The Hermetic Hour

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 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 Pomogranets 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

  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 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 May 23rd, 2013 the Hermetic Hour, with host Poke Runyon, will present an after-event report on the revival of Feraferia in Southern California, on the occasion of the Beltane rite celebrated at Rivendell on May 11th with 32 Feraferians, O.T.A. members and guests attending. Our special guest will be Feraferian Leader, Lady Jo Carson, who will give us an inside look at the original NeoPagan Goddess religion in America, founded by artist-philosopher Frederick Adams, and his Priestess Lady Svetlana. Feraferia celebrates paradisial wilderness and recreates the ancient Greek Elusinian Mysteries. This will be a rare opportunity to discover and rediscover the vision that launched the worship of the Goddess and Her relation to Sacred Nature. Tune in and find out how it began -- and has risen again.

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,

On Thursday May 9th, 2013 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the art and poetry of British 18th century mystic artist-philosopher-poet William Blake -- who was influenced by Milton (Paradise Lost) and Swedenborg (Heaven and Hell). Blake's subsequent influence on Crowley, Austin Spare, Fred Adams, and the modern Hermetic Tradition will be delineated. Blake's brake with the piety of Swedenborg to extoll a more romantic, solipsistic view of the creative artist's duty to explore life's adventures to the fullest measure is the theme of the discussion. Books by Blake and books about him and his work will be reviewed. So, if you want to spend an hour with the man who invented the comic book, tune in and meet an 18th century artistic Super Hero.

On Thursday May 2nd, 2013 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review the novel "The Demonologist" by Canadian writer Andrew Pyper. This is a recent mainstream thriller from Simon & Schuster that is surprisingly accurate in its presentation of demons working in the realm of the human mind exploiting personal weaknesses and former tragedies to accomplish their ends -- with some obligatory exaggerations for horror effect. Popular writers usually try to find some old Necronomicon book-alike to hang their story on. In this case Pyper used John Milton's "Paradise Lost." At first this seems an odd choice; why not "The Key of Solomon," or the "Lemegeton," or the "Heptameron"? However, Milton's long Biblical epic is actually a good choice. It was published in the 1640s, was very widely read and dealt extensively with Satan and the Fallen Angels, even incorporating our Canaanite Baal (Bael) and Astarte (Ashteroth) into their ranks -- along with the archdemon who is the disembodied villain of Pyper's tale.

On Thursday April 25th, 2013, the Hermetic Hour, with host Poke Runyon, will present a discussion on the practice of the Vajrayogini tantra as undertaken by O.T.A. members and Gardenerians at the Sakya Center in Los Angeles in Oct.-Nov.1985 under the direction of Abbott Ludhing Khen Rinpoche of the Sakya Order, Ngor Sect, of Tibetan Buddhism. This was a rare opportunity for Westerners to take initiations, and an extended training course in Tibetan Trantric practice, supervised by Tibetan lamas and delivered in English by an American lama Nagawang Samten. My mentor in anthropology, Dr. Robert Ravitz, had been to Dharmsala, India several times. He recommended the program, and frankly told me: "Poke, you will be getting something that many people have gone to Asia, given up everything, spent years, and still not received, so get the most out of it." I certainly tried to, and found it one of the most meaningful experiences in my magical career. Our sessions with Ludhing Khen Rinpoche and Lama Samten lasted a mont

On Thursday, March 11th, 2013 the Hermetic Hour will present a discussion by host Poke Runyon on the Japanese martial arts system known as Ninjutsu. This may not seem related to the Western Hermetic Tradition but it seems that Hermetic magicians find it to be the most magical of the oriental combat systems and are attracted to it. Ninjutsu combines techniques of armed and unarmed combat, along with other skills applicable to both paramilitary and magical operations. The Ninja tradition is 800 years old, originating in feudal Japan. Ninjas were originally of the Japanese peasant class defending themselves against the heavily armed and tyrannical samurai warriors. Some of these oriental Robin Hood types evolved from patriots into professional assassins, so there is a dark side to Ninjutsu. There is also a mystical-magical element in their yoga system called "Kuji" which they claim to have received from Tibet via Chinese master teachers early in the feudal period. This system involves an interlaced energy 'grid'

On Thursday April 4th, 2013 the Hermetic Hour, with host Poke Runyon, will present a discussion on the Sufis and Islamic mysticism. This is a subject that is impossible to fathom and difficult to summarize. The reason it is so difficult to understand lies in Sufism's passion for non-literal, allegorical and paradoxical teaching deriving in part from its fear of being persecuted by orthodox Islam for heresy; a very real fear which endangers Sufi circles all over the world at the present time. We will briefly outline the history of Sufism and highlight the work some of its legendary teachers with their profound, and sometimes humorous parables. We will recall the famous Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, comparing the Western version to what Khayyam actually wrote. Gurdjieff's debt to Sufism will be noted. We will outline the so-called "Arabic Kabbalah" sometimes called "Abjad", and discuss the controversial book "The Other Islam" on present day Sufism by Stephen Schwartz. So, if you want to find out what you don't know

On Thursday March 28th, 2013 the Hermetic Hour, with host Poke Runyon, will present an interview with author, editor and publisher Darcy Kuntz, who is certainly the foremost authority and resource on the history of the Golden Dawn and its off-shoots on this side of the pond. Darcy has worked closely with Robert A. Gilbert -- the leading British Golden Dawn scholar -- in tracking down, authenticating, editing and publishing the extensive writings of Golden Dawn adepts. Darcy is the founding director of The Golden Dawn Research Trust. His current offering is "The Magical Writings of Florence Farr," who was a Golden Dawn adept and the originator of the Magical Astral Pathworkings in Western magick. Darcy is also bringing out an edited and annotated version of the "Collectania Hermetica.". So tune in and learn how to uncover and discover all of the secrets of the Golden Dawn.  

On Thursday March 21st, 2013 The Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the rise of serious academic, intellectual, and scientific interest in Hermetic philosophy, spirituality and even practice in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. We will review the works of writers such as Joscelyn Godwin, David Fideler, Richard Kieckhefer, Kitty Fergueson, and Peter Kingsley. We will discuss the impact of new theories and discoveries in quantum physics on previous scientific and philosophical paradigms, leading to a renewed appreciation for the ancient Pythagorean cosmic and natural doctrines which were the foundation for the Hermetic sciences of alchemy, astrology, and the art of magick. In theoretical science one might say that the Qabalah is challengingEinstein. So tune in and find out just how serious the academy now regards our antiquated beliefs and superstitions. We don't need to go to the Moon anymore, we can send for it...

On Thursday March 14th, 2013 The Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a report on Frater Thabion and Soror Zandria's visitation to initiate nine new members, and help present the O.T.A. Spring Equinox Nuptiae pageant at the Austin, Texas Hermitage of Frater Heracles and Soror Omphala. This was a marvelously magical and wonderfully social weekend. The ceremonies on the spacious grounds, and inside the impressive temple were inspiring. Frater Heracles will be our call-in guest to give us his first hand report on the activities. We also visited the Scarlet Woman Lodge of the O.T.O. in Austin where Frater Thabion gave an after dinner talk on Evocation, then a tour of the State Capitol, and the Scottish Rite Temple.  We capped the expedition off with a carousal at The Spider House that was likewise memorable for magical fellowship. So tune in and we'll share Texas magick with you.

At eight p.m this Thursday 2010 the Hermetic Hour's host Poke Runyon will answer your call-in questions on our last show about European magus Franz Bardon. In between calls we will discuss the oldest, most famous (or infamous) of magical grimoires, "The Aim of the Sage", more popularly known as Picatrix" (Picatrix, not pick-up-sticks, and other books of dirty tricks!) This once forbidden tome ( at least in English ) is now available, translated from both the Arabic and the Latin medieval texts. We will discuss the Harranian Sabian contribution, and the Spanish connection--and if this sounds like Greek, it's that too. So tune in and find out how to get scorpions to sting themselves, and how to grow smart plants from human skulls, along with some profound Hermetic philosophy, and astrology that fights back.

On Thursday February 28th, 2013, the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon, will explain the fundamental and practical changes the Order of the Temple of Astarte (O.T.A.) has made in Qabalah, Yoga, Angel gender, Evocation of Spirits, and both Biblical and Pagan mythology in order to make Hermetic visionary magick a gender-balanced system that men and women can feel is equally theirs, and still be within the compass of the genuine Western Esoteric Tradition. As most of you know The G.D., the O.T.O., Freemasonry and the Rosicrucians are all patriarchal, male-dominated and male-oriented systems in which there is no veneration of a true Divine Feminine and little concern for feminine viewpoint. The O.T.A. was founded in 1969, when modern Neo-Paganism was emerging as a dynamic spiritual force. We were very much influenced by Feraferia, and Robert Graves. We knew that if traditional magick was to be valid in this modern age, the balance of male and female elements had to be created and maintained. This is a controver

At 8:00 p.m. on Thursday Hermetic Hour host Poke Runyon will present a lecture on the magick of Franz Bardon, the 20th century European alchemist and magician. Bardon was the author of three books on magick, and one semi-autobiographical novel. His Eastern style methods of training, owing much to raja and tantric yoga, have had a considerable influence on modern Western practice. We will discuss each of his three books in sequence; where his information came from, and what his philosophy was. You will learn about "fluid condensers," "volts," "elementals," magnetic and electric fluids, and magick mirrors. His debt to P. B. Randolph will be mentioned. We will discuss the origins of his myriads of spirits, the way he derived his sigils, his unique concept of Kabbalah. Bardon's background as a professional hypnotist, alchemist and healer will be compared to his mundane life and problems. The Master was an over-weight chain-smoker who died after eating a bacon sandwich---but he was still "The Master," and we shoul

On Thursday February 14th, 2013 The Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will interview the distinguished scholar and author Geoffrey James whose historical novel "Sorcerer" on Elizabethan magus John Dee has just been released. It should be noted that Geoffrey James is also the author of "Enochian Evocation of Dr. John Dee," and "Angel Magic', both factual and practical works on the magical art. Geoffrey brings a unique combination of talents to his novel: he is an historian, a magician and a masterful story teller. There have been other novels based on the magical adventures of Dr. Dee and Edward Kelley, and some written by magicians themselves, but "Sorcerer" is far and away the best yet. The characters are real, the setting is alive, the story is gripping and the tragedy is classic. If Geoffrey had opted for a more reflective, less contemporary style, he could have expanded the book to 500 pages without breaking a sweat, and produced a piece of literature. But how well would that have sold in today's market

On Thursday, Hermetic Hour host Poke Runyon will present a lecture on "The Hermetic Qabalah." First we will define what Qabalah, or Kabbalah, or Cabala, or "Q.B.L.," is, and then we will present a very simplified version of the basic principles -- sort of a "Qabalah for Dummies." Then we will move on into what we can do with it (that's the fun part). I once said that "hypnosis is the tactic of the magician, and qabalah is his strategy." We can define it as a software program, an operating system, or a schematic for the mind which enables the left brain (the rational part) to access and control the right brain (the intuitive part). We will get down to the magical nuts-and-bolts. We'll define the four dimensions, the Tree of Life, the Cube of Space, what the astrological connection is, where the angels and demons live, and how we use the qabalah to communicate with them. Tune in and let us gently bend your mind.