The Hermetic Hour

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 September 7th, 2017 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a follow-up to our previous review of "Sekret Machines" (2017) by Tom DeLonge and A.J. Hartley. In this program we will look at their major source work: "Insiders Reveal Secret Space Programs & Extraterrestrial Alliances" (2015) by Michael E. Salla, Ph.D. and his (2017) sequel "The U.S. Navy Secret Space Program & Nordic Extraterrestrial Alliance." These books and the plot of Sekret Machines are primarily based on the revelations of the age regressed whistle blower Corey Goode and other former U.S. Navy and Air Force operatives in a parallel secret advanced Space Program with alleged bases on the Moon and Mars. We will also examine Tom DeLonge and Peter Lavenda's (2017) book "Gods, Man and War" which establishes the historical and anthropological validity of the Ancient Alien and UFO connection without evoking secret space program conspiracies. So if you want to return to the absolute elsewhere for another hour, tune-in and we will have both a critical and a sympathetic look at this phenomenon.

On Thursday August 31st the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a review of the recent best selling novel: "Sekret Machines - Chasing Shadows" by Tom DeLonge and A.J. Hartley. This book purports to be The Truth about "The Phenomenon" (UFOs, Ancient Aliens, the Nazi Bell et alia) presented as fiction. It is very effective as a Dean Koontz-Dan Brown style multiple-viewpoint thriller. Readers will at first believe that this is a novelized version of the "X-Files" t.v. series but the final chapter proves that the 1940s Shaver Mystery by Raymond A. Palmer and Richard S. Shaver was the real inspiration for this project. We do not say this to discredit Sekret Machines but rather to recommend it. So if you want to spend an hour in the Absolute Elsewhere, tune in and we will take the elevator down to the "deep utilities" and visit with the Deros who run The New World Order.

On Thursday June 23rd, 2022 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will reappraise and read from the Hermetic classic  "Three Books of Occult Philosophy" by Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, first published in 1533 in Latin. This master work has been the foundation study of Hermetic science, Magick and mysticism for nearly 500 years. It is divided into three sections, or books:  The Natural World, The Celestial World, and The Divine World. The first, The Natural World dealt with The Hermetic Elements, the second The influence of The Heavens, Stars and Planets upon human affairs and events and the third the Divine World, dealt with the spiritual sciences of Magick and Qabalah. Unfortunately many students get these volumes as a reference work. Agrippa intended it to be read and studied from beginning to end as one continuous and contiguous work. The Hermetic Elements of the Natural World are reflected in the Celestial World, and spiritually empowered and directed from The Divine World. We will demonstrate this with selected readings from the first Volume. We will be reading from the newly translated 1533 Latin edition from Inner Traditions translated by Eric Purdue. So if you want an old fashioned introduction to wizardry, tune and we'll start you on the path.

On Thursday August 17th, 2017 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon is honored to present a review and discussion on the new book of magical fiction "Stories of Magic and Enchantment" by William Mistele, with the author as our guest. This book is handsomely published by Falcon Books, a new publisher in the field. As regular listeners will recall, we have supported Bill Mistele from the beginning of his writing and publishing career, having had him on as a guest with his first book "Undines" (2010). This was followed by "Mermaids, Sylphs, Gnomes, and Salamanders" in 2012. As you might suppose Bill is very much into Franz Bardon's Hermetic Elemental personifications. He writes from a deep empathy for sacred nature and its spirits, encountering them in human form as magicians often do. He favors the feminine spiritual perspective. His stories are remarkably free from the usual horror and conflict we associate with supernatural fiction. We might say they are totally opposite to Lovecraft, while being lovingly crafted. Bill has a degree in philosophy and has spent years studying and meditating with Buddhist and Taoist teachers. He finally devoted himself to the Bardonian system of magic and has more books in the works. So, if you would like to meet a true magical maestro and learn about his visionary work, tune in and be enchanted.

On Thursday July 20th,2017 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present the dramatic conclusion of Shamgar, the Purple Dragon by Poke Runyon. The first part of this Biblical adventure was aired on September 4th, 2014's Hermetic Hour and has remained unfinished until the original manuscript was rediscovered. Now we can complete this Cecil B. DeMillish Biblical epic from the Book of Judges. Shamgar's saga recounts how a Phoenician Pirate who claimed to be descended from Pagan Gods, becomes a Judge of Israel and battles the Philistines, slaying them with an ox goad years before Samson used the jawbone of ass. Shamgar almost becomes Israel's first King but his magical ox goad is passed down to a future contender at the beginning of the common era. So if you want to enjoy the Old Testament from a Canaanite perspective, tune in and join us as Shamgar rides again.

On Thursday May 26th, 2022 The Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon and guest Maximilian Paul will review and discuss Howard Phillips Lovecraft’s tour-d-force horror novel “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward” written in 1927 and published posthumously in 1941. This macabre epic has influenced the works of Stephen King and Clive Barker and has inspired two film versions, which we will also review and discuss. The Charles Dexter Ward story deals primarily with traditional supernatural themes: Alchemy, Necromancy, Medieval black magic, vampirism and demonic possession. The central character Charles Dexter Ward is a young scholar in Providence Rhode Island in the 1920s who becomes fascinated with the history of his notorious 17th century ancestor Joseph Curwen. The wizard Curwen had moved from Salem to Providence to avoid the witchcraft trails in 1699. He was an alchemist fascinated with a necromantic version of palinogenesis; raising the dead from their cremated remains. He with two equally sinister European sorcerers began grave robbing; collecting the remains of dead sages and scientists to learn their secrets. They also discovered secrets of immortality. This worked against Curwen in Providence where he showed no signs of age for forty years. He did manage to marry so as to leave a bloodline so that he could return – which he did in1928 when he possessed his great-great grandson Charles Dexter Ward through a strange portrait in his old house which young Ward had moved into. Young Ward is possessed by Curwen and eventually finds his grave and brings him back to life. But Old Curwen then murders young Charles and usurps his modern identity. However the Ward family physician Dr. Willet, and Ward’s father have Curwen (believing him to be Ward) committed to an Insane asylum. And that is where the story begins. So stay with us for all the inner secrets of what many consider to have been Lovecraft’s best horror novel.

As most of our active and Associate Members know we are mainly focused on Solomonic Ceremonial magick, but we also use the Aethyr System from Dee and Kelly’s Enochian corpus, which provides us with an operative alternative when the Moon is not well aspected for Goetia. The Aethyr System, originally called “Terrestrial Victory” and was a thirty-level spherical model of the Universe with the Earth in its center and the Aeythrs or Heavens (Gnostic Aeons originally) surrounding and expanding from the terrestrial center like the layers of an onion with the lowest as number 30 TEX rising on up to LIL as number one enclosing the outer limit of the circular universe. All of these levels are related to the Four Elemental Tablets, called The Watchtowers which relate to the celestial sphere and are positioned around the magic circle. Each of these Aethyrs have angelic governors whose sigils are outlined on the tablets. This is derived from Kamea Magic. The Aethyrs themselves derive from Valentinian Gnosticism, and the Book of Revelation The Magicians who explore these astral realms will activate the tablets, with Enochian Calls, and then scry into an orb on the altar within the magic circle. You can see this in our introductory video “The Rites of Magick.” We have discussed this on the Hermetic hour before but tonight we are going to go much deeper into the mysteries and paradoxes of this powerful system of magic. So, if you want to learn how to open Pinhead’s (Choronzon’s) Box tune in and chant with us: Zacar od Zamran!

On Thursday May 12th, 2022, the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will continue with a dramatc reading of Poke's Magical adventure novel The Tomb of Prester John reading Chapters Five,Six and Seven. This sequence is one of the most exciting and revealing episodes in the story. We follow Sophie and Doc in their exploration of the eerie catacombs under the Biblical Christian Church of Thyatria in Akhisar Turkey. From the museum where they meet Graduate Anthropology student Ioanna Erzan who guides them to the catacombs. They find the Tomb of Theodas Jezebel's bishop and Sophie is entranced by his mummified body. They find a huge gallery with a skylight that floods the vault with moonlight. Doc sets up the Lamp of Truth and Sophie Draws Down the Moon and performs her sacred dance in the nude with the Lamp of Truth illuminating the chakras tattooed on her body. At the climax of her dance she collapses in Doc's arms. And they hear applause from From Khalil ibn Iblis and his terrorists who have been watching the performance. They are holding Iaonna Erzan as a hostage. But before they can capture Doc and Sophie, a Flash Bang grenade announces the arrival of Colonel Renda and Turkish Special Forces rappeling down through the skylight. Using Ioanna Erzan as a hostage shield Khalil and his men escape.But Renda says "We fed her a cookie, so they won't get far." Unfortunately Khalil detects the cookie and Ioanna is murdered. Doc and Sophie return to their hotel to spend the rest of the night under guard, where Doc has to hypnotize her to recover the secrets she learned from Channeling Jezebel. They learn the real secret of Christ's crucifixion and the origin of Prester John's treasure. And Doc discovers the Secret of the Lamp of Truth. So join us for high adventure and some amazing revelations.

On Thursday May 18th, the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will  review and discuss "Astral Dynamics" (2009) by Robert Bruce. Robert  Bruce is an Australian writer not to be confused with the Scottish  "Robert the Bruce". In Astral Dynamics Bruce has delivered what may well  be the best practical manual on Astral Projection (OBEs and similar  phenomenon) since Ophiel's "The Art and Practice of Astral Projection"  (1961). Of course I must admit that I have a special interest in this  book because Bruce describes, validates and teaches methods and  techniques that we use in our magical instructions and training. His  description of the chakras (psychic centers) is virtually in-line with  our Western Middle Pillar system and his Third Eye projection is very  much like ours. He describes projecting into paintings and projecting  from Lucid Dreaming states. His energy work techniques are very  Bardonian and his description of the Astral Planes is in line with our  experiences. All considered this is a great book and we highly recommend  it. So Turn on, tune in and pop-out!