All Episodes

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.
 

On Thursday February 25th, 2016 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon
will present a reading and commentary on a chapter, by Fraters Thabion
and Solomon, from the forthcoming book Hermetic Yoga, Beyond the Middle
Pillar, Vol. 2, titled Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and the Holy Grail. This
will trace the story from Bethlehem to Camelot with some remarkable
surprises, such as Jesus was the grandson of King Herod the Great,
Jehovah was not his Father in Heaven, that he believed in equality for
women, and tolerance for the Gentiles. That he married a Phoenician
princess and sought to unite all Israel under the original Most High God
EL That his cousin Herod Antipas bribed Pontius Pilate to have him
executed, and that Mary Magdalene barely managed to escape with their
son to Southern France where they founded the Cult and the lineage of
the Sangreal -- Its all documented with the latest discoveries from
ancient archives, so tune in and we'll go beyond The D'Vinci Code.
 

On Thursday February 4th, 2016 The Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon
will present a discussion on the fascinating military and occult career
of Lt.Colonel Sir Francis Edward Younghusband (1863-1942) the conqueror
of Tibet (1904) and the author of several books on travel, adventure and
mystical philosophy. Colonel Younghusband was an officer in British
Special forces in India during a cold war between the British and the
Russians for control of the Central Asian highlands north of India in
the latter days of the 19th century. Their covert conflict was called
"The Great Game" and was the stage for high adventure. Rudyard Kipling
novelized "The Great Game" in Kim. In 1904 Lord Curson the Viceroy of
India sent Colonel Younghusband up into Tibet with an invading British
army to flush out the Russians whom Curson was convinced had infiltrated
the mysterious country. After slaughtering the primitive Tibetan army,
Younghusband took Lhasa but could not find a single Cossack, or even a
Russian rifle, However he did stay long enough to have a mystical
experience that transformed him from a ruthless conqueror into a
peaceful mystical philosopher. He retired to England to write books
about his adventures and his visions, which included life on other
planets, a philosophy of free love, a spiritual drama society and an
expedition to climb Mt. Everest. -- If you want to spend an hour with
the Colonel, tune in and we'll hit the trail going up.
 

On Thursday January 28th, 2016 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the Biblical personages Simon Magus and John the Baptist. We will discuss their association, their influence on the Gnostic movement and the rise of Christianity. We will have Frater Solomon as a guest commentator. Sources will be the works of Tobias Churton "Gnostic Mysteries of Sex" and "Mysteries of John the Baptist" also G.R.S. Mead's "Simon Magus" and "The Book of Enoch" which influenced Gnostic cosmology and the Mandanean books attributed to John the Baptizer. So if you want to be demystified about the Gnosis, tune in and we'll part the veil.
 

On Thursday January 21st, 2016 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon
will review the highlights of the previous year and discuss some of
the more noteworthy 2015 shows. This will also be a general call in
night for you regular listeners to give us your feedback and comments --
also suggestions and criticisms (however we decapitate trolls so don't
be one) Suggest subjects in the Hermetic area that you would like us to
discuss and cover in broadcasts this coming year. Our guest call in
number is: 347 857 1830. We go on the air at 8:00 p.m. Pacific Time and
sign off at 9:00 p.m. -- so let's hear from you.
 

On Thursday January 14th, 2016 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon
will present a commentary on and a reading of the Rubaiyat a Sufi poem
from medieval Persia by the mystic and astronomer Omar Khayyam
translated by Edward Fitzgerald and published in 1859. The Rubaiyat is
quintessentially romantic in style and content. It is said to reflect
the ancient cyrenaic hedonistic philosophy of Aristippus and extols a
libertine lifestyle in preference to piety. When I was a teenager I
needed to break away from Christian fundamentalism so I adopted the
Rubaiyat as my alternative to the Bible. I memorized the entire poem so
that I could quote seductive passages to Baptist virgins while drinking
beer on the beach at sunset. Ah! Those were the days! Or as Omar would
put it: "Alas that Spring should vanish with the rose, and youth's sweet
scented manuscript should close, the nightingale that in the branches
sang, ah whence and wither flown again who knows?" And so, if you yearn
to know "What Omar's moving finger writ, " then tune in and we will
inoculate you against excessive piety.
 

On Thursday January 7th, 2016 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon
will celebrate the New Year by announcing the release of "Hermetic Yoga,
Beyond the Middle Pillar, Volume One", on Amazon.com. Until this January
the sale of this book has been offered only to Active and Associate
Members of our Church and the O.T.A. at a special discount. Now we are
offering it to the Magical community at large. Hermetic Yoga is somewhat
controversial in its theoretical structure. It is a fully developed and
extended version of the Golden Dawn's "Middle Pillar" system which is
based on the downward progression of the Lightning Flash rather than the
planetary letter assignments on the Paths on the Tree of Life. Citing
Pythagoras, Robert Fludd, Jacob Boehme, Johann Gichtel, Rudolph von
Sebottendorff and Manly Hall, this Rosicrucian version of the Western
Interior Stars offers all the power and visionary magick of Eastern
Tantric practice to those of us here in the West. So if you'd like to
get inside yourself in a magical way and meet your Goddesses and Gods
then tune in and we'll raise your dragon for the New Year!
 

On Thursday December 24th, 2015 at 8:00 p.m. PT, the Hermetic Hour with
host Poke Runyon will review and discuss the magical historical novel
"Pythagoras the Mathemagician - by our friend and distinguished author
Karim El Koussa. This is a very important book for Hermetic students
because it makes the Pythagoras contributions to our Hermetic and
Qabalistic systems come to life by by recreating the life and work of
the man to whom we owe so much. And who better than a Phoenician scholar
to give us a biographic novel of the greatest of the Phoenicians, the
father of philosophy and the original Master of the mysteries. In this
book you will learn about the Masters' Egyptian initiations (very much
like our Crata Repoa), his mystic mathematics, sacred geometry, moral
and ethical teachings, vegetarian (vegan) dietary regime and his
cosmology The Music of the Spheres. So, if you want to find out how to
painlessly acquire a knowledge of the greatest of ancient Magicians,
tune in and we'll vist Crotona.
 

On Thursday December 17th, 2015 at 8:00 p.m. PT the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will have as our very special guest Dr. Paul Clark, Steward of the Fraternity of Hidden Light and author of the recent biography "Paul Foster Case" his life and works. Its Dr. Paul on Dr. Paul. Quite a fitting combination, as Paul Clark is certainly Paul
Case's successor in his Great Work in the Western Tradition. Paul Case (1884-1954) was a Golden Dawn adept who specialized in a study of the Tarot. When the Golden Dawn deteriorated in America in the 1920s Case carried on the tradition in his own school The Builders of the Adytum (B.O.T.A.). After Case's passing in 1954 the B.O.T.A. was continued by Case's protege Ann Davies. Paul Clark joined the B.O.T.A. under her tutelege and in 1982, after Ann had passed on Paul Clark and two others
founded The Fraternity of Hidden Light which carries on Paul Case's school in an G. D. style initiatory structure. Paul's biography of his Master is a labor of love and a must read for anyone interested in the history of occultism in America. You will learn more about the Golden Dawn in New York, Philly, Chicago and California than you ever expected to see in print. This book is a treasure of occult history and lore. And no one is better qualified to write it than Maestro Paul Clark, so tune in and spend an hour with Doctor Paul on Doctor Paul.