Product Description

THE MAGICK OF SOLOMON, 2nd Edition is a 85 minute DVD video documentary written and narrated by anthropologist and ceremonial magician, Carroll "Poke" Runyon, Magister of America's oldest continually operating Magical Lodge, the Ordo Templi Astartes (O.T.A.). The first part of the video offers a history of Western Magick, illustrated with graphics and displays, setting forth the author's theory, based on his own research and experiments, that visions of spirits obtained by magicians in medieval times were subjective and hypnotic rather than hysterical hallucinations. Runyon holds that the practical technique for achieving this was the visual distortion which occurs when a person stares at his or her reflection in a dark mirror. This technique is demonstrated and visions are simulated. The relationship of the "72 Rebellious Spirits" contained in King Solomon's legendary "Brass Vessel" to the Holy Angels who control them is explained and a hypnotic method for invoking these Angels into a Crystal Ball is demonstrated. According to the narrator, these two systems should be integrated for a proper spiritual balance. The video climaxes with the presentation of a complete Goetia Evocation Operation, in full ceremonial regalia, summoning the spirit Astaroth (actually the Canaanite Goddess, Astarte) to visual appearance in the dark mirror on the Triangle of Art. The Magick of Solomon was originally released on VHS in 1996 and is still available in that format. This new DVD version has been digitally re-mastered and visually enhanced. Ten extra minutes of new material has been added, including a flim clip of O.T.A. temple operations aired on national television in 1974 showing the use of the mirror in the triangle as described in the original 1996 VHS version.

C. R. Runyon, M.A. Producer

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #75846 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-10-15
• Formats: Color, Original recording remastered, Special Edition, NTSC
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 85 minutes

Magical Blend Magazine, whole number 53
"...effective in re-stretching my beliefs on what magic can accomplish...Inspirational and empowering." Michael Peter Langevin, editor/publisher. (VHS version)

Gnosis Magazine, Fall, 1996
"...an intelligent and well-produced videotape . . . " - Richard Smoley, editor, Gnosis Magazine. (VHS version)

About the Actor
Carroll Runyon (Poke Runyon)holds a Master's Degree in Cultural Anthropology from California State University. He is the author of several books on the subject of magick and occultism, including the companion volume to this video: THE BOOK OF SOLOMON'S MAGICK. Runyon is an initiate of an ancient Tibetan tantric order and has served as an officer in three Golden Dawn Temples. He is the founder of America's oldest continually operating ceremonial magick lodge, The Ordo Templi Astartes (O.T.A.)and the president of The Church of the Hermetic Sciences.

Customer Reviews

Dark Mirror II -- Vassago Prophecy up-dated.
Those who have the original 2001 VHS version of this amazing video documentary should be the first to get the new 2003 DVD "Second Edition." The DVD has 12 minutes of completely new footage; mostly current interviews with Frater Solomon and Frater Thabion dealing with the remarkable results of the spirit Vassago's "Millenium Prophecy." --But there is also a new follow-up from Vassago himself!....All this and for five dollars less than the earlier VHS version.

For those who don't have the VHS version yet, this Second Edition should be their first choice. Dark Mirror of Magick is the only complete, fully documented visual and sound recording of a Solomonic Goetia evocation operation. No rehearsals, no retakes. You see and hear it all. It was video-recorded by a professional t.v. news crew in January of 2001. 13 days after the Spirit Vassago predicted "The Slaying of a Son of Africa," the president of Congo was assassinated! Vassago went on to predict the present War on Terror in the Middle East and even hinted at the coming 911 disaster.

This was all videoed inside the impressive magical temple of the O.T.A. in Southern California. Director/narrator Wayne Darwen interviews the magus and the seer before and after the operation. Their unrehearsed answers to his penetrating questions give the viewer an insider's perspective on modern magick that is invaluable.

The producers of this DVD version have also up-dated, enhanced,extended and digitally re-mastered their companion video doumentary The Magick of Solomon. This production gives detailed instructions, with full-dress in-temple demonstrations, on how to perform the kind of operations seen in Dark Mirror of Magick.

Essential for any magical evocation
The magick of solomon dvd is absolutely essential for anyone pursuing spirit evocations. It should definately be used in conjunction with other evocation books since it does not cover every detail of an evocation.

The dvd is very good quality and Poke Runyon is actually a very good speaker and is easy to understand. I found his voice to be almost hypnotic as i watched. The dvd is definately for those who have at least some knowledge of magical evocation and may be overly confusing to a novice.

Poke explains how a spirit is evoked to materialize within the magic mirror inside the ritual triangle. He does a good job at explaining his belief that the spirit is evoked from within the psyche of the magus himself. I do wish there was more information and instruction about what results and knowledge can be obtained from the various spirits as this will not be known or understood by a novice. Poke also does a very good job at explaining the risks associated with evocation.

He also published a book that is meant to accompany the dvd which i plan to order also. I have studied ritual magick and evocation for many years but seeing an actual evocation on video is SOOOO different than reading about it in a book and therefore i believe this dvd is absolutely essential for anyone interested in performing any type of magical evocation.

I have been pondering ordering this video for many years and am very glad that i finally did!

Informative, and absolutely hilarious entertainment value
Readers of DM Kraig's Modern Magic(k) will recognize the general techniques performed during this DVD, which was apparently produced to provide the complete set of instructions which, Runyon claims, Kraig more or less ripped off from a student of the OTA, who ripped them off from Runyon. It's all basically very simple, and, yes, it's not something to be toyed with. I'd recommend Savedow's Goetic Evocation for more details on the actual practice, as well as Lisiewski's Ceremonial Magic and the Power of Evocation for more in depth theory and a discussion of possible consequences, in addition to Runyon's updated The Book of Solomon's Magic(k), which goes further in depth into his techniques.

What truly stands out is Runyon himself, whose comic charisma makes this fun watching. It's clear he takes all this stuff VERY seriously, as it should be, but this is a case in point why Golden Dawn style rituals should NEVER be shot on film. It's hilarious to watch, though the intellectual part of me is very glad he did so. Runyon's commentary at the beginning of the DVD leave little doubt why his nickname is "Poke", nor does the fact that his order was founded around a Phoenician love goddess. He also tends to think and talk in terms of his he-man, Green Beret personality (using at one point the analogy of a grenade in a phone booth to illustrate his point). He's just adorable! A chubby, fuzzy, cuddly, little ninja-assassin come medieval magus in dark robes, which appear to have caught fire at one point, chanting and leading pretty ladies about the circle.

Much is owed to "Poke", however, in "re-discovering" the technique of Goetic evocation, and the necessity of using the Lemegeton, Goetia and Arbatel in concert. While all this is now de rigueur in the esoteric community, it was, indeed, remarkable scholarship and insight when it was first developed.