Franz Bardon—true guide or deceiver?

A critical review of the teachings and books of the Czech occultist and magician

Introduction

Due to the number of questions we have received about Franz Bardon from concerned readers over the years we have taken the unusual step of writing about a specific occultist—something we have deliberately avoided until now. One reason for this is our cordial dislike of argument which invariably convinces no one and leads nowhere. Another is that we never tell people what they should or should not read, think or do, as this would be an unwarrantable interference with their personal freedom—including the freedom to make mistakes! Finally, it is far better to learn to distinguish the difference between truth, half-truths and downright lies through our own efforts rather than by having it explained to us by others, however well-meaning or knowledgeable.

Another reason we have written this article at this time is because there is now more than one so-called 'occult order' that has incorporated Bardon's teachings into its curriculum. We are familiar with the teachings of all these orders which include some very dangerous exercises that can do untold damage to body, mind and spirit—or Higher Self in our terminology. We would add that the leaders of such orders are generally unaware of the forces they meddle with in their dire ignorance of the true laws and principles of Occult Science. Such are the blind leaders of the blind mentioned in Matthew 15:14: "And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the pit." It is for these reasons that we have divided this article into two parts: a foreword about the author and his books in the sidebar and a review of them below. We suggest that you read the foreword first so as to familiarise yourself with the author and his teachings.

Franz Bardon and his books

Franz Bardon wrote three occult books during his lifetime, which in order of publication are: Der Weg zum Wahren Adepten (1956); Die Praxis der Magischen Evokation (1956); and Der Schlüssel zur wahren Quabbalah (1957). All three books were translated into English during the 1960's and 70's under the following titles: Initiation into Hermetics (1962); The Practice of Magical Evocation (1967); and The Key to the True Qabbalah (1971). In addition an occult novel was published after his death in English entitled Frabato the Magician (1971). It was subsequently published in German in 1979 under the German title Frabato: Ein Okkulter Roman. Some social media posts have accused the author of this article of being an 'armchair occultist'. Nothing could be further from the truth. The author is not only fluent in German and has studied all Bardon's books in the original German editions published by Hermann Bauer Verlag, but is a practising occultist with over thirty years' experience. Consequently, he is thoroughly conversant with the ideas, exercises and rituals described in Bardon's books. However, the reader is free to dismiss these facts and side with those 'magicians' who firmly regard Bardon as an occult adept, if not an actual saint, and will brook no criticism of him or his teachings.

Some people think the tarot is a means of telling fortunes. Others — as Bardon declares — a book of initiation in which are concealed the greatest occult secrets. Both assumptions are false as we explain in our 'Astral Conversations' article on divination. Should you doubt us, let us consider the three tarot cards Bardon chose as the foundation of his teachings. The first of these (reproduced below), is the 'Magician'. This differs markedly from Bardon's own version which forms the frontispiece to his first book—Initiation into Hermetics. The images of tarot cards (other than Franz Bardon's own designs) that accompany this article have all been taken from the Rider-Waite tarot deck first published in 1910, as this remains the most popular and widely-used edition.

Bardon tells us that this card "represents the mastery of the elements and offers the key to the first Arcanum, the secret of the ineffable name Tetragrammaton, the qabbalistic Yod-He-Vau-He." This so-called 'secret' was revealed and thoroughly discussed by H. P. Blavatsky in The Secret Doctrine. As this peer among occultists explains, there are actually two Tetragrammatons: The first is symbolised by the perfect Square, the Tetractys of Pythagoras which expresses the evolution of all things from the great First Cause, called by the Kabbalists Ain—or Non-being, i.e., illimitable or absolute Be-ness. The second is Microprosopus, represented by the Tetrad or lower square of the material world, and this is the 'Tetragrammaton' about which Bardon makes such a fuss, which as he says "...was a subterfuge to avoid the sin of uttering the sacred name YHVH. . ."

Yet nowhere does the Czech occultist explain that Jehovah or YHVH was merely the god of the earth, and decidedly 'earthy' who—as the Bible tells us—was a 'jealous and angry god' By no stretch of the philosophical imagination can this tribal deity be confused or conflated with the Word, or Logos, never mind the Supreme Deity. This alone tells us that Bardon possessed a very limited and distorted understanding of the Jewish Qabbalah, in which the nature of the Tetragrammaton is discussed in great depth.

Well, well, well...If the angry and jealous God of the Old Testament who punishes his children represents Bardon's 'gate of initiation' we would rather not enter it, and suspect that if the enthusiastic admirers of this Czech 'magician' were aware of what we have just explained to you, they would not wish to enter it either. If we now look at the Waite-Rider tarot card of the 'Magician' shown above, we will see that Jehovah is conspicuously absent from it. Probably because this deck was designed by A. E. Waite, based largely on the writings of the French occultist, Eliphas Lévi, who most certainly did know the difference between the Tetragrammaton and the Jehovah of the Jews and what each stood for! We would add that in this card, the symbol above the head of the magician is that of eternity and of the Alpha and Omega—the Beginning and the End of all things—material or spiritual, whereas in Bardon's version it is absent...

In his introduction to Initiation into Hermetics the author says that: "I am not going to deny the fact of fragments being able to be found in many an author's publications, but not in a single book will the reader find so exact a description of the first Tarot card." This is one of the very few assertions in the book that we can agree with since Bardon's so-called 'first tarot card' is a complete fabrication from beginning to end! Much the same applies to his 'interpretations' of the other two tarot cards he has invented which adorn his second and third books, as we shall see later. So, without further preamble, let us examine the teachings and claims in Bardon's first book, Initiation into Hermetics.

Initiation into Hermetics

Few fans of Initiation into Hermetics ever question Bardon's statement that: "I would never dare to say that my book describes or deals with all the magic or mystic problems." Later he contradicts himself when he boasts that: "no incarnate adept, however high his rank may be, can give the disciple more for his start than the present book does." A 'start' that fails to deal with all the 'magic or mystic problems' the beginner may encounter is no start at all but a recipe for disaster. Do it yourself books like Initiation into Hermetics expose the student to all manner of dangers in the mental and psychic sphere which he or she may be totally unprepared to deal with. When the occult student does get into difficulty who is he to turn to? An online forum? YouTube? Reddit? Without the presence of a trained teacher who can provide the student with personal support and guidance any course of study in practical magic is fraught with perils of all kinds. This must be evident to all thinking occultists. Similar contradictions abound throughout Bardon's books and are one of the reasons we consider them so very misleading for the inexperienced and unwary seeker. But there are other reasons too, which we shall come to later.

It may not be without significance that the German title of this book is substantially different to the English translation of it. Der Weg zum Wahren Adepten means the 'Path to true Adeptship' which is somewhat different to Initiation into Hermetics. Nor does the book tell the reader anything about the metaphysical teachings of Hermes Trismegistus, such as we may discover in The Divine Pymander, The Virgin of the World and The Kybalion—to name but three books that comprise the body of HERMETIC occult knowledge and wisdom teachings known as the Corpus Hermeticum.

What the book actually provides is a course of practical instruction in magic which is based on the Western Mystery Tradition taught by the Order of the Golden Dawn and others rather than the metaphysical wisdom of ancient Egypt. Moreover, we are of the firm opinion that the magical path described in the book is a grey one at best and that, if the exercises Bardon gives are completely mastered, the student stands a good chance of becoming an Adept—but not of white magic! Should you doubt us, which, as we said in our foreword, would be an eminent attitude to adopt, for we never ask our readers to take anything we say on trust, please look carefully at the illustration of Bardon's 'first tarot card' shown below which is forms the frontispiece of Initiation into Hermetics.

Superficially it looks very appealing, does it not? Here at last it seems is an authentic picture of the path to Adeptship so fervently sought by many seekers after occult knowledge. Such is the impression it aroused in the writer when he first saw it many years ago. Does it not contain all the elements many believe form the true Arcanum of Magic? But let us look a little deeper. Leaving aside the fact that the author has chosen to represent himself in the image of the 'magician'—in itself a telling clue to his true intentions—we see that the lotus chakra, or sacred centre—depicted at the top of the picture—contains a man and woman locked in physical, sexual union. This can only represent the Muladhara chakram located at the base of the spine, the seat of Kundalini, or the 'serpent fire'.

Those of you who have some knowledge of the chakras will know that this centre is closely associated with the generative organs, to which it supplies the energy necessary for procreation. Those of you who do not must take our word for this for we know what we are talking about. Frankly, meditation on this centre and the arousal of the sex-force which it controls is one of the principle teachings of the worst kind of black magic. And yet, Bardon has made it the centrepiece—nay the very crown and apex—of his 'first tarot card'! What are we to make of this? Let us put it another way and ask whether YOU can imagine Jesus, Gautama Buddha, or any other genuine spiritual Master making the generative organs the centre of their secret teachings to their disciples? Let us look at the rest of the picture. At the bottom we see three naked, human figures. The one on the right is clearly male, the one on the left, female, whilst the central figure is a hermaphrodite. What does this tell us? That sex is the key to enlightenment? That transgenderism is normal? Bardon's own explanation is no help, for he merely tells us what we have already deduced, namely that the whole of his so-called 'first tarot card' is simply one gigantic sexual emblem, firmly rooted in the material, physical realm. Saying that "above the lotus flower, creation is symbolized by a sphere, which in its interior represents the symbol of the procreative plus and minus powers...the act of procreation of the universe," simply reinforces the inescapable conclusion that his teachings are a thinly disguised treatise on Tibetan Tantric Buddhism.

Please do not misunderstand us. We are not prudes, nor do we denigrate the importance of a healthy, normal sex life. But the desires and rights of the body are one thing, the aspirations of the spirit quite another. Moreover, as Hermes tells us, "Sex is a thing of bodies, not of souls." Frankly, the employment of sexual practises for spiritual ends, no matter how much they may be disguised in mystical language, is black magic, and rightly condemned by every genuine spiritual teacher. It must be clear to all thinking seekers after Truth that liberation from the bonds of the flesh cannot be obtained by indulging the desires and appetites of the flesh; this is simply common sense. But then sense is not so common after all, which is why very few readers of Bardon's Initiation into Hermetics ever stop to think exactly what it is they are being initiated into.

Let us now turn to the main chapters in the book to discover whether it is what it purports to be or something quite different. As we have seen the author claims to reveal the 'secrets' of the so-called 'first tarot card' and provide a complete system of magical training in less than 400 pages (this applies to the German edition). This training consists of a theoretical section devoted to the five occult elements, the nature of the soul—which Bardon confuses with the astral body—the astral planes, the nature of the spirit or mental body, the mental planes, religion and God. Nothing in this list is new. It has been covered in countless occult books without any of them revealing the true principles of man and the universe, and Bardon's book is no exception.

Let us pass on to the practical side of the book to see whether this is any more enlightening. What do we find? Chapters on auto-suggestion, concentration exercises, visualisation, diet, magical equilibrium, astral projection, the manufacture of talismans, breath control and bio-magnetism. Most of this is quite sound so far as it goes, but nothing in it is either new or 'secret'. Similar exercises are given in all the major occult orders, many of which have either leaked out, or been deliberately published by ex-members of such fraternities over the years. The danger in publishing material of this nature is two-fold. Firstly because without the personal guidance of a genuine teacher the pupil is left largely to his own devices and may make any number of blunders, some of which might undermine his physical or mental well-being. Secondly, because very few occult students have the self-discipline, concentration or patience to work at such occult exercises with regularity and consistency. Moreover, we live in an age when people want and expect instant results for little or no effort. Occult and magical studies are no exception to this expectation. The followers of Bardon's system who do not give up after a few desultory and half-hearted attempts to master his methods will inevitably jump from one half-completed exercise to another, indiscriminately mix them up and get into a hopeless muddle. This is the principal reason we have not, nor ever will publish any articles that deal with the practical occult sciences.

Among the more ambiguous and therefore dangerous suggestions to be found in the book is the following. "That the main condition for the novice is to concentrate himself absolutely on his body." Nothing could be more wrong or pernicious. The whole aim of the training of a genuine Initiate is to control the body and its senses, which cannot be accomplished by concentrating on the body, but only by rising above it and bringing the powers of the Higher Self into conscious activity. Similar misstatements—whether deliberate or accidental—occur throughout the book. In discussing the 'spirit', whatever he may mean by this (which is by no means clear) Bardon says: "It is not easy to define something divine, immortal, imperishable, and to put it into the correct terms. But here, as well as with any other problems, the key of the four-pole magnet will be a great help for us." Let us see whether this claim is justified in the following passage from the book.

"From the supreme prototype (Akasha), the original source of all beings, has proceeded the spirit, the spiritual EGO with the four specific elemental qualities, proper to the immortal spirit, which was created in God's image. The fiery principle, the impulsive part, means the will (volition). The airy principle shows up in the intellect (mind), the watery principle respectively in the life and the feeling, and the earthy principle is representing the union of all the three elements in the consciousness of the ego." The whole of this explanation contains a number of half-truths. Firstly, 'Akasha' is not the 'original source of all beings', which is the Prima Materia or 'First Matter' of the Alchemists, about which Bardon says nothing and knows nothing. Secondly, there are SEVEN elements, not five, as we have pointed out in several of our articles. Thirdly, although it is true to say, as Bardon does, that each element is associated with a particular aspect of consciousness, this does not explain what either 'consciousness' or the 'spiritual EGO' actually are.

Later on Bardon tells us that "Only he who knows and masters the absolute laws of the microcosm and the macrocosm is entitled to speak of an absolute truth." This sounds well does it not? This is another half-truth which encourages the dangerous notion that man can apprehend absolute truth. Absolute Truth by its very nature must be God, as there can be no higher truth than the Source from which all that exists has arisen, however we may regard that Divine Principle. This is self-evident. And he who presumes to know the mind of God is either a fool or a charlatan. We leave you to decide which, or both, apply to the author of this priceless piece of nonsense. The problem, dear reader, is that statements like this sound so very reasonable until we begin to dissect them. For all these reasons Initiation into Hermetics is not a book we would recommend to anyone who seriously wishes to learn the practical occult sciences. If you wish to read it in a general way, to enlarge your knowledge of magic, that is a different matter and we have no quarrel with those who do. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of Bardon's second book—The Practice of Magical Evocation.

The Practice of Magical Evocation

As the title suggests, this book is concerned with the evocation of spirits of all kinds and grades. Like Bardon's first book, it is also divided into two parts, the first entitled 'Magic' and the second 'Hierarchy', which gives the names, symbols and descriptions of more than 500 'spirits'.

Why stop at 500? Why not 5,000, or 5,000,000? The author does not tell us! The author has chosen another tarot card upon which to hang the teachings in this book, that of the High Priestess. The Rider-Waite card is shown below, Bardon's version is beneath it, so that we may compare the two and see what the differences are between them.

The first thing that strikes the viewer is that the High Priestess in the Rider-Waite tarot card has changed into a 'High Priest' in Bardon's version. Perhaps necromancer would be a better description, for in his card the figure before the altar is wearing a black robe and carries a sword in his left hand. The Priestess herself is relegated to the left-hand side of the altar, where she sits meekly, much like a secretary awaiting dictation! Readers familiar with Hermeticism will note that despite the superficial 'Egyptian' theme in Bardon's picture, the symbolism of the original is absent. Is this deliberate? Very probably. In the Rider-Waite card, the figure of the High Priestess is clearly intended to symbolise Wisdom in the form of the Goddess Isis enthroned between the two pillars of positive and negative polarity. Moreover, the moon is at her feet, showing that she presides over generation as the symbol of Divine, not human, motherhood. Upon her breast is a cross, emblematic of the Love of God lighting up the heart of Spiritual Man—the Christ within.

This elevated symbolism is entirely absent from Bardon's 'second tarot card' shown at left. It purports to represent 'the temple of initiation', but does nothing of the kind. But we will let that pass and consider the book itself to see whether it lives up to the author's claims. Among the subjects covered in part one are magical aids, the magic circle (a zone of protection not the well-known 'magic society' for stage conjurers!), the magical triangle, magical incense, mirrors, lamps, daggers, swords, crowns, wands, belt, etc. In short the whole colourful wardrobe of would-be 'adepts' the world over. Bardon also discusses rituals, rites, magical formulae, summoning, familiar spirits and serving demons.

In short he covers the same ground as the classical magical grimoires, leaving no imp unmentioned and no 'magic' lamps unrubbed. Aladdin would be green with envy! Frankly, if only a fraction of this Harry Potter wizardry were true and the wizards who claim to practise it genuine, we would long ago have ditched our Hoovers and dishwashers in favour of our own personal elemental helpers. Who needs modern conveniences when an army of obliging spirits are only a wand away from fulfilling the magician's every whim?

We are sorry for introducing a note of uncharacteristic levity at this point in our review, but the subject is so very distasteful to us that humour is the only way we know to deal with the nonsensical rigmarole contained in this book. That is not to say that it is impossible to summon spirits of all kinds, or that doing so is just a bit of fun. On the contrary, the process is fraught with danger and not to be undertaken by anyone who values either their sanity or their hope of liberation from continual rebirth on earth. For it is abundantly clear from even a casual perusal of this book that it is nothing more nor less than a manual for sorcerers, however much the author might wish to disguise it as something more refined and 'spiritual.'

Part two deals with the evocation of various orders and classes of spirits, among which are the inhabitants of the four elements, the 'original intelligences of the Zone girdling the Earth', the 360 'heads' of the same zone, and the intelligences of all the planetary spheres from the Moon to Pluto. An impressive curriculum, you will agree! Fortunately we can dismiss these teachings as a farrago of utter nonsense. The plain fact of the matter is that Bardon has simply re-hashed the contents of previous grimoires such as the Clavicula Salomonis, added a few new ingredients of his own drawn from Tibetan demonolatry, given the whole unsavoury potion a good stir and sugared it with the prospect of dining on forbidden fruit and the promise of supernatural powers.

We do not dispute in the slightest that there is a hierarchy of 'spirits' which govern the Universe under God. This is the ABC of occultism. Nor do we dispute that they can be contacted, though it is our personal experience that this requires far greater abilities, discipline, and purity of body, heart and mind than the average reader of this book is likely to possess. Contacting the 'intelligences' of the lower astral light is another matter entirely, for they, being material beings like ourselves, albeit of a different density, are not difficult to get in touch with. Moreover, many of them will be only too glad to 'serve' the magician who has succeeded in summoning them by following the methods Bardon gives. But...there is a snag dear reader and we're afraid it's not a small one. You see, the Universe does not operate on the 'free lunch' principle. There is a price to be paid for everything and everything, including the service of your personal 'demon', has its price...

One critic has pointed out that some of the spirits named and described by Bardon are the same as those found in mediaeval grimoires, yet some names are oddly changed. For instance, Bardon's "Osrail" is clearly the same as "Azrael," whilst his "Opollogon" appears to correspond to "Apollyon." Both these spirits are described in Francis Barrett's The Magus, among other books. However, most of his spirits do not appear in any other books. Why is this? Bardon's apologists will claim that he discovered them himself. But there is another, more plausible explanation and that is that he simply made them up! Why do we say this? Because every living thing has its real name by which it is known to its creator and which defines its nature. Nor does this name ever change, for if it did the being it defined would cease to be. This is a genuine occult 'secret' which we now reveal that Bardon either did not know, or concealed for his own purposes.

But there is more to such real names than this. Do YOU know your real name? The chances are you do not. For if you did and chose to reveal it to all and sundry as Bardon does with the so-called 'spirits' he names in this book it would give anyone who knew it complete power of life and death over you! So we may dismiss the whole of the practical side of this book as so much fantasy and nonsense, for this is just what it is. You may object that if what we have just told you is true, how is it possible that some magicians claim to have summoned the 'intelligences' Bardon describes? The answer is that if they have summoned anything other than their own fantasies, the beings they contacted were elementaries. For as we discuss in several of our articles, such entities can take on any form and masquerade as any being—yes, even the 'angel' guides of channelers and spiritualists—though to the discerning inner sight of the Initiate their true colours are only too apparent. But let us move on to the third of his books or we will never be finished.

The Key to the True Qabbalah

The title of the last of Bardon's books is highly misleading for it has nothing whatsoever to do with the system of Jewish mysticism of the same name. Instead, it is series of 'magical' formulae based on the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. What is worse, the 'Qabbalistic' formulae that Bardon gives are all composed of German letter-sounds which have little or nothing in common with Hebrew. The idea behind the book seems to be that once the 'magician' has successfully summoned the 'spirits' described in Bardon's second book reviewed above, he can make contact with these beings whenever he likes by uttering the sounds associated with them, rather like picking up the telephone and dialling for a takeaway pizza. Words fail us!

As we point out in our article on the dangers of Shamanism, sound is one of the most potent forces in the Universe, and its misuse can prove disastrous. In encouraging anyone who may pick up this book to experiment with the very dangerous sound exercises he gives, Bardon displays his true colours and intentions. Why he did this remains a mystery for he cannot have been unaware of the terrible perils he exposes his readers to. For this reason alone we consider this book one of the most misleading and dangerous ever to have had the misfortune to be published and strongly advise anyone tempted to follow the instructions in it not to do so under any circumstances. Before we conclude this review, let us briefly compare the 'third tarot card' which this book purports to elucidate with the same card in the traditional tarot deck: number three, 'The Empress'.

It is immediately obvious that Bardon's card bears not the slightest resemblance to the Rider-Waite card which depicts the mother-principle which fructifies, nurtures and protects all living things.
Bardon's card is a pseudo astro-qabbalistic emblem consisting of a four-pointed star inside two nested squares set within four circles. Like his 'second tarot card' which we discussed earlier, the repetition of the number four emphasises the material at the expense of the spiritual world.

We may say in passing that his association of the Zodiacal Signs with the planets is completely wrong, as any astrologers among our readers will have noted. Yet none of Bardon's enthusiastic followers seem to have noticed this elementary mistake. We wonder why that is? Perhaps one of our kind readers will enlighten us? No? Then we will pass on to Bardon's final book—Frabato the Magician—which at least has the merit of being fiction so should not be taken too seriously!

Frabato the Magician

It has been claimed that this occult novel was not written by Franz Bardon, but by his student and secretary, Otti Votavova. We can well believe it as the sensationalist style in which it is written make Dennis Wheatley's occult potboilers seem literary classics in comparison! Despite these deficiencies the book has some value in providing an insight, albeit quite possibly at second-hand, into the author's motivation, occult training and sources. Many of the occult ideas in this book (as well as his non-fiction works) can be traced to authors such as Eliphas Lévi, Francis Barrett, Bulwer-Lytton and even Lobsang Rampa! As we mentioned earlier, Bardon was familiar with Tibetan demonolatry, and this is reflected in the novel when he engages in 'astral' battles with rival magicians, reminding us of some of the occult novels of Dion Fortune.

By far the most silly incident in the book is when he is attacked by a lodge of black magicians who employ an electrical apparatus Bardon calls a 'tepaphone' (not 'telephone'!) to fry him to death. He overcomes this magical assault by immersing his feet in a bowl of cold water, which he changes frequently as it boils, so effectively nullifying the effect of the 'death rays' sent to him via the tepaphone. One is left wondering why his enemies went to such trouble, when, given the powerful friends Bardon tells us they possessed in industry and government they could so easily have paid a hit man to do the job for them. But that wouldn't be nearly so 'magically thrilling', would it?

Conclusion

Franz Bardon's avowed aim was to present a system of practical training leading to initiation that anyone could follow on his own without a personal teacher or guide. On the face of it this sounds a laudable aim, but is it? Would you take up the study and practise of chemistry or medicine without a qualified teacher and all the necessary safeguards and expert guidance he could provide? Of course you wouldn't. Ten to one you would either injure yourself or others! Yet, as we point out in so many of our articles, the study and practise of the occult sciences is infinitely more difficult and much more complex than any branch of the material sciences. Moreover, the harm it can do in the wrong hands or with the wrong motivation makes the nuclear bombs and biological weapons of science look like children's firecrackers in comparison.

Bardon's followers and apologists attempt to get over this difficulty by pointing out that he included numerous warnings in his books, and so he does. The sheer number of such warnings (hardly a page is free of them) should be sufficient warning in itself to any intelligent reader that much of what he teaches is highly dangerous. Sadly, the vagaries of human nature and the hunger for mystery and magical 'thrills' that motivates so many seekers mean that few will heed that warning. It is because we wish to alert the inexperienced and unwary seeker to these dangers that we have written this article. We do not expect more than a handful to read our words and even fewer to agree with them. But if we can prevent just one seeker from being deceived by Bardon's teachings, the considerable labour entailed in researching and writing this article will not have been expended in vain.

Postscript January 2024

When we last updated this article in January 2024, we were alerted by a reader to a critical response to it by one 'Virgil' published on 22 May 2023 at Falcon Books Publishing. According to their 'About Us' page, Falcon Books specialise in literature "related to the Franz Bardon system," so it is not surprising they don't like what we have written! It is even less surprising that 'Virgil' omitted to provide a link back to this article so that any open-minded readers might compare the two...perhaps he or she just forgot? One might be forgiven for thinking the author had deliberately focused on minutiae while studiously ignoring the elephant in the room. Specifically, our major concern that without the personal guidance of a qualified teacher, Bardon's system exposes the neophyte to untold dangers in the physical, mental and spiritual spheres. To be fair, 'Virgil' does touch on this concern, but quickly dismisses it by citing a quotation from an author who believes that the problems such dangers create are good for the aspiring magician. We would respond by asking what 'good' there is in a life ruined by mental illness or drug addiction? For that is the heavy price more than one person has paid for following Bardon's system. We found the rest of this long quotation extremely distasteful, arrogant and cruel. If this is what Bardon's system does for its posterboys we want nothing to do with it and suggest our readers follow our example.

Reader's comments about this article:

"I wish only to express my genuine gratitude for your article on Franz Bardon, as every other source bar a few one star reviews were pushing me toward acquiring a copy of his Initiation Into Hermetics." (Reader from Australia)

"A good friend has just started to become interested in Bardon. They sent me links to videos, asking for my opinion and assessment. The videos are presented by suspiciously young people, males in particular, promoting him with great enthusiasm. (Red Flag #1: when young males are excited it's usually testosterone related.)" (Reader from the USA)

"Bardon himself had students, so it is obvious that Bardon stressed the importance of having a Teacher. He didn't just throw them a copy of Initiation into Hermetics and say: 'here you go, this is all you need,' because a Teacher can do things for the Aspirant that he can't do for himself. This is the main reason I gave up on Bardon and why I agree with much (but not everything) you say in your article." (Reader from the USA)

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Foreword

The teachings and life of Franz Bardon

Franz Bardon has been called "the greatest and most important Hermetic adept of the 20th century." He has also been praised for the simplicity and accessibility of his writing, the practical nature of his teachings, and the revelation of occult 'secrets', one of which is the supposed meaning hidden in the first three tarot cards of the Major Arcana: namely, the 'Magician', the 'High Priestess' and 'The Empress.' We shall see how far these claims are justified during the course of this foreword and our review of his books.

Before we do so, we would like to use the example of the famous seer, Immanuel Swedenborg to illustrate why we believe Bardon is not a reliable guide or teacher. Swedenborg was a highly gifted clairvoyant and mystic, but not by any means a trained occultist or initiate. Thus he was unable to comprehend much of what he quite genuinely saw and consequently misinterpreted and confused a large part of his visionary experiences.

The fact that Bardon possessed certain psychic abilities and occult knowledge does not mean he fully understood the true Laws and Principles of Occult Science, nor their practical application. One can be a popular musician without being able to read music or possessing any knowledge of musical theory, but does that make one a musical expert who is equipped to instruct others? We should say it does not. Especially if, as in Bardon's case, many of his teachings are highly dangerous, as we shall see when we come to review his books.

Dangers of half-truths

In many of our articles we have made mention of the fact that half-truths are much more misleading and dangerous than outright falsehoods. Some of our readers may have wondered just what we meant by this and what a 'half-truth' is. Is it something that is only half true? Some occult fact, law or teaching that is incomplete? Yes it is, but it means more than these obvious definitions too. Let us explain. A half-truth is a statement that on the face of it appears both reasonable and true.

If, for example, we were to tell you that black is white or that two and two make five, you would quite rightly recognise these statements as completely false. If, on the other hand, we were to say, as Bardon does in his books, that the astral body is the 'soul' of man, this would be only half true, for it ignores the fact that the soul of man—by which we mean the Higher Self or mind—does not need a body to exist. It adopts one simply in order to gain experience of the material world which is impossible without a body of some sort, whether physical or astral. In short, Bardon, like so many other occultists, confuses the vehicle with the driver.

Let us take another example. Bardon tells his readers that there are only three worlds, planes or states of consciousness, namely, the physical plane, the astral plane and the mental plane. This too is a half-truth. For it ignores the septenary principle upon which the whole edifice of Occult Science rests; in this case the division of the manifested universe into seven planes, realms or states of consciousness, not three as Bardon teaches. Finally, Bardon tells us that creation arises from the union of the male and female energies, or the electric and magnetic fluids as he calls them.

This is true, for sex, as we explain in part eleven of Spiritus Hermeticum, is a universal principle throughout the manifested Universe; not an atom or an angel is devoid of it. But this is not the whole truth, for sex or gender is merely the product of other, higher principles, and cannot of itself, create anything, be it a stone or a man. That is the prerogative of Life itself which is the noumenon of the forces that proceed from it. It is this vital fact which Bardon omits to mention, either because he did not know the true laws of Occult Science, or chose to conceal them.

We have now seen that something may be true, false, or only half-true. And while Bardon makes comparatively few statements that could be considered to be completely untrue, he makes a great many that are only half-true. Not only does he mislead his readers in this way, he also advocates some very dangerous exercises. Exercises which can do irreparable damage to body, mind and spirit.

We will come back to these grave dangers when we discuss the Czech occultist's individual books. But before we do so we would add that while it is perfectly possible to acquire considerable magical powers which the average person would consider to be miraculous through following Bardon's teachings, these of themselves cannot and do not make of man an Adept, unless we consider a black magician as such. We hope you will agree with us that this is not the kind of 'Adeptship' any sincere seeker after Truth would wish to attain!

Franz Bardon's teachings

In largely omitting and ignoring the spiritual dimension in his teachings and concentrating instead on the development of phenomenal, psychic abilities, Bardon is following the same dark path as countless generations of so-called 'magicians' before him. Men and women, who, although they may possess supernormal powers, are not one whit more spiritual than the average specimens of humanity, and often much less so.

Do not be misled by Bardon's frequent references to 'Divine Providence' (Göttliche Vorsehung in German), in his books, for this may mean anything or nothing, and in the sense that Bardon employs it, refers generally to his own distorted view of the occult sciences. Bardon mentions God a good deal in his books, especially in the first of them—Initiation into Hermetics—but in none of them does he provide the reader with the transcendental depictions of the Supreme we find in the books of J Michaud, PhD, such as The Golden Star or Ralph Waldo Trine's masterpiece of practical wisdom—In Tune with the Infinite.

Why is this? If you have not already guessed, we will tell you. Because Bardon's books are not concerned with the spiritual emancipation of man from the bonds of the flesh. They do not provide the keys to the great mysteries of Man and the Universe; of Life and Death. Neither do they provide any information or instruction on the ways in which the earnest seeker after Truth may employ the phenomenal powers they may gain from following his magical system in the service of his or her near and dear ones in particular and suffering humanity in general.

For, as Jesus told his disciples:
"If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all" (Mark 9:35). This leads us to our principal objection to Bardon's books and the teachings he promulgates. They are almost entirely concerned with SELF, not others, except insofar as others may help or hinder the acquirement of magical abilities.

Nothing in any of Bardon's books ever soars above the mundane world of spirits, spells and material, as opposed to spiritual power. The Great Light of the spiritual realms and freedom from rebirth on Earth which has ever been the goal of all sincere seekers after Truth and Wisdom is entirely absent from them.

It is for these reasons that we have undertaken to write about Franz Bardon and his teachings. Unlike many other writers, both past and present, who do not disguise their fascination with the left-hand-path, Bardon pitches his teachings in a higher key, appealing to the nobler aspirations of man, and this makes his teachings all the more deceptive and dangerous. We know several seekers who have been taken in by his books. One of the authors of this website spent several years studying Bardon's methods and even had some success with them. But as he has told us many times all he ultimately learned was what not to do, think and be!

Fortunately for him, he did not experiment with the methods given in Bardon's third book—The Key to the True Qabbalah—for, as he explained to the writer, "an inner voice warned me that sound was the most potent of all occult forces which could as easily kill or cure, and I instinctively steered clear of trying out the exercises Bardon gives." He was wise not to do so, or perhaps he was warned by his own Soul—which ever watches over us—if we will only hearken unto it, which many do not.

We have known and still know men and women who followed Bardon's methods that were not so fortunate. One felt that their entire future spiritual progress had been permanently blighted by following his system. Another became obsessed by a demonic entity they had drawn to themselves by practising the exercises given in The Practice of Magical Evocation and took their own life. Perhaps it is just as well, as the American publisher of these very misleading and dangerous exercises complains, that so few occult students ever manage to achieve any success with Bardon's system.

This prompts the question of who he wrote his books for, for we can count the number of those who possess even a modicum of the discipline, concentration, will and determination to pursue the practical occult sciences on the fingers of one hand. Most give up after a few desultory attempts fail to produce any objective results. Others are frightened off when they do experience some occult phenomena or other. And this applies to any system of magical training, not just that to be found in Bardon's books.

Perhaps, like many occultists before and since, Bardon was simply after his five minutes of fame? Or he may have genuinely believed that he was the chosen representative of his 'masters' whose task it was to provide a practical course of instruction in Magic for the benefit of all mankind. That at least, would be the more charitable view, but it would be disingenuous of us to say we share it for all the reasons we have put before you in this foreword. We have simply attempted to present the facts as we see them; it is entirely up to the reader to accept or reject them and so come to their own conclusions about the man, his motivation and teachings.

As an additional pointer to the misinformation and half-truths contained in Bardon's books we suggest you carefully consider the style of writing, the intent, and the language employed, and then compare them with The Golden Star (reviewed below), the Books of Hermes, or any of the great Sacred Texts of the world and draw your own conclusions. Although our suggestion applies to the English editions of his works we can assure you that the same shortcomings are present in the original German books too. Herein you will find another mode of comparison which may convey fresh thoughts and conclusions to your mind.

In our article at left, we consider each of Bardon's occult books in turn, basing our review upon the English translations since these are the editions which most readers are familiar with. We give particular attention to the first of his books, whose English title is Initiation into Hermetics as this is by far the more popular and widely-read of them all. But before we end this foreword, it is appropriate that we say a few words about the author himself.

Franz Bardon's life

Very little is known of Franz Bardon's life and career that is not coloured by speculation and fantasy. As we have no wish to add to this fog of fancies, half-truths and misinformation we will content ourselves with the plain facts. Franz Bardon was a Czech stage magician and later occultist. He was born in December 1909, in Opava, in the Czech Republic and died at the comparatively young age of 49, in July 1958, in Brno.

Little is known of his early adulthood other than the fact that he trained as a sewing machine mechanic. What we do know is that he possessed innate psychic abilities from an early age and exploited these gifts before and after the Second World War when he made a name for himself in Germany as a charismatic stage magician and hypnotist. In later life he was frequently arrested by the Communist authorities in what was then Soviet occupied Czechoslovakia.

So far as we know, Bardon's three books on magic were all written and published during the 1950's. Frabato — his supposed 'magical autobiography' — was published long after his death. We have no way of knowing how accurate a sketch of his life and magical career it is or how much of it is speculation and fantasy contributed by his friends, family and publisher. However, our personal view is that, like many biographies of occultists, it is a mixture of truth and fiction.

Some writers have made much of the fact that Bardon's arrest and imprisonment at the hands of the Nazis proves that he was a genuine Adept, if not an actual 'saint', whatever they may mean by that misused word. We would say that if the story of his imprisonment and torture are true (and we have not been able to verify these claims) it may prove the exact opposite. For no genuine Adept has ever publicly acknowledged his status much less made a public display of his occult powers as Bardon did, being too well acquainted with the importance of absolute secrecy in these matters. Bardon would never have come to the attention of the Nazis had he remained hidden. The fact that he did not is an important point his admirers conveniently ignore.

After Bardon's death some of his followers claimed he was the reincarnation of a Tibetan Monk, while others were adamant the monk in question was Bardon's teacher in his present life. Whatever the truth of these conflicting assertions, a close scrutiny of Bardon's books, especially Initiation into Hermetics and Frabato clearly reveals that he obtained most of his teachings from Tibetan Tantric Buddhism, and not from the Hermetic Wisdom of ancient Egypt as he himself claimed.

So much for the man, what of his books? We discuss all four of them in our main article at left, leaving you to draw your own conclusions as to whether, as his American publisher claims, Franz Bardon was "the greatest and most important Hermetic adept of the 20th century," or something quite different. . .

The Golden Star

By J Michaud PhD

It is no exaggeration to say that this little-known book contains more real magical knowledge of the right sort than any book published during the last two centuries. Those who study it with diligent attention will discover the answers to some of the most closely-guarded of occult secrets. Secrets which occultists like Franz Bardon knew nothing about, notwithstanding the bombastic claims he makes in the books reviewed in our article at left.

The Golden Star is written in the form of a story, in which two Egyptian pilgrims, Ma-u and Ma-uti, are conducted through the higher and lower astral planes by Neteru-Hem, a Messenger from the highest spiritual realms. During their remarkable journey, they are taught about the origin of the universe, witchcraft, magic, spiritualism, the inhabitants of the four elemental kingdoms, Devas and Demons, Angels, psychism, clairvoyance and clairaudience, and much more.

Readers who carefully compare the style of writing and language employed by Franz Bardon in his books with that of The Golden Star will recognise the very great difference between them, and therein discover another means of deciding which reflects the One Light of Truth and which does not.

The Golden Star can be read free-of-charge online, downloaded as a FREE PDF and purchased in a new printed hardcover edition for just $30 (£21 / €26) net.

occult mysteries