermetic Tradition) came together and began the synthesis that was finally codified by Abbott Trithemius and Cornelius Agrippa in the 16th century. We will trace the Pythagorean, Ancient Egyptian, Gnostic, NeoPlatonic, Biblical (kabbalistic), Alchemical, Astrological, and even Christian influences that were shuffled together in a spiritual-intellectual ferment in what was perhaps the greatest university our Western world could boast of until the modern "Age of Enlightenment." We have dealt with this subject before, but this time we will focus on the particular people and their traditions: Alexander (Himself), Ptolemy the astrologer king, Hypatia the Pagan martyr, Hermes Trismegistus, and Marcus and Simon Magus. We will touch on the Greek Qabalah, the Osiris myth, and the influence of Zoroaster. So, if you have a burning desire to visit the

On Thursday December 29th, 2016 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a review and discussion on "Technocracy Rising" by Patrick M. Woods 2015. This book documents the 1930's origin and rise of an American totalitarian socio-political and economic system derived from Plato's Republic that flourished after the 1929 crash and during the pre-war years of the Great Depression. In Technocracy scientists and academics will manage the government of the country. Our Constitutional Republic and its Capitalistic economy would be replaced by a dictatorship. Technocracy's connection to the Eugenics movement and to Nazism put it into eclipse until the 1970s -- When Technocracy reemerged with David Rockefeller's Tri-Lateral Commission and began to inflitrate the U.S. government beginning with The Jimmy Carter administration in the 1970s. Technocracy subverted the United Nations which soon became its agent for a Technocratic World government. Like their cousins the communists, the Technocrats cl

On Thursday December 22nd,2016 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon, will review the 2014 book by Tobias Churton "Aleister Crowley The Beast in Berlin". This is apparently an expansion and compilation of outcuts from the author's biography of Crowley and should perhaps be considered an appendix to that work. Unless you are an ardent Crowley afficianado it is a hard read. The book is primarily made up of excerpts from A.C.'s. diaries and his correspondence mostly during his 1930s Berlin sojurne as a struggling artist in the decadent twilight days of the Weimar Republic. Along with a running account of the Beast's metaphysical politics, sexual magick and artistic endevours, Churton manages to give us an in-depth look at the decadent sub-culture of the Weimar Berliners and an appreciation of Crowley's talents as an artist. So if you'd like to accompany the Beast to the Caberet. Tune in and enjoy the show.