The Hermetic Hour

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At Long Last, Atlantis! Sep 30, 2011

Show notes

This Thursday September 29th, 2011, at 8:00, your Hermetic Hour host Poke Runyon will reprise the National Geographic Channel's special "Finding Atlantis." This time it looks like we've finally got it, and pretty close to where Plato said it was. So we are devoting an hour to Atlantis in the Hermetic (Western Esoteric) tradition, from Plato to Francis Bacon, to Ignatius Donnelly, and beyond. We'll reveal archaeological and historical information you've probably never heard, and discuss why the real story of Atlantis has been suppressed. It may surprise you to learn that more ancient writers than Plato wrote about it, and more artifacts and evidence have been recovered than you've been led to believe, especially in southern Spain where the latest discovery has been made. We will discuss ancient Tartessos, the Minoan-Phoenician connection, the theories of De Santillana & von Dechend, Hapgood, the Ice Age, and the very ancient origins of the zodiac and the alphabet. You may come to suspect that Atlantean architects and engineers built the Great Pyramid (how and why we still don't know) --- but human history is about to be overturned, so tune in and get the latest insight on the most ancient source of what we call Western Civilization.

Maestro Steve Savedow on Goetia Sep 23, 2011

Show notes

On The Hermetic Hour, Thursday September 22nd, 2011 host Poke Runyon will have as his featured guest a fellow Solomonic magician the distinguished author, scholar and magus Steve Savedow. Steve is the author of "The Magician's Workbook, volumes one and two -- the second volume of which is entitled "Goetic Evocation." This is a hair-raising account of a series of Goetic evocations carried out in Florida in the 1990s. Steve and his hardy crew went about their operations in a scrupulously medieval manner, authentic in every detail including their determination to conjure to visible appearance with nothing but their knowledge of the Art, their faith in God's power, and their will to succeed --- and they did it. Whether it was a good thing to do it this way is debatable but it was a significant and memorable accomplishment regardless of consequences. Steve went on to translate the important Solomonic grimoire "Sepher Rezial Hemelach," which is one of the most important ancient texts of kabbalistic magick. So, tune in Thursday afternoon and we'll meet one of the few modern magicians who really did it the old fashioned way.

The Occult Private Eye Sep 16, 2011

Show notes

On Thursday, September 15, 2011, The Hermetic Hour, with host Poke Runyon, will feature an exploration of occult methods and magical practices involved in the realm of private investigation. Our featured guest will be "Lady Aurora," a professional private investigator of considerable experience and ability, who discreetly employs her psychic talents and magical techniques to aid in investigation, and solve her cases. We will discuss the nature and use of "invisibility," of "astrology," of divination -- especially radiathesia (use of the map and pendulum), and protection against psychic attack. Although we cannot reveal her identity or be too specific about her cases, we will visit with someone who is about as close to the fictional "Shadow" as you will find this side of Hollywood -- "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?" Tune in and find out.

Egyptian Magick & Hermetic Variations Sep 09, 2011

Show notes

On Thursday September 8th, 2011, the Hermetic Hour, with host Poke Runyon, will present a discussion on ancient Egyptian magick, and its later Gnostic and Hermetic variations. We will establish the very ancient Egyptian concepts of the immortal soul, in comparison to the early Mesopotamian and Hebrew peoples who had no concept of personal immortality, or life after death. The Egyptians developed the idea of man's internal and spiritual connection with divinity, which gave them a road map to paradise, if they lived a good life, and hope of greater glory to come -- this eventually became the core belief behind Gnosticism and its simplified variation, Christianity. But people who are close to The Gods, can also be powerful magicians --- and they were! So tune in and we'll get all wrapped up in Egyptian Magick!

Evil, Evil Magick, and Evil Magicians Sep 02, 2011

Show notes

On Thursday the 1st of September, 2011 the Hermetic Hour, host Poke Runyon, will present an hour long discussion on the nature of "evil," and the theory and practice of "Black Magick." We'll avoid popular "goth" role-playing, and steam-punk vampires, to get down to the real history, and actual practices of the black magicians and serious satanists (fortunately the role-players are in the majority). We'll make it very clear that summoning, and commanding Dark Powers by the Power of the Light, for worthwhile purposes, such as personal development, is not "Black Magick," and was not even thought of as "Black Magick, and no magicians made "pacts" with demons or the devil until the advent of the Faustian School in the 18th century. Actually Black Magick can be done in white robes, calling on Jesus, and the Archangel Michael. We'll discuss the oft-maligned Church of the Final Judgment (The Process) and the wide-spread obsession with authenticating H.P. Lovecraft's "Necronomicon." Some of what you hear may be disturbing, not because of what Black Magicians do -- but rather who they are, and why they do it. So tune in and we'll shed some Light on the Dark Realm.

Cerridwen Fallingstar, Magical Novelist Aug 26, 2011

Show notes

This Thursday, August 25th, 2011, the Hermetic Hour's host Poke Runyon, will have as his featured guest Cerridwen Fallingstar, a distinguished teacher, and facilitator in the Northern California Goddess-centered NeoPagan community, whom we met at the recent Feraferian conclave north of San Francisco. Of special interest to our Hermetic magical process is the inspiration behind Lady Cerridwen's magical historical novels. She channels them, recounting her own adventures from past lives -- but she also does very good research, and has a professional novelist's style and story-telling flair. Her first novel was "Heart of Fire," recounting the life of a Scottish witch. She then moved to medieval Japan for a two-decker saga "White As Bone, Red As Blood." We are especially interested in the methods she used to recover these memories --- so, tune in and we'll find out how to go way, way back, and live it up!

The Magick of Nature Aug 19, 2011

Show notes

This Thursday, the 18th of August, 2011, the Hermetic Hour, with host Poke Runyon, will feature a discussion on "The Magick of Nature." We begin by explaining that the Hermetic Tradition, unlike Gnosticism, is a blend of Natural and Transcendental magical perspectives and methods -- therefore we can include such subjects as sacred landscapes, land forms, flora and fauna, and humankind's relation to the eco-system as an integral part of our philosophy and our workings. The best example of the nature-oriented Western magick is Fred Adam's Feraferia, which we will again visit in our discussion. We will cover Lay Lines, sacred sites, and the connection of celestial aspects with seasonal changes, connecting the greater universe with the sphere of nature, and the earth-sky-love body of the Goddess Herself -- known to the Renaissance magi as the Anima Mundi. Tune in and we'll go outdoors for inspiration this time.

The Magick of Feraferia Today With Poke and Jo Aug 05, 2011

Show notes

The Hermetic Hour for Thursday, August 4th, 2011 with host Poke Runyon, will focus on Feraferia, and recent DVDs, books and ceremonies in that wonderful Pagan-magical tradition. Our very special guest will be Feraferia's avatrix (that's a female avatar) Jo Carson calling in from her northern California woodland retreat where she and her Feraferians have established a beautiful, rustic Feraferian library. Jo describes "FiFi" thus: "Although a small group, Feraferia has been a founding inspiration in the resurgence of Western paganism since the 'sixties. Fred Adams and Svetlana Butryn created Feraferia to be , in their words, "a Paradisal Fellowship for the loving celebration of Wilderness Mysteries with Faerie style, courtly elegance, refinement and grace... The Great Work of Feraferia is the lyrical unification of Ecology, Artistry, Mythology and Liturgy. Feraferia offers a Poetic Liturgy and Altruistic Theurgy of Holy Wilderness" Feraferia has been featured in many books, which may seem surprising since it is such a small group. Feraferia is primarily a faerie faith, meaning the Earth, embodies as the Magic Maiden, or the Merrie Maiden - a youthful girl goddess whose time has finally come." --- So, tune in and find out how Goddess-worshiping Neo-Paganism got started in America, and how it is still going. Evoe Kore!

Advanced Pathworkings: Tiphereth and Kusor's Boat Jul 22, 2011

Show notes

The Hermetic Hour for July 21st, 2011 will feature a discussion by host Poke Runyon on Advanced Pathworkings. Pathworkings above the four lower spheres, Specifically Tiphereth, number six, the Sphere of Transformation. In these higher Paths and Spheres we have found it effective to create a magical vehicle (both a physical model and an astral construct) to enable the inner plane voyager to fly over the lower Paths and Spheres he has already "walked" in the first three sessions: i.e. the 32nd, the 31st, and the 29th Paths. We call this device "Kusor's Boat," after the Canaanite craftsman god (Tubal Cain), who was credited as the inventor of the fishing boat. Our boat is shaped like an ibis, black on one side, and white on the other. It was also influenced by Abraham Merritt's "Ship of Ishtar" which was derived from Assyrian mythology. So tune in and prepare to voyage onward to evening isles fantastical -- and also symbolical, we can't forget that.

Poke Runyon's DRELL MASTER Jul 15, 2011

Show notes

The Hermetic Hour for this Thursday, July 14th, 2011 will feature a discussion by host Poke Runyon on how to write a "magical novel." Poke's very special guest will be himself ( who actually did such a thing, and even published it -- and a few people even bought it and read it). The novel, which was released in 2001, is called DRELL MASTER, and is still available from Amazon. It is a 1940s style mixture of sword-and-sorcery and science fiction, set on a post- apocalyptic 'Barbarian World' which has inhabited aerial floating islands, sailing airships, saddle-dragons, wizards, ancient scientific super-weapons, and (of course) Naked Amazons-- all the kind of stuff I loved from the pulp magazines when I was a kid in the 1950s. However, to give the story esoteric and philosophical value, I added Enochian Magick (why not?), Sex Magick (of course!), yoga and even an anti-globalization, environmental not-so-hidden agenda. My mentor on this monumental exercise was Fantasy Grand Master Lin Carter, whom I had grown up with back in Florida. One of the best features of the book is his long, instructive letter to me on the inner secrets of "Imaginary World Creation." So, if you want to learn how to exercise your imagination, tune in and we'll journey to a strange world called "THOON", where almost anything can happen, except the ordinary.

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