The Hermetic Hour

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.  

On Thursday January 15th, 2015 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a review and reprise of the host's own writing career as a novelist, short story writer and screenwriter. After three years in the Army most in Special Forces, Poke started off in 1965 with Night Jump - Cuba 1965 followed by Commando X in 1967 and a series of underwater adventure stories in ARGOSY magazine, on to Hollywood and a short stint as a screenwriter before getting a real job as a designer and technical illustrator for Shelby American and on to a career as an industrial artist. Eventually publishing his own fiction with Drell Master 2001 and From the Tower of Darkness in 2002 So if you enjoy macho action adventure stories or ever did, tune in and find out what old Frater Thabion writes about other than magick.  

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 Valentinean 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.

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 Cannanite 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".

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.

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 paganisn, 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.  

This Thursday the Hermetic Hour, with host Poke Runyon, will present an in-depth interview with the distinguished author and researcher Joseph P. Farrell. We will focus on his 2007 book "The Philosopher's Stone, Alchemy and the Secret Research for Exotic Matter" from Feral House. In this work, Dr. Farrell traces the course of Alchemy from possible antediluvian secret science, through classical NeoPlatonist-Hermetic concepts, exotic medieval formulas, to modern quantum mechanics functioning on different model than Einstein's Relativity. We'll discuss the American Alchemical gold, the mysterious Russian "Red Mercury", the Nazi atomic bomb -- which they may have had before we did -- and the Tortion theory of quantum physics behind the awesome Nazi "Bell" project. This is a show that will bend your mind, and set you to wondering about the real history of history... Don't miss it.  

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.  

The Hermetic Hour will feature a discussion, led by host Poke Runyon, on magical films and films of interest to magicians and pagans. We will start with the silent classics, and work our way through to the latest offering from HPLHS (the Lovecraft Historical Society) which is Whisperer in the Darkness. This will not be a detailed history of weird films, but rather a selection of what we consider the best, such as Cocteau's Orpheus, Orson Welles Black Magic, Bergman's The Seventh Seal, and others we consider artful and provocative. Please call in and offer your selections. So, tune in and we'll review "weird cinema."

This Thursday November 20th, 2014 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will have a call-in night for our regular listeners. We are on the air from 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm pacific time. Our call in number is: 347 857 1830 so give us a ring and ask about anything we've covered on the air or suggest new topics for us to present. We have been putting out a great deal of interesting magical and occult material latley and we need to know what you think about it. So let's hear from you. We'll try to have our regular guests on also that's Fraters Osiris and Heracles. So it will be a sort of Hermetic chat room.

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 immitator: 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.  

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!  

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.

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 Hidhu 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 Rosencrutz 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.  

On Thursday October 2nd, 2014 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on Princess Salome's Dance of the Seven Veils. which was actually the Phoenician version of Babylonian Ishtar's descent into the underworld to resurrect the Dying God; in her case Tammuz, in our case Ba'al Hadad We have used this obviously fact-based legend to reconstruct Anath's vanquishing the Lord of Death at Autumn Equinox to revive Prince Ba'al the rain and vegetation god of ancient Canaan. If you are wondering about where the head of John the Baptist comes into this, we will solve that mystery also. Our special guest for this program will be Frater Heracles of our Austin, Texas lodge who just presented a spectacular Festival of Seven Gates and will give us his first hand impressions of this revived ancient rite and how it is done in the 21st century. So, if you want to know where the Dance of the Seven Veils started -- and is still going -- tune in and chant: "Down and down the path we go, to the caverns far below!"