The Hermetic Hour

On Thursday October 25th, 2018 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the late Medieval astrologer magician Cecco d' Ascoli who was burned at the stake by the Inquisition in 1327 a.d. for publishing books connecting astrology with magick, necromancy and demonology. In several ways he presaged the sad career of Giordano Bruno who went to the stake 273 years later in 1600 for a similar offense. Cecco expounded his magick on a geocentric universe model, whereas Bruno paganized (or demonized) a later Coperican universe. Cecco d' Ascoli may be considered the father of Solomonic ceremonial mirror magick. One of his most heretical revelations was a description of summoning (evoking) the demon "Floron", in a mirror of polished steel. Floron had fallen from the Order of Cherebum and served under the Goetic king Amaymon. Such a mirror was described in Picatrix and later depictions of it reveal that it was in fact a hand mirror. After Cecco's execution magicians no longer wrote of magick mirrors but their use continued until the present day. We will draw primarily from Lynn Thorndike's "History of Magic and Experimental Science", Volume 2 (1923) with current material from Christopher Warnock. So if you want to find out where this dark mirror magick got started, tune in and we'll pull another Italian magus out of the fire.

On Thursday October 11th, 2018 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review the classic study on Renaissance Magick by Dame Frances Yates (1899 - 1981), "Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition." (1964) This is a book that should be the cornerstone of any Hermetic student's library. Although the Italian philosopher and magician Giordano Bruno (1548 - 1600) is the main figure on which Yates centers her work, the book is in fact a broad study of Renaissance Hermetic Magick evolving from its Italian origins in the late Middle Ages and on through to Bruno's exposition of its post Copernican version. Hermetic Humanists accepted Copericus but the Church refused to abandon the geo-centric universe. Bruno, a Dominican monk was burned at the stake. Many considered him a Scientific martyr, but Yates contends that his heresies were Hermetic as well as scientific. So if you would like to explore the life and beliefs of Giordano Bruno, join us for a Hermetic Renaissance Faire.

On Thursday September 27th, 2018 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review the new Collector's edition of Kurt Seligmann's 1948 classic "The Mirror of Magic: A History of Magic in the Western World" and discuss Seligmann's career as a surrealist painter,  a scholar of the occult and a practicing ceremonial magician. This handsome new edition, published by Inner Traditions, is a faithful reproduction of the original. Poke Runyon inherited a 1948 copy Seligmann's  book from his late Master Frederick Adams (1928 - 2008) with Fred's annotations. It was Fred's first book on Magic and he treasured it. In his Introduction Seligmann wrote: "As an artist I was concerned with the aesthetic value of Magic and its influence on man's creative imagination." Fred Adams was also a very talented artist and was inspired by The Mirror of Magic, as we hope a new generation of readers will be when they discover this beautiful new edition of Kurt Seligmann's Masterpiece.

On Thursday September 13th, 2018 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will devote an hour to reviewing and updating the activities of our Active and Associate membership. We will discuss website participation and access. We will announce upcoming activities, events and programs for the remainder of the year. We are completing the Enochian Aethyrs and looking forward to the Seven Gates festival and Halloween Mot Mass.  This show is primarily for members but it should be of of interest to all our listeners. So if you want to find out what the people in the back room are doing, tune in and check it out.

On Thursday August 30th, 2018 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review and explore the almost one thousand page introspective philosophical and spiritual journal of the late California science-fiction writer Philip K. Dick. (1928-1982) This remarkable documentation of a classic mystical experience and its ramifications in and beyond the author's literary works. The exegesis is also a chronicle of a genius battling for sanity and a true religious philosophy as he lives and works through what is obviously and admittedly mental illness. Dick is best known for his darkly paranoid  science-fiction novels and stories. The novel VALIS (vast active living intelligence system) is the fictionalized version of his 1974 vision and much of the exegesis ruminates on its impact and significance. As a Roman Catholic Dick's vision is Biblical, especially Christian, but he analyzes it as Gnostic and Neo-platonic (Hermetic) and defines Christ as essentially female. He later defines himself as a neo-Marxist philosopher and gives us insights into the spiritual aspects of the 1960s and 70s counter culture that continue to perpetuate the social and political divide in our society today. So, if you want to spend an hour in the mind of Philip K. Dick join us and we will inquire within. As Above so Below, As Within so Without.

On Thursday August 2nd , 2018 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the alleged Parallel world or trans-dimensional ariel Queendom of the Sylphs known as "Magonia" that was documented in medieval histories and has recently inspired a fantasy novel of that title "Magonia" by Maria Headley (2015) and was the main theme for UFO authority Jacques Vallee's "Passport to Magonia" (1969-93) which delt with the Magonian "close encounters" from the 9th century and other supernatural visitations recounted in European folklore as early examples of alien sightings, close encounters, and abductions, on through to the mysterious "airship" reports from the American West in the 1890s, comparing them with modern reports and investigations. Vallee contends, and as Hermetic devotees we certainly concur, that most of these events are inter-dimensional rather than extra-terrestrial; that there are parallel worlds co-existing with us as near to us as our furniture. This is also the main theme of our film Beyond Lemuria (2007-14) and, as I mentioned last week, is set forth in the old Hermetic book "Comte d'Gablis" (1760) -- So if you'd like to spend an hour in the absolute elsewhere, tune in and we'll take you down the rabbit hole.

On Thursday July 26th, 2018 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will discuss the Mysterious Voynich Manuscript (Beinecke MS. 408) a late medieval herbal, alchemical and astrological book written in an unknown language and illustrated with pictures of plants and astronomical arrangements that are not of this world. Authorship was originally attributed to Roger Bacon (1214 - 1292) but carbon-dating placed the MS. in the early fifteenth century. John Dee and Edward Kelley have been suggested because of their similar Enochian language creation, but there is no proof of their involvement. The mysterious MS has fascinated both scholars and amateur researchers alike with solutions announced every year since 1943 when the U.S. Government code-breakers attempted to decipher it. A new solution was announced just a week before this broadcast and has already been discredited. The main reason most experts fail seems obvious to a Hermetic scholar. The Voynich MS was not written in cipher. It was written in a language and in an alphabet that has no analog on earth or in this earthly dimension. The key to finding the origin of the Voynich material might be found in another mysterious manuscript published in 1670. We will read this revelation as our contribution toward solving the mystery -- so put on your Indiana Jones fedora and listen in.

On Thursday July 12th, 2018 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon, will be visited by Lady Jo Carson of Feraferia who has just returned from a pilgrimage to our favorite lost city Nan Madol on beautiful Pohnpei Island in Pacific Micronesia. (Merritt's Moon PooL and Beyond Lemuria.) Jo and John will share their adventure with us and we will recall ours back in 1988 and recount the wisdom of the last "chumaro" (Pohnpeian Kahuna) Maseo Hadley as reported by Peter Arthur. So if you want to vicariously visit Lemuria then turn on your immaginator and join us.

On Thursday July 5th, 2018 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will be joined by author Stephen Flowers, Ph.D. to review and discuss the new revised edition of "The Fraternitas Saturni" (2018). This being the fourth version of the original copyrighted in 1990, and including previously unpublished material making this rendition sensational in occult circles. Flowers traces the FS from its beginning, with Crowley and the O.T.O. inspiring Gregor Gregorius in 1925, through its activities in the Wiemar era, its suppression by the Nazis, its revival after WW II and its eventual split into three bodies after Gregorius died in 1964. We are introduced to the "Adonism" of Franz Sattler (Dr. Musallam) a neo-pagan Venus-Adonis cult (!) that included Wilhelm Quaintscher and Franz Bardon who carried it with them into the Frateritas Saturni. We revisit the infamous FOGC black lodge from Frabato, and the Weida Conference in which Crowley attempted to take over organized occultism in Germany. Most importantly Dr.Flowers presents a detailed analysis of the Gnostic and Luciferian philosophies and doctrines behind the Saturian Gnosis. He outlines their cumbersome 33 degree system and their training program; much of it very similar to Franz Bardon's work. Of course the FS is most noted for its sex magick and we have one of those rituals provided. Quite frankly, this book raises as many questions as it answers, but It is well documented with references to works in German that some of us are going to want translated. So, if you want the answers to questions you had, and more questions you may want to ask about the Fraternitas Saturni then tune in and take notes. .

On Thursday June 28th, 2018 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion, by guest speaker V.H. Frater SithMeth on the Arbatel of Magic (1575), a grimoire calling up a hierarchy of Olympic spirits which is featured in The Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy attributed to Henry Cornelius Agrippa (1655). This is a very mysterious manuscript which was outlined and summerized in the first installment, but never finished. However there seems to be enough information, sigils and instructions in what was published for some practical application. Frater SithMeth will read his article on the Arbatel and we will explore the possible use in relation to planetary magick. So if quaint and forgotten books of lore fascinate you, join us and we will have a look at one of the most mysterious.