The Hermetic Hour

The Hermetic Hour for Thursday, January 26th, 2012 with host Poke Runyon, will feature a discussion on the mystical science fiction of Philip K. Dick. For those unfamiliar with his writings this will hopefully serve to introduce you to a writer now considered to be in a class with Jorge Louis Borges, Kurt Vonnegut and, in my opinion, James Joyce. Several of Dick's novels have been made into films, such as "Blade Runner", "Minority Report", "Total Recall" and "The Adjustment Bureau." He transcended the 1960s' drug culture with concepts and themes that went deeper and more universal than the temporary insights of flower-power. He rides a pale horse through the night of a thousand brains in a race against sanity that will keep you confused and enlightened at the same time---and time itself may run backwards if necessary. So get out your Perky Pat layout, take some Can-D and  settle in for an hour of Divine Madness -- especially if VALIS calls in....

This Thursday, January 18th, 2012, at 8:00 p.m. Pacific Time, the Hermetic Hour, with host Poke Runyon, will present an in-depth interview with the distinguished author and researcher Joseph P. Farrell. We will focus on his 2007 book "The Philosopher's Stone, Alchemy and the Secret Research for Exotic Matter" from Feral House. In this work, Dr. Farrell traces the course of Alchemy from possible antediluvian secret science, through classical NeoPlatonist-Hermetic concepts, exotic medieval formulas, to modern quantum mechanics functioning on different model than Einstein's Relativity. We'll discuss the American Alchemical gold, the mysterious Russian "Red Mercury", the Nazi atomic bomb -- which they may have had before we did -- and the Tortion theory of quantum physics behind the awesome Nazi "Bell" project. This is a show that will bend your mind, and set you to wondering about the real history of history... Don't miss it.

The Hermetic Hour for this Thursday, January 12th, 2012 will feature a discussion, led by host Poke Runyon, on magical films and films of interest to magicians and pagans. We will start with the silent classics, and work our way through to the latest offering from HPLHS (the Lovecraft Historical Society) which is Whisperer in the Darkness. This will not be a detailed history of weird films, but rather a selection of what we consider the best, such as Cocteau's Orpheus, Orson Welles Black Magic, Bergman's The Seventh Seal, and others we consider artful and provocative. Please call in and offer your selections. So, tune in and we'll review "weird cinema."

This Thursday, January 5th, 2012 the Hermetic Hour, with host Poke Runyon, will feature a show on our new year, 2012 and the predictions, ancient and modern, concerning the end of our cycle, and, hopefully, a new beginning. We'll discuss the Mayan calendar, its relation to other cyclic predictions, and the whole range of prophetic predictions --  from he return of  Planet X to the alignment with the center of the galaxy and what that portends. We will try to balance the negative and positive aspects of all this, telling you what we think you ought to have in your survival kit, along with what spiritual resources we think you should try to cultivate. On the cynical side we'll review the history of Millenarian doom's day cults and have a chuckle over our "Doom-of-the-Month-Club." You get a free extra doom when you join. Currently we are offering the "Chinese Duck Poop Doom" as a freebie when you sign up. The Yellowstone Caldera Doom is this month's offering. And you should take the "Zombie Apocalypse" seriously because Homeland Security is using it as a training film. So, tune in and get ready for the last year you may ever enjoy!

The Hermetic Hour for December 29th, 2011, with host Poke Runyon, will feature a wrap-up of the years' shows, highlighting some of our best that you might want to listen to again. We will also venture a preview of some special shows coming up next year. Topics will include Carl Jung and his influence on modern magick, the science fiction philosopher-mystic Philip K. Dick and his Gnostic visionary writings, the PantheaCon event in San Jose with Feraferia and Jo Carson, J.R.R. Tolkien and the recovery of western folklore, to name a few -- and Frater  Limbeck has suggested Jack Parsons, and Julius Evola -- both fascinating subjects. We will also discuss the next year's Associate Member course, which will include our Pathworkings, so be sure and tune in for what's coming up in 2012 (before Planet X in December).

The Hermetic Hour for Thursday December 15th, 2011 with host Poke Runyon will feature a discussion on our Winter Solstice pageant Baal Samin, from  the Neo-Canaanite tradition. We will also mention Winter Solstice in the Feraferian Neo-pagan seasonal round. We offer an invitation to our regular listeners, and especially our new listeners, to call in and question or discuss any topic we've covered this year -- and to suggest ideas for next year's shows. What guests would you like us to interview? What  aspects of magick would you like to hear more about? We'll also review our Associate Member program, and up-date you on it's progress and its benefits. Now that the year is drawing to a close, we want to hear from you. Our listening audience is steadily growing, and we need to get your reactions, and suggestions. So, tune in, call in and interact.

The Hermetic Hour for Thursday December 8th, 2011 will purify the air after our Necronomicon show with a discussion on the Golden Dawn and Regardie's Middle Pillar ritual. We will trace its origin back to Felkin's Stella Matutina  (second generation Golden Dawn) in the early 1920s, then Regardie's expanded meditational version published in 1932. We'll mention the 1991 edited version compared to the original. We will compare this Sphere based system to Paul Case's chakra system based on the Golden Dawn's Path attributes. The Middle Pillar was the inspiration for our 1970s' Hermetic Caduceus, the fully developed Sephirotic chakra system based on "The Lightning Flash" upon the Tree of Life -- so tune in and let's bring down The Light.

Following our show on Chaos Magick, The Hermetic Hour for Thursday December 1st, 2011, with host Poke Runyon, will feature a discussion on the writings of Howard Phillips Lovecraft and their influence on modern magick, especially that of the Kenneth Grant, and Chaos Magick traditions. We will summarize the "Cathulu Mythos" and the history of the fabulous "Necronomicon." Although both are essentially fiction, we will discuss Lovecraft's dream recall method, and the idea, purposed by Kenneth Grant, that Lovecraft actually created  what must now be considered a genuine mythology. Lovecraft's demons, loved and feared by millions, have become as real as those of the Goetia -- at least in the subjective realm of magick. We will recount some humorous episodes involving Necronomicon fabrications, and we will read from the most complete text of the Mad Arab's hellish book, the alleged "John Dee Translation."  So, tune in and shudder at the blasphemous ravings of Abdul Al Hazred.

The Friday following Thanksgiving, November 25th, 2011 -- on a Solar Eclipse -- the Hermetic Hour, with host Poke Runyon, will explore the history, the philosophy and the methods of Chaos Magic(k). Our special guest will be Maestro Andrieh Vitimus, author of "Hands-On Chaos Magic"  from Llewellyn Publications. We will trance the origins of the Chaos tradition from Crowley, through Austin Spare, Kenneth Grant, and Peter Carroll, who formally launched the modern Chaos tradition with his classic "Liber Null." Without making value judgments we will try to define what the Chaos system offers in comparison to more traditional forms of magick. We will discuss its relation to Thelema, shamanism, yoga and astrology. We'll discuss the use of nuerolinguistics, and Freudian psychology in comparison to the Jungian orientation in modern Hermetics. The unique sigil and talisman techniques will be mentioned, and the influence of Bardon, Crowley, Grant and Lovecraft will be discussed. So, if you want to learn what the Chaos Illuminati are doing, and how they are doing it, tune in and get your Eschaton Immanentized.

On Thursday, November 17th, 2011 the Hermetic Hour, with host poke Runyon, will present a discussion on the relationship of the Hermetic Tradition with Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This topic was suggested by one of our listeners who wanted to know "Where does Jesus fit in the Hermetic scheme of things?" A very good question. The Hermetic Tradition interpenetrates, incorporates, may have influenced, and certainly enhances the mystic and philosophical aspects of all three of the great religions --- and especially the tradition of Freemasonry. The Hebrew Kabbalah is especially compatible with Hermetic concepts and Gnostic cosmology. Alexandria in classical times, a hundred years before the "Common Era" saw the birth of the Hermetic tradition, and may even have influenced Jesus -- more so than Buddhism, which was not familiar to the Greco-Roman world. The similarities between Christian and Hermetic philosophy led to the popularity of the Hermetic writings in the early Renaissance, and their brief acceptance by the Roman Church. Christians, Jews, and Sufi Muslims who are not prisoners of their dogma, find no problems working systems such as the Golden Dawn. If one can abide Freemasonry, one can enjoy the Way of Hermes. We will discuss early forms of Christianity that fit well with Hermetic doctrine. And we will discuss Jesus' teachings in relation to Hermetic philosophy -- So, tune in and we'll Witness for Hermes, and -- to quote Reverend Bobby-John: "We'll all be saved!"