All Episodes

On Thursday July 21st the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will
review two new books in the Hermetic field:
"The Emerald Tablet" by Martin Faulks from Faulks Books and " Liber
Spirituum" compiled and edited by Adam Forrest from Azoth Press. The
Emerald Tablet is only 84 pages, and follows upon Martin's first
publication "The Universal Master Key" (2013) (reviewed by the Hermetic
Hour on March 26th, 2015). Martin Faulks is an ardent Bardonian and the
Emerald Tablet is a commentary on that ancient document from a Bardonian
perspective. Martin brilliantly analyses each paragraph or aphorism of
the Tablet in relation to the Four Hermetic Elements in a process of
internal alchemy and the ascent and descent of the Holy Spirit on the
Middle Pillar. The second new publication is "Liber Spirituum"
from Azoth Press, (251 pages hardbound) which is a compilation of
articles on traditional magical evocation, invocation, and talisman
making edited and introduced by Golden Dawn authority Adam Forrest. This
is a beautifully bound limited edition, featuring inclusions by John
Michael Greer, Chic and Tabetha Cicero, Aaron Leitch, Bryan Garner,
Jeffery Kupperman, Scott Stenwick and Isadora Forrest's account of her
forty day Raphael-Tiphareth retreat meditation which for me was the most
inspiring and memorable aspect of the book. I was also impressed with
John Michael Greer's article which reveals his own Lodge's interest in
the "Nassaene document" and "From Ritual to Romance" which we have been
writing and lecturing about for years. All considered Liber Spirituum is
a very impressive and useful work, so if you want to learn what's new in
the Hermetic universe, tune in and we'll have a look.

On Thursday July 7th, 2016 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on Ayn Rand's magnum opus Atlas Shrugged (1957) from a Hermetic Perspective. This book has been read by almost as many people as the Bible. It is particularly important today because it predicted the deterioration of American industry and infrastructure under socialist governmental regulation. Rand's principal characters are heroic industrialists struggling to keep their enterprises going under worsening conditions. Until a Genius inventor named John Galt convinces them all to quit and let the looters and the parasites of socialism try run the country without them. Hence the title: Atlas, he who holds up the world, Shrugged.. Whether you love it or hate it the novel is powerfully written and the characters are dynamic. They resonate with frustrated achievers in today's America. Atlas Shrugged is Hermetic in the same way that Freemasonry is Hermetic. It is an elitism of the creative mind. The builders, the doers, the engineers, and the artists. We will examine this principle in Hermetic philosophy and even compare Atlas Shrugged to Aleister Crowley's Diary of a Drug Fiend (1922). We will examine Ayn Rand's background in relation to the message of the novel – so if you find the world weighing down on you – and who doesn't these days, tune in and we'll try to shrug it off.
 

On Thursday June 23rd, 2016 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon and
guest Jo Carson will present a preview- review of her forthcoming book:
"The Green Pulse Oracle - A Tool for Eco-Psychic Insight." Lady Jo
Carson is the President of Feraferia, America's First Goddess-centered,
Ecology-oriented Neo-Pagan religion founded in 1967 by Artist and
philosopher Frederick Adams (1928-2008). Jo Carson is the leader of
Feraferia and dedicated to preserving
and continuing the work of Fred Adams and his consort Lady Svetlana
Butyrin. As a film maker Jo has produced and directed "Dancing with
Gaia" (2009) a documentary DVD on ancient and modern Paganism centered
on Fred Adams and Feraferian activities. She is the author of "Celebrate
Wilderness" (2014) a portfolio book of Feraferian art, text and photos.
She is presently readying "The Green Pulse Oracle" for publication. This
is a system of divination similar to Geomancy and I-Ching. It is based
on Fred Adams' further development of Robert Graves' Tree Alphabet from
his modern classic "The White Goddess." Adams delineated and extended
Graves' twenty Celtic Ogham glyphs into a twenty-four letter system that
he mounted on a series of Hermetic Enneasphere mandalas coordinating
them with the Trees, the Tarot Trumps, astrological and planetary signs,
and myth themes. Jo Carson reconstructed the system from Fred's
rudimentary publications, notes and graphics. We have experimented with
the Oracle and found it to be remarkably accurate and inspiring. So join
us as we explore the divinatory magick of an American master as revealed
by his worthy successor.
 
 

On Thursday June 16th, 2016 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon
willl present a review of the 2010 book
Babylon's Banksters, the Alchemy of deep physics, high finance and
ancient religion, by Joseph Farrell. Although this book is somewhat
dated in light of current events, it is important in that it presents
the background of world-wide financial manipulation from a Hermetic and
Magical perspective. Farrell quotes authoritative sources to establish a
relation between business cycles planetary allignments and Solar
activities, lending credit to astrology, ancient aliens and even the
Pythagorean music of the spheres. The book raises more questions than it
answers but it is fascinating and filled with provocative inormation,
such as the investment formula developed by a Chinese communist Triad
Tong family that brought on the 2008 Great Recession (shades of Fu
Manchu !) So if you want to know how evil magicians manipulate the stock
market tune in and we'll give you an overview.
 

On June 9th, 2016 the Hermetic Hour with Host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the secret meaning behind Abraham Merritt's classic Fantasy novel “The Moon Pool.” (1919). This Lost Race fantasy adventure story, similar to Rider Haggard's “She”was very influential on other fantasy writers, movie makers and comic book writers and artists. It was one of the major sources of the 1940s “Shaver Mystery”. Moon Pool is based on the idea that the Moon was pulled out of the Earth half a billion years ago when our young world was in a molten state, leaving a huge cavity in the area of the Central Pacific, which sealed itself over and eventually became a vast air filled cavern under the ocean. A subterranean world with its own flora, fauna and people. Its only connection to the surface world is the ancient ruined stone city of Nan Modal on Panape island in the Central Pacific Ocean. In these haunted ruins is a mysterious doorway that only opens when the Moon is full, revealing The Moon Pool from which rises a fantastic alien being that resembles an animated and illuminated kabbalistic Tree of Life. It is called “The Dweller” or “The Shining One” – a beautiful, alluring vampiric creature that stalks human prey, harvesting and feeding on their souls. The Dweller or Shining One is worshiped as a god by a faction of the Murians, who are as evil as their diety and are plotting to conquer the surface world. Into this setting come a group of adventurers from our world – so we can have a hero and a heroine to save both worlds ( love conquers all) -- and someone to tell the story. That, as the Irish say, is the gist of it. But there is a lot more behind the scenes in Moon Pool than just a good story. So If you want to learn the horrible secret of the Shining One then tune in and listen as we open the door to The Moon Pool.

On Thursday May 26th, the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will
present a preview of his forthcoming occult adventure novel "Hell on
Heaven's Reef" which takes place on mysterious Pohnpei (Ponape) Island
in the centrral Pacific, home of the Lost City of Nan Modal which was
the entrance to the undersea caverns of Lemuria according to writer
Abraham Merritt in his 1919 adventure fantasy classic "The Moon Pool"
Film footage of our expeditions to Nan Modal can be seen in Beyond
Lemuria. The advance promo for this book in "Drell Master" reads: "Join
former Green Beret treasure hunter Jason Hardee on an expedition to
mysterious Pohnpei Island in the Pacific as he searches for an ancient
relic that holds the dark secrets of world conquering power. Jason
battles ruthless mercenaries, fanatical cultists, native black magick,
giant tiger sharks, and a killer hurricane, while two ravishingly
beautiful women battle over Jason! Hell on Heaven's Reef is is epic in
scope, an adventure that begins before the Ice Age, carries through with
19th century American whalers of the Hardee family sailing from Maui to
Ponape, and culminates with Jason Hardee returning to find the treasure
of his ancestors. So join us and we'll set sail for High Adventure.
Special thanks to Gordon White (Star.Ships) for inspiring us to finally
get this book on the fast track.
 

On Thursday May 19th, 2016 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will
air a discussion on the noted British 19th century occultist,
spiritualist and magician Frederick Hockley ( 1809 - 1885 ) mentor of
Francis "the Magus" Barrett and Kenneth "the Cypher manuscript
Mackenzie". Hockley was an ardent Freemason and Rosicrucian with genuine
Rosicrucian connections and documents.He was a collector and a
transcriber of occult manuscripts and several of his once rare treasures
are being reissued today. We will read Hockley's account of "Raising the
Devil" (a homunculus in a bottle) from "The Rosicrucian Seer" by John
Hamill, and then discuss our own attempt to replicate this operation. We
will discuss Hockley's influence on the Golden Dawn and the occult
revival. So if you'd like to "Raise the Devil" with old Fred Hockley
tune in and we'll get it on.
 

On Thursday May 12th, 2016 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will
present an interview with British author Gordon White featuring his book
"Star.Ships, a Prehistory of the Spirits." Gordon is a journalist, a
magician, a scuba diver and a scholar of prehistoric archaeology. He and
host Poke Runyon have both explored the lost city of Nan Madol above
ground and underwater at different times. In the book Star.Ships Gordon
focuses on the accumulating evidence of lost, sunken, and buried ruins from
the antediluvian (Ice Age) period such as Gobekli Tepe and others along
with genetic evidence of the migrations of early man to develop a
remarkable thesis regarding our astrological mythology.  He proposes that
the spirits of the stars, the zodiac, are antediluvian and that the rise
of planetary gods and spirits are post diluvian -- with the end of the
Ice Age (15 to 12,000 years ago) being the demarcation point. He will
concede some extraterrestrial contact (Temple's Sirius Mystery) but
prefers inter dimensional spiritual realms more in line with Jacques
Valle and Carl Jung as the source of alien contact. Poke Runyon agrees
with Gordon White on almost all of his points and heartily recommends
Gordon's book. So if you want meet Gordon and spend an hour with us
exploring this fascinating subject, tune in and we'll learn about the
prehistory of the Spirits. Special thanks to Frater Isa for arranging this
great show.
 

On Thursday April 28th, 2016 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon
will present the concluding chapterof the first volume of my Inner Plane
fantasy novel Adamson's Quest, The Library of the Ages -- in which the
Hero Enoch Adamson in his role as the Fool of the Tarot finally reaches
his goal the Library of the Ages, which represents the Sphere of Hod at
the upward terminis of the 31st Path on the Tree of Life. Here Adamson
will meet his mentor and sponsor Hermes Trismegistus and receive the
answers to his questions from a council of sages including Jesus and
Mary Magdalene and even Nicolo Machievelli at a dinner party which is
modeled on Steve Allen's "Meeting of the Minds" format. This novel was
begun in 1973 when we first began to develop our Qabalistic Path Working
program. So if you want to sit in on an Inner Plane esoteric council
meeting join us and be enlightened.
 

On Thursday April 21st, 2016 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will discuss his Magical Inner Plane novel Admson's Quest and offer a dramatic reading of Chapter Eleven. This fictional journey up the paths of the Tree of Life was begun back in 1979 in the old pamphlet style Seventh Ray and has been continued in the new journal version of T7R since 1999. The final installment Chapter Twelve is in the works and should be ready by next week. We did a show on Adamson four years ago that is still available in the archives for those who wish more background on the story. Adamson's experiences reflect the anxieties of the times (late 1970s) he tries to overcome psychosomatic illnesses, psychological neurosis, Freudian complexes, Jungian archetypes and Qabalistic paradoxes, while dressed as the Fool in the Tarot, more recently he deals with contemporary problems: reptilian illuminati, pollution, invasion of privacy, social engineering, virtual reality and military-industrial corruption. So, if you want to join the 2084 Army's virtual reality nano-tank corps and battle giant mole-crickets (Mike Charlies) in the non-whitehouse lawn then tune in and let's roll!
 

On Thursday April 7th, the Hermetic Hour's host Poke Runyon will be
joined by V.H. Frater Heracles for a discussion about the application of
Traditional shamanic drumming techniques to Hermetic Magick. We will
also review and discuss Michael Harner's latest book "Cave and Cosmos"
in relation to the O.T.A.'s Qabalah, Solomonic ceremonial evocation,
Initiations, pathworkings and Hermetic Yoga. Michael Harner is the
founder and leader of The Foundation for Shamanic Studies. He is
universally recognized as the foremost authority and most respected
teacher on Shamanic philosophy, spirituality, and method. So if you would
like to learn how to drum your way into the lower, middle and upper
worlds, then tune in and pick up the beat (180-220 per minute).
 

On Thursday March 31st, 2016 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a review of John Michael Greer's new translation from the Latin version of "De Imaginibus of
Thabit Ibn Qurra" titled "Astral High Magic". This book replaces an earlier publication translated by Christopher Warnock in the Renaissance Astrology list. De Imaginibus is the technical side of Sabian elective astrology. How to make talismans. Thabit Ibn Qurra was the most famous of the Harranian astrological magicians. We will also discuss the Sabian planetary magick and hermetic affiliations. The surviving Mandanean cult claims to be preserving their traditions along with works attributed to John the Baptist. We were first on the scene with Sabian lore in our 1999 Book One, of the Seventh Ray (the Blue Ray) with our translation, from the German version of the Arabic original, of the Sabian planetary rituals from Picatrix. So if you want to know how to keep scorpions out of your house, among other things, tune in and we'll see how the Magi do it.
 

On Thursday March 17th, 2016 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion and book reviews on Magick in Colonial America. Frater Thabion (Poke) will deal with H.P. Lovecraft's "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" a novel of necromantic alchemy set in Colonial Providence Rhode Island.Lovecraft's occult source material will be Poke's main focus. Our guest Frater Phergoph from The Valley Forge Encampment in Pennsylvania will discuss Daniel Harms "The Long Lost Friend" a new translation of a Pennsylvania Dutch grimoire from the Colonial period. This should be a fun evening for you East Coast witches and warlocks.
 

On Thursday March 10th, 2016 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon and Guests Lady Jo Carson of Feraferia and Lady Ann Finnin of the Roebuck, will have a discussion on "Fairy
Magick". We will recall the classics in this field such as "The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries," Evans-Wentz,(1911) "The Faerie Queen" by Edmund Spencer (1590) and more recently
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Sussana Clarke (2004) Lady Jo will mention other recent books in the field, including one she is working on involving Fred Adams extrapolations from Robert Graves' Celtic "Tree Alphabet" from "The White Goddess" (1946) which should be a veritable Qabalah of fairyland. Lady Ann will mention the Roebuck's connections to Celtic fairy lore. I will delve into "The Book of Oberon" (2015) a translation of an Elizabethan 16th century magical compendium mixing Solomonic and fairy lore in a compendium similar to the Lemegeton - and including Lemegeton material. So let's all spend an hour under the hill with the changelings and the little people -- and remember what the old cunning man said: "Aye! You can see them if they want you to." He also asked: "What is your name? What is your quest? What is your favorite color?"
 

On Thursday March 3rd, 2016 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will have as a special guest occultist and author Ann Finnin who will discuss her latest book, a romance novel with an occult theme called "The Dear Departed".In this case the title tells the story: A Victorian age romance novel dealing with spiritualism. Ann informs us that the story is told in Dion Fortune's style and the hero is a roguish Hermetic magician aiding the prim Victorian heroine against a Svengali-like spiritualist. cult leader. Ann Finnin is also the author of The Sorcerer of Saint Felice, a novel of magick and alchemy in medieval France. Ann is the High Priestess of the Roebuck a Celtic Wicca tradition. She is a certified hypnotist, an accomplished
astrologer and a talented harpist. She can be seen officiating as priestess in our Rites of Magick video, and as The Enochian speaking Christian charismatic in Beyond Lemuria. So, join us for an hour with Ann Finnin and The Dear Departed.