Editorial Reviews
A Review of Runyon, Hermetic Yoga for the Golden Dawn (2022) Carroll “Poke” Runyon has been making always interesting and sometimes provocative contributions to the modern discourse on the Western Esoteric Tradition for many years, and he continues to do so with Hermetic Yoga for the Golden Dawn. To avoid confusion, it should be noted that Runyon has published this text under his Motto or Magical Name (“G.H. Frater Quero ad Lucem”) as one of the chiefs of an independent Golden Dawn temple in Los Angeles. It is also important to note that the prospective reader should not be put off by the slimness of this text (20 pages), as it is not meant to be a full book, but rather to present a new Flying Roll, an unofficial teaching monograph intended to be circulated among the Adepts of the Inner Order R.·.R.·.et A.·.C.·., and its length is entirely appropriate for such a Roll. In his monograph, which is entitled “The Flaming Sword and the Divine Genius,” Runyon follows the centuries-old Qabbalistic practice of discovering or rediscovering a variant form of the Tree of Life and deriving teachings from it which only that form of the Tree can reveal. He extracts his Eleven-Sphere Tree of Life from one of the Ilanoth diagrams in Rosenroth’s Kabbala Denudata (the same complex Ilan which is the source of several of the Qabbalistic diagrams presented in various grades of the Outer Order). Runyon finds validation for the use of this Eleven-Center Tree in the white panel of the lid of the Pastos in the Adeptus Minor Grade, and in a sketch for a grade diagram in the Cypher Manuscripts. With Daath promoted to the status of a full Sephirah, the variant Tree must realign its 22 connecting Paths, and the result produces a harmoniously symmetrical pattern, but at the cost of deleting all three horizontal Paths directly connecting the Pillars of Mercy and Severity. After explaining the Eleven-Sphere Tree and its sources, the bulk of the Flying Roll consists of a Yogic ritual involving the descent of energy through a linear version of the Tree, conceived of as the central shaft of the Caduceus, followed by a Kun. d. alinī-style raising of the Malkhuth Dragon. In the first part of the practice, the Adept invokes the Supernal energies into his or her head by a formula based on Sepher Yetzirah, vibrating Qabbalistic mantras and using a series of well-conceived mudras. Then the energy is drawn down a series of eight Sephiroth from Daath through Malkhuth vertically aligned as Rose Cakras which reveal inner Jewels as they are activated. The subsequent ascent of the Malkhuth Dragon through these Sephirotic Cakras is accompanied by Traveling in the Spirit Vision in which the Adept rides the Dragon up the Caduceus shaft, stopping at each Sephirah/Cakra to interact with designated Egyptian Gods. The closing affirmation of this blended Eastern-Western practice appropriately ends with “Ararita! AUM.” While I must conclude that the content of this Flying Roll does not integrate into the Inner Order curriculum in the form in which I study and practice it, I also study many Qabbalistic and Magical texts which do not fit into that curriculum, but which offer significant insights and different perspectives which I believe deepen my understanding of the system which I practice. Runyon has been deeply engaged with Hermeticism, Rosicrucianism, and Yoga for decades, and I am grateful to him for sharing his ongoing work in Hermetic Yoga for the Golden Dawn. ― Adam P. Forrest
A Review of Hermetic Yoga for the Golden Dawn With the publication of Hermetic Yoga for the Golden Dawn author Carroll “Poke” Runyon, aka G.H. Frater Quero ad Lucem, provides Golden Dawn students and magical practitioners from other traditions a unique and valuable addition to their theurgic work. Readers may not be as familiar with the version of the Qabalistic Etz Chayim or Tree of Life diagram used in this manuscript, but it is not unknown within the Golden Dawn tradition. Its source is a Lurianic diagram published in Knorr von Rosenroth’s 1677 magnum opus entitled Kabbalah Denudata (“Kabbalah Unveiled”), a book translated from Latin into English by a Chief Adept of the original Golden Dawn, Samuel Liddell “MacGregor” Mathers. While the Tree of Life design in question was not emphasized in the teachings of the Golden Dawn, several other drawings derived from the same diagram did make it into the Order’s curriculum, such as the Ten Sephiroth in the Seven Palaces, the Garden of Eden and the Holy City, the Diagram of Gehenna, and the Sephiroth as a series of concentric circles with Ain Soph Aur and Kether outermost and Malkuth at the center. And yet the Eleven-Sphere Tree of Life emphasized in Runyon’s work, with Daath elevated to the rank of a Sephirah in its own right, is a prominent feature of this same diagram. Hermetic Yoga for the Golden Dawn builds on two previous books by the author, Hermetic Yoga, Beyond the Middle Pillar, Volumes One and Two, which explore the roots of the Golden Dawn’s most powerful exercise for spiritual growth, comparing and contrasting the Eastern Vedic system of the Chakras with the Western Qabalistic system of the Sephiroth. The two systems are similar but not identical. They are energetically different models and one cannot simply swap out Sanskrit names and replace them with Hebrew names. However, Runyon offers a fresh new perspective on both traditions: he has developed an insightful and artfully-blended praxis based upon various Golden Dawn diagrams depicting the Lightning Flash or Flaming Sword on the Tree of Life―straightening out the zig-zag path of the Flaming Sword so that the Three Pillars of the Tree become as One. This provides an energy conduit envisioned as a series of eight Sephiroth from Daath to Malkuth, located along the central axis of the human body. In the Master Ritual the magician activates these centers, called the “Jewels of the Caduceus” through a combination of focused visualization, pranayama breathing, spoken affirmations, mudra hand gestures, vibration of Names of Power, Spirit Vision, and communion with various Egyptian deities corresponding to the Sephiroth. The result is a powerful rite for personal spiritual growth based on Qabalistic principles and practices. The Golden Dawn system is often thought of as the pinnacle of magical training in the Western Esoteric Tradition. In spite of the fact that some believe it is a dated relic from the Victorian era, time and time again the system has proven its vitality as a vibrant, living structure. It is a never-ending font of inspiration wherein magicians are able to uncover hidden gems buried within the original manuscripts, as well as other material than can be adapted to supplement the system in new and remarkable ways. Hermetic Yoga for the Golden Dawn is proof of this. ― Chic Cicero, Sandra Tabatha Cicero
