The Hermetic Hour

On February 20th, 2025 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will narrate the astral journey or flight from Malkuth to Chesed using our Soul Travel Boat, which enables us to fly over the previously traveled 29th path, and Sphere of Netsach; beyond which lies the Great Wheel of Eternity that takes us back thru the Astrological Ages to the Times of Atlantis where we will meet Dagon the elder god from the Stars. Who shows us how to open our third-eye. This is a magical journey you won't want to miss, so join us on PodBean, or You-Tube and sail the dream-skies of the astral with us. -- Thabion  

Hermetic Hour host Poke Runyon will discuss "Divination for Magicians." We are qualifying this subject to exclude a number of techniques not often used in magick. We will lead off with Tarot, discussing its actual origins, the 19th century "Egyptian origin" myth, how it was thought to be "older than the kabbalah," and its subsequent influence on modern Hermetic "qabalah" -- from Eliphas Levi to Paul Foster Case. We will discuss various Tarot designs, and their particular attributes. We'll move on to Geomancy, discussing its ancient origins, and characteristics -- briefly comparing it to the Chinese I-Ching. We'll be taking calls on this subject, so join us and see what the future holds in store.

The Hermetic Hour for Thursday October 7th, 2021 -- will feature a dramatic reading of the first chapter of "The Tomb of Prester John" a new magical adventure novel by Hermetic Hour host Poke Runyon. The protagonist of the story is the same Indiana Jonesish anthropologist Poke created and portrayed in his film "Beyond Lemuria" where we saw Doc Roland exploring the ruined city of Nan Modal. In this new adventure Roland and his beautiful belly-dancing lady archaeologist Sophie Nasrani, go in search of the fabulous tomb of the legendary medieval priest-king Prester John. They have a 12th century letter written by Prester John to emperor Frederick Barbarossa and an antique magic lantern to decode the script. They know the tomb is located somewhere east of Samarkand but Sophie must evoke the prophetess Jezebel in a full moon ritual dance. Throughout their adventure they are stalked by Sophie's former lover Khalil ibn Iblis, a terrorist who believes he is the reincarnation of Hassan Sabbah and has revived the cult of the Assassins. As the tale progresses we will air it chapter by chapter on the Hermetic Hour, so if you want to get in at the beginning, tune in tonight and get ready for High Adventure.

The Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the vast Central Asian kingdom of Tartaria and the medieval legend of Prester John, the mysterious Christian monarch who was said to have ruled a huge empire West of China and to have written letters to the Pope and kings in Europe. Mentioned by Marco Polo and other European travelers to the Orient Prester John  was a political Holy Grail quest for Crusaders seeking allies against the Muslims. But John and his kingdom was never found -- and yet there may have been a Christian king and warlord in Central Asia in medieval times as new historical research and archeology are discovering. In Medieval times the boundaries of Tartaria stretched from China to Eastern Europe; an area defined by the conquests of Genghis Khan and his sons. Only recently have we come to realize that Europeans have been living in Central Asia for thousands of years. Many of the Central Asian tribes and even nations riding under Mongol banners in the middle ages were actually  Caucasian Christians descendants of the ancient Scythians, Armenians and Indo-Europeans. The real history of Central Asia has been suppressed and mistranslated. We will suggest who the real Prester John might have been. So put on your fedora, snap your bullwhip and lets follow the Silk Road to adventure. Be captivated by the myths and suppressed histories that connect the Scythians, Armenians, and Indo-Europeans to a Euro-Caucasian presence in these ancient lands. Uncover the historical and archaeological discoveries that challenge traditional narratives, and embark on a journey to restore the lost truths about Prester John and the influence of Western civilization in Central Asia.

This is the Hermetic Hour for Thursday February 6th, 2025 -- featuring a dramatic reading of chapters Seven, Eight and Nine of "The Tomb of Prester John" a magical adventure novel by Hermetic Hour host Poke Runyon. The protagonist of the story is the same Indiana Jonesish anthropologist Poke created and portrayed in his film "Beyond Lemuria" where we saw Doc Roland exploring the ruined city of Nan Modal. In this new adventure Roland and his beautiful belly-dancing lady archaeologist Sophie Iskandar, go in search of the fabulous tomb of the legendary medieval priest-king Prester John. They have a 12th century letter written by Prester John to emperor Frederick Barbarossa and an antique magic lantern to decode the script. They know the tomb is located somewhere in eastern Turkey but Sophie must evoke the prophetess Jezebel in a full moon ritual dance. Throughout their adventure they are stalked by Sophie's former lover Khalil ibn Iblis, a terrorist who believes he is the reincarnation of Hassan Sabbah and has revived Sabbah’s medieval cult of the Assassins. The first six chapters are already recorded in our archives and will be continuing this year on the Hermetic Hour    

Hermetic Hour host Poke Runyon will launch a discussion on what is commonly called "Astral Projection." We will use what we still consider the best occult manual on the subject: "The Art of Astral Projection," by Ophiel, as our starting point. We'll mention path workings (Inner Plane projection) vs. the OOBE, comparing these methods with Tibetan practice (po-wah yoga and throng-jug yogas). Following on Jack London's "Star Rover", we'll examine self-hypnosis and sensory deprivation. We'll mention Monroe and Hemi-Sync, (binaural beats), discuss "Music of the Spheres," and Remote Viewing. Tune in, turn on, and get out!  

On January 23rd the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present an essay "The Jesus Myth" - Christianity's only hope -- which will be a counter argument to the evangelical Christian position that the so-called Jesus Myth based on the Naassene Document, a 1st or 2nd century Gnostic Christian scripture, presenting Jesus as the last of a recurring cycle of dieing Pagan Gods resurrected by Pagan Goddesses such as: Tammuz and Ishtar, Osiris and Isis, Baal and Astarte, Venus and Adonis, etc., culminating in Jesus and Mary Magdalene. The fundamentalists contend that this idea undermines the historical Jesus (they reinforce this by mixing in other Gnostic Christian views that Jesus did not die on the cross, which was not a part of the original Naassene proposition.)     As Valentinian Gnostic Rosicrucians, we contend that the Jesus Myth as set forth in the Naassene Document is not only valid as scripture, but that it represents Christianity's only hope of survival against its awful record, both Orthodox and Protestant,of exploitation, prejudicial persecution, hypocrisy and patriarchalism. So tune and help us defend our tradition. Music Credits: Opening: Seian by Ali Kesanto Closing: Sneaking Around the Mansion by John Abbot

On Thursday the 7th of October, 2010, 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!

On Thursday January 2nd 2025 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review the new shows we presented in 2024 and discuss what is coming up in 2025. Our host for the past 15 years has been Blogtalkradio. They are shutting down on January 31st, 2025 and so we are moving to PodBean in 2025. Blogtalkradio was a pioneer in podcasting and we owe them thanks for giving us a wonderful outreach tool which has not only brought us many new associate members, but also inspired several other Hermetic podcasters. As our regular listeners know we have been re-broadcasting our shows from 2010 this year for new listeners who missed them. Blogtalkradio.com has archived everything, with abstracts, and those archives will no longer be available after January 31st, 2025. If you want to download a particular show, let's say the Enochian Magick lecture, get it before Blogtalkradio shuts down. Also we will discuss new shows we have in the works and upcoming publications and productions. So tune and stay with us. Happy New Year!

On September 23rd, 2010 at 8:p.m. 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.