All Episodes

On February 27th, 2022 The Host of the Hermetic Hour was the call-in guest of Masonic brothers At the Fort Worth, Texas Masonic Lodge's weekly Pod cast. Poke was interviewed by the Master, Worshipful brother Gabriel, who was very knowledgeable on esoteric subjects  and asked me some very provocative questions. We covered everything from my childhood, through, spearfishing, scuba diving, special forces, Novel and screen writing and the illness that got me into magick -- through self-hypnosis -- and on then into  anthropology, while doing the Golden Dawn and witchcraft, writing my Master's Thesis on Magick -- after which I did The entire Masonic program. Master Gabriel asked me: "After all those other traditions how did Masonry affect You?" -- "I'll be honest with with you, I Told him, I thought these Muggels couldn't show me anything; but they totally blew me away! The Third degree was awesome." I realized that I had been hit with the full force of a Three Hundred year old Egregore (collective spirit)Master Gabriel came in at that point for a Fuller more philosophical explanation of the term. We continued discussing magick,the nature of spirits,the Golden Dawn, astrology, Kabbalah and even reincarnation -- all in all it was a very enjoyable hour and a half with a lot of very stimulating conversation. I'll be responsible for what I said and nothing I said reflects official Masonic teaching or doctrine. Thanks to Bros. Billy and Wor. Bro. Gabriel for letting us rebroadcast it.

On Thursday March 10th, 2022 the Hermetic Hour with Host Poke Runyon will present a dramatic reading of Chapters Four and Five of his magical adventure novel The Tomb of Prester John. This will be of particular interest to those seeking to understand the origins of the Gnostic Mass and its roots in Valentinian and Simonic Gnostic traditions. Doc Roland's Lady archaeologist partner, a belly dancing former Scarlet Woman, channels both the spirits of Jesus's Mary Magdalene and Simon's Helen in their quest to find the Tomb of the medieval warrior priest king, while being stalked by her former lover Khalil Ibn Iblis, the Gnostic priest turned terrorist assassin. The Tomb of Prester John is a novel that delivers magical secrets in fiction form. In this episode you will discover that Gurdjieff's enneagram is the entrance to the Ninth Gate, that Jehovah is Popeye, and that The Gnostic Mass was originally Christian. So come with us on a quest for the Tomb of Prester John.

On Thursday March 16th, 2017 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon
will review and discuss Joseph P. Farrell's 2014 book "Thrice Greatest
Hermetica and the Janus Age".This is a confusing title for a sometimes
confusing book, but it is still worth our attention. Basically it
outlines an historical conspiracy theory that goes this way: The
Medieval Knights Templar (the first military industrial and
international banking conglomerate) in collusion with the Republic of
Venice launch a Roman Catholic Crusade allegedly aimed at Palestine but
deflected to Constantinople to destroy and loot the Byzantine Greek
Orthodox half of the old Roman Empire. The Templars are okay with this
but when the greedy Pope sicks them on the Gnostic Christians (Cathars)
in their own home turf, Southern France, they back out.
The Cathars are destroyed. The Pope's buddy the King of France asks a
loan from the Templars, they refuse him, so he and the Pope turn on them
and destroy them in France. But they survive in Scotland, England and
elsewhere. and they are still allied with wealthy Venice. They are an
underground network, Meanwhile the Roman Church allies with Genoa,
Florance and Spain. The Venetians and the Templars make it to America
before Columbus (a Genoavian-Spanish agent) but Columbus plants the
Spanish flag. The Templars and Venetians infiltrate England with a
culture war -- infusing the English (Dee, Fludd and Shakespeare) with
Hermeticism and the proxy war for the New World is on. Drake, Morgan et
allia against the Spanish. What a plot! Sounds crazy but Joe has a PhD
from Oxford in Medieval Church history so he is worth reading on
subjects like this. Tune in and we'll check it out.

On Thursday February 24, 2022 the Hermetic Hour with Host Poke Runyon will continue reading his magical adventure novel "The Tomb of Prester John". Thus far we have followed archaeologists Doc Roland and Sophie Iskandar, working for the CIA think tank Myth Tech searching for the legendary Tomb of Prester John and the fabulous treasure it holds. In these new episodes they fly to Berlin to discover the coded secrets in Prester John's letter to Frederick Barbarossa. Then off to Turkey where they team up with Nuri Renda an agent of the Turkish MIT and are stalked by Sophie's sinister terrorist boyfriend Khlil ibn Iblis. So tune in for cloak and dagger thrills.

On Thursday February 17th, 2022 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will discuss and review the current trend in Fantasy novels involving themes and characters from The Arabian Nights mainly the Jinn which King Solomon imprisoned in his sealed jars. A few weeks ago Poke had been putting together a show dealing with The CITY of BRASS from Burton's version of the Nights, citing it as an inspiration for many classic fantasy adventure stories. But then he discovered that an American Lady author, Shannon Chakraborty,  had in fact published a magical novel called The City of Brass in 2017. So he decided to postpone the show until he had read her book. He then discovered another British author Jonathan Stroud who had a series of Jinn fantasies called The Bartimaeus Triology launched in 2003 which he needed to catch up on.  And while we are at it we might as well throw in the old Victorian classic Vatheck by William Beckford (1893). So, if you would like to take a ride on a magic carpet, tune in and we'll be off.

On Thursday March 9th, 2017 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review Paddy Chayefsky's Oscar Winning 1976 motion picture Network. Network is a scathing satire on the intellectual and moral corruption of American Television networks, especially their News Departments. Much of the corruption Network presents was just beginning to come about in 1976, but was fully in place by the 1980s according to Dave Itzkoff in his book “Mad as Hell” 2014, and is presently erupting in the Network News Media's efforts to actually support the overthrow of the elected government of the United States of America. The focus of the 1976 film is t.v. Anchorman Howard Beale who is about to be fired for low ratings. Depression and alcohol have driven Beale to madness and he becomes The Mad Prophet of the Airwaves preaching his mantra chant: “I'm Mad as Hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!” This drives his ratings sky high until the Network entertains a bid from a Saudi Arabian conglomerate. Beale urges his viewers to protest the Arab deal to the White House and is successful in delaying the procedure. The head of the Network's corporation Arthur Jensen confronts Beale and convinces him that the New World Order has made populist democracy obsolete. So Beale goes back on the air trying to sell the Globalist agenda. Telling his followers that democracy is obsolete and that they should accept dehumanization. Of course his ratings drop to the cellar. But Jensen won't let the Network fire him, so the executives convince the radicals of their documentary Mao Tse Tung hour to machine-gun Beale in the studio as he comes on stage for his show. This will up their ratings and pay for Beale's deficit. It's all a business. That's the gist of it but stay with us and we'll dig deeper into this masterpiece of American prophetic cinema.

On Thursday February 23rd, 2017 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon
will present the the modern yoga ritual version of the Chemical Wedding
of Christian Rosencreutz. This is the fully developed Rosicrucian
version of Hermetic Yoga Beyond the Middle Pillar as presented in volume
one of Hermetic Yoga, Beyond the Middle Pillar. This advanced
version, draws upon The Naassene Document, the Gospel of
Philip, the Gospel of Mary, the Chemical Wedding itself, and the works of
Jacob Boehme and Johann Gichtel. This reveals that the Ninth Degree of
the O.T.O. and the Great Rite of the Gardnerians are both derived
from original Valentinian Gnostic Christian sources. So if you want to
experience some R-rated Rosicrucian yoga, tune in and we'll take you into
the mirrored chamber of the Sacred Marriage.

On Thursday February 9th, 2017 The Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon
will present the second part of The Chemical Wedding of Christian
Rosenkreutz by Valentin Andreae 1616, followed by an interpretation of
the symbolism in relation to internal alchemy, the extended Middle
Pillar chakra system and Valentinian Gnostic Christianity. We will
describe the Sacred Marriage within the adept him/or/herself as an
analog to the operations on the Sixth Day in the Tower of Olympus. We
will refer to works by Jacob Boehme, The creation of the Magical Child,
Johann Gichtel and the mysteries of the Spiral and the Lightning Flash.
And the Homunculus of Paracelsus. This is the lost Key to Rosicrucian
Sex Magick and the ultimate secret of the Hieros Gamos. Tune in and be
enlightened.

On Thursday January 13th, 2022 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review "Aleister Crowley in England" (2021) by Tobias Churton. This is the final part of Churton's serialized biography of The Great Beast, following on "The Beast in Berlin," "Crowley in America," and "Crowley in India." The compendium will be the most complete and best documented life of Crowley yet presented. This particular volume will present a side of A.C. his other biographers have not explored: Crowley the Gourmet Chef! Cook what Thou wilt shall be the Whole of the Menu! In the 1930s the Beast was considered the Sultan of exotic curry dishes and hosted the Lords and Ladies of London society at his festive board. We will give you a summary of his bill of fare, so tune in and bon appétit!

On January 6th 2022 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review all our  live broadcasts in 2021,starting with "The Lost Pillars of Enoch" from January 7th and summarizing all 19 new shows with "The Pagan Myth of Christmas" on December 23rd. So keep your pencils handy to jot down the one's you missed that you will want to search the archives for. And we had  some very good shows in this sad year.We are already planning a great line-up for 2022. Starting with "Crowley in England" next week.

On Thursday December 23rd,2021 the Hermetic Hour’s host Poke Runyon, will read his essay entitled The Pagan Myth of Christmas. As most of us know December 25th is a date selected to represent Winter Solstice, and thus correspond to the seasonal return of the Sun, making Jesus a Pagan Sun God. This is just one of the many Pagan myth themes adopted by Christianity in the formative years of the religion. The Cross of Crucifixion became the Cross of the Four Seasons, Churches were built on the sites of Pagan Temples. But what is not widely known is the connection between Paganism, Gnosticism, and Christianity. Jesus was a Pagan God modeled on Osiris and when we match him with the Canaanite Baal he becomes The Once and Future King of Israel the last of the Pagan Dying Gods. The Gnostic Christians believed there had been a succession of these redeemers represented by ancient Gods and Goddesses. So if you want to celebrate the mystery of Christmas, tune in and we’ll deck the halls.

On Thursday January 19th, 2017 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review and discuss the 1934 horror classic "Creep Shadow, Creep" by Fantasy Grand Master Abraham Merritt. This forgotten tale has influenced such modern films and t.v. shows as Dark Shadows and recently "Outlander." It deals with a family feud that carries on for thousands of years between reincarnating ancestors of two ancient Breton Celtic clans. The lord of Carnac and the Royal family of the legendary sunken city of Ys. In their present (1930s) incarnations an anthropologist, specializing in the occult (like Indian Jones) and a psychiatrist specializing in hypnotic age-regression with a beautiful daughter who was and is a reincarnating evil soul-stealing witch. This story was the second in a series of such tales by Merritt, being the sequel to "Burn Witch, Burn" (1934) which was made into a film with Lionel Barrymore and influenced both Twilight Zone and the "Chucky" series. So if you want to discover the roots of ancient evil surviving in the deep mind, tune in and we will explore the dark world of the creeping shadows. 

On Thursday December 29th, 2016 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon
will present a review and discussion on "Technocracy Rising" by Patrick
M. Woods 2015. This book documents the 1930's origin and rise of an
American totalitarian socio-political and economic system derived from
Plato's Republic that flourished after the 1929 crash and during the
prewar years of the Great Depression. In Technocracy scientists and
academics will manage the government of the country. Our Constitutional
Republic and its Capitalistic economy would be replaced by a
dictatorship. Technocracy's connection to the Eugenics movement and to
Nazism put it into eclipse until the 1970s -- When Technocracy reemerged
with David Rockefeller's Trilateral Commission and began to infiltrate
the U.S. government beginning with The Jimmy Carter administration in
the 1970s. Technocracy subverted the United Nations which soon became
its agent for a Technocratic World government. Like their cousins the
communists, the Technocrats claim to be democratic. They seek to replace
our currency based economic system with a cashless, energy credit
system. They have hijacked General System Theory to justify
environmental regulations to control energy. Of course the big problem
for the people under this system is loss of Freedom, loss of property,
loss of representation in government, and loss of what we consider basic
human rights. Even the socialist philosopher Bertrand Russell, when
examining Plato's Government of the philosopher kings, was forced to say
that only true democracy could protect basic human rights. So if you
want to know what the technocrats have in store for you when they get
back in office, tune in and we'll have a look.

will review the 2014 book by Tobias Churton "Aleister Crowley The Beast
in Berlin". This is apparently an expansion and compilation of outcuts
from the author's biography of Crowley and should perhaps be considered
an appendix to that work. Unless you are an ardent Crowley aficionado
it is a hard read. The book is primarily made up of excerpts from
A.C.'s. diaries and his correspondence mostly during his 1930s Berlin
sojourn as a struggling artist in the decadent twilight days of the
Weimar Republic. Along with a running account of the Beast's
metaphysical politics, sexual magick and artistic endeavors, Churton
manages to give us an in-depth look at the decadent sub-culture of the
Weimar Berliners and an appreciation of Crowley's talents as an
artist. So if you'd like to accompany the Beast to the Cabaret, tune in
and enjoy the show.

On Thursday December 1st, 2016, the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon
will review the recently published compendium of manuscript translations
dealing with the Homunculus, compiled and edited by Joseph Uncello from
Four Hands Press, Viatorium and Ouroboros Press. This is one of the most
remarkable books on alchemy and magick to have appeared since the
release of Picatrix. We now have Paracelsus's own detailed accounts of
the Homunculus operation.The creation of a humanoid being, using male
sperm in an artificial female womb. This is followed by other
Renaissance period authors elaborating on the process and presenting
eyewitness accounts of successful Homunculi experiments. We are treated
to works that seem to be the source material for The Chemical Wedding of
Christian Rosencrutz, the Tyrol experiment cited by W. Somerset Maugham
in his 1908 novel "The Magician," and the little King and Queen created
by Dr. Pretorious in the 1934 horror film "The Bride of Frankenstein."
For comic relief we have an Arabic version of the operation using a
sheep and a cow (without their consent) and for cultural diversity we
are treated to a poetic Taoist perspective on the process, and for
redeeming social value. We have a Valentinean Christian approach to
making a Magical Child by the German philosopher Jacob Bohme, which may
well have been the inspiration for Aleister Crowley's "Moon Child" --
So, If you want to delve into the dark secrets of creation, join us and
we will open up the forbidden book: Codex Homunculi.