Living Franz Bardon

If you’re one of a small handful of Bardonists who corresponds with me frequently enough that you have to read the same webcomics I read in order to understand the references to them I am constantly making in my replies to your emails, then you’re probably aware that the last chapter of Evelyne and the Occult came out today. As someone who really liked this webcomic and will certainly miss it, I wanted to write an article to honor the occasion. Magic is a major theme in Evelyne and the Occult , and as someone who’s interested in magic, I have a lot of thoughts about the magic featured in this webcomic. That said, this article isn’t meant to be a comprehensive list of all my thoughts about the magic practiced by the members of Moon Blade and Sun’s Edge (the two rival sects of witches in the webcomic). Rather, I just wanted to discuss three important lessons Bardonists can take from this webcomic. Some of you may have been reading this webcomic for a while now; if this is the case, th...

  This is a post I've been meaning to write ever since the Titan imploded, but didn't have the time to do so until now. You may wonder, after reading the title, what the implosion of the Titan has to do with Hermetics. The answer is... a lot actually.  If we examine the reasons the Titan exploded, most of them boil down to Stockton Rush ignoring safety precautions. Any quick glance around the Bardon community, however, will show that a large portion of Bardonists also ignore safety precautions. What do I mean by this? If you read the writings of Bardon, and the writings of adepts like William Mistele and Rawn Clark who have worked through Bardon's system, one thing you'll find is that they warn many times of the dangers of attempting practices you aren't ready for. If you're only on the beginning steps of IIH, don't attempt practices like astral wandering, which are taught at the more advanced steps. If you haven't yet worked through at least the first e...

Warning: This blog post contains spoilers for Suzume . Man, what a night it's been! As I write this, it is around midnight EST. Usually at this time I'm in bed asleep, but given how much I liked Your Name and Weathering With You , I just had to catch Makoto Shinkai's newest film on opening night. And of course while my memory of the film is still fresh, I wanted to share some initial thoughts on it. Hence, here I am still wide awake and writing. So, there are two parts of Suzume that I want to discuss. The first part is the way the dark energies arising from deep within the land were handled. Land is often used as a metaphor for the human being, since just as land has many layers, every human being also has many layers. In some spiritual traditions, there are myths about great adepts being buried deep within the land. For example, Christian Rosenkreuz is said to be buried deep within the land, as is Merlin. These adepts represent our true divine Self which is...

  Lately, I've been thinking a lot about EIF. What can I say? There are things I want to do in life, and I have to figure out how to do them. My time is running out. Everyone's time is running out. A cancer patient's time may be running out very quickly, but even a healthy person's time is running out. What I mean is simply that we all must die someday. And so I want to learn more about EIF, so that I may do the things I want to do in life before I die. They say the best way to learn about a subject is to teach it, so I'm going to try to teach EIF through blog posts. Hence this new series I am starting called "Exploring EIF." So, what is EIF? It is many things. It is a motto, a philosophy, a belief, an attitude which arises from the belief, a truth, a practice, and a way of life. I've found that reading stories about people who applied EIF is one of the best ways to learn what EIF is. In her book, Marie shares several stories about people applying EIF....

On the Bardon Discord, this blog post was shared, leading to a discussion of whether or not traits can be inherently positive or negative, or whether one's situation determines if a trait is positive or negative.  Traits can indeed be inherently positive or negative. Krodha, vyāpāda, and narcissism are inherently negative. Any sort of drug addiction is also inherently negative. Compassion, assertiveness, prudence, and honesty are inherently positive. The key thing to know is that whether or not a trait is inherently positive or negative does not depend on what results it produces. A positive trait is an expression of one's essential divine nature (Ātman/Tathāgatagarbha). A negative trait, on the other hand, derives from the kilesas within oneself. One's essential divine nature is something that is objectively real. Kilesas are also objectively real. So there is nothing subjective about whether a trait is inherently positive or negative, as I've seen some people say. No...

Last night, some old friends of mine happened to be in my city for business and I had the opportunity to have dinner with them. Since a few of those friends were spiritual people, our conversation ended up turning to spiritual topics, and at some point the topic of Buddhadasa came up. One friend of mine said that Buddhadasa was an insightful teacher, but was unfortunately also a huge shit-stirrer, and that this is why he has such a controversial reputation. In response to this, another friend of mine pointed out that being a shit-stirrer isn't inherently bad, and that it can even be a good thing. In the case of Buddhadasa, it seemed that he was doing good by being a shit-stirrer.  I thought this was very interesting. I actually agree that being a shit-stirrer isn't inherently bad, and that it can even be a good thing. It depends largely on one's intent. Sure there are plenty of unwholesome reasons one could try to stir shit up, but there are also legitimate reasons to stir ...

  Note: The word "cook" can mean either preparing food for consumption by means of heat or being prepared for consumption by means of heat. Although the former use of the word is more common, I employ the latter use throughout this post. When you want to make a fried egg, you put a raw egg in a frying pan and you let it cook. Once it has cooked long enough, it will be a fried egg. Becoming a magician is similar. You just have to let yourself cook long enough.  A lot of Bardonists these days like to waste time. That wasted time should be spent on something important, such as cooking. Prayer is one way of cooking. Meditating is another way of cooking. If you find yourself with free time, don't waste it. Use it to cook. Go sit in your chair and watch your breath. When you inhale, watch your breath going in. When you exhale, watch your breath going out. When your mind has wandered from your breath, gently bring it back. That's all you need to do. You might think you'r...

  Today is the first day of November. As I'm sure you've noticed, every month has some special theme. January is Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. June is LGBT Pride Month. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. What is the special theme of November? In the Bardon tradition, November is Accelerate Your Initiation Month. The reason for this is that November is a fairly interesting time of the year. On the one hand, many Bardonists can look back on the year and realize that most of the year has gone by and they are still stuck on the same step and still haven't made any progress through IIH. But on the other hand, there is still some time left in the year with which to make progress. Once November comes around, one has two months left before the year ends. You can make a fair amount of progress through IIH in two months, but only if you use that time very wisely.  Personally, I get the idea behind Accelerate Your Initiation Month, but I find it a bit silly. F...

   "With God all things are possible." - Jesus Christ "Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right." - Henry Ford Recently, William Mistele made a Facebook post that caused quite a stir. You can read it here . This post presented the idea that a small group of magicians can establish world peace on their own. If you're a long-time reader of William's writings, you're probably aware that this is far from the first time William has presented this idea. And, if you follow William on social media, you're probably aware that every time William presents this idea it causes a stir. It seems, for whatever reason, that there are always people out there who believe that it is impossible for a small group of magicians to establish world peace on their own. Those walking the magical path sometimes criticize religious people for blindly believing dogmas, yet controversies like these show that those walking the magical path also cling to...

  If you're interested in esoteric subjects, you're probably aware that there are various reading lists out there for people walking the magical path. If you're a blogger, you might even be considering creating a reading list of your own for your readers. In this case, this blog post is for you. Not every reading list is a good reading list. In fact, I don't think I've ever come across one that I consider really good, and this includes readings lists that I myself have put together in the past. But despite this, I'm going to do my best to explain how to create a reading list that is truly useful. To start off, I highly encourage you to read this blog post by Frater Acher, as it touches on a big reason why many bad reading lists are bad. In that blog post, Frater Acher brings up the idea of "connecting the dots" to form a picture. Every book you read is a dot. If you've read hundreds of books, then you have hundreds of dots. That might seem like a ...

Whether or not you successfully work through IIH boils down to whether or not you can do two things.  1. Ask the right questions 2. Figure out the right answers to the right questions If you can do these two things, then you will successfully work through IIH. If you cannot do these two things, then you will not successfully work through IIH. That's really all there is to it.  Someone needs to write an exhaustive treatise on how to identify what questions are the right questions to ask and how to figure out the right answers to the right questions. Currently, I don't have the time to do this, but I hope the following tidbits of information will at least help you get started.  - When you ask the right question, the answer to the right question will likely lead you to the next right question to ask. For example, if you ask yourself "Why am I stuck on Step 1?" the answer may be "I can't really observe my thoughts." This answer will lead you to the next righ...

  If you’re familiar with William Mistele’s writings, then you undoubtedly know that he often writes about the subject of incarnate undines – undines who inhabit a human body and live among us in order to experience the human realm. William does not write so much about incarnate salamanders, although I sometimes wish he would. I think information about incarnate salamanders has the potential to be very useful for those working through IIH. As anyone who has studied the basic teachings of Hermetics knows, fire is the element associated with achieving goals, overcoming obstacles, and making progress. Think of a laser burning through obstacles, or lightning blasting through obstacles, or a pyroclastic flow completely overwhelming obstacles. This imagery reflects the sort of vibe you get from incarnate salamanders. These beings are experts at achieving goals, overcoming obstacles, and making progress regardless of what stands in their way. As an aspiring magician, you should want to ...