This last weekend, July 22nd through the 24th, The Ordo Hermeticus Mysteriorum held its long postponed (due to the pandemic) conclave at Mt, Shasta Resort, Mt, Shasta, California. Attending were nearly thirty officers of the Order (R.R. et A.C.) Led by worshipful Paul Clark and Gracious Lady Cindy Forbes. Guest Speakers were Right Worshipful Kevin Townley (author of 'The Cube of Space") Chic and Tabatha Cicero (noted Golden Dawn authorities) worshipful Merrick Rees Hamer (G.D. Temple Chief, C.H.S. Vice President and Phylos in BEYOND LEMURIA, which was shown on the 24th) and Carroll "Poke" Runyon (Frater Thabion, OTA Magister and President of C.H.S., writer and producer of BEYOND LEMURIA). Poke's Lecture "Hermetic Yoga" was assisted by "The Head" created by V.H. Frater SithMeth (Max Paul) which is shown above with the event coffee cup and the rose given to us by Wor. Paul Clark.

          The text of the lecture follows and will be presented on the Hermetic Hour this week and then, with the power point illustrations included became a video on the Ordo Templi Astartes You Tube channel.           

Mount Shasta Lecture by Poke Runyon

to be delivered at Ordo Hermeticus Mysteriorum Conclave

at Mount Shasta July 23rd 2021

Hermetic Yoga

The Interior Stars of the Western Esoteric Tradition.

A Lecture by Frater Thabion, VII°, Crata Repoa Reformado,

President Church of the Hermetic Sciences, Inc., Magister

Ordo Templi Astartes. a.k.a. Poke Runyon.

Good Afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen and fellow adepti of the Western Esoteric Tradition. I am Frater Thabion, Poke Runyon President of the Church of the Hermetic Sciences and Magister of the Order of the Temple of Astarte. For those of you who do not know me or my work, please allow me a somewhat self-promotional introduction. Which will lead up to the subject of my lecture: Hermetic Yoga – The Interior Stars of the Western Esoteric Tradition.

In 1968 I suffered from a life-threatening illness which I attempted to cure with self-hypnosis. After the surgical removal of a diseased gall bladder. I recovered physically but the year of self-hypnosis, along the study of Tibetan tantric yoga, Karl Jung and Hermetic Magick had transformed me into what might best be described as “an urban shaman.” I was determined to recreate the visionary Magick of the Renaissance magicians. I read that Hindu tantrics in India had used facial reflection-transformation in mirrors to call up visions of previous incarnations. In West Africa the method was used to call up one’s ancestors. But in fourteenth century Italy the magician Cecco d’ Ascoli called up a Goetic demon in a mirror, and was burned at the stake for publishing an account of the operation. Which explains why other magicians kept the method secret. Aleister Crowley almost had it when he wrote : “The spirits of the Goetia are portions of the human brain.” If Crowley had been a Jungian Hermetic, he would have said: “Aspects of the human Mind.” and he might have added: “and the Universal Mind.”

The facial reflection method itself was not secret in 1970 when we founded the Order of the Temple of Astarte. A.M.O.R.C. used the Hindu tantric version to summon previous incarnations. But we used it to summon the ancient Gods and Goddess of King Solomon’s time. We had discovered that the Goetic spirits Bael and Astaroth were in fact the ancient Canaanite God Ba’al and his consort the Goddess Astarte. Considering ourselves Neo-Pagans and Solomonic ceremonial magicians, we – and I say we, because we had very talented members and a close association with Frederick Adams and Feraferia. With their help and advice we recovered and re-established the subject of this lecture :

       Hermetic Yoga, The Interior Stars of the Western Esoteric Tradition.

The Music of the Spheres, The Pythgorean Chakras, Dante and The Sphere of Sorobosco, and of course The Golden Dawn’s Middle Pillar exercise – but I believe our original inspiration was C.W. Leadbeater’s reproduction of Johann Gichtel’s Natural Man in his book on the Chakras. (Power Point: The Natural Man.)

In any case I fondly remember painting the chakras on the bodies of our High Priestesses for our early 1970s Initiations – ah those were the good old days – now we hang the symbols on a chain down the front of her modest gown. However in 1975 while walking across the campus at Northridge after Kabbalah class, I had a vision of “The Lightning Flash” down the Tree of Life as the key to the Western Chakra System. The Lightning Flash comes to us from the writings of Jacob Boehme. His illustration of the Natural Man was antecedent to his student Johann  Gichtel’s version which Leadbeater had published. (Power Point: Boehme’s Natural Man ). We finally published a version of our Hermetic chakra system in 1977 in our journal The Seventh Ray. (Power Point seated figure).

I had known Francis Regardie since the early 1970s and his insistence on the importance of the Middle Pillar exercise was one of my inspirations in recreating the full Western system. The Middle Pillar is a yoga exercise in Bringing Down the Light and empowering the Sephirot on the Middle Pillar of the Tree of Life. We use the same principal in our full seven chakra system, opening them all and then ascending to and empowering the Sphere we are working in. This is done in-temple, in unison, by everyone involved in the operation. One critic suggested that we were confusing the energy from calling down the Light with pranayama (oxygen saturation). Yes we do use pranayama. But to justify drawing down the Light I will call upon the 18th century German mystic J.B. Kerning, the master of magical propreoception. Who wrote:

“We breathe from the most distant spaces, from the stars as well as from the atmosphere that surrounds us, and perceive from regions never imagined , the words of life.”

In the early 20th century Blavatsky’s Theosophy was the ‘hot-ticket’ in Western occultism. The Theosophists dominated the field. Blavatsky was aware of the tantric chakra system and wrote about it in general terms but left the task of definition to her colleague Charles W. Leadbeater. He came up with a system which was largely based on our Western arrangement. But then he ran afoul of British colonial Judge Sir John Woodroffe – who led a fantastic double life as a British Judge and a Hindu mystic. His “The Serpent Power” 1913 Power point book cover) supplanted Leadbeater’s Chakras in Theosophical circles and became the template for our present New Age Rainbow Body Chakra arrangement. Woodroffe’s book was certainly authentic for one Hindu system of Tantric practice, but not for all of them, and certainly not for Tibetan Buddhist Tantric systems. After eight Tibetan Tantric initiations, I can tell you that they have a different Chakra arrangement for every deity they practice.

         In his excellent The Apocalypse Unsealed 1919, Theosophist James M. Pryse published a drawing of the Angel of Seven Stars with the Western arrangement of planets listed in proper order in the right hand column. (Power point Pryse’s Angel of Seven Stars) But in deference to Woodroffe, who had published six years before, Pryse added another drawing trying to connect Woodroffe’s arrangement. However Golden Dawn Adepti had already adopted the original design for the lid of the pastos in the Adeptus Minor degree. (Power point: Higher and Divine Genius). Showing the Seven stars in the right hand, and the Lightning flash connecting the Spheres. Perhaps this was the origin of the Middle Pillar exercise. In any case it leaves no doubt that the original Interior Stars of the Western Esoteric Tradition were known to the last great exposition of that Tradition: The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.

Now that we have established the historical and philosophical validity of our system, we can deal with the technical aspects. How does it work and how do we work with it?

          First let’s define the magical universe, or multi-verse, that we operate in:

The Tree of Life of the Hermetic Qabalah. The Golden Dawn’s Minutum Mundum, and its four dimensions: Assiah, the physical world, Yetzirah, the Astral plane, Briah the Angelic world, and Atziluth, the Divine world. (Power Point: Tree of Life with Symbols).

       These four dimensions will synchronize and interface with Theosophy’s Etheric, Astral, Mental, and Causal planes, and with Gnosticism’s Aeons. In fact The New Age “Rainbow Body” system, which we may roughly define as Woodroffe’s arrangement in Leadbeater’s cosmology is entirely Etheric whereas our Western Chakra system is entirely Astral.

The New Age Rainbow Body chakra system exists in the physical body’s subtle dimension called the Etheric plane, or the Ashia dimension, in Qabalistic terms. It is the matrix for their entire system, whereas our Western Chakra system exists entirely in the Astral plane, or the Yetzirah dimension on the Tree of Life.

       Yetzirah is the creative realm – which means that the Minutum Mundum colors we assign to our Spheres are established, not skryed by psychics from preexisting models.

       In the introduction to Volume One of Hermetic Yoga, I explained this using a hypothetical conversation with a critic, I wrote “ So when you encounter a true believer in the classic Layayoga system who insists that his is the only true chakra arrangement, you do not need to disagree. Simply inform him that his chakra system is etheric and yours is astral, his system is Alchemical while yours is Qabalistic, his system follows the Paths of the Tree of Life while yours follows the Spheres, and that magical color is what we impose on the astral not what we skry on the etheric plane. While he is trying to figure all that out you can probably change the subject.”

Please understand that I am not trying to discredit the Woodroffe Tantric chakra system or its modern American off shoot the New Age Rainbow Body chakra system. I believe they have validity in their dimension. But Magical operations are primarily an astral activity and our Yetzirah Spheres or Sephirot are the power centers of Theurgic and Thaumaturgic operations.

I have included a suggested inter-dimensional unification of the two systems in Volume One of Hermetic Yoga.

And following the Tibetan example of appreciating all systems, I see no harm in having my Rainbow Body chakras balanced by a New Age practitioner and then returning to my temple and evoking the Goddess Astarte from the sphere of Netsach using our Western chakra arrangement.

The key to mastering and operating our magical yoga system is proprioception. If you look the word up you’ll be given numerous confusing definitions. So we need to define it in magical-mystical terms. In our universe proprioception means: Getting inside yourself, moving your consciousness point through out your body. Using your imagination to make yourself a giant so that you can sink from Saturn in the Corpus Callosum of your brain all the way down to Earth near your tail-bone and then back up to Tiphareth in your chest.

        Chant: Sandalphon – Gabriel – Michael – Haniel – Raphael!

       You can watch the Master Phylos, portrayed by Worshipful Merrick Rees Hamer, demonstrate this in our film BEYOND LEMURIA tomorrow (Power point: Beyond Lemuria cover) as he invokes the Master Jesus in Tiphareth portrayed by worshipful Paul Clark, followed by the invocation of Hermes Trismegistus portrayed by Maestro Lon Milo DuQuette.

        So that you can have a better experiential understanding of this basic technique. I will introduce you to one of our beginning exercises: The Sinking Pearl. It is designed to help you calm your mind and to develop the ability to shift your center of consciousness to other parts of your body. Let’s do it.

        Now sit in a comfortable position with your back straight. Close your eyes. Now focus them upward behind your closed eyelids, without strain. While maintaining this inward and upward gaze perform at least four cycles of simple pranayama without mudras on a four count.

        Inhale for four and hold for four.

        Exhale for four

     Hold on the void for four.

        Inhale for four and hold for four.

        Exhale for four

        Hold on the void for four.

        Inhale for four and hold for four.

        Exhale for four

        Now breathe naturally and keep your closed eyes focused upward while you imagine that your body is growing larger and larger until it is nearly fifty feet tall. Your skull is a great dim-lit hollow vault half-filled with deep, dark still water. You, your conscious point, are in the form of a small pearl floating half submerged in the water. The water is warm and comfortable, safe and protective. Above you are the random thoughts that flit across your mind. You see them in the form of luminous fireflies darting back and forth to no purpose. They buzz and chitter without meaning. You are at peace within yourself. You sink below the surface of the water. You can still see the fireflies above you. Your closed eyes are still focused upward. You sink down to the level of your throat. Now down into your chest. Now see if you can sink all the way down your spine to your tail bone. You may not be able to go this far down the first time you do this exercise but with practice you will be able to visit the location of all your Chakras.

         Now bring your consciousness up the spine and come to the surface of the water in the vault of your skull. You are now master of your mind. Those unwanted thoughts that had plagued you for so long have disappeared. You have calmed your mind, like erasing the blackboard in school, in preparation for a new lesson.

            You notice that we have calmed the mind not killed it. Your mind in Western Hermetic Yoga is not your enemy. You are your mind. It is your consciousness. And it is a Microcomic replica of the Macrocosmic Universal Mind. Your mind is a two-way sending and receiving set. Powered by the greatest creative force in our Universe: the human imagination!

        The imagination works through symbols, archetypes, and metaphors.

        In the East they raise a snake called Kundalini.

        In the West, we ride the Dragon. (Power Point, The Dragon, page 55 vol. I)

        In proper Qabalistic sequence, we bring the Light down the path of the lightning flash to Malkuth and ride the dragon back up to visit the psychic centers or chakras retracing the path of the Lightning Flash back up to the top. We should ride the dragon in opening each of the Spheres to establish the system but once they have been activated, the descent of the Light and the ascension to the Spheres is so rapid – especially in temple operations – that visualizing the dragon is no longer required.

         Our matrix for bringing down the Light drew its inspiration from a work by one of our distinguished guests at that this symposium. Right Worshipful Brother Kevin Townley. When our late Golden Dawn Temple Chief Chris Monnastre read “The Cube of Space” she was so impressed that she directed our Inner Order in the construction of a walk-in replica of the cube. You could stand in the center of the cube and personify the planet Saturn, the Sephirah Binah in Briah, (or Da’ath in the Tree before The Fall: Power Point – The Eleven Sphere Tree Vol. II page 6 ) and receive the rays from the Three Mother Letters Aleph, Mem and Shin and thus experience the miracle of creation. And if you are suspicious of this assignment I suggest you meditate on the paradox of Binah being The Realm of the Fixed Stars and also Saturn.

          Our replica of the Cube of Space inspired me to replicate the structure and the process in the human head as part of our Western Chakra system. (Power Point: The Head, page 60 vol.I) (And Frater SithMeth's replica which we will pass around.)
         And if you want to further empower it we have mudras (Power Point, Mudras page 61, vol. I). These are all based on standard Golden Dawn finger attributions.

         From Saturn in the Corpus Callosum we go to Jupiter Chesed in the Third Eye then down Mars Geburah in the Throat, Sol Tiphareth in the Chest, Venus, Netsach in the Solar Plexus, Mercury, Hod below the navel, The Moon, Yesod in the genitalia, and the Earth, Malkuth in the perineum. Coming back up, riding the Dragon, we visit the Goddesses or Gods of each planet in their palaces asking for their blessings, assistance or advice. ( Power Point: Tanit and Lotan in the Palace of Yesod page 57 vol I )

         In our case because we are Solomonic ceremonial magicians we use the Pagan Pantheon of ancient Canaan – the Gods King Solomon ( if there ever was a real King Solomon ) would have worshiped. Even the Bible says he built a Temple to the Goddess Astarte. So you can a better understanding of the system I’ll take you through the Long Form of the Master Ritual. Don’t try to experience this as we did with the Sinking Pearl exercise just imagine yourself doing it as I describe it – and remember this is the long form involving all the chakras. Used when you are installing the system. Later in Temple work we focus only on the Sphere of the working.

(Power Point: Judy page 67, Vol. I hold on screen until the Head .)

Sit in your asana with closed eyes focused up toward Chesed (the Third Eye) and repeat 22 times:

           "Through me flows a river of unlimited love."

(Count each repetition with your mala.) Next commence pranayama on a 6-6-6-6 cycle (in sun-out moon, in moon-out sun) 22 repetitions, closed eyes still focused upward. (With your mala, advance the count on each exhalation.) Keeping your eyes closed and focused upward, say this affirmation aloud:

           "I affirm that the physical world and my physical body are but fleeting shadows on the veil of eternity. I affirm that the spirit of God within me is the only reality that endures."

           Then begin to expand and extend your physical form with the following induction spoken aloud:

         "You are growing very large and very tall. You are fifty feet tall, a hundred feet tall, a thousand feet tall, ten thousand feet tall. Your head is far above the clouds. The vast darkness of outer space surrounds you. Your soul shines among the stars! You have discarded the veil of self. You are all men and all women. You drink from the Pool of Remembrance, you bathe in the Fountain of Light."

           Look up even higher behind your closed eyelids and see a far distant point of light flash overhead while you vibrate: "Eh Heh Yah!"

          Then see that point of light radiate a shower of brilliance downward as you vibrate: "Yah!" (Power Point: The Head repeat page 60 Vol. I – hold through sequence)

          Focus back down at the bridge of your nose and out into the darkness of space where you see the constellations of the zodiac surrounding your head, like the rim of a very large hat, as you vibrate: "Aima!"

         From right to left, across the middle of the vault of your skull, trace a bright, flaming red streak of electric fire as you vibrate: "Sha!"

         Then bisect this line in the center of your skull with a bright, blue bolt of magnetic energy as you vibrate:

        "Mah!" - forming a cross.

        With this established, bring down a brilliant yellow stream of light from far above, passing right through the center where the red and blue lines meet, as you vibrate:

        "Aha!"

        Where the three lines converge, see the onyx Rose and Jewel of Da’ath forming with the seed letter Tau, haloed in brilliance, as you vibrate: "Tah!" ( Close Power Point )

        You have thus established the dynamic of creation and activated Saturn/Da’ath by the Tetragrammaton formula in Atziluth.

        We will descend (in Atziluth), opening the Roses and revealing the Jewels within.

Focus slightly downward from Da’ath toward the center of your forehead and visualize the formation of the Chesed Rose and Jewel (with seed letter Kaph) forming there like a stained glass window as you vibrate: "EL!"

        Raise your closed eyes higher and sink down to your throat, seeing the Geburah jewel and rose take form (with the seed letter Phe) as you vibrate: ELOHIM GIBOR! Sink down to your chest and visualize (again as an upright stained glass window facing outward) the jewel and rose of Tipareth, (with seed letter Resh), as you vibrate:

       "Ah Mah Sha Oh Aloah Va Da’ath!"

       Sink to your solar plexus and visualize the jewel and rose of Netsach (with seed letter Daleth) as you vibrate: "Ah Mah Sha Oh Tzabeoth!"

       Descend below your navel, see the jewel and rose of Hod, (with the seed letter Beth), as you vibrate:

"Elohim Tzabeoth!"

Drop down to the genital region and visualize the jewel and rose of Yesod, (with the seed letter Gimel), as you vibrate: "Shaddai El Chai!"

Then settle down into the perineum region visualizing the jewel and rose of Malkuth, (with the seed letter Omega) as you vibrate:

"Adonai Hah Aretz!"

        You have now completed the descent in Atziluth, illuminating the psychic centers. You will now activate your Spirit Body and awaken The Dragon, send them up the Caduceus to open the Jewels and the Temples Within in the Briatic dimension.

         As you vibrate: "Sandalphon!" (in a low pitched voice)

Visualize the Malkuth Tanka/icon (Power Point: The Dragon page 70. Vol.I ). Do ten fast and deep repetitions of the fire breath (in nose-out mouth) while tensing the genitalia and visualizing the Bodies glowing red. At the climax of this "pump-up," pinch your buttocks (and perineum/pelvic floor) together tightly, focus upward, toward the roof of the cavern. Send the Dragon flying upward and Vibrate:

          "Gabriel!" - as you ascend to Yesod.

         Dismount (at each station) and approach the portal sealed with the Rose and Jewel of the Sphere. Visualize the Rose, Jewel and seed letter (which you may augment with super-sound) at each station.

         In the Temple of Yesod, Tanit sits enthroned on a veiled dais. She holds the Crystal Orb of Remembrance and Prophecy in her right hand. Her left hand (in the palm of which is the Eye of Fate) is held behind the ball so that the Eye is seen through the crystal as you gaze into it. On request She will show you your past lives or your future. Be prudent and do not over-indulge in this practice.

        Remount (at each station) and Vibrate:

        "Michael!" - as you ascend to Hod.

            This is the alchemical workshop of Kothar (Tubal-Cain). He will make things for you, tell you how to make things, act as your consultant on plans, projects and creative ideas.

        Vibrate: "Haniel!" - and ascend to Netsach.

        Enter the Temple of Astarte and find Her seated on a throne of burnished copper worked with emeralds. She wears the jewels of Atargatis representing the spheres beneath sheer garments that enhance more than conceal Her beauty. She will confide intimate secrets if She is in the mood to do so.

       Vibrate: "Raphael!" - and ascend to Tiphareth.

       Here you may consult with Ba’al and his brother Mot inside the Pyramid of   

      Transformation.

      Vibrate: "Kamael!" - and ascend to Geburah.

       Enter the Castle of Anath, the Warrior Goddess, where you may consult with Her on matters of defense and justice. She sits on an iron throne and is not comfortable to deal with. She does not always tell you what you want to hear.

       Vibrate:  "Tzadkiel!" - and ascend to Chesed (the Third Eye).

       You will see this jewel before you like a great opaque sapphire lens. Behind you is water-filled tank in which lives the alien amphibian creature known as Dagon to the Philistines and Canaanites, Vishnu to the Hindus, Oannes to the Sumerians, Ommo to the Africans and Capricorn to astrologers. He is The Elder, the Wise One. Consult him for the final word on what the others have suggested. He will help you open the Third Eye.

For the basic daily ritual you should remain in Chesed and close with the following affirmation:

        "I declare that the precious jewels and mystic roses of my Body of Light are thus manifested and shall grow more vivid and more alive each day as I perform this rite.  

         "Ararita! AUM." Open your eyes and return to external consciousness.

          When I was developing this system I performed this ritual and visited all the Dieties

of the Spheres every morning for one month until the network was established. After which I could use the short form and go to any sphere in less than a minute.

         However in the higher Rosicrucian Degrees of our Crata Repoa initiatory system Baal and Astarte evolve into Jesus and Mary Magdelene and the old Pagan Gods and Goddesses of the planetary spheres are joined by the angels and archangels of the Hermetic Qabalah.

         This evolving process, where Jesus is described as the last personification of the ancient Pagan Vegetation Gods, in-line with Osiris, Tammuz and Adonis.

        This Derives from the Gnostic Naassene Document. This mysterious work was summarized in Thrice Greatest Hermes by the Theosophic scholar G.R.S, Mead. It became the source for Jesse Westons’ From Ritual To Romance the 1920 study that revealed the secret of the Holy Grail. (Power Point: Thrice Greatest Hermes and From Ritual to Romance.) Tracing it back to ancient Canaan. This was finally confirmed by archaeological discoveries before and after World War Two.

        Unfortunately our Traditional Western Lodges have not updated their rituals and teachings to accommodate the new discoveries. The Church of the Hermetic Sciences and the Order of the Temple of Astarte began in 1970, Fifty-two years ago. In that time we have been able to process and integrate information from the Ras Shamrah ancient Canaanite texts, the Nag Hamadi Texts and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Our Tibetan Tantric initiations and training confirmed and enriched our recovery of the original Western Pythagorean chakra system. In retrospect I believe our recovery of The Interior Stars is our greatest contribution to modern Hermetic study and practice. And I am honored by the invitation from The Ordo Hermeticus Mysteriorum to share it with you.

Thank you