Who was Franz Bardon?
by Tim Scott
Franz Bardon is one of the most important but least
known occultists and magicians of the Twentieth Century. He is
mainly known through four books he wrote which were published in
the 1950's. Many have borrowed his techniques and terminology
without giving him proper credit, sometimes unknowingly, but not always.
I recommended his book "Initiation into Hermetics" to a person
who had who had studied occultism for some years. He was stunned to
find that a teacher of his in the past had distributed Bardon's
materials pretending he had written them himself.
Bardon was unusual in that he stressed practice and
practicality above all else. Although his books contained lengthy
theoretical sections, his emphasis was on the tangible, usable results of
magickal training. His stated purpose was to give the serious student of
magick the most complete and best possible magickal
instruction obtainable outside of an occult lodge and without the benefit of
a personal teacher. Did he succeed? The only way to judge is by
trying his curriculum yourself.
Bardon's life and work
Bardon did not appear to be trying to create a legend
about himself. The only self-references in his works are occasional
attestations that he had himself tried this or that experiment or ritual. I
can't resist comparing this to a much more famous magician of
this century who wrote voluminously about his own life and
adventures, and had no qualms about glorifying himself in so doing.
According to his student and close friend Otti Votavova,
Franz Bardon was the oldest of 13 children, and the only son of a
very devout Christian mystic, Viktor Bardon. Although he had achieved
a certain amount of spiritual advancement, Viktor felt that he was
unable to obtain an advanced initiation, and prayed that he receive this
blessing. The story is that an advanced soul entered the body of his son
Franz to become Viktor's initiator.
In later life, Bardon became a stage magician who gained
some fame in Germany in the 1920's and 1930's under the stage
name "Frabato."
As Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party ascended to power in
the 1930's various groups such as the O.T.O. and the Freemasons
were banned and some of their members arrested. Otti Votavova avers
that Hitler belonged to the legendary "FOCG" or "99 Lodge" of
black magick, described in Frabato and
Fire and Ice (see the bibliography). Apart from this, Hitler and some of
his intimate friends were supposed to be members of the
"Thule-Order," which was the external
instrument of a group of powerful Tibetan black magicians.
Arrest & Imprisonment by the 3rd Reich
Through the negligence of one of Bardon's disciples (who
had not destroyed their correspondence as Bardon had ordered)
the Nazis arrested and imprisoned them both in late 1941 or
early 1942. While the prisoners were being whipped, the disciple lost
his control and uttered a Qabalistic formula to immobilize the
torturers. However, the effects of the formula were eventually
canceled and the disciple was shot as revenge. Adolf Hitler
offered Bardon high positions in the Third Reich under the condition that
he help win the war with his magick. Bardon was further expected
to reveal to Hitler the address of the other 98 of the 99 Lodges
spread all over the world. When he refused to help, the Nazis
cruelly tortured him. Among other things, they performed operations
on Bardon without anesthesia, and forged iron rings around his
ankles and fixed heavy iron balls to them.
Bardon endured the torments of Nazi concentration camps
for three and a half years. In 1945, shortly before Germany
surrendered, he was sentenced to death. Before his execution, the
Allies bombed Bardon's prison. Some Russian fellow prisoners
rescued him from the heavily damaged building and, with their help, he
hid from the police until the end of the war. Afterward, he worked his
way back to his home town.
After the war Bardon found, with the help of his magick
abilities, that Hitler had escaped abroad. For fear of recognition, Hitler
had undergone several surgical operations on his face.
Dieter Roggeberg makes this comment on the above
statements: "So much for Otti Votavova's recital of facts. In the years of
my acquaintance with her I was able to convince myself of her love
of truth."
After regaining his freedom, Bardon recommenced his
occult work and healing. It was apparently this last work that got him
in trouble with the Czech authorities. They strongly discouraged this
type of thing in the very repressive political climate of postwar
Czechoslovakia.
Arrest and Death
Regarding Bardon's last years, R<129>ggeberg wrote to me
as follows: "The profession of Bardon was natural healer. He was able
to cure cancer until the 2nd degree, without steel and rays, only with
his own medicine made from plants and treated with alchemical
means. For this reason the doctors of the official medicine became
very jealous, because they could not reach such success with
their chemical and nuclear treatments. After the publication of his books
in 1956, a number of people came from Germany to visit him.
The doctors took this opportunity to accuse Bardon to be a spy from
the West, and that was the reason he was arrested in 1958 in
Opava, Czechoslovakia." Czechoslovakia's leaders were fully in line
with Russian Communist ideologies, thus they persecuted
free-thinkers, Gypsies, Jews, Freemasons and anyone interested in occult
or esoteric subjects.
Bardon died July 10th, 1958. What connection, if any, his
death had with this arrest I have been unable to determine. If he was
a professional stage magician in Germany in the 1920's and
1930's, we could assume that he was born roughly around the turn of
the century, and thus would not have been very old at his death.
The Fraternity of Saturn
Bardon stoutly maintained that he was not a member of,
nor under any obligation to a magickal lodge or order. However,
some sources indicate that he was actually a member of the
Fraternity of Saturn, an important occult lodge which flourished in Germany in
the early part of the 20th Century. During the ascent of the Nazi
party, they closed or persecuted all Masonic, religious and
occult organizations. The party closed and banned the Fraternity of
Saturn Lodge sometime between 1933 and 1937, but it was revived in 1950.'
I have not yet been able to positively identify Bardon as
a member of the Fraternity of Saturn. While recognizing the power
and validity of sex-magick, Bardon emphatically discourages
the student from dabbling in it until he understands its full implications.
Franz Bardon's Writings
Each book follows a roughly similar pattern: a mainly
theoretical exposition followed by practical instruction. Reading and
understanding them is a challenge, as they have been translated from
German—and possibly from Czechoslovakian before that—into
non-idiomatic English.
Translational difficulties aside, one thing that makes an
enduring impression is Bardon's evident sincerity. He insists frequently
that he is doing as much as possible to transmit a system of occult
development to the serious student who is either unable to find a teacher
or work in a group. In line with this, he also frequently reiterates that
he has personally performed such and such an experiment, ritual
or procedure.
His Sources
Before describing some of Bardon's theories, it is good
to keep in mind that many of the words he uses have
different meanings in a mundane context and even in other occult
systems. Impregnation, fluid, condenser, sphere—all have special meanings.
For instance, Bardon appears to have originated the concept
of the so-called "fluid condenser." "Fluids" are magickal qualities,
not fluids as we understand them in daily life, and are divided
into "electric" and "magnetic" types.
A "condenser" is a magick wand, mirror, or other device
the magician crafts to "condense," or concentrate, these fluids.
An example of preparing a fluid condenser is given below.
Many of his occult ideas can be traced to earlier works, such
as Eliphas Levi and Barrett's The Magus. Bardon also seems to
have been familiar with Tibetan occultism, or at any rate the works
of Alexandra David-Neel, whom he cites now and then, and
from whom he does a fair amount of borrowing. He mentions,
for example, kylichors (magickal diagrams), and
tum-mo (the ability of Tibetan adepts to stay warm
in freezing weather). The mental exercises Bardon prescribes,
such as one-pointedness, watching the roaming of consciousness and
so on, are commonplace in yogic and other occult works.
Although Bardon does not mention Crowley or any of
his writings, "The Beast's" influence is present. Compare
Crowley's famous dictum: "Love is the law, love under will" to Bardon's:
"Love is the law, but love under a strong will."
Bardon's Theories: The Magickal Universe
Bardon postulates an energetic model of the universe
modified from Far Eastern theories, including Taoism and
Hindu cosmology. His "electric" and "magnetic" fluids complement
each other in the same way that Yin and Yang do. These are clearly not
the physicists' forces by the same names, but there is a
certain analogy between them. "Magnetism" is a cool, negative force
with a blue emanation; and "electricity" is a warm, positive force with a
red emanation.
In Initiation into Hermetics Bardon refers once to the
"OR" and "OB" forces. My guess is
that these might represent the "Red" (OR = "Odyle Rot") and
"Blue" (OB = "Odyle Blau") or
electric and magnetic fluids. Or perhaps they are adaptations of the OD
and OB forces described in Eliphas Levi's Transcendental
Magic. Whatever the scientific validity of this approach, it is certainly
rich with suggestive possibilities.
Bardon's "od" energy also has antecedents in the theory of
the "od" or "odyle" energy,
which Baron Karl von Reichenback originally developed in the
mid-1800's. The negative pole of a magnet, he claimed, appeared
blue to persons with high psychic sensitivity and induced a feeling
of coldness. The positive pole appeared red and had the property
of warmth. He elaborated this theory into a highly complex system
of occult anatomy and mysticism. Bardon usually called od
"vital power" ["lebenskraft"], but once
or twice reverts to the term "od."
Bardon teaches that each part of the body is governed by
either the electric or the magnetic force, or it may be neutral. Disease
is caused by parts being out of balance.
The Four Elements
Bardon made use of the ancient four Elements—Fire,
Earth, Air and Water—plus Akasha, or Quintessence. His attributions
of the Elements are essentially the same as those in other systems
and books: Water for emotions, intuition; Fire for
aggressiveness, passion, etc. In his view, the
skillful magician was one who could manipulate the Elements to
achieve desired effects. Of course, before the student could become
master of the Elements, he had to harmonize and control the
manifestations of all Elements in his own being.
Bardon taught that man was superior to all spirits, demons
and angels in that only man was a "four-pole" being—that is, combining
the energies of all the Elements. For instance, gnomes are
strictly creatures of Earth, sylphs of Air and so forth. He cautioned
the student to beware of tricks and deceptions on the parts of
these creatures, who wished to capture a part of the human's soul.
In Bardon's words: "Any deliberate cause, may be such as
a wish, a thought or any imagination created in this sphere together
with the dynamic concentration of willpower, unshaken faith and
fullest conviction is bound to be realized with the help of the
elements...." Consciousness knows neither
time nor space, and is therefore an akasha-principle. He also
instructs the student to redissolve the akasha into the universe rather than
keep it accumulated. In other words, the "magickal" frame of mind
should not be the same as the everyday one.
Preparation of the Student
A pillar of Bardon's method is the point that the magician must
be balanced in the Elements that make up his own being. A student with
an excess or lack of any Element could not achieve great success,
no matter how much work he does. An analogy would be an
auto engine: no matter how much fuel you feed to it, it can only
generate so much power if it is not properly tuned and balanced. After a
point, the engine will either wear out quickly or fail if you attempt
to make it perform beyond its limits. The difference with humans is
that our limits are self-imposed.
Bardon also insists on the point that the student begin at
the beginning and not skip any section of his training. The student
must completely master each step before proceeding on to the next.
Again, the analogy to other endeavors is clear. If magick is a skill like
flying, then the student cannot neglect the study of airplanes, weather,
safety, avionics and so forth, without serious difficulties in the future.
Finally, as many teachers say, the student must keep a
complete and accurate record. Without this, it is hard to repeat successes
and avoid repeating mistakes.
Outline of Bardon's Magickal Curriculum
Although Bardon divides his praxis into ten steps, these
are somewhat arbitrary. Here is a summary of his main points:
Self-Analysis & Basic Exercises
As mentioned above, the student must work diligently
on understanding and harmonizing the four Elements within his own
being before doing any further occult work. Bardon prescribes
several weeks of minute, mercilessly honest self-observation and recording
of one's faults and failings. The student classifies each under the
four Elemental categories to see which Elements are out of balance in
his Self. A similar exercise classifies his virtues and strengths. Since
the magician is to have control over all the Elemental worlds, he must
not have be unbalanced or have any obsessions that would impede
his effectiveness, or allow weak spots that could cause his undoing.
2. Intermediate Concentration & Breathing
In the next step, the student strengthens his ability to
concentrate and performs breathing exercises and the techniques
of autosuggestion. Bardon regards these as the secret key to
the subconscious.
Bardon distinguishes carefully between two kinds of
breathing: Pulmonary (normal) and through the skin. This second type
of breathing takes practice. The body can respire automatically, but
the student needs to learn to control it, combine it with voluntary
pulmonary breathing and selectively inspire the various Elements
and Akasha.
3. Advanced Visualization Exercises & Element Manipulation
This step entails intense concentration on and
visualization of increasingly more complex objects, and "inhaling" the
Elements into the body. The student also learns the "loading," or charging,
of talismans, rooms, or objects for protection, healing, or
other purposes.
4. Accumulation of Elements & Rituals
In this part of the training the student, works to perfect
the balancing and concentrating of Elementary energies in
the student's own and other persons' bodies. In Bardon's system,
"rituals" are not what we normally think
of as such, but rather mnemonics based on hand gestures,
verbal formulas or visual keys. He claims that once you understand
the energies properly, you can recall an energy or situation with merely
a surreptitious hand gesture, a silent formula or a combination thereof.
5. Transplanting Consciousness & Levitation
This step consists of a graduated series of exercises
to prepare the student for physical and astral levitation and
astral travel, as a prelude to communication with astral beings.
Communication with the astral world can be either active or passive.
Passive techniques are simpler and safer, thus Bardon presents them first.
6. Introduction to Astral Beings & Astral Travel
Besides astral beings and travel, this chapter deals with
the creation of non-physical beings for the magician's use. Bardon
also discusses the perils of accidentally creating them. This
inadvertent creation of phantasms which can attach to and parasitize the
operator is a great danger for the dabbler in occultism. At this
point, Bardon again insists that the student not skip any step in
his development, in order to avoid this serious problem.
7. Development of Clairvoyance, Clairaudience &
Other Abilities; Creation of Elementaries
Bardon gives formulas for accessories such as special
eye-baths and ear-plugs to aid in development of
supersensory perception. He also discusses magick animation of pictures
and statues.
8. "Fluid Condensers"
These are special tools which the magician creates to
concentrate, store and manipulate the electric and magnetic fluids.
He gives fairly detailed instructions for making, charging and using
these "condensers."
First, Bardon teaches that even minute quantities of gold
add enormously to the accumulative power of any condenser. Thus,
he recommends preparing a gold tincture to "charge" any
condensers the student makes. The easiest way is to dissolve a gram of
soluble gold chloride in 20 grams of distilled water. (Gold chloride is
fairly expensive—about $50 per gram.)
Here is an interesting example of Bardon's
condensers: Put a handful of fresh or dry chamomile flowers into a pot.
Pour enough cold water over them to cover them completely. Let
the chamomile flowers boil for about 20 minutes. Cool them, but
leave the lid on the pot and strain the decoction. Put this on the fire
again and allow it to evaporate slowly until it weighs about 50 grams.
A few drops more or less do not matter at all. Let the extract
cool and, for better preservation, mix it with the same quantity (in this
case 50 grams) of spirit or alcohol. (Remember to never use methyl
or wood alcohol in any preparation meant to be used in or on
the body.) To this mixture add about 10 drops of the gold
tincture prepared above.
Bardon continues:
If you wish to use the condenser for your own
purposes, you may still strengthen it, by adding a drop of your blood
or sperm, if possible both together, on a swab of cotton wool, throw
this afterwards without any scruples into the condenser and shake
the lot well. Then, pour all, in a funnel, through filter-paper or linen into
a small bottle and keep it well corked in a cool and dark place, ready
to use.
The magician can use these condensers in many ways:
mixing them with liquids to drink, for anointing, mixing them with
incense compounds, or pouring them in small bowls to collect and
concentrate certain energies.
Any fluid condenser which has been prepared in this
manner does not lose its efficiency even after many years. The
condenser must be well shaken each time you are going to use it, the bottle is
to be corked again after withdrawing some out of it. In the same way
you can prepare several universal condensers from Russian
or genuine Chinese tea, from lily-blossoms—best are the
white ones—poplar leaves, alraune roots or mandragora roots,
arnica montana, acacia flowers. Any simple fluid condenser, prepared from
one plant is sufficient for normal use such as influencing through
the elements, or developing the astral senses by means of the
fluid condensers.
9. Magick Mirrors for Astral Travel & Healing
The magick mirror (of which the crystal ball is a species)
is valuable for many experiments in clairvoyance, clairaudience and
the like. After a brief description, Bardon lists many ways the
magician can use it. He describes treatment of the sick using
electro-magnetic fluids and the magickal loading of talismans, amulets
and gems.
10. Elevation of the Spirit to Higher Levels
This chapter discusses the various ways the student
should improve his spiritual qualities. Bardon wraps up with a
discussion of several occult topics such as exteriorization, levitation,
production of natural phenomena, suggestion, hypnosis, psychometry
and long distance impregnation of rooms.
An Amazing Book on Communicating with Spirits
Bardon's second published work, The Practice of
Magical Evocation, is a remarkable and unique work of nearly 500
pages. The first of its two parts is an exhaustive description of the
many tools and apparatus the magician needs to work. The topics he
treats include: The Magick Circle, Triangle, Censer, Mirror, Lamp,
Wand, Sword, Dagger, Trident, Crown, Cap and Magus-Band. This book
is much more ceremonially oriented than the first, which requires
a minimum of apparatus. The Practice of Magical
Evocation is a classic magickal grimoire, or
instruction manual—probably one of the best ever written.
The second part of the book is a huge catalog of spirits
or entities that the student is supposed to be able to contact
after perfecting the techniques in the first book. A short
paragraph accompanies most of the entries explaining the specialty or
purpose of the being and what skills, knowledge or advantage it can
bring the occult practitioner. Bardon states several times that he
has contacted all these entities himself and is writing what he knows in
the first person. In fact, he says there are many more entities he
has omitted, because of their unsuitability for beginners.
The names of these spirits are quite interesting. A very few
of them are the same as the corresponding names in the
"classical" magickal tradition. His "72 spirits
of the Mercury sphere" are exactly the 72 angels of the
Schem-ha-mephorash. Some of them are oddly changed. For
instance, "Osrail" is clearly the same
as "Azrael," and "Opollogon"
appears to correspond to "Apollyon." These spirits are described
in Barrett's The Magus, among other books. The changes in spelling
may be due to the fact that Bardon originally wrote in
Czechoslovakian or German. However, most of his other spirits I have not yet
been able to trace. For instance, here are some of the spirits of the
Mars sphere, none of which I can locate in other references: Rarum,
Gibsir, Rahol, and Adica. These names may be from an obscure
medieval grimoire, have different meanings in Czechoslovakian, or have
some relation to his own Qabalistic system—but so far I have
been unable to make such a connection.
Bardon's Unique Qabalistic System
After the second book, the coherence and organization
of Bardon's work deteriorates noticeably. His third published
work was The Key to the True Qabalah. His Qabalistic system depends
on the sounds of the various letters of the alphabet. It's not clear that
this was exhaustively thought out, since there are many alphabets in
use (even among Western languages). Hebrew, Cyrillic and Arabic all
have different alphabets, and some (Chinese) have no alphabet at
all. He uses his Qabala somewhat differently than other occultists:
he connects Qabalistic formulae to various processes (e.g., a
vibration consisting of the sounds "KTM" is
a formula to load a room for protections, "AAQ" is used for
remote healing, etc.).
Bardon also uses his Qabalah as a sort of shorthand: once
the occultist has made contact with some planetary intelligence,
for instance, he can re-contact the intelligence by using its
"phone number" for simplicity.
Later Books of Rough Quality
It is clear that after the first two books, much less time
or assistance was available for Bardon to get his work in print. Perhaps
he was incarcerated or dead and unable to help with the editing.
In any case, Bardon's production after this point declined rapidly. The
next book was Frabato the Magician for which Bardon only had notes. In
the English edition, the publisher added extensive notes to indicate that
the book (and appended material) is, in essence, Bardon's unedited
notes. However, this is an intriguing occult novel somewhat along the lines
of those of Dion Fortune.
Franz Bardon Today
A few years ago, an enthusiastic student started the
"Franz Bardon Foundation" in Denver, Colorado. He showed his
devotion to the "Magus Guru," as he
called Bardon, by changing his name to "Jim Bardon." For a time, I
subscribed to this newsletter, which was 4 or 8 pages and issued a
few times a year. The newsletter was, I am sure, a sincere effort and
often had interesting and useful ideas. Unfortunately, it also included
much peripheral material that seemed to have no direct connection
with Bardon's works. Each issue repeated much of the same
information about "Jim Bardon's" predictions of major recessions and
at least one world war between 1989 and 2005. I'm not sure if the
recent Persian Gulf war would qualify. There is nothing in Franz
Bardon's own writings that would support these theories. Furthermore,
Jim Bardon in his bulletins also advertised his own publications,
astrological service and hermetic training.
Summary of Franz Bardon and Editorial
Perhaps it is unfair to make such comparisons, but it is
interesting to contrast Franz Bardon's works with those of the
another great magickal teacher of this century, Aleister Crowley.
Although when the spirit moved him, Crowley could be intensely
disciplined, kind and helpful to his students and magnanimous, he
also enjoyed a life filled with sex, drugs, alcohol and
bon vivant—all of which are integral parts of his
magickal philosophy. Crowley was continually heaping praise on
himself, excoriating those he felt were beneath him, discarding students
as unworthy, and continuously justifying his behavior. He
praised strength and sneered at weakness. Crowley's writings are full
of literary practical jokes, insults to the reader's intelligence,
and deliberate deceptions.
Bardon represented almost everything that Crowley was
not. He appeared to be patient, devout, non-judgmental and earnest.
He insisted that only through balance and purging of excesses could
one achieve success in magick. And (though this probably reflects
my personal biases), it seems that Bardon's reticence and
cautionary tone concerning sexual magick is a much more reasonable
attitude than Crowley's, especially for beginners.
Certainly not one occultist in a thousand has made good use
of sex magick, whereas an unfortunately large number have
become obsessed, or worse. How many people have you heard of who
have improved themselves through sex magick? But it's certainly a heck of
a lot more fun than the drudgery of discipline. Similar observations
apply to students whose magickal work revolves around the use of
intoxicants and narcotics.
I feel that Bardon does deliver what he promises: detailed
magickal instruction for the diligent and serious student who, for
whatever reason, cannot or will not attach to a magickal order or group. It
is sometimes a challenge to penetrate the mediocre translations of
his works, but with supplementary magickal study things do
become clear.
Bibliography
Franz Bardon's works
Der Weg zum Wahren Adepten (1'st ed. 1956).
Die Praxis der Magischen Evokation (1'st ed. 1956).
Der Schluessel zur Wahren Qabalah (1'st ed. 1957).
Frabato: Ein Okkulter Roman (1'st ed. 1979).
Initiation into Hermetics (1'st English ed. 1962).
The Practice of Magical Evocation (1'st English ed. 1967).
The Key to the True Qabalah (1'st English ed. 1971).
The formulas mentioned above, to immobilize one's enemies, are
in this book under the headings "E-M" and "E-N."
Frabato the Magician (1'st English ed. 1981). This is an
"occult novel" which Bardon's student
and friend Otti Votavova claimed was based on true events. This
edition also contains fragments from a work that Bardon was never
able to complete, published under the title of "The Golden Book
of Wisdom" and an unpublished tract titled "High Magic."
Other Related Works
The dates given after the titles are the years of first
English publication. Most of the works listed below have been reprinted
in various formats, some many times.
Barrett, Francis, The Magus, London (1801), offers
information on "classical" demonology.
"Blatter f<129>r Lebenskunst," August 1956, p. 3.
Cavendish, Richard, ed., Man, Myth and Magic (1970). See
articles on "Magnetism" and "Double"
for information on Baron von Reichenbach's theories.
David-Neel, Alexandra, Magic and Mystery in Tibet
(1931) and
Initiation and Initiates in Tibet (1932). Bardon refers
to these in a few places.
Flowers, S. Edred (pseud. of S. Edred Thorsson), The
Fraternity of Saturn (1990). This is surprisingly good. It is well documented
and relatively sane. Of course, in order to sell the books, it emphasizes
the sexual magick aspect of the Fraternity of Saturn.
Howe, Ellic, The Magicians of the Golden Dawn (1972). See
p. 282, Note 1, on the banning of the Fraternity of Saturn.
King, Francis, Sexuality, Magic and Perversion
The Secret Rituals of the O.T.O. (1973)
The Magical World of Aleister Crowley (1977).
Although long on sensationalism, King's works are usually reliable
and relatively well-documented.
Levi, Eliphas (pseud. of Alphonse Louis Constant, transl.
by A. E. Waite), Transcendental Magic (1896). This is an English edition
of Dogme de la Haute Magie (1855) and Rituel de la Haute
Magie (1856).
R<129>ggeberg, Dieter, letter to the author, Oct. 28,
1988. Herr R<129>ggeberg, the long time publisher of Bardon's books
in English, wrote this in response to a query for more information
about Bardon's life.
von Reichenbach, Baron Karl, Physico-Physiological Researches
on the Dynamics of Magnetism, (1850, 1851) and
The Odic Force: Letters on Od and Magnetism, (1926,
reprinted 1968).
Wilson, Colin, The Occult (1971) offers information on
von Reichenbach's theories.
c. 1991 by Tim Scott
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