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 Frater Agnóstos on November 12, 2025 at 8:00am 3 Comments 3 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…
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
by Frater Laetus Added December 23, 2022 at 1:37pm
by Maciej Langner Added September 8, 2021 at 7:11am
by Abc123 Added January 26, 2021 at 2:50pm
by George Paul Luttmann Added January 2, 2021 at 10:06pm
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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 alleged Parallel world or trans-dimensional ariel Queendom of the Sylphs known as "Magonia" that was documented in medieval histories and has recently inspired a fantasy novel of that title "Magonia" by Maria Headley (2015) and was the main theme for UFO authority Jacques Vallee's "Passport to Magonia" (1969-93) which delt with the Magonian "close encounters" from the 9th century and other supernatural visitations recounted in European folklore as early examples of alien sightings, close encounters, and abductions, on through to the mysterious "airship" reports from the American West in the 1890s, comparing them with modern reports and investigations. Vallee contends, and as Hermetic devotees we certainly concur, that most of these events are inter-dimensional rather than extra-terrestrial; that there are parallel worlds co-existing with us as near to us as our furniture. This is also the main theme of our film Beyond Lemuria (2007-14) and, as I mentioned last week, is set forth in the old Hermetic book "Comte d'Gablis" (1760) -- So if you'd like to spend an hour in the absolute elsewhere, tune in and we'll take you down the rabbit hole.
The Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a review of William Leonard Pickard’s magisterial novelized biography “The Rose of Paracelsus”(2019). This 650 page masterwork is already considered literature by the academic community. Like Mallory’s “The Morte de Arthur” “The Rose” was entirely written in prison. It recounts Pickard’s academic, scientific, and extra-legal career from the early 1960s until his arrest and subsequent imprisonment in 2000. It is beautifully written, fast paced and well structured. It is subtitled “On Secrets and Sacraments” which aptly describes what it delivers. Pickard was not only a psychedelic alchemist, he was also an intelligence asset (say researcher) for the Ivy League think tanks and indirectly for government agents. So conspiracy theory and even UFO buffs will be pulling quotes from The Rose for the next decade. Pickard connected with an international network of psychedelic alchemists and visited each in a world tour that reads like a James Bond adventure. Returning to the U.S. he visited his mentor the venerable psychedelic sage, Sasha Shulgin, who warned him against a demonic cultist who inhabited an abandoned underground missile base used for an LSD laboratory and an orgiastic temple. But like a character in a Richard Shaver or Sax Rohmer story Leonard Pickard was lured into this hellish underworld where psychedelics were used to enslave and abuse young women. And because this cult had better government connections than Pickard, he was set up to take the rap for their criminal activities. He was given two life sentences in Federal Prison. Fortunately he has just been released and we hope he will be listening to this broadcast. So. Turn on, Tune in, and learn what’s under the rose.
The Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will revisit the 1908 occult classic "The Kybalion" by Three Initiates and reveal just who those three initiates were. In 2008 Philip Deslippe issued the "Definitive Edition of the Kybalion" which he claimed was entirely the work of William Walter Atkinson (1862 - 1932)In the next few years Golden Dawn scholar Mary Greer did more research and discovered that Anna Kingsford and Edward Maitland had written a version of the Hermetic corpus that presented the same seven principles as the Kybalion. Both Kingsford and Maitland had passed away by 1908 and Richard Smoley edited yet another Kybalion in 2018 (the centenary edition) returning the byline to the Three Initiates, declaring the authors to have been: William Walter Atkinson, Anna Kingsford and Edward Maitland. We might also mention that Golden Dawn scholar Robert A. Gilbert discovered that Anna Kingsford was actually the mysterious Fraulein Sprengle who helped create the Golden Dawn. Her connection is revealed in our book: "Secrets of the Golden Dawn Cypher Manuscript" which is available from < pokerunyon.com > So let's take another closer look at the Kybalion and its recent editions.
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