Living Franz Bardon

In the previous post, I mentioned that there are many "diamonds" scattered throughout William Mistele's writings. One of these diamonds is his definition of magic – "Magic is a study of how to make the best choices in life." This diamond actually appears in several of his essays; see the screenshots below.   Alright, now that I've mentioned this, let's abruptly change topics... As anyone familiar with Christianity knows, intercessory prayer (praying for others) is an enormous component of Christian spiritual practice. In fact, as Christians, we are told not just to pray for our friends and family, or for those who are suffering, but even for those who harm us (Matt. 5:44). Therefore, intercessory prayer is an essential part of my daily practice routine, and something I enjoy writing about. Although I have discussed it in several of my previous writings, there is always more to be said on this extremely important subject, so I thought it would be worth ...

  This is the first post of a new series. In the introduction of IIH, Bardon mentions that in the past, aspiring magicians would often have to go through many books just to find one pearl of magical wisdom every now and then. Sometimes in my own writings, I try to share the pearls I have found during my esoteric readings. However, given that each of William Mistele's writings is an ocean of pearls, I could not possibly share all of them. The purpose of this series, therefore, is not to share the pearls, but rather the diamonds I find among the many pearls in William's writings. The particular diamond I am sharing in this post is contained in William's essay "Visiting the Planetary Spheres," which can be found here . The diamond is the following passage. If Saturn had a motto it might be: “Be responsible for all your actions. Learn everything you can from life. Use your time on earth wisely so your life has a solid foundation and you reap the fruits that arise from...

  In this post, I want to share six tips for those interested in using Kabbalistic teachings to accelerate their progress through IIH. But before I give these tips, there are two clarifications I should make. (#1) In writing this post, I have those interested in traditional Jewish Kabbalah in mind. This post was not written for those interested specifically in Hermetic Qabalah, which is a different matter. Traditional Jewish Kabbalah is a component of my spirituality, but Hermetic Qabalah isn’t, so I rarely write about it. (#2) In writing this post, I have those working through the beginning steps of IIH in mind. Some of the tips I will give may not be as relevant to those on the advanced steps. For example, since a Kabbalist Bardonist on the advanced steps of IIH would likely already have developed the virtues discussed in texts like Mesilat Yesharim and Tomer Devorah , daily study of these texts may not be as important. However, such a Bardonist should still study these text...

  I was reading Daniel Joseph’s book Diving with the Whale this morning and came across a passage that inspired me to write about a big mistake some people make in their training, as well as how William Mistele’s approach to magical training can help you avoid this mistake. William Mistele’s approach to magical training, by the way, is to go through the process slowly so you get things right the first time around. He mentions this in several of his writings, and also explains that “serious mistakes can set you back several lifetimes.” This is true. Serious mistakes, such as abusing akasha or drastically messing up your magical equilibrium by skipping steps, can in fact set you back several lifetimes. Now, the specific mistake I want to discuss in this post is breaking one’s alchemical egg. This mistake usually just sets people back one lifetime, not several lifetimes, so it’s not as bad as the mistakes that set people back several lifetimes. That said, I still consider it a big m...