The Hermetic Hour

On Thursday February 21st, 2019  the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will reprise a discussion on different interpretations and conceptions of Qabalah. This is a subject we have covered before, however, that was years ago before we started climbing The Tree in our weekly lectures. Now that we have arrived at The Abyss and and are venturing onto The Eleven Sphere "Tree Before the Fall", it is appropriate for us to review our Hermetic Qabalistic structure and establish the philosophical, mythological and metaphysical differences between the various Kabbalahs, and the particular innovations we have made in our modern Hermetic version of the ancient system. Tune in and we'll play Monopoly on the greatest board game in the universe.

On Thursday February 14th, 2019 The Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the first Ancient Astronaut Theorists, before Van Daniken, Sitchen, and the rest there was Richard Shaver and Ray Palmer and the Shaver Mystery. In recent years more and more of their fantastic 1940s revelations about Ancient extra-terrestrial Aliens and their high technology and their continued influence on, and interfearence in, earthly affairs (mind control and child trafficking and madness) has been confirmed and exploited by later whistle-blowers such as Tom Delonge, Corey Good, David Witcock and others. It seems that Shaver and Palmer wrote their History Channel documentary scripts but are never credited as the source. Are these Ancient Aliens still with us? "Our original Ancient Astronaut theorists say yes!" So tune in and let's return to the thrilling days of yesteryear and revisit The Shaver Mystery.

On Thursday April 3rd, 2014 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a special program discussing the O.T.A.'s Pathworkings beyond the Sphere of Chesed. These Paths lead to the re-manifested Sphere of Da'ath, which in the Eleven Sphere Tree becomes Saturn, the beginning of the physical universe and the gateway to the Abyss. This concept and its practical applications are covered in "New Tarot Trumps for an Eleven Sphere Tree of Life" in THE SEVENTH RAY, Book III, "The Red Ray." We will also discuss the Golden Dawn's eleven sphere tree and the idea of the Tree before and after "The Fall." This is a Key lecture and lesson in our study program. So tune in and we will journey to Mot's Back-o'-Beyond.

On Thursday January 31st, 2019 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will air a discussion on the life and work of Victorian Age British artist and writer William Morris (1834-1888) on the modern Hermetic revival. Morris was a Renaissance man of many talents. An Oxford scholar who idealized and romanticized the medieval period and yearned to recreate Camelot in the modern era. He was appalled by the pollution, social misery and esthetic mediocrity caused by the industrial revolution and he believed that Karl Marx held the key to creating a utopia (although Morris admitted that he could not understand Marx) But we need to understand Morris in order to fathom the continuing fascination our cultural elite have for Marx's continually failing system. So, come with us back to the Gas-light era and we will see where a lot of today's progressive ideas got started.

On Thursday March 27th, 2014 Hermetic Hour host Poke Runyon will talk with Jo Carson, leader of Feraferia, about Eleusis and the Mysteries of Death and Rebirth. What happens to the soul after death? What can be expected in the afterlife? Jo has written a new book, Celebrate Wildness—Magic, Mirth and Love on the Feraferia Path which includes a discussion of the Eleusinian Mysteries. The Mysteries of Demeter and her daughter Persephone were held at Eleusis, in Greece, for almost 2,000 years. These Mysteries had the goal of providing a first hand experience of certainty in the continuity of life after death. The Mysteries were established around 1450 BCE, and ended only when the Roman Christian emperor Theodosius I forcibly closed them in 392 CE. They were centered around the myth of Demeter, the earth mother Goddess, and her daughter Persephone. In this story, Persephone was abducted by Pluto and taken to the Underworld, and eventually was able to return. This myth provided a key to giving real revelations to the population of that world. Thousands of people journeyed to Eleusis each Fall to experience the Eleusinian Mysteries, which means hundreds of thousands were initiated. However, so tight was the secrecy, or so inexpressible was the experience, that no one has ever revealed its profound secrets. We will explore what is known, what is conjectured, and how Feraferia honors the Eleusinian experience. So tune in and peek behind the veil of death.

On Thursday January 17th the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review and discuss "The Cygnus Mystery" (2006)  and "The Cygnus Key" (2018) by Andrew Collins. These recent books are in the tradition of "Hamlet's Mill" (1969), "The Sirius Mystery"(1976) and Gordon White's "Star Ships" (2016) and they all fall into the category of popular celestial archaeology. Most importantly for us in the Hermetic community they all seek to validate our ancient Initiatiatic Code which holds that we descend from the Heavens and to the Heavens we shall return via the Milky Way as our "River of Souls." Like so many of his predecessors in this Collins locates the ancient Shamanic origins of this in old Hyperborea in North Central Asia. He presents a good case for Cygnus the Swan bringing down the souls like the stork brings babies. He suggests that the  Paleolithic genius-giant Denisovian hominids recently discovered in Siberia were the originators of of our Celestial mythology and that they carried it all the way down to ancient Egypt. I am not sure I agree with all his ideas but for the most part he seems on the mark -- so if you want to follow the Starry Path to immortality, tune in and we'll fly with the swans.

On Thursday January 10th, 2019 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review and highlight the twenty-six live shows we presented in 2018. As most of you know these programs are all archived on our Hermetic Hour website with abstracts describing them. So you can catch up on what you missed at any convenient time. Be sure to have a note pad handy as you listen so you can jot down the dates and titles of the shows you want to find. Such as "Count Cagliostro, the Wizard who invented himself" aired on February 22nd, 2018 -- or "The real secrets of the Hypnerotomachia" on May 24th. You can find all these episodes ready for listening or downloading on our website: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/the-hermetic-hour so tune in and catch up on what you've missed.

On Thursday December 20th, 2018 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the Hermetic origins of the Holy Grail as presented in Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Medieval romance “Parzival. This is a follow-up on an earlier broadcast from three years ago in which we read Janinne Rene’s Article on Parzival from The Seventh Ray issue number 19, January 1977. In the introduction to her article I stated that: “Much of the symbolism and the allegory of Kellner’s original O.T.O. derived from Parzival.” This and other fascinating secrets embedded in Wolfram's medieval masterpiece will be the subjects of tonight’s broadcast. So, if you want to find the Grail we have the clues for you. Eschenbach’s Parzival is like Colonna’s Hypnerotomachia. Its one of those old books full of secrets and magick. And our job on the Hermetic Hour is to dig them out for you.

On Thursday December 6th, 2018, the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review and discuss “The Spiritual Meaning of the Sixties” (2018) by Tobias Churton. This is a 653 page door-stopper of a book subtitled: “the Magic, Myths & Music of the Decade that Changed the World,” And it certainly lives up to its subtitle. Even though Churton’s previous books have been in the mystical, occult genre, this one should break into the mainstream and be read by every thoughtful reader interested in the present spiritual, philosophical and political divisions in what we call Western Civilization. Using the Music, films, television, and popular fads of the period as his mirror of reflection he leads us through the decade. The cultural impact of the Beatles, and rock music, the sexual revolution, psychedelics, the Bomb, the Vietnam War, Civil Rights, and the rise of feminism are all dealt with in turn. And the inability of established religion to cope with the spiritual challenges of the time is considered. The author was a child in England and Australia during the period and gives us a remarkable picture of the era from a growing child’s perspective. My one criticism of the book stems from Churton’s memory picture. I was a teenager in 1950s America. I recall that repressive era which preceded the social liberation of the sixties. I think Churton should have added “The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit.” (1956) to his list of media catalysts. So if you want to look back at the days of Flower-Power and Strawberry Fields Forever, turn-on, tune-in and give a listen.

On Thursday November 15th 2018, the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review "Son of Chicken Qabalah" and interview its distinguished author Lon Milo DuQuette. This 2018 book is a sequel to Lon's popular "Chicken Qabalah of Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford" (2001). Lamed Ben Clifford is Lon's fictional creation. Lon thought all of us Hermetic Qabalists needed our own Rabbi, who would not sneer at our Tarot cards and pagan corospondences on the Tree of Life. Ben Clifford's Qabalah was for all of us and it was presented in a humorous style that made the otherwise dry subject come alive. It became one of the best introductions to the subject at least from a Hermetic perspective. The fictional Ben Clifford has passed away but he has left a legacy: a three degree Qabalistic initiation system based on the Sepher Yetzirah's Cube of Space and the Golden Dawn's Hermetic Hebrew alphabet corospondences. Starting with the Three Mother Letters in the first degree (the original tetragrammaton) the candidate next internalizes the Seven Double Letters attributed to the planets, and finally, in the Third and last degree, he or she, installs the Twelve Simple letters internalizing the entire Hermetic Qabalistic universe. This is all accomplished with mudras, flashing colors a pitch pipe and geometric mandalas. What we did with a  yoga system in "Hermetic Yoga, Beyond the Middle Pillar" (2015) Lon has done in a Temple initiation format. This little book of his is a treasure and will make Hermetic Magick come alive for everyone who conscientiously studies it.