All Episodes

On Thursday February 22nd, 2018 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon
will present a discussion on the life and career of the 18th century
magician and alchemical adept who called himself  Count Alessandro
Cagliostro. He was perhaps the most colorful and adventurous character
in our Hermetic tradition. Vilified as a rogue, a scoundrel, and a
charlatan by the academy and the Church in Europe he was loved by the
common people for his healing touch and alchemical medicines which he
administered freely to the poor, and dearly to the rich. He claimed to
be able to create gold to support his charity work and lavish life
style. He and his glamorous wife Lorenza founded an androgynous 
quasi-Masonic Egyptian rite which allegedly involved nudity and sex
magick. Cagliostro was featured as an anti-hero in a series of novels by
Alexander Dumas, and depicted on film by Orson Welles in the (1949 )
movie classic BLACK MAGIC. We will consult Sax Rhomer's ROMANCE of
SORCERY ( 1914 ) for a more accurate version of the Count's adventures
than Dumas' novels and the screenplay offer -- so if you'd like to meet
the real Count Cagliostro, tune in and we'll follow him on his journey
as he invented himself.

On February 8th, 2018 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present the Legenda of the first Degree of Crata Repoa Reformado. Which we call the Fellowship of the Grail. A Legenda is the scenario of a esoteric degree. It describes the degree delivering most of the essential knowledge and symbolism but leaves out certain "secrets" such as grips, secret words and procedures. Crata Repoa is the oldest system of Magical degrees and is based on first century Alexandrian Hermetic writings and rituals. We will briefly outline the original 18th century system and explain some of our modern additions and inclusions. So if you'd like to find out what really goes on in a Magical Initiation tune in and be illuminated.

On Thursday August 17 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a review and discussion of Robert A. Heinlein's 1959 science fiction novel Starship Troopers and the 1997 film version. Poke will be joined by Max Paul (Frater SithMeth)in the discussion of this controversial cult classic. Set in a future interstellar time period where Earth is the center of a Federation (similar to Star Trek) With a government which appears to be based on Plato's Republic. The Earth is attacked by a race of intelligent insects who control meteors as weapons of mass destruction. The Federation must fight to survive. The story of the war is told from the viewpoints of young people who join the military, serving in all branches. They come together in the climax in a final battle which turns the tide in favor of the Federation.The Federation is presented as an authoritarian state that appears superficially fascist, more so in the film than in the novel. Actually its concepts of Citizenship are more socialist than fascist. Heinlein was a liberal democrat who had come to believe that liberal democracy had failed. Like J.F.Kennedy he seemed to be saying: "Ask not what your country can do for you, but rather what you can do for your country." As a former paratrooper, this is one of my favorite novels and films. I hope you enjoy our exploration of this Classic.

On Thursday January 25th, 2018 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will re-visit and review the 1950 science fiction novel “Wine of the Dreamers” by John D. MacDonald (1918-1986) This was his first science fiction novel. MacDonald went on to become one of America’s best Detective Story writers. “Wine of the Dreamers” set twenty-five years in the future (1975) the story interweaves two sets of characters on two different planets. The director of an early United States space program Bard Lane, and his staff psychiatrist Sharan Inly on Earth and Raul Kinson and his sister Leesa on the distant planet of the Dreamers. The Dreamers are the decadent descendants of the original human race. Millions of years ago they colonized Earth and two other planets in other solar systems. They maintain contact with the colony worlds, including Earth, by the use of long-range telepathic dream-machines. They call themselves “The Watchers” and they have a prime directive: To keep the colony worlds from developing space travel. And the dreamers do this by demonic possession sabotaging space programs such as the one Bard Lane and Sharan are managing in New Mexico. But the dreamers have degenerated to the point where they no longer believe that the people on the other worlds whom they possess have any real reality. They think they are creations of their dream machines for their entertainment. Very much like our video games. So the dreamers can create mayhem and chaos for amusement. However Raul Kinson is a throwback to an earlier age. He knows the truth and wants to help Bard and Sharan. The end result of this alliance of the minds between the worlds makes for a fascinating sequence of what-ifs – so if you want to find out who is watching and listening between your ears, from beyond the stars, tune in and we’ll go back to a future that never was but might yet be coming.

On November 2nd, 2017 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will
present a discussion on the Biblical mystery man Melchizedek who appears
in the first book of the Bible, Genesis, and later in the New Testament.
Melchizedek literally means King and Priest or Priest-King. He was said
to have given the first communion to Abraham in the days before Joseph
became a leader in Egypt. Although legendary he was said to have
established an order of priesthood to rival that of Moses
brother Aaron. He represented the original Canaanite god El ("the most
High God") whereas Aaron's priesthood was that of Moses' Jehovah
(Yahweh). After the Babylonian captivity Ezra attempted to overwrite all
references to El in the Bible and make Jehovah the supreme being. The
New testament declares twice that Jesus the Nazarene is a priest after
the Order of Melchizedek -- We will look at this in relation to the
Egyptian and Phoenician situation at the time and later Gnostic
Christian writings. So if you want to do some Biblical detective work
tune in and we'll solve the mystery.

This last weekend, July 22nd through the 24th, The Ordo Hermeticus Mysteriorum held its long postponed (due to the pandemic) conclave at Mt, Shasta Resort, Mt, Shasta, California. Attending were nearly thirty officers of the Order (R.R. et A.C.) Led by worshipful Paul Clark and Gracious Lady Cindy Forbes. Guest Speakers were Right Worshipful Kevin Townley (author of 'The Cube of Space") Chic and Tabatha Cicero (noted Golden Dawn authorities) worshipful Merrick Rees Hamer (G.D. Temple Chief, C.H.S. Vice President and Phylos in BEYOND LEMURIA, which was shown on the 24th) and Carroll "Poke" Runyon (Frater Thabion, OTA Magister and President of C.H.S., writer and producer of BEYOND LEMURIA). Poke's Lecture "Hermetic Yoga" was assisted by "The Head" created by V.H. Frater SithMeth (Max Paul) which is shown above with the event coffee cup and the rose given to us by Wor. Paul Clark.
          The text of the lecture follows and will be presented on the Hermetic Hour this week and then, with the power point illustrations included became a video on the Ordo Templi Astartes You Tube channel.

On Thursday October 12th the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon and special guest Frater Soun of Ubar will discuss the mythical Labours of Hercules in relation to the Hermetic tradition. We will develop the background of the myth evolving from Babylon's Gilgamesh through Melqart of Phoenician Tyre into the ancient Greek hero myth so often seen in films and television. We will look at works by Manley Hall, Albert Pike, Robert Graves, Alice Bailey and especially the French author Charles Francois Dupuis (1742-1809) who seems to be the only scholar who
has sequenced the twelve labours in proper Zodiacal order. The labours of Hercules are a chart of the souls journey through a cycle of lifetimes. They represent the great wheel of birth and death and are considered one of the Keys to the mysteries. So If you want to follow the big guy with the lion skin and the club tune in and we'll go adventuring.

On Thursday October 5th, 2017 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon joined by Frater Soun, Magister of Ubar Lodge in Dallas, will air a discussion on the evolution of the the Solar Hero in mythology from the Sumerian Gilgamesh who was the model for the Phoenician Melqart, who in turn inspired the Greek Heracles. Gilgamesh is a four thousand year old epic adventure story which circulated throughout the whole Middle East with copies found among the Hittites and the Canaanites. Even as Ishtar and Tammuz were translated into Astarte and Ba'al, and subsequently became Aphrodite and Adonis. Gilgamesh like Hercules slays a lion, a bull, a giant and many-headed monster. His victories and Hercules' labours are seen as representing the sun's yearly progress through the signs of the Zodiac. So tune in and we'll go back to the  days of myth and legend and make our way through "The Circle of the Beasts" as the Zodiac was originally called.

On Thursday September 7th, 2017 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon
will present a follow-up to our previous review of "Sekret Machines"
(2017) by Tom DeLonge and A.J. Hartley. In this program we will look at
their major source work: "Insiders Reveal Secret Space Programs &
Extraterrestrial Alliances" (2015) by Michael E. Salla, Ph.D. and his
(2017) sequel "The U.S. Navy Secret Space Program & Nordic
Extraterrestrial Alliance." These books and the plot of Sekret Machines
are primarily based on the revelations of the age regressed whistle
blower Corey Goode and other former U.S. Navy and Air Force operatives
in a parallel secret advanced Space Program with alleged bases on the
Moon and Mars. We will also examine Tom DeLonge and Peter Lavenda's
(2017) book "Gods, Man and War" which establishes the historical and
anthropological validity of the Ancient Alien and UFO connection without
evoking secret space program conspiracies. So if you want to return to
the absolute elsewhere for another hour, tune-in and we will have both a
critical and a sympathetic look at this phenomenon.

On Thursday August 31st the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a review of the recent best selling novel: "Sekret Machines - Chasing Shadows" by Tom DeLonge and A.J. Hartley. This book purports to be The Truth about "The Phenomenon" (UFOs, Ancient Aliens, the Nazi Bell et alia) presented as fiction. It is very effective as a Dean Koontz-Dan Brown style multiple-viewpoint thriller. Readers will at first believe that this is a novelized version of the "X-Files" t.v. series but the final chapter proves that the 1940s Shaver Mystery by Raymond A. Palmer and Richard S. Shaver was the real inspiration for this project. We do not say this to discredit Sekret Machines but rather to recommend it. So if you want to spend an hour in the Absolute Elsewhere, tune in and we will take the elevator down to the "deep utilities" and visit with the Deros who run The New World Order.

On Thursday June 23rd, 2022 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will reappraise and read from the Hermetic classic  "Three Books of Occult Philosophy" by Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, first published in 1533 in Latin. This master work has been the foundation study of Hermetic science, Magick and mysticism for nearly 500 years. It is divided into three sections, or books: 
The Natural World, The Celestial World, and The Divine World. The first, The Natural World dealt with The Hermetic Elements, the second The influence of The Heavens, Stars and Planets upon human affairs and events and the third the Divine World, dealt with the spiritual sciences of Magick and Qabalah. Unfortunately many students get these volumes as a reference work. Agrippa intended it to be read and studied from beginning to end as one continuous and contiguous work. The Hermetic Elements of the Natural World are reflected in the Celestial World, and spiritually empowered and directed from The Divine World. We will demonstrate this with selected readings from the first Volume. We will be reading from the newly translated 1533 Latin edition from Inner Traditions translated by Eric Purdue. So if you want an old fashioned introduction to wizardry, tune and we'll start you on the path.
 

On Thursday August 17th, 2017 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon is
honored to present a review and discussion on the new book of magical
fiction "Stories of Magic and Enchantment" by William Mistele, with the
author as our guest. This book is handsomely published by Falcon Books,
a new publisher in the field. As regular listeners will recall, we have
supported Bill Mistele from the beginning of his writing and publishing
career, having had him on as a guest with his first book "Undines"
(2010). This was followed by "Mermaids, Sylphs, Gnomes, and
Salamanders" in 2012. As you might suppose Bill is very much into
Franz Bardon's Hermetic Elemental personifications. He writes from a deep
empathy for sacred nature and its spirits, encountering them in human
form as magicians often do. He favors the feminine spiritual
perspective. His stories are remarkably free from the usual horror and
conflict we associate with supernatural fiction. We might say they are
totally opposite to Lovecraft, while being lovingly crafted. Bill has a
degree in philosophy and has spent years studying and meditating with
Buddhist and Taoist teachers. He finally devoted himself to the
Bardonian system of magic and has more books in the works. So, if you
would like to meet a true magical maestro and learn about his visionary
work, tune in and be enchanted.

On Thursday July 20th,2017 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will
present the dramatic conclusion of Shamgar, the Purple Dragon by Poke
Runyon. The first part of this Biblical adventure was aired on September
4th, 2014's Hermetic Hour and has remained unfinished until the original
manuscript was rediscovered. Now we can complete this Cecil B. DeMillish
Biblical epic from the Book of Judges. Shamgar's saga recounts how a
Phoenician Pirate who claimed to be descended from Pagan Gods, becomes a
Judge of Israel and battles the Philistines, slaying them with an ox
goad years before Samson used the jawbone of ass. Shamgar almost becomes
Israel's first King but his magical ox goad is passed down to a future
contender at the beginning of the common era. So if you want to enjoy
the Old Testament from a Canaanite perspective, tune in and join us as
Shamgar rides again.
 

On Thursday May 26th, 2022 The Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon and guest Maximilian Paul will review and discuss Howard Phillips Lovecraft’s tour-d-force horror novel “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward” written in 1927 and published posthumously in 1941. This macabre epic has influenced the works of Stephen King and Clive Barker and has inspired two film versions, which we will also review and discuss. The Charles Dexter Ward story deals primarily with traditional supernatural themes: Alchemy, Necromancy, Medieval black magic, vampirism and demonic possession. The central character Charles Dexter Ward is a young scholar in Providence Rhode Island in the 1920s who becomes fascinated with the history of his notorious 17th century ancestor Joseph Curwen. The wizard Curwen had moved from Salem to Providence to avoid the witchcraft trails in 1699. He was an alchemist fascinated with a necromantic version of palinogenesis; raising the dead from their cremated remains. He with two equally sinister European sorcerers began grave robbing; collecting the remains of dead sages and scientists to learn their secrets. They also discovered secrets of immortality. This worked against Curwen in Providence where he showed no signs of age for forty years. He did manage to marry so as to leave a bloodline so that he could return – which he did in1928 when he possessed his great-great grandson Charles Dexter Ward through a strange portrait in his old house which young Ward had moved into. Young Ward is possessed by Curwen and eventually finds his grave and brings him back to life. But Old Curwen then murders young Charles and usurps his modern identity. However the Ward family physician Dr. Willet, and Ward’s father have Curwen (believing him to be Ward) committed to an Insane asylum. And that is where the story begins. So stay with us for all the inner secrets of what many consider to have been Lovecraft’s best horror novel.

As most of our active and Associate Members know we are mainly focused on Solomonic Ceremonial magick, but we also use the Aethyr System from Dee and Kelly’s Enochian corpus, which provides us with an operative alternative when the Moon is not well aspected for Goetia. The Aethyr System, originally called “Terrestrial Victory” and was a thirty-level spherical model of the Universe with the Earth in its center and the Aeythrs or Heavens (Gnostic Aeons originally) surrounding and expanding from the terrestrial center like the layers of an onion with the lowest as number 30 TEX rising on up to LIL as number one enclosing the outer limit of the circular universe. All of these levels are related to the Four Elemental Tablets, called The Watchtowers which relate to the celestial sphere and are positioned around the magic circle. Each of these Aethyrs have angelic governors whose sigils are outlined on the tablets. This is derived from Kamea Magic. The Aethyrs themselves derive from Valentinian Gnosticism, and the Book of Revelation The Magicians who explore these astral realms will activate the tablets, with Enochian Calls, and then scry into an orb on the altar within the magic circle. You can see this in our introductory video “The Rites of Magick.” We have discussed this on the Hermetic hour before but tonight we are going to go much deeper into the mysteries and paradoxes of this powerful system of magic. So, if you want to learn how to open Pinhead’s (Choronzon’s) Box tune in and chant with us: Zacar od Zamran!