On Thursday December 6th, 2012 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon, will present a discussion on the Masonic scholar and author Albert Pike, his legacy and his unique contributions to American Masonry and the Western Esoteric Tradition. Pike was and still is a very controversial figure. He was also a paradox: opposed to slavery, he still served as a general in the Confederate army. He was an advocate of Native American rights and led a regiment of Confederate Indians against the Yankees whom they hated. He was the father of Scottish Rite Masonry in America, rewriting and organizing a jumble of continental Masonic degrees into a coherent system that has become the largest Masonic jurisdiction in the world. He was an occultist much influenced by Eliphas Levi, and a proponent of the Hermetic Tradition which he showcased in his favorite Scottish Rite degree Knight of the Sun (the former 28th degree), which he devoted more text to than any other degree in his classic "Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite." Even back in the 19th century he was a lightning rod for anti-masons, being the alleged Luciferian Master of the mysterious lady sex magician "Diana Vaughan" in the great French "Palladian Hoax". So if you want to get the inside story on this giant of American Masonry and his efforts to preserve the ancient mysteries behind Freemasonry, tune in and we'll shed some Light on the subject.