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Franz Bardon (1 December 1909 – 10 July 1958) was a Czechs occultist and student and teacher of Hermeticism.
An additional fourth work attributed to him by the title of Frabato the Magician, has been supposed by many of his students 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 based on Bardon's real life experience, most of the book was written as an occult novel with much embellishment on the part of Votavova.Dieter Ruggeberg. "Foreword" in Frabato the Magician.
Bardon's works are most notable for their simplicity, their relatively small theoretical sections, and heavy emphasis on practice with many exercises. Students of his, such as Emil Stejnar, Walter Ogris, Martin Faulks, William Mistele and Rawn Clark 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.
Bardon's training system is comprehensive. Initiation into Hermetics is divided into 10 practical steps. The program further subdivides each step into three areas – Non-being spirit or Mind (Spiritual abstract universal mental body; Soul as mental body into the Astral plane, psychic and emotional body; the astral body and Human body body – 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. Also, there occurs a purification of the personality, where the magician should become incapable of wishing harm to his fellow man. This is an important point since, as the power of the magician increases, so his ability to do harm – even unintentionally, increases. In summary—
Bardon's second work, dealing with the evocation of spirits, outlined first the 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 an altered state of consciousness through natural meditation, to deep fullness of ecstasy without substances or 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.
The first two works, addressing the first two Tarots, are 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 be able to 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.
—Franz Bardon, The Key to The True Kaballah, 1975, pages 12–13
The idea is that the True Kabbalah is not a Divination art, as some perceptions of it (primarily relating to gematria) suggest, but a method of empowering the letters of the alphabet to create magical 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 eight 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 kabbalah 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 inexcusable 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 kabbalist's hands, as in the practical application of the fourfold key, the key of realization by the word. Thousands of years this secret has been guarded." (Bardon, 1975, page 55 and page 112)
The essential and relevant part of the book is the revelation that Franz Bardon was the last reincarnation of the spirit embodied by Hermes Trismegistus, the esoteric creator of Hermeticism and the founder of Freemasonry, who, contrary to what Freemasons think, paid the karma that generated when he lived as Hermes Trismegistus, because the masonic idea of how the Laws of the Universe (the Law of God or Divine Justice) work, does not correspond to Bardon's ideas.
The moral basis of Freemasonry is that the balance of good and bad actions is achieved if the mason compensates for his bad actions with good actions or vice versa, but decides what actions he will take to find the desired equilibrium, where it is the transgressor of the Universal Law who decides both what he will do and to whom he will do it. Hence, as the good deeds of Hermes did not serve as penance or payment of his karma to obtain forgiveness, it is God who forgives and decides the penance or karma to pay and when to apply it, Hermes paid his karma as Bardon. In order to be in harmony with the Universe, the transgressor must follow the norms that God imposes. Respect God's laws and in case of sin repent, ask for forgiveness, and pay the penance or karma that God imposes in giving a choice when offering incarnation of the spirit in the next life.
In the edition published by Merkur, Wisdom of the Occident,New Edition by Merkur Publishing, Inc. Wisdom of the Occident arrangement and under license with Dieter Rüggeberg Verlag, Wuppertal, Germany, Published in January, 2015 Bardon's secretary Votavova wrote an annex, "In Memoriam" where she refers to the characters embodying Bardon's spirit as, among others: Hermes Trismegistos, Nostradamus, Lao Tse, Apollonius of Tyana, Robert Fludd, and Count Saint Germain. In his previous physical life he was a wise man (Mahatma) from the mountains named Mahum Ta-Tah, spelled like Ha-Khu-Ma-Na-Ta-Tah. Votavova also says that Bardon once told her that he embodied his own spiritual soul as a young boy between the ages of 14 and 21 and he was the one who decided to be the spiritual master of Victor Bardon, his own Father, who in his desire to become a divine initiate, asked -in his prayers- to know his true guru. The spirit of Bardon incarnated his only son, through an exchange of spirit (though unacceptable and impossible both from a spiritual and esoteric point of view).
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