Franz Bardon
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Franz Bardon (December 1, 1909 – July 10, 1958). Born in Opava in Czech Republic. Bardon was both a stage magician and student and teacher of Hermetics. During World War II Bardon was at one point held in a concentration camp for refusing to participate in Nazi Mysticism. Bardon was rescued by Russian soldiers who raided the camp. Bardon continued his work in the fields of Hermetics until 1958 when he was arrested and imprisoned in Brno Czechoslovakia. Bardon died in 1958 after consuming bacon which caused his death of pancreatitis.[1] [2]
He is best known for his three volumes on Hermetic magic. These volumes are Initiation Into Hermetics, The Practice of Magical Evocation and The Key to the True Quabbalah.
Additionally there was a fourth work attributed to him by the title of Frabato the Magician, supposed to be a disguised autobiography. Though the book lists its author as Bardon, it was actually written by his secretary, Otti Votavova. While some elements of the story are factual, the majority of the book was written as an Occult Novel with much embellishment on the part of Votavova.[3]
Bardon's works are most notable for their simplicity, their relatively small theoretical sections, and heavy emphasis on practice with many exercises. Many consider him to have written the best training programs of any magician of the 20th century. They were written with the intention of allowing students who wished to practice magic the means to do so if they could not study under a teacher (which Bardon recommended if possible).
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[edit] Metaphysics
Bardon's metaphysical system commences with Initiation Into Hermetics and is expanded on in the subsequent volumes. The highest reality is the akasha, which is associated with both God and the platonic "world of ideas", and which gives rise to (and binds/balances) the four elements of earth, fire, air, and water. These four elements make up the sum of all forces and processes in each of the three worlds. Bardon also posited "electric" and "magnetic" forces, which are used more as terms for the universal active and passive forces, respectively. These are expressed in the positive and negative aspects of the four elements. Air and earth are both considered pseudo-elements as they arise only out of the interaction of fire and water (this view is probably a variation of the cosmology of the Sepher Yetzirah).
The three worlds or "planes" are as follows: the mental plane is the highest reality, save for the undivided akasha, and is the true and eternal ego. Where the akasha is in a sense the world of ideas, it is the mental plane that sets these ideas in motion. The astral plane is the next one down and contains the archetypes of the physical world and to some extent the vital energy behind it; the physical world is the lowest of the planes and requires little explanation. Each of these worlds forms a matrix for the world below it. Since humans also have three bodies corresponding to their presence in each of the three worlds, severing the link between any two of these bodies will cause the dissolution of the lower forms (or death). Such things as astral projection are still possible as they only involve loosening the hold between the bodies.
Humans are considered to be special because they alone are "tetrapolar", or inherently containing all four elements. This concept is the basis of much of Bardon's training, which requires developing deficiencies and coming to a proper tetrapolar balance -- only then could the initiate progress spiritually. Bardon repeatedly emphasizes that the initiate can only develop an understanding of himself and his universe within the scope of their awareness and spiritual maturity. Thus the more balanced, more evolved student has access to a more comprehensive reality and more magical power.
[edit] Initiation Program
Bardon's training system is comprehensive. 'Initiation into Hermetics' is divided into ten practical steps. The program further subdivides each step into three areas -- Mental, Astral, and Physical -- with the intent of developing all areas of the self simultaneously and in a balanced way. This is to ensure that the student maintain a balance of the three bodies, which accelerates progress in the long run and minimizes injury to oneself in the process of growth.
Mental exercises begin with simple observation of the mental contents and progress from there, with each subsequent exercise building on the previous. The Astral exercises focus on systematically cataloguing the positive and negative aspects of the self and, later, transforming and purifying the negative aspects into positive. The Physical exercises stress physical health and development as well as the integration and use of the physical body and physical environment into magical techniques such as rituals.
[edit] Evocation
Bardon's second work, dealing with the evocation of spirits, outlined first the symbolic meaning of the traditional ritual tools and temple designs, then goes on to describe a method of evoking spirits. In essence, the magician creates an environment hospitable to the entity in the temple or other medium of contact. They then enter a trance, projecting their consciousness into the sphere of the entity in question, and call it back. Bardon emphasized two points about doing this sort of thing: first, that one must complete the necessary prerequisites of the training program or no success was possible; secondly, that the magician must call the spirit back under their "divine authority", not as a peer, otherwise they are liable to be manipulated by the entity.
[edit] Kabbalah
Some believe that Franz Bardon's third work doesn't seem to have its ideas as well developed as his first two. However they overlook that the first two works, that cover the first two tarots, is a pre-requisite to understanding and making use of the third work. Bardon himself says that it is
"quite up to the reader to study my books merely theoretically. In doing so, he will acquire a knowledge which he would not ba able get from any philosophical book. But knowledge is not yet wisdom. Knowledge depends on the development of the intellectual features of the spirit; wisdom, on the other side, necessitates the equable development of all four aspects of the spirit. Therefore knowledge is mere philosophy, which by itself alone can make a man neither a magician nor a Quabbalist. A learned man will be able to say a lot about magic, Quaballah, etc., but he will never be able to understand the powers and faculties rightly. With these few words I have explained to the reader the difference between the philosopher and the sage" [The Key to The True Kaballah, Franz Bardon, copyright 1975, pages 12-13]
The idea is that the True Kabbalah is not a mantic art, as some perceptions of it (primarily relating to gematria) suggest, but a method of empowering the letters of the alphabet to create magickal effects through their combination. Bardon links this to the Tantra of the east, but the basis of this comparison is not quite clear. Like his second book on evocation, the student must finish at least the first 8 steps of IIH to get any valid results or have equivalent training in a different system and avoid damage to the psyche which "...can cause a splitting of the personality, schizophrenia, with all its serious consequences." [Bardon, 1975, Page 55]. Bardon expands on this real possibility with the following advice "...someone who wants to apply the methods on the use of genuine qaballah at once, out of mere curiosity or inconsiderateness, exposes himself to various dangers. For in practice he would get into contact with various powers which he would not be able to control and thus he would be in danger of ruining his health. Therefore, anyone not sufficiently prepared for this step is herewith warned in time."[The Key to The True Kaballah, Franz Bardon, copyright 1975, page 62] This damage to the psyche "...clearly shows how inexusable it is if writings of Oriental origin are interpreted incorrectly and translated literally in an intellectual language" as Bardon has "...put the greatest secret into the quabbalist's hands, i.e. the practical application of the fourfold key, the key of relization by the word. Thousands of years this secret has been guarded." [Bardon, 1975, page 55 and page 112]
[edit] Criticisms of Bardon's Work
First, Bardon makes claims that the information he presents can be found in no other books, and that he is presenting the first full self-training program. A look at the time at which Bardon lived suggests that this is a somewhat baseless claim as Aleister Crowley published Liber ABA in 1913, about forty years before Bardon's books, and it contained comparable, if not greater, amounts of information and practical material, though perhaps more cryptic in form. This discrepancy can, however, be attributed to the different languages in which they wrote and the lack of available translations of certain material in Bardon's area. From another point of view, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn system of Magic is claimed to be different (in goal, fundaments and practice) from pure Hermetics Initiation by several students of Franz Bardon's work.
[edit] References
- ^ Franz Bardon Bio by Merker Publishing, http://www.merkurpublishing.com/franz_bardon_bio.htm
- ^ Franz Bardon Research, http://www.geocities.com/franzbardon/bardonsend.html
- ^ Forward of "Frabato the Magician" by Dieter Ruggeberg ISBN #1-885928-15-7
[edit] External links
- Hermetic Research is a Portal on serious Hermetic study and discussion.
- A Bardon Companion Features many articles, essays, correspondence extracts and downloadable resources
- William Mistele has written many articles about his experiences as a practitioner of Bardon's system.
- Franz Bardon Research The first English-language web site dedicated to the study of Bardon's teachings. It is no longer being updated but may still have useful articles for the beginner.
- Mekur Publishing The publishing company of Franz Bardon's books
