The Hermetic Hour

On Thursday February 14th, 2013 The Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will interview the distinguished scholar and author Geoffrey James whose historical novel "Sorcerer" on Elizabethan magus John Dee has just been released. It should be noted that Geoffrey James is also the author of "Enochian Evocation of Dr. John Dee," and "Angel Magic', both factual and practical works on the magical art. Geoffrey brings a unique combination of talents to his novel: he is an historian, a magician and a masterful story teller. There have been other novels based on the magical adventures of Dr. Dee and Edward Kelley, and some written by magicians themselves, but "Sorcerer" is far and away the best yet. The characters are real, the setting is alive, the story is gripping and the tragedy is classic. If Geoffrey had opted for a more reflective, less contemporary style, he could have expanded the book to 500 pages without breaking a sweat, and produced a piece of literature. But how well would that have sold in today's market? What he did was equally artistic: he produced a modern version, fast paced, emotionally charged, best-seller in thriller style, and still managed to keep the mood, the tone and the depth of a classic. I would give it six stars if I could. So tune in and meet the best author of magical fiction since Dion Fortune -- (and Geoffrey tells me he likes Jack Vance ! Perhaps Edward Kelley was Vance's model for Cudgel? )

On Thursday January 31st, 2013 the Hermetic Hour, with host Poke Runyon, will present a discussion on the mysterious and fantastic origins of the the popular magical role-plying board game Dungeons & Dragons. We will trace the beginnings of "Oriental Gothic" magical fiction back to William Beckford's early 19th century novel "Vathek", a decadent Arabian Nights fantasy with diabolical themes, through Lord Dunsany's creation of exotic fantasy realms for his magical tales, to the early 20th century master Clark Ashton Smith who created the first "Dying Earth" setting he called "Zothique," the last continent under the dim Sun of a world soon to end. This idea was carried on by sci-fi-fantasy writer Jack Vance in his own cycle of "Dying Earth" stories in which he created the unique system of wizard spell-casting adopted by Dungeons & Dragons game players -- so, if you want to learn about the spell "Of Forlorn Encystment," or "the Excellent Prismatic Spray," tune in and we'll learn how it was done before Harry Potter.

On Thursday January 17th, 2013 the Hermetic Hour, with host Poke Runyon, will present a report on our New Year's Day field trip to the famous "Integratron" near the Mojave Desert community of Landers, California. This marvelous building, or machine, created by scientist-mystic George Van Tassel in the 1950's, and featured in "Weird California," is a New Age shrine. Originally designed and constructed by aerospace engineer Van Tassel from plans and technology received from space-faring Annunaki, it was intended to be a giant electrostatic generator which could regenerate human tissue, create an inter-dimensional vortex, and even (according to rumors) act as a time machine. Physically it is a huge dome with remarkable acoustics. Although it fell into disrepair after George (Van's) death, it has now been beautifully restored -- even though the giant centrifuge has yet to be engaged (there are plans...) the building iteself is a magical experience. We enjoyed a crystal bowl "Sound Bath" inside the dome and felt wonderfully centered and invigorated. A Greatly Honored Frater in our group vibrated Holy Names of God in the central channel of the dome with awesome effect. We also visited remote "Giant Rock," the huge boulder out in the desert where George Van Tassel was first contacted by a UFO. You can read his own account of this experience in his "The Council of Seven Lights" which reminds us of Urancha, Phylos and Sitchin. We were hosted in nearby Joshua Tree by one of our sisters who prepared a breakfast for us that even the Elder Gods would have enjoyed. So join us Thursday and we will share the Integratron experience.

On Thursday, January 3rd, 2013 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on Sir Francis Dashwood's 18th century "Hellfire Club." We will recount the outrageous exploits attributed to Dashwood and his cult of "randy rakes' and merry ne'er-do-wells who called themselves "The Medmenham Friars" or "Franciscans" after "St. Francis" Dashwood, their founder and sponsor. Lots of fun, but behind all this naughtiness there was a genuine libertine appreciation for the erotic beauties of Classical Paganism. Dashwood was closer to Thomas Taylor and William Beckford, and the later Norman Lindsay -- and even our own Frederick Adams, than to De Sade and the French satanists. The Medmenham Frairs were certainly libertine, but their devil was Pan, not Satan, and their diety was the Goddess. Dashwood, before Crowley, was influenced to replicate Rabilias' Abbey of Thelema and carved "Do What Thou Wilt" across the door to his chapel. From Dashwood we get "The Frair's Club" and probably "The Bohemians." He was a successful politician and public servant, married and respectable until slandered in the press in his later years. Hopefully we will have Dave and Ann Finnin call in. They visited "The Abbey" and were conducted through the infamous grotto by the present Earl of Dashwood, and can give us a first hand look at the remains of a Pagan enclave that flourished at the time of the American Revolution.

On Thursday December 20th, 2012, the Hermetic Hour, with host Poke Runyon, will review William R. Mistele's latest book "Mermaids, Sylphs, Gnomes, and Salamanders." The author will call in and join us, as he did when we reviewed his first book on the subject "Undines, Lessons from the Realm of the Water Spirits." (see archives). Bill Mistele is a Hermetic magician of the Bardonian school and uses Franz Bardon's catalog of Elemental spirits as his happy hunting ground for channeling Elementals. Whereas Undines concentrated on the female water Elementals, this new book takes us through the whole spectrum. This time he refers to the classic Undines by their more common title "Mermaids," but they are the same Bardonian spirits. Mistele is a poetic, and very romantic writer--and a very talented skryer. He channels the Kings and Queens of the Elements, and presents their view and perspective with a sensitivity and insight that is as convincing as it is inspiring. These nature spirits are as Pagan as they are Hermetic, and in reading this latest book I am constantly reminded of the works of Fred Adams and the philosophy of Feraferia. I wish Fred and Svetlana were with us to enjoy Bill Mistele's revelations, and his delightful poetic prose style. So, tune in and meet the Boswell of the Elementals.

On Thursday December 6th, 2012 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon, will present a discussion on the Masonic scholar and author Albert Pike, his legacy and his unique contributions to American Masonry and the Western Esoteric Tradition. Pike was and still is a very controversial figure. He was also a paradox: opposed to slavery, he still served as a general in the Confederate army. He was an advocate of Native American rights and led a regiment of Confederate Indians against the Yankees whom they hated. He was the father of Scottish Rite Masonry in America, rewriting and organizing a jumble of continental Masonic degrees into a coherent system that has become the largest Masonic jurisdiction in the world. He was an occultist much influenced by Eliphas Levi, and a proponent of the Hermetic Tradition which he showcased in his favorite Scottish Rite degree Knight of the Sun (the former 28th degree), which he devoted more text to than any other degree in his classic "Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite." Even back in the 19th century he was a lightning rod for anti-masons, being the alleged Luciferian Master of the mysterious lady sex magician "Diana Vaughan" in the great French "Palladian Hoax". So if you want to get the inside story on this giant of American Masonry and his efforts to preserve the ancient mysteries behind Freemasonry, tune in and we'll shed some Light on the subject.

On Thursday November 15th, 2012 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will discuss the legendary Balkis, Queen of Sheba and her place in the equally legendary tales of King Solomon. We will uncover the amazing historical facts behind her almost forgotten ancient empire, to which Arabia owed whatever traces of civilization it had remaining when Mohammed unified the Arabs under Islam. We will reveal a strange Turkish alternative version of the Masonic Temple legend, the Casting of the Brazen Sea, in which Sheba becomes one of the three Grand Masters. In this rendition of the story Sheba and the Architect are children of the Jinn, whereas Solomon is only human. We will mention Sheba in the medieval alchemical tradition, and her connection with the fifth degree of Crata Repoa. So tune in and we will learn what Solomon, Balkis and Hiram were doing behind the veil.

On November 1st, 2012 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the relationship of ancient Canaanite mythology to Solomonic ceremonial magick. We will begin by establishing the legendary Biblical background of Solomon the Wizard King and his mystical powers, his relations with Hiram of Tyre, the Queen of Sheba, and his building of a temple to the Goddess Astarte. We'll mention the Canaanite priest king Melchizedek who anointed Abraham long before Moses. We will mention the Masonic legend in this context, and how Solomon united the Jews and the Canaanites to build his Great Temple. We will cover the Ra- Shamra/Ugarit Canaanite texts, their connection to the Holy Grail legend, and our own reconstruction of ancient Canaanite seasonal ceremonies. Then, the following week we will present the conclusion of our reconstructed Canaanite legend: "Prince Aqhat and the Magick Bow." -- So, tune in and get the inside story on King Solomon's magical religion.

On October 18th, 2012 the Hermetic Hour, with host Poke Runyon, will present another appreciation of magicians and writers on magick who have influenced modern Hermetic philosophy and practice. In this particular case Paschal Beverly Randolph (1825-1874) is the man to whom we owe the most and have remembered the least! He was a genius, a scoundrel, a best-selling novelist, an idealist and a marvelous clairvoyant. He was a champion of women's rights but he was also an advocate and a teacher of sex magick. He supplied most of the practical teachings for The Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor, and also influenced Theosophy, the Golden Dawn, Franz Bardon and Aliester Crowley. He introduced concentration techniques for use with magick mirrors, but he also experimented with and recommended what are now illegal drugs. He was the bastard son of a high ranking White politician and his beautiful African American mistress. Randolph's life would make an exciting epic film. He was a merchant seaman, a world traveler, a spiritualist, an alchemist, and a mysterious celebrity that inspired and empowered magick in the early 20th century. So tune in and find out where the secrets really came from.

On Thursday October 4th, 2012 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the anthropologist-shaman and allegorical fiction writer Carlos Castaneda (1925-1998) and the teachings of his mysterious mentor the Yaqui sorcerer Don Juan Matus.  This serves to be more of an appreciation of Carlos and Don Juan than a critique. We will focus on what many consider his best work: "Journey to Ixtlan." So tune, turn on, and "stop the world."