All Episodes

The Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the late Medieval astrologer magician Cecco d' Ascoli who was burned at the stake by the Inquisition in 1327 a.d. for publishing books connecting astrology with magick, necromancy and demonology. In several ways he presaged the sad career of Giordano Bruno who went to the stake 273 years later in 1600 for a similar offense. Cecco expounded his magick on a geocentric universe model, whereas Bruno paganized (or demonized) a later Copernican universe. Cecco d' Ascoli may be considered the father of Solomonic ceremonial mirror magick. One of his most heretical revelations was a description of summoning (evoking) the demon "Floron", in a mirror of polished steel. Floron had fallen from the Order of Cherubim and served under the Goetic king Amaymon. Such a mirror was described in Picatrix and later depictions of it reveal that it was in fact a hand mirror. After Cecco's execution magicians no longer wrote of magick mirrors but their use continued until the present day. We will draw primarily from Lynn Thorndike's "History of Magic and Experimental Science", Volume 2 (1923) with current material from Christopher Warnock. So if you want to find out where this dark mirror magick got started, tune in and we'll pull another Italian magus out of the fire.

The Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the alleged Parallel world or trans-dimensional ariel Queendom of the Sylphs known as "Magonia" that was documented in medieval histories and has recently inspired a fantasy novel of that title "Magonia" by Maria Headley (2015) and was the main theme for UFO authority Jacques Vallee's "Passport to Magonia" (1969-93) which delt with the Magonian "close encounters" from the 9th century and other supernatural visitations recounted in European folklore as early examples of alien sightings, close encounters, and abductions, on through to the mysterious "airship" reports from the American West in the 1890s, comparing them with modern reports and investigations. Vallee contends, and as Hermetic devotees we certainly concur, that most of these events are inter-dimensional rather than extra-terrestrial; that there are parallel worlds co-existing with us as near to us as our furniture. This is also the main theme of our film Beyond Lemuria (2007-14) and, as I mentioned last week, is set forth in the old Hermetic book "Comte d'Gablis" (1760) -- So if you'd like to spend an hour in the absolute elsewhere, tune in and we'll take you down the rabbit hole.  

The Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a review of William Leonard Pickard’s magisterial novelized biography “The Rose of Paracelsus”(2019). This 650 page masterwork is already considered literature by the academic community. Like Mallory’s “The Morte de Arthur” “The Rose” was entirely written in prison. It recounts Pickard’s academic, scientific, and extra-legal career from the early 1960s until his arrest and subsequent imprisonment in 2000. It is beautifully written, fast paced and well structured. It is subtitled “On Secrets and Sacraments” which aptly describes what it delivers. Pickard was not only a psychedelic alchemist, he was also an intelligence asset (say researcher) for the Ivy League think tanks and indirectly for government agents. So conspiracy theory and even UFO buffs will be pulling quotes from The Rose for the next decade. Pickard connected with an international network of psychedelic alchemists and visited each in a world tour that reads like a James Bond adventure. Returning to the U.S. he visited his mentor the venerable psychedelic sage, Sasha Shulgin, who warned him against a demonic cultist who inhabited an abandoned underground missile base used for an LSD laboratory and an orgiastic temple. But like a character in a Richard Shaver or Sax Rohmer story Leonard Pickard was lured into this hellish underworld where psychedelics were used to enslave and abuse young women. And because this cult had better government connections than Pickard, he was set up to take the rap for their criminal activities. He was given two life sentences in Federal Prison. Fortunately he has just been released and we hope he will be listening to this broadcast. So. Turn on, Tune in, and learn what’s under the rose.  

The Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will revisit the 1908 occult classic "The Kybalion" by Three Initiates and reveal just who those three initiates were. In 2008 Philip Deslippe issued the "Definitive Edition of the Kybalion" which he claimed was entirely the work of William Walter Atkinson (1862 - 1932)In the next few years Golden Dawn scholar Mary Greer did more research and discovered that Anna Kingsford and Edward Maitland had written a version of the Hermetic corpus that presented the same seven principles as the Kybalion. Both Kingsford and Maitland had passed away by 1908 and Richard Smoley edited yet another Kybalion in 2018 (the centenary edition) returning the byline to the Three Initiates, declaring the authors to have been: William Walter Atkinson, Anna Kingsford and Edward Maitland. We might also mention that Golden Dawn scholar Robert A. Gilbert discovered that Anna Kingsford was actually the mysterious Fraulein Sprengle who helped create the Golden Dawn. Her connection is revealed in our book: "Secrets of the Golden Dawn Cypher Manuscript" which is available from < pokerunyon.com > So let's take another closer look at the Kybalion and its recent editions.  

The Hermetic Hour with your host Poke Runyon will lead a discussion of one of the most influential modern occult classics, the mysterious, mystical "Kybalion" by "Three Initiates." This little blue book has been treasured by students of the Western Mysteries since its first publication back in 1912. Our very special guest will be Rev. Paul Clark, Steward of the Fraternity of Hidden Light (and the Master Jesus from "Beyond Lemuria") who is perhaps the best qualified scholar-teacher to explain who the original authors were, where their philosophy came from, and why the book is still very important and meaningful. I will try to explain the connections to actual Greek and Greco-Egyptian (Hermetic) philosophy in this modern classic. This is going to be an enlightening hour unveiling the secrets of an obscure and mysterious work. Tune in and get inspired and demystified.
Also discussed: the need for a scholarly, annotated reissue, the book's historical context in Alexandria and Theosophy, and how these ideas surface in contemporary fiction such as The Dark Brotherhood.

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 Pohnpei 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.

The Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on recent reports of an alleged underground war being waged by American special forces soldiers against a coalition of traitors and demonic aliens in a subterranean network of DUMBs (deep underground military bases ) connected to a tunnel network excavated and still inhabited by ancient Satanic humanoids usually described as “demons.” This vast underground network is said to extend worldwide. It was first revealed to the public in 1886 by French writer Alexandre St. Yves d, Alvedre, who claimed it was a subterranean kingdom under Tibet with tunnels that reached everywhere in the world. It was forgotten until 1922 when Ferdinand Ossendowski exposed it again in his best-seller “Beasts, Men and Gods.” Although he may have gotten the story from the Mad Baron of Mongolia who probably got it from St. Yves book, or perhaps from the drunken High-Lama of Mongolia who probably got it from the Mad Baron. In any case a Science-fiction writer (who was also mad) Richard S. Shaver re-ran it as series of truth-based fictional adventures in Amazing Stories right after the end of W.W. II. Shaver gathered a fan base of true-believers, including this reporter at age 16. This evil underworld was peopled by satanic mutants armed with ancient ray machines which could be used for mind-control, sadistic torture or seduction. It made great pulp fiction. Even after I outgrew Shaver, I couldn’t resist making a movie based on his Mystery. In 2007 we released BEYOND LEMURIA which includes all of the elements the present Underground War Reports are featuring: Government and military involvement, Satanic depravity, child-trafficking, and UFO super-science. Tonight we will focus on these current reports and the actual evidence of these underground facilities. So if you want to know what’s really down there stay tuned and we’ll go down the rabbit hole. 

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 Wilcock 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.  

The Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the lost and forgotten magical fantasy novel by the infamous science fiction hoaxer Richard S. Shaver. Actually Shaver's editor Ray Palmer was the hoaxer; Shaver believed he was writing "the truth' about the survivors of ancient extraterrestrials still living in caverns below and plaguing surface people with mind-control ray machines. This dubious expose was called "The Shaver Mystery" and dominated the pages of AMAZING STORIES, America's most popular sci-fi mag in the 1940s. Shaver's weird tales of the subterranean "Dero World" are enjoying a modest revival in reprinted editions. We were among the first 21st century Shaver revivalists with our 2007 film BEYOND LEMURIA. In our new version of "The Shaver Mystery" we placed the Cavern World of the Deros in another dimension, a parallel world very close to our own. However Shaver himself always insisted that his underground Deros were in this physical dimension --whereas his editor Palmer insisted they were "disembodied spirits." Shaver was an empathic receiver, a rue mystic. He revealed what might be the real secret of his Cavern World in a marvelously crafted fantasy novel that never has had a title of its own. It appeared in three separate issues of AMAZING and FANTASTIC from 1947 through 1949. The first part was "The Tale of The Red Dwarf," next came the third part "Daughter of the Night," followed by the second part two years later called "Erdis Cliff." Shaver precedes Moorcock's fictional Multiverse, and even M-Theory by decades. -- So, if you want to discover a new dimension, tune in and we'll slide down the worm hole.

The Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present the second half of his screen story "The King of Fear," a Narrative Treatment for a Motion Picture. This is the story on which the movie is based. It is written first person present tense. The Camera is telling the story and in this case the author is the camera. The story begins in ancient times with Alexander the Great trying to find a secret pass through the Himalayas into India, and jumps ahead to the 1880s when archaeologists uncover the remains of one his Macedonian soldiers. A discovery that launches an intrigue and conflict between British and Russian intelligence agents. Chief of which is the sinister immortal Mongolian Lama known as "The King of Fear." A pawn in this chess game is the beautiful Russian psychic Lana Varushka and the dashing hero is a Sufi yoga master Hajji Mahmoud Hassan (actually Captain Alan Vaughan of British army intelligence.)This is Great Game story in the manner of Kipling's Kim, and The Man who would be King. The story and the characters are all based on real events and real people. Although greatly fictionalized. Lana Varushka is to this story what Monty Python's "Brian" is to the New Testament. She's not the Avatrix of the New Age; she's just a very naughty girl. When this tale is complete we will offer it as an E-book on PokeRunyon.com.

The Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present the first half of his screen story "The King of Fear," a Narrative Treatment for a Motion Picture. This is the story on which the movie is based. It is written first person present tense. The Camera is telling the story and in this case the author is the camera. The story begins in ancient times with Alexander the Great trying to find a secret pass through the Himalayas into India, and jumps ahead to the 1880s when archaeologists uncover the remains of one his Macedonian soldiers. A discovery that launches an intrigue and conflict between British and Russian intelligence agents. Chief of which is the sinister immortal Mongolian Lama known as "The King of Fear." A pawn in this chess game is the beautiful Russian psychic Lana Varushka and the dashing hero is a Sufi yoga master Hajji Mahmoud Hassan (actually Captain Alan Vaughan of British army intelligence.)This is Great Game story in the manner of Kipling's Kim, and The Man who would be King. The story and the characters are all based on real events and real people. Although greatly fictionalized. Lana Varushka is to this story what Monty Python's "Brian" is to the New Testament. She's not the Avatrix of the New Age; she's just a very naughty girl. When this tale is complete we will offer it as an E-book on PokeRunyon.com.

The Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present the final discussion on the Tree of Life -- Kether and the Supernals. In our series on the Tree we have worked from the bottom up, and now we will have to shift into reverse and start down from above. We will outline the theory of four dimensions on the tree and how each dimension contains its own Tree. Kether of Malkuth being the heaven with God on his throne (if that's what you want) We will also deal with the two higher dimensions Atziluth and Briah and the Chokmah-Binah yin-yang effect, Our main text will be Dion Fortune's Mystical Qabalah which is the main source for both Gareth Knight and John Michael Greer's works on the the subject. There will be some surprises in store, so tune in and we will take heaven by storm.  

The Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the Fourth Sphere of the Qabalistic Tree of Life Chesed or Gedulah the sphere attributed to Jupiter the King of the planets, and the physical locus of the Third Eye. We consider Chesed the home of Dagon, Capricorn, the amphibian god of ancient Canaan, who is related to Poseidon the patron deity of ancient Atlantis which we also place in the Jovian sphere. Once again our texts will be Dion Fortune, Gareth Knight, Michael Greer, and our own Hermetic Yoga, Volume One. So if you want to visit the sphere of prosperity (and we could all use some of that) join us for an eye opener (Third eye that is).And those of you here in Southern California don't forget our Halloween Party Saturday night, with the infamous Mot Mass honoring the dead.

The Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present another discussion in our on-going series on the Spheres or Sephiroth of the Tree of Life. Sphere number five Geburah, the Sphere of Mars. We will cover different concepts and attributes of this sphere. It is traditionally ruled by Samael, the Hebrew counterpart of Satan, but the G.D. changed the angelic attribution to Kamael, connoting a less evil character to Geburah --or making it a "necessary evil" if you will. This is reflected in the planetary spirits. The intelligence of Mars is protective whereas the spirit is aggressive. We place the Canaanite War-Goddess Anath in Geburah. Again we will refer to our texts Dion Fortune, Gareth Knight, John Greer and our Hermetic Yoga. So, if you want to get tough with Hermetic Qabalah, tune in and find out how to sharpen your magical sword.  

The Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present the second in our series of discussions on the Sephiroth of the Tree of Life, Yesod, the Foundation, the treasury of Images, the ninth sphere. Yesod is considered the transition point from the Yetzirah to the Ashia dimensions, from the etheric to the astral. It is related to the Moon and is called the sphere of the emotions, of memories and dreams. It is the sexual center both physically and spiritually. It is essential to the art of magick. Again our texts will be John Michael Greer's Paths of Wisdom, Gareth Knight's A Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism and Dion Fortune's Mystical Qabalah. So tune in and come along with us as we delve into the mysteries of Yesod and Levanah.