The Hermetic Hour

On Thursday May 11th, 2017 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review "Lucifer Princeps" (2015) by Peter Grey.  This book is quite different in style from its predecessor "The Red Goddess" which, although well-researched, explored the background and origins of Aleister Crowley's "Babalon" in a popular style. Lucifer Princeps however is a scholarly work and might even be an academic dissertation or thesis edited for the lay reader. Being an academic work it suffers from the assumption that the reader is familiar with the material that the writer is working from. Fortunately this corpus is mostly Biblical and Apocryphal but he cross references other mythologies. Nevertheless the book is a wonderful resource and a great contribution to the Western Esoteric Tradition. He starts with Isaiah's lament and curse as the beginning of the Lucifer's Fall from Heaven story. This sets the stage for a parade of sources from ancient Sumerian and Canaanite mythology. We learn about the first ascent to Heaven by the Sumerian king Etana, and then the Canaanite god Athar who tries to sit on Baal's throne. We learn that the Yahwehists hated the pagan gods of the heavens and that the War in Heaven was actually Yahweh against El and the Elohim. Lucifer is finally revealed as our old friend Semyaza (Semhaza), the leader of the 200 Fallen Angels from the original Book of Enoch. The author concludes his work by offering us a mini-grimoire of Semhaza and his 20 officers, leaving us the job of obtaining their sigils -- which we will certainly do. So if you want get a head start on this project, tune in and give a listen.

On Thursday April 21st, The Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a dramatic reading of Chapters Five and Six of the magical adventure novel.  In these chapters we will follow Doc Roland and his beautiful lady archaeologist partner Sophie Iskandar as they continue their quest for the vast treasure of of the legendary Priest King. In these episodes they visit the museum in Akhisar, modern city of biblical Thyatria, and then explore the catacombs under the ruins of Jezebel's church. With the ancient magick lantern called the Lamp of Truth, Sophie dances under the full moon to channel Jezebel's spirit -- revealing her incredible secret. In the process Doc discovers the secret of the Lamp of Truth. They return to their hotel and again meet Colonel Renda of Turkish Security forces who informs them they are involved in the gruesome murder of a female Turkish college student. This is a magical tale on the James Bond and Indiana Jones model. Join us for High Adventure.

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 mystique 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 Babylon 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 are nonetheless readable and thought provoking -- so tune in and we shall look at our magical history through a glass darkly.

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 credit where credit is due. In spite of his political incorrectness  he was an intrepid anthropologist and folklorist and his book is a  fascinating read for those interested in the occult history of Europe.  So tune in and we will explore the castles and caverns of the lost land  of the Troubadours in search of the Holy Grail.

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 convincing. And to devout Christians perhaps shocking. There are some problems, not with the idea of the Grail family. That is very well presented, but with the authenticity of the Priory of Sion itself. Yes there was one back in medieval times -- but is today's fraternity and its family leadership directly connected to the early medieval Merovingians? In any case the book is a great introduction to this fascinating subject. It certainly got me to looking into my old French antecedents. I discovered the Merovingian "golden bees" on the Roygnon family crest and began to wonder if I had a little of this magical blood? I recall Hamlet said: "To bee or not to bee." I wonder if he was Merovingian. Tune in and we'll explore the mystery of the Grail Family.

On February 27th, 2022 The Host of the Hermetic Hour was the call-in guest of Masonic brothers At the Fort Worth, Texas Masonic Lodge's weekly Pod cast. Poke was interviewed by the Master, Worshipful brother Gabriel, who was very knowledgeable on esoteric subjects  and asked me some very provocative questions. We covered everything from my childhood, through, spearfishing, scuba diving, special forces, Novel and screen writing and the illness that got me into magick -- through self-hypnosis -- and on then into  anthropology, while doing the Golden Dawn and witchcraft, writing my Master's Thesis on Magick -- after which I did The entire Masonic program. Master Gabriel asked me: "After all those other traditions how did Masonry affect You?" -- "I'll be honest with with you, I Told him, I thought these Muggels couldn't show me anything; but they totally blew me away! The Third degree was awesome." I realized that I had been hit with the full force of a Three Hundred year old Egregore (collective spirit)Master Gabriel came in at that point for a Fuller more philosophical explanation of the term. We continued discussing magick,the nature of spirits,the Golden Dawn, astrology, Kabbalah and even reincarnation -- all in all it was a very enjoyable hour and a half with a lot of very stimulating conversation. I'll be responsible for what I said and nothing I said reflects official Masonic teaching or doctrine. Thanks to Bros. Billy and Wor. Bro. Gabriel for letting us rebroadcast it.

On Thursday March 10th, 2022 the Hermetic Hour with Host Poke Runyon will present a dramatic reading of Chapters Four and Five of his magical adventure novel The Tomb of Prester John. This will be of particular interest to those seeking to understand the origins of the Gnostic Mass and its roots in Valentinian and Simonic Gnostic traditions. Doc Roland's Lady archaeologist partner, a belly dancing former Scarlet Woman, channels both the spirits of Jesus's Mary Magdalene and Simon's Helen in their quest to find the Tomb of the medieval warrior priest king, while being stalked by her former lover Khalil Ibn Iblis, the Gnostic priest turned terrorist assassin. The Tomb of Prester John is a novel that delivers magical secrets in fiction form. In this episode you will discover that Gurdjieff's enneagram is the entrance to the Ninth Gate, that Jehovah is Popeye, and that The Gnostic Mass was originally Christian. So come with us on a quest for the Tomb of Prester John.

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, England and elsewhere. and they are still allied with wealthy Venice. They are an underground network, Meanwhile the Roman Church allies with Genoa, Florance and Spain. The Venetians and the Templars make it to America before Columbus (a Genoavian-Spanish agent) but Columbus plants the Spanish flag. The Templars and Venetians infiltrate England with a culture war -- infusing the English (Dee, Fludd and Shakespeare) with Hermeticism and the proxy war for the New World is on. Drake, Morgan et allia against the Spanish. What a plot! Sounds crazy but Joe has a PhD from Oxford in Medieval Church history so he is worth reading on subjects like this. Tune in and we'll check it out.

On Thursday February 24, 2022 the Hermetic Hour with Host Poke Runyon will continue reading his magical adventure novel "The Tomb of Prester John". Thus far we have followed archaeologists Doc Roland and Sophie Iskandar, working for the CIA think tank Myth Tech searching for the legendary Tomb of Prester John and the fabulous treasure it holds. In these new episodes they fly to Berlin to discover the coded secrets in Prester John's letter to Frederick Barbarossa. Then off to Turkey where they team up with Nuri Renda an agent of the Turkish MIT and are stalked by Sophie's sinister terrorist boyfriend Khlil ibn Iblis. So tune in for cloak and dagger thrills.