All Episodes

On Thursday June 19th, 2014 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will
present a discussion on the English translation of "Secret Practices of
the Sufi Freemasons" by Baron Rudolph von Sebottendorf first published
in German in 1924. This is a highly controversial book by a notorious
author. Sebottendorff was the founder of the Thule Society which
Germinated (pun intended) into the Nazi Party. When he tried to take
credit for that the Nazis kicked him out and sent him back to Turkey.
How he managed to be a devout Muslim and a Nordic pagan at the same time
is one of the many mysteries this book conjures up. Transcending his
politics and fanaticism there is very provocative and profound occult
knowledge in this book --- much of it hidden even to European students
until recently. We will compare Sebottendorff's revelations with Gerard
de Nerval's "Sufi" version of The Masonic Temple Legend, and P.B.
Randolph's discovery of a Syrian Love Cult which may have been the
original source of the O.T.O.'s 9th Degree. So, tune in and find out how
the Sufis get a grip on themselves.
 

On Thursday May 9th, the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on interdimensional alien phenomenon inspired by the book “Hunt for the Skinwalker” by Colm Kelleher (2005). Our guest will be Very Honored Frater Heracles of Avalon Lodge in Texas who will recount his own close encounter with UFOs and share his thoughts on this and the Skinwalker anomaly. The book describes the long lasting ordeal of a cattle ranching family whose Utah ranch was literally haunted by these interdimensional beings and/or machines. They encountered huge wolves that were impervious to gunfire, horrible mutilations of their live stock and inexplicable physical phenomenon. A team of scientists began observations on the property and were able to confirm the family’s incredible accounts. This haunted ranch was called “A Pathway for the Skinwalkers” by the local native Americans. This book is similar to “The Mothman Prophecies” by John Keel (1975) So, if you want to peek behind the curtain, tune in and spend an hour with us in the Land of Oz.
 

On Thursday May 2nd, 2018 The Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present the official Vision and Mission Statement of the Church of the Hermetic Sciences and its fraternal order, the Order of the Temple of Astarte. This is the same document that is in our training manual and delivered to new initiates when they begin training. It gives our history, our philosophy, our traditional initiatory system, our accomplishments, our special programs: yoga, visualization, ceremonial magick, alchemy, divination, soul-travel and celestial qabalah. As a bonus feature we will discuss the mystery of the Pagan Communion Set and the mysterious magical alphabet inscribed thereon. We will direct you to our website where you can see it and perhaps help us solve the mystery. So join us and get magical.

On Thursday June 12th, 2014 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will
present a discussion on ancient and modern Multiverse concepts in relation
to Hermetic Magick, the Qabalah, astrology and Fortean phenomenon. We will
examine philosophical. scientific, literary and cinematic models of the
Multiverse, sometimes called the "Holographic Universe" or "Parallel
Worlds." We will trace the idea through the "nesting spheres" of the
geocentric age, to the heliocentric Renaissance, the invention of the
telescope and the discovery of other galaxies and anti-matter, both in terms
of science and the pages of science fiction. Our references will be
Mary-Jane Rubenstein's "Worlds Without End," Michio Kaku's "Parallel
Worlds," the science fiction of Phillip K. Dick, and Richard S. Shaver, and
films such as "The Matrix," "Dark City," and "Lost Highway." Our challenge
will be to reconcile ancient Hermetic philosophy with the Multiverse
concept --- so, if you want to go through the looking glass or down the
rabbit hole, tune in and we will tour the endless "nows" of the Simultane.  
 

On Thursday April 18th, 2019 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will air a discussion on the future impact of Artificial Intelligence on human creativity and individual expression. Will it serve us or will it dominate us? We will start with a recent article in the L.A. Times April 16th: "That Computer can call my Agent" which deals with A.I.s writing screenplays. We will look back at Asimov's "Foundation." We will visit "Drell Master" (2001) and its World dominating computer "Jaskamoor" and finally the final chapter of "Adamson's Quest" for the Hermetic perspective. So if you wonder whether they will serve us, or we will serve them. Tune in and make up your mind (before they make it up for you!)

On Thursday April 11th, 2019, the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon
will invite V.H. Frater SithMeth to discuss his recent expedition to Pluto's Cave north of Mt. Shasta.
This is the same Lava-tube cavern complex that we used as a location in
our 2007 science-fiction film BEYOND LEMURIA. It is considered a
spiritual location and has been used for Shamanic visionary retreats. It
has also been connected with the legend of J.C. Brown's  lost Lemurian
treasure. We discussed the Cave on our broadcast "Mystical Mt. Shasta"
in January, 13th. 2011. Which you can still access. So, join us as we
once more enter the underworld and share mystic experiences.
 

On Thursday, June 6th, 2014 The Hermetic Hour will present a reading by Poke Runyon (Fra. Thabion) of his 1976 essay "Negative vs. Positive Gnosis" from Gnostica magazine, no. 40. This is an important instructive paper dealing with the ancient and modern spiritual differences between Thelemic (libertine) Gnosticism, Hermetic neo-Platonism and ancient and modern Paganism (wiccans, druids, etc.) These differences are so deep and so misunderstood that many New-Agers involved in the Occult do not know what they profess to believe in. They participate in various groups simply because they are attracted to the style and glamor of the organization and because it provides a rebellion against the religion of the parents. The article explains the fundamental differences between  Gnosticism of the negative world view and Hermetic magick of the positive world view, comparing them to the Pagan and neo-Pagan "natural" world view. You will discover how similar Thelemic Gnosticism is to the Fundamental Christianity it rebels against, and how similar Hermetic magick is to Tantric Buddhism. This paper will be reprinted in text form and posted as an instruction on our web site. So tune in and become transcendentally demystified.

On Thursday May 28th, 2014 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will
review the 2008 book "The Music of Pythagoras" by musicologist Kitty
Ferguson. This is a wonderfully erudite and deeply meaningful book on
the accomplishments, and lasting influence of the most important of the
pre-Socratean philosophers, and perhaps the most important ancient
avatar of the Western Esoteric Tradition. As a musicologist Ferguson is
able to fully expound on the master's development of "The Music of the
Spheres" from mythical Orpheus through Kepler to Close Encounters of the
Third Kind (we can all whistle that one). The Pythagorean harmonious
universe of music, mathematics, and geometry has been re-validated in
modern times with the advent of new theories in quantum physics. It was,
of course, the bed rock of Qabalah, Alchemy and Magick. We will
demonstrate some applications of the Pythagorean magical scale used to
activate psychic centers (chakras) and discuss the employment of these
techniques in magical operations. So tune in, tune up and we'll sing
along with the planets.
 

On Thursday March 21st, 2019 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the various traditions of the Underworld from the mythologies, religions and folklore of cultures around the world with our guest Very Honored Frater Solomon. Michael Johnson (Frater Solomon) is a Bible scholar with a background in Social Science. Mike has compiled maps of the underworld which locate the Hells of the major religions. Your host (Frater Thabion) will join in with references to Kenneth Grant’s “Tunnels of Set”, Shaver’s dero caverns, the underground kingdom of Agartha and the Shamanic under and over worlds and the proto-psychological Kabbalistic metaphore of The Nepesh, the Nechamah, and the Ruach. So if you want to take the E-ticket ride through the Great Fun house below the horizon, tune in and we’ll go below.

On Thursday May 22nd, 2014 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will
present a review on a very important recent book on the Hermetic Tradition
by Dutch author Jacob Slavenburg titled: "The Hermetic Link." Reviewing this
book will be a team effort between the host and our esteemed guest Frater
Ophis (Freeman Presson) who beat us to the punch and reviewed Slavenburg's
book on his website two years ago. How did we miss it? No excuse because it
should not have been missed. Certainly there have been other surveys of the
Hermetic Tradition, usually combined with other related elements such as
Kabbalah, Rosicrucianism, magick, etc. but this is the best and most
complete tracing of the great Hermetic Gnosis from ancient Egypt, through
Alexandria, Harran, the Dark Ages, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the
so-called "Enlightenment" and the present modern age. Slavenburg takes us
from Zosimus to the Kybalion in a sympathetic, very thoughtful and
comfortably philosophical style. He quotes Peter Kingsley ("Reality")
frequently and does as good a job as Kingsley in getting across the deepest
meaning of the Hermetic Mystery (the Great I AM) - perhaps he does it better
in that he uses excerpts from Hermes to reveal the treasure we ardent
Hermetic devotees hold so dear, whereas Kingsley in Reality depended on
pre-Hermetic Parmenides and Empedocles. If all this is Greek to you, it
shouldn't be and Slavenburg goes a long way toward establishing the true and
enduring magnificence of our venerable Tradition. Tune in and get yourself
Hermetically sealed. (Preserved for the next incarnation.) 
 

On Thursday March 7th, 2019 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review and comment on the 1948 science fiction novel by Stuart J. Byrne “Prometheus ll” recently republished by Armchair Fiction. This remarkable work, like so many early science fiction efforts was set in a future time, in this case 1970, and predicted a Third World War between the United States, its traditional allies and post Soviet Russia. Of course Russia did not become post soviet until the 1990s, but the Russian leader in Byrne’s novel seems and acts a lot like Putin. In this story the Russians are allied with China and they have conquered all of Latin America. They are on the verge of swarming our southern border. But their leader Nicholas (not Valdamir) has literally made a deal with the devil (the deros of the subterranean world) which has escalated World War lll into another dimension and brought in the forces of Agartha, the subterranean good guys and finally the Elder Gods (the original ancient astronauts) who arrive from hyperspace just in time to save the human race. Of course we have a pair of young Army officers and their sexy Army nurse girl friend, who team up with the underground good guys and Space Gods to help save America and humanity. It would have made a great Saturday Morning serial but at least it got its debut in Amazing Stories, March 1948.
 
So tune in and we’ll put it on old time radio for you.

On Thursday February 28th, 2019, the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon
will review and discuss "The Eighth Tower" by the late UFO investigator
John A. Keel (1930-2009). He was most noted as author of "The Mothman
Prophecies" (1975) and film (2002). Keel was more interested in monster
sightings, like the mothman and big-foot than he was in UFOs but he
believed that the two phenomenon were related and emanated from the same
source. He was an ardent successor to Charles Fort "The Book of the
Dammed" (1919) which was a collection of fantastic anomalies such as UFO
sightings, monster sightings and other fantastic events such as rains of
frogs and ghost ship sightings. Mostly newspaper clippings collected
from the beginning of the industrial age to the First World War. Like
Charles Fort, Keel was a journalist who continued the collection from
the 1920s, through the UFO era. The Eighth Tower is a Fortean book but
with an agenda that Fort was very cryptic about. What do all these
strange things mean mean? Fort concluded that "We" humankind, "Are
property." Keel expands on that. After continuing Fort's bizarre
collection he brings in Carl Jung's Collective Unconscious, the world
soul, universal mind and the Seven Demonic Towers of the Yazidis and
postulates an Eight Tower that is a sort of empyrean Godforce over the
rest. This is not an easy book to get through but it will take you down
the rabbit hole, so join us for some Fortean adventuring.
 

On Thursday February 21st, 2019  the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon
will reprise a discussion on different interpretations and conceptions
of Qabalah. This is a subject we have covered before, however, that was
years ago before we started climbing The Tree in our weekly lectures.
Now that we have arrived at The Abyss and and are venturing onto The
Eleven Sphere "Tree Before the Fall", it is appropriate for us to review
our Hermetic Qabalistic structure and establish the philosophical,
mythological and metaphysical differences between the various Kabbalahs,
and the particular innovations we have made in our modern Hermetic
version of the ancient system. Tune in and we'll play Monopoly on the
greatest board game in the universe.
 

On Thursday February 14th, 2019 The Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon
will present a discussion on the first Ancient Astronaut Theorists,
before Van Daniken, Sitchen, and the rest there was Richard Shaver and
Ray Palmer and the Shaver Mystery. In recent years more and more of
their fantastic 1940s revelations about Ancient extra-terrestrial Aliens
and their high technology and their continued influence on, and
interfearence in, earthly affairs (mind control and child trafficking
and madness) has been confirmed and exploited by later whistle-blowers
such as Tom Delonge, Corey Good, David Witcock and others. It seems that
Shaver and Palmer wrote their History Channel documentary scripts but
are never credited as the source. Are these Ancient Aliens still with
us? "Our original Ancient Astronaut theorists say yes!" So tune in and
let's return to the thrilling days of yesteryear and revisit The Shaver
Mystery.
 

On Thursday April 3rd, 2014 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will
present a special program discussing the O.T.A.'s Pathworkings beyond the
Sphere of Chesed. These Paths lead to the re-manifested Sphere of Da'ath,
which in the Eleven Sphere Tree becomes Saturn, the beginning of the
physical universe and the gateway to the Abyss. This concept and its
practical applications are covered in "New Tarot Trumps for an Eleven Sphere
Tree of Life" in THE SEVENTH RAY, Book III, "The Red Ray." We will also
discuss the Golden Dawn's eleven sphere tree and the idea of the Tree before
and after "The Fall." This is a Key lecture and lesson in our study program.
So tune in and we will journey to Mot's Back-o'-Beyond.