The Hermetic Hour

On Thursday February 17th, 2022 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will discuss and review the current trend in Fantasy novels involving themes and characters from The Arabian Nights mainly the Jinn which King Solomon imprisoned in his sealed jars. A few weeks ago Poke had been putting together a show dealing with The CITY of BRASS from Burton's version of the Nights, citing it as an inspiration for many classic fantasy adventure stories. But then he discovered that an American Lady author, Shannon Chakraborty,  had in fact published a magical novel called The City of Brass in 2017. So he decided to postpone the show until he had read her book. He then discovered another British author Jonathan Stroud who had a series of Jinn fantasies called The Bartimaeus Triology launched in 2003 which he needed to catch up on.  And while we are at it we might as well throw in the old Victorian classic Vatheck by William Beckford (1893). So, if you would like to take a ride on a magic carpet, tune in and we'll be off.

On Thursday March 9th, 2017 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review Paddy Chayefsky's Oscar Winning 1976 motion picture Network. Network is a scathing satire on the intellectual and moral corruption of American Television networks, especially their News Departments. Much of the corruption Network presents was just beginning to come about in 1976, but was fully in place by the 1980s according to Dave Itzkoff in his book “Mad as Hell” 2014, and is presently erupting in the Network News Media's efforts to actually support the overthrow of the elected government of the United States of America. The focus of the 1976 film is t.v. Anchorman Howard Beale who is about to be fired for low ratings. Depression and alcohol have driven Beale to madness and he becomes The Mad Prophet of the Airwaves preaching his mantra chant: “I'm Mad as Hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!” This drives his ratings sky high until the Network entertains a bid from a Saudi Arabian conglomerate. Beale urges his viewers to protest the Arab deal to the White House and is successful in delaying the procedure. The head of the Network's corporation Arthur Jensen confronts Beale and convinces him that the New World Order has made populist democracy obsolete. So Beale goes back on the air trying to sell the Globalist agenda. Telling his followers that democracy is obsolete and that they should accept dehumanization. Of course his ratings drop to the cellar. But Jensen won't let the Network fire him, so the executives convince the radicals of their documentary Mao Tse Tung hour to machine-gun Beale in the studio as he comes on stage for his show. This will up their ratings and pay for Beale's deficit. It's all a business. That's the gist of it but stay with us and we'll dig deeper into this masterpiece of American prophetic cinema.

On Thursday February 23rd, 2017 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present the the modern yoga ritual version of the Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosencreutz. This is the fully developed Rosicrucian version of Hermetic Yoga Beyond the Middle Pillar as presented in volume one of Hermetic Yoga, Beyond the Middle Pillar. This advanced version, draws upon The Naassene Document, the Gospel of Philip, the Gospel of Mary, the Chemical Wedding itself, and the works of Jacob Boehme and Johann Gichtel. This reveals that the Ninth Degree of the O.T.O. and the Great Rite of the Gardnerians are both derived from original Valentinian Gnostic Christian sources. So if you want to experience some R-rated Rosicrucian yoga, tune in and we'll take you into the mirrored chamber of the Sacred Marriage.

On Thursday February 9th, 2017 The Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present the second part of The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz by Valentin Andreae 1616, followed by an interpretation of the symbolism in relation to internal alchemy, the extended Middle Pillar chakra system and Valentinian Gnostic Christianity. We will describe the Sacred Marriage within the adept him/or/herself as an analog to the operations on the Sixth Day in the Tower of Olympus. We will refer to works by Jacob Boehme, The creation of the Magical Child, Johann Gichtel and the mysteries of the Spiral and the Lightning Flash. And the Homunculus of Paracelsus. This is the lost Key to Rosicrucian Sex Magick and the ultimate secret of the Hieros Gamos. Tune in and be enlightened.

On Thursday January 13th, 2022 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review "Aleister Crowley in England" (2021) by Tobias Churton. This is the final part of Churton's serialized biography of The Great Beast, following on "The Beast in Berlin," "Crowley in America," and "Crowley in India." The compendium will be the most complete and best documented life of Crowley yet presented. This particular volume will present a side of A.C. his other biographers have not explored: Crowley the Gourmet Chef! Cook what Thou wilt shall be the Whole of the Menu! In the 1930s the Beast was considered the Sultan of exotic curry dishes and hosted the Lords and Ladies of London society at his festive board. We will give you a summary of his bill of fare, so tune in and bon appétit!

On January 6th 2022 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review all our  live broadcasts in 2021,starting with "The Lost Pillars of Enoch" from January 7th and summarizing all 19 new shows with "The Pagan Myth of Christmas" on December 23rd. So keep your pencils handy to jot down the one's you missed that you will want to search the archives for. And we had  some very good shows in this sad year.We are already planning a great line-up for 2022. Starting with "Crowley in England" next week.

On Thursday December 23rd,2021 the Hermetic Hour’s host Poke Runyon, will read his essay entitled The Pagan Myth of Christmas. As most of us know December 25th is a date selected to represent Winter Solstice, and thus correspond to the seasonal return of the Sun, making Jesus a Pagan Sun God. This is just one of the many Pagan myth themes adopted by Christianity in the formative years of the religion. The Cross of Crucifixion became the Cross of the Four Seasons, Churches were built on the sites of Pagan Temples. But what is not widely known is the connection between Paganism, Gnosticism, and Christianity. Jesus was a Pagan God modeled on Osiris and when we match him with the Canaanite Baal he becomes The Once and Future King of Israel the last of the Pagan Dying Gods. The Gnostic Christians believed there had been a succession of these redeemers represented by ancient Gods and Goddesses. So if you want to celebrate the mystery of Christmas, tune in and we’ll deck the halls.

On Thursday January 19th, 2017 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review and discuss the 1934 horror classic "Creep Shadow, Creep" by Fantasy Grand Master Abraham Merritt. This forgotten tale has influenced such modern films and t.v. shows as Dark Shadows and recently "Outlander." It deals with a family feud that carries on for thousands of years between reincarnating ancestors of two ancient Breton Celtic clans. The lord of Carnac and the Royal family of the legendary sunken city of Ys. In their present (1930s) incarnations an anthropologist, specializing in the occult (like Indian Jones) and a psychiatrist specializing in hypnotic age-regression with a beautiful daughter who was and is a reincarnating evil soul-stealing witch. This story was the second in a series of such tales by Merritt, being the sequel to "Burn Witch, Burn" (1934) which was made into a film with Lionel Barrymore and influenced both Twilight Zone and the "Chucky" series. So if you want to discover the roots of ancient evil surviving in the deep mind, tune in and we will explore the dark world of the creeping shadows.

On Thursday December 29th, 2016 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a review and discussion on "Technocracy Rising" by Patrick M. Woods 2015. This book documents the 1930's origin and rise of an American totalitarian socio-political and economic system derived from Plato's Republic that flourished after the 1929 crash and during the prewar years of the Great Depression. In Technocracy scientists and academics will manage the government of the country. Our Constitutional Republic and its Capitalistic economy would be replaced by a dictatorship. Technocracy's connection to the Eugenics movement and to Nazism put it into eclipse until the 1970s -- When Technocracy reemerged with David Rockefeller's Trilateral Commission and began to infiltrate the U.S. government beginning with The Jimmy Carter administration in the 1970s. Technocracy subverted the United Nations which soon became its agent for a Technocratic World government. Like their cousins the communists, the Technocrats claim to be democratic. They seek to replace our currency based economic system with a cashless, energy credit system. They have hijacked General System Theory to justify environmental regulations to control energy. Of course the big problem for the people under this system is loss of Freedom, loss of property, loss of representation in government, and loss of what we consider basic human rights. Even the socialist philosopher Bertrand Russell, when examining Plato's Government of the philosopher kings, was forced to say that only true democracy could protect basic human rights. So if you want to know what the technocrats have in store for you when they get back in office, tune in and we'll have a look.

will review the 2014 book by Tobias Churton "Aleister Crowley The Beast in Berlin". This is apparently an expansion and compilation of outcuts from the author's biography of Crowley and should perhaps be considered an appendix to that work. Unless you are an ardent Crowley aficionado it is a hard read. The book is primarily made up of excerpts from A.C.'s. diaries and his correspondence mostly during his 1930s Berlin sojourn as a struggling artist in the decadent twilight days of the Weimar Republic. Along with a running account of the Beast's metaphysical politics, sexual magick and artistic endeavors, Churton manages to give us an in-depth look at the decadent sub-culture of the Weimar Berliners and an appreciation of Crowley's talents as an artist. So if you'd like to accompany the Beast to the Cabaret, tune in and enjoy the show.