Promoting and Advancing the Western Esoteric Tradition Since 1971
OTA Calendar for 2025
Hear Ye All!
The Ordo Templi Astarte invites its members and friends to attend
its annual Samhain Celebration of Mot Mass.
Halloween Mot Mass Celebration at Rivendell November 1st, 2025
Descend into the Underworld
to meet the grim-reaper and honor the departed. Outdoor ceremony so dress warmly.
Arrive before dark and park snugly. Bring food and drink for party after ceremony.
"Down and down the path we go, to the caverns far below.
Past the Seven Gates of Dread; to the kingdom of the Dead!"
Mot: "Who drinks with Me?"
Celebrants: "We drink with Thee!"
Mot: "Then what say you, to honor the Dead?"
Posted by Zandria on September 26, 2025 at 6:00pm 0 Comments 2 Likes
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Posted by Poke Runyon on August 28, 2025 at 2:30pm 0 Comments 3 Likes
Lecture on the Sphere of Hod, September 2015, re-broadcast August 28th, 2025:---
My venerable teacher Francis Regardie once said: The Tree of Life is a filing cabinet. I took that to heart but sometimes the concept works against you as in the case of the Shemhamephorash. The 72 good angles who are the positive counterparts of the 72 rebellious spirits of the Goetia, and should be called upon to temper the zeal of the spirits or invoked in their own right for creative inspiration. Vehuiah, the Shemhameporash angel opposite Bael (Ba'al) once told me: "We are the power; they are the Art." and Art is rebellious. Solomon used both to build his Temple. Their names are derived from verses in Exodus on Moses parting the Red Sea and they are referred to as the extended name of God. For filing purposes they belong in Hod,a sphere above Yesod, where the Goetic spirits reside. Franz Bardon recognized this and listed them as spirits of…
ContinuePosted by Poke Runyon on July 18, 2025 at 5:00pm 1 Comment 5 Likes
Photo Credit: Chris Cornish Photography
This wonderful event took place at 930 a.m. with V.H. Frater Thabion as Priest and V.H. Soror Urania as Priestess. V.H. Frater Solomon was Deacon. Almost 50 church members, guests and family members attended the ceremony. The reception and banquet was held at Orange Hill restaurant, a twenty minute drive from Rivendell. Excellent food and fellowship. V.H. Frater Thabion and V.H. Frater Memnonides gave the couple a Qabalistic Blessing. Chris and Rebecca, our last married couple (Nov. 23rd, 2024) attended along with most of members of Agrippa, Rivendell and Montsalvat Lodges. This was one of our most memorable events and was enjoyed by all.
V.H.…
ContinueNosce te Ipsum
The Church of the Hermetic Sciences was founded in 1970 and incorporated in the State of California in 1971 as a religious philosophical organization dedicated to preserving and continuing the Western Esoteric Tradition through the process of ceremonial initiation and practical instruction in the Hermetic Art-Sciences of Magick, Qabalah, Alchemy, and Astrology. We follow the teachings of Hermes Trismegistus whose ancient vision is compatible with the deepest esoteric expressions of the three major Biblical religions and Freemasonry and Rosicrucianism. Our Seasonal Rites and Yoga System are based on the pre-Biblical myth cycle of ancient Canaan and the traditions of Melchizedek and King Solomon. To implement this program the Church sponsors a religious-fraternal Order, The Order of the Temple of Astarte, which is initiatory and follows the Seven Degrees of Crata Repoa, an 18th century European outline of degrees in the ancient Hermetic Tradition. To learn more about our teaching and work please visit The Hermetic Hour website and listen to our archived podcasts on all aspects of the Hermetic Arts. Each lecture is introduced by an abstract describing the subject covered. We also call your attention to our journal The Seventh Ray which is available on Amazon.com.
We offer an online Associate Member program for worthy aspirants who live beyond the reach of our Temples. This is a graduated program of instruction that parallels and compliments the initiatory sequence without actually conferring or communicating the degrees. However, with study and mentoring, the online student may earn letters of entitlement to receive the degrees. The program includes most of our regular instruction and is open to active initiates and inactive members who have moved away from our temple locations.
To be considered for Associate Membership the applicant should be over 18 years of age, and a free, law-abiding citizen of his/her country (U.S., U.K., and Canada.) You must write us a letter telling us about yourself and your reasons for wanting to join us. After we receive and evaluate your letter we may send you our Membership Application form which includes a membership agreement. You will fill this out providing the information required, sign the agreement and enclose a check or money order for thirty-five dollars $35.00 if you live in the U.S. Forty-five $45.00 if in Canada or U.K. All funds must be in USD checks and money orders made out to: The Church of the Hermetic Sciences. Send the application with payment to: The Church of the Hermetic Sciences, Dept. AM, P.O. Box 403, Silverado, CA 92676, U.S.A.
After receiving and approving your application we will send you your membership package which will include: a membership certificate suitable for framing, a yearly identification card, an updated copy of The Book of Solomon's Magick and The Magick of Solomon DVD (your course text), The Rites of Magick DVD, 20% discount coupons for all other CHS/OTA and Maelstrom publications and productions, and a gift certificate for a free copy of Beyond Lemuria 2nd Edition with your first coupon order. You will also receive the access code to this website where you will find your lessons and can interact with other members and keep up with Church and Order news and activities.
Tu es Deus
Thabion VIIo
by Brian Lee Added December 1, 2024 at 5:22pm
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This site is for Associate and Active Members of The Church of the Hermetic Sciences.
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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.
Mailing Address:
C.H.S., Inc.
P.O. Box 403
Silverado, CA 92676
Email:
Frater Thabion:
pokerunyon@gmail.com
Soror Zandria:
hermeticmagick@gmail.com