The Hermetic Hour

On Thursday September 25th, 2014 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion of The Orphic Hymns which are the Western Esoteric Tradition's oldest liturgy. These hymns to the planets, the gods and goddesses, the stars and all aspects of ancient Greek mythology were used by the Orphic sect before the Golden Age of Greece, in the days of Pythagoras, to guide the dead souls on their spiritual journey up through the celestial spheres and into the realm of the zodiac and beyond. This was a special and separate aspect of Greek mysticism which had its influence on Pythagoras`, the Gnostics, the Mythraites, and the Italian Renaissance Hermetics. Most rectently Christopher Warnock has included the hymns in his "Planetary Magick." We will concentrate on the 18th century Thomas Taylor translation -- which we use -- and read a Robert Graves poem combining a number of Orphic memorials into a connected instruction which may have played some part in the Elusinian Mysteries. So. if you want to know what that strange stuff they sing to harp music accompaniment at the beginning of Seasonals, then tune in and we'll take you back three thousand years.  

On Thursday September 18th, 2014 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the career and contributions of Marcus the Valentinian (died 175 a.d.). Marcus was as much a Hermetic as he was a Gnostic Christian. The Church Fathers accused him of being more Pythagorean than Christian. He was the developer of the Soma Sophia system of celestial Greek qabalah which we have decoded and perfected (see The Seventh Ray, Book III ) and, according to Kiren Barry Marcus had an influence of the creation of the later Sepher Yetzirah. Marcus developed some of the basic concepts of what became the qabalah. Marcus was a Phonecian, influenced by the earlier Samaritan Simon Magus. Like Simon Marcus had a Priestess whom he venerated as an equal. He gave communion with his priestess by his side and turned water into wine at the altar. The early Church Fathers considered this blasphemous. Marcus's cult spread from the Middle East to Southern France in the days before Constantine force-reformed Christianity. So, if you want to explore the most ancient origins of what we call "The Western Tradition," then tune in and we will spend an hour with a man who may have been the first Rosicrucian.

On Thursday September 11th, 2014 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review the new book "The Chemistry of Alchemy" by three chemists Cathy Cobb, Monty Fetterolf and Harold Godwhite. The authors are all chemists and chemistry teachers, but they have a fond affection for Alchemy and reveal the Art as their hobby. This is a one-of-a-kind book: an introduction to practical laboratory Alchemy through history from a scientific perspective so that the student learns what alchemical terms really mean ( for instance Mercury can mean any metal in liquid or molten form, and Sulfur is any sulfide) and what the old alchemists were trying to do and how they actually tried to do it -- and in some cases did it. The book is filled with fascinating experiments that the apprentice can try in his or her kitchen laboratory with the professional chemists' emphasis on safety and with safer substitutes for dangerous materials such as real mercury. They even have a recipe for making what some alchemists thought was The Philosopher's Stone. You will also learn how to make "alchemical gold" good enough to have gotten you buried alive or burned at the stake in the Middle Ages. Although the authors retain their scientific perspective they have profound respect for the genuine accomplishments of The Art and its venerable adepts. This book is a must-have for anyone who aspires to be a modern alchemist. -- So tune in and we will spend an hour in the laboratory with modern masters of the ancient Art.  

On Thursday September 4th, 2014 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on Shamgar, son of the Canaanite War Goddess Anath "who killed 600 Philistines with an ox goad and saved Israel "(over a hundred years before Samson) and became a Judge (ruler of all the tribes) of Israel. Shamgar's story is briefly told in the Biblical Book of Judges. Beyond that lies the realm of myth and legend in which it is suggested that Shamgar was a Phoenician pirate called "Tekheleth Tholi." The Purple Dragon based in Tyre and sent by King Abi Milki to aid the Israeites against the Philistines. He joins the host of the Hebrew Judge Ehud, and marries his daughter Jael, who eventually tries to kill him. His ox goad is said to have been a magical weapon forged by the blacksmith Tubal Cain. The legend is perpetuated in the Gnostic Christian tradition of Marcus from whom we get the Greek Qabalah. Shamgar's exploits should be considered symbolic rather than historic, like the story of Hiram Abiff in Masonry or the Labors of Hercules in Phoenician and Greek astrological lore. If you want to return to the days when Gods and Giants walked the earth, tune in and we'll evoke the shade of Shamgar.  

On Thursday August 28th, 2014 at 8:00 p.m. the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present an interview with one of the New Age's most enchanting and inspiring spiritual personalities Maitreya McClendon Wexler. Maitreya was a famous model on the fashion scene, cover girl and glamorous diva who married a man of great power and influence in the entertainment industry. With the resources to support her world-wide quest for spiritual truth from a feminist perspective she traveled from the Far East to the Amazon seeking the wisdom of the masters to support her vision of the Divine Feminine -- not the feminine of the anti-female feminists here at home, but the true power and beauty of the Eternal Female archetype. Those of us involved with Feraferia can easily understand this and will relate to Maitreya's vision of the Goddess. She has collected a marvelous film record of her spiritual adventures which we can view, and has written and published several books on her vision. She has established resource centers where like-minded and hearted souls can come together to study and meditate with her. So, if you would like to meet her and share an hour with her discussing her experiences and her offerings to us, tune in and be enchanted.  

On Thursday August 21st, 2014 at 8:00 p.m. Pacific time the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the historical development of "cultism" in esoteric societies, staring with Baron von Hund's Masonic Strict Observance in the mid 1700s, which in turn influenced Wisehaupt's Illuminati, Blavatsky's Theosophy and even The Golden Dawn with their "Secret Chiefs" and more modern groups we will tactfully leave unmentioned.This is an important issue because the paradigm that began with Strict Observance and was adapted by Blavatsky has since been applied to any esoteric group that has an initiatory structure. So if you want to find out what was and what is behind esoteric cultism, tune in and we will lift the veil.

On Thursday August 14th, 2014 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a report on our East Coast initiations and how two officers can, with preparation on both ends, actually confer, rather than communicate, both First and even Second Degree initiations upon qualified candidates in other States. This subject is particularly important in light of our recent growth and the inquiries we receive regarding active membership from people in other States and Canada. So if you want to learn how to invite the traveling Temple to your home, tune in and we'll give you a preview.  

On Thursday, August 7th, 2014 the Hermetic Hour, with host Poke Runyon, will present a report on the August 2nd Feraferian Lugnasad (Lammas) ceremony that Soror Zandria and Frater Thabion attended as guests of Lady Jo Carson, Avatrix of Feraferia, and her husband John presented at their woodland-surrounded home north of San Francisco, California. The Lugnasad ceremony is described in Fred Adams' "Nine Royal Passions of the Year" as: "The Festival of Fruiting and Beginning of Harvest. The meanderings of the Honeymoon as fruits in scented groves ripen, the breasts of the Goddess swell." Our special guest will be Lady Jo herself who will give us a more profound and intimate description of the event in its idyllic forest setting. Feraferia is the oldest, most elegant and sublime expression of American Neo-Pagan, Goddess centered nature religion. If you are new to this tradition, or if you are already attuned to its enchantment, be sure to join us.   

On Thursday evening, the Hermetic Hour, with host Poke Runyon, will present a discussion on magical astrology. We will begin with the prehistoric origin of the Zodiac in the Age of Taurus -- "Bull's Eye Astrology" -- and explain how this began the symbolism of the Zodiacal signs (the 12 Labors of Heracles). We will delve into Alexander's emphasis on Aries, and the establishment of horary astrological doctrine by Ptolemy. We will touch on the Orphic-Hermetic doctrine of the soul's descent and return, the geocentric model still used in Hermetic magick, the Mansions of the Moon, the Decans, and astrology's influence in geomancy, tarot, the Tree of Life, the kabbalah, and alchemy, and the concept of "Elective Astrology." Tune in and get proGnosticated!

On Thursday July 24th, 2014 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a reading of his 1977 article in Gnostica No. 44, "The Magick of the O.T.A." This article described the philosophy, structure and activities of the Order thirty-seven years ago. You may be surprised to discover how long some of our advanced programs have been operative, such as our unique Hermetic Yoga system, our Celestial Magick Vault and our Magical journal The Seventh Ray. The article is short enough for the author to informally update the information given out at that time. So, if you want to learn where we were and what we did back then, and how we have evolved in the intervening years, tune in and be enlightened.  

On Thursday Juky 17th, 2014 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the Order of the Temple of Astarte's unique method of Astral Time Travel. We first conceived and developed this method back in the early 1970s as an outgrowth of our Pathworking program. It has much in common with remote viewing in that a "target area" and, in our case, a time in the past, is selected and mapped. Then a celestial reference point and distance in light years is selected. This data is absorbed and studied. For example: if we want to visit ancient Alexandria (one of our favorite tours) we consult archaeological books with accurate graphic recreations to set the general environment at the time. We can use the overhead mirror or the Soul Door as our launch portal. We can use Kusor's Boat if we are launching through the Soul Door. In either case we will use a constellation rather than a Tattwa for a concentration point on the mirror. This is a second degree practice because previous Pathworking experience is required for it to be effective. It is a deep trance activity and can produce significant results. The more precise, well documented and prepared these operations are, the more impressive they will be. So if you want to read lost books in the Great library you should at least know what ancient Greek looks like. Tune in and we'll take you on a very long journey. 

On Thursday July 10th, 2014 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will continue our discussion of the Western psychic center (chakra) arrangement established by Boehme and Gitchel based on the Qabalah in relation to the Eastern (an adopted Western) sequence based on Alchemy. Again our guest will be Frater Osiris. We will look at the Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkrutz and conjecture what the secret "Key" to its symbolism might be. We will examine David Goddard's "Tower of Alchemy" in relation to these themes and attempt to reconcile the practice of both systems. This will be an exploratory symposium which may generate as many questions as it answers, but we at least promise to stimulate your mind -- so tune in and we will at least try to define the mysteries even if we cannot solve them.  

On Thursday July 3rd, 2014 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion and readings by the host from his forthcoming book "Hermetic Yoga, Beyond the Middle Pillar." This will be an important advance preview in our series on modern Hermetic practical magick. We will trace the concept and the development of this tantric yoga of the West from its origins in Ancient Alexandria starting with the Orphic-Pythagorean "Music of the Spheres" through the astrological Soma Sophia and the Alchemical "Ladder of Metals." We will show how the blending of the Hebrew Kabbalah, with its Tree of Life and Adam Kadmon concepts, into the Rosicrucian Hermetic expression led German mystics Jacob Boehme and his follower Johann Gitchel to conceive of a Western chakra arrangement similar to that used in the East. A short version of this technique survived as the Golden Dawn's "Middle Pillar" ritual. Now we can reconstruct and operate the full system. So if you want to bring power down the Lightning Flash and activate all your mystic roses in the Western manner, tune in and we'll raise the Dragon.  

On Thursday June 26th, 2014 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the magical aspects of Abraham Merritt's (1884 - 1943) novels and stories of exotic fantasy adventure. Merritt was a highly respected journalist who wrote his colorful tales of the occult and the bizarre for his own pleasure and not as pot-boilers for the pulps even though ARGOSY and other pulps were his main outlet. His work had the quality of literature and the mytho-folkloric erudition of a Robert Graves. Merritt had a library of over 5000 books on myth, folklore and the occult. His tales of lost cities, ancient secret cults and strange other-worldly phenomenon are unparalleled in beauty and imagination. His "People of the Pit" (1917) was a profound influence on H.P. Lovecraft and his masterpiece "The Ship of Ishtar" (1924) described Richard Shaver's inter-dimensional "Simultane" concept. (It was also the template for our path-working soul-travel boat.) His "Dwellers in the Mirage"(1932) was an inspiration for my sc-fi novel "Drell Master." Merritt was steeped in Blavatsky's Atlantis and Lemuria lore and the obscure legendary sources behind these lost civilizations. His "The Moon Pool" (1921) lured us out to the ruins of Lemuria in the Pacific (see Beyond Lemuria). So, if you want to spend an hour with the Dream-maker, tune and we'll set sail to evening Isles fantastical.  

On Thursday June 19th, 2014 the Hemetic 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.