Initiation into Hermetics (Franz Bardon)
The Man, the Myth, the Incarnation
[My 1-star Amazon review (NDA) of “Initiation into Hermetics” by Franz Bardon.]
Franz Bardon was/is probably the greatest man/spirit who ever lived. According to the website that bears his name and ends in a com: “Franz Bardon’s spirit has been perfected over thousands of years. Before incarnating as Franz Bardon, he had incarnated as Hermes Trismegistus, Lao Tzu, Nostradamus, Robert Fludd, Count St. Germain, and Apollonius of Tyana.” Moreover, my secret hermetic sources inform me that Franz currently dwells among us as none other than… “The Most Unusual Man in the World”—and while he doesn’t always drink at the Fountain of Poppycock, when he does, books like “Initiation into Hermetics,” are produced. I will now proceed to review this book, but before I do, I want to let readers know who the reviewer is. I am an unsurpassed expert in mysticism, having devoted the past forty years of my life to studying and practicing it. And if you doubt me, check out my Amazon.com reviews.
According to Franz Bardon, “There is no difference between magic and mystic or any other conception of the name.” Nonsense. Mysticism, as dictionary defined, is “communion with Ultimate Reality. Magic is the transformation of reality in (supernatural) ways that defy (or seem to defy) the ordinary laws of nature. Hence, when Bardon, states, “Magic is a sacred science,” he is off base. Magic has nothing to do with science and can only be understood, at best, as an art, or, at worst, as an impossibility (if the laws of nature are insuperable, as science claims).
Bardon builds much of his Hermetic scaffolding upon tattvas (the emanated constituent principles of Ultimate Reality), but, egregiously, only lists five of the thirty-six tattvas identified by Kashmir Shaivism (the preeminent Hindu yoga tradition) and other Indian tantric traditions. Moreover, Bardon tells us that the four gross elemental tattvas—Vayu (air), Teja or Agni (fire), Apas (water), and Prithivi (earth) descend from Akasa (ether), which Bardon apotheosizes as: “the ultimate, the supreme, the most powerful thing…the causal sphere….the non-created… the incomprehensible…the original power…everything has been created by it…various religions have given it the name God… it is the quintessence of the alchemists; it is the all in all.”
Franz Bardon is wrong. Akasa (ether) is actually a gross element that descends from “Sabda,” the “Word,”or universal Vibration. In fact, in the hierarchically ordered Kashmir Shaivism schema, akasa (ether) is the thirty second of the thirty-six tattvas, not even close to the two highest (universal) tattvas—Siva (the Absolute’s Will) and Shakti (the Primordial Energy of the Absolute). Because Bardon is wrong and his metaphysical scaffolding defective, the Hermetic superstructure that he builds upon it falls apart. If you want a true, esoteric explanation of the tattvas (or “tattwas,” as Bardon has them) compare Hindu Kashmir Shaivism’s (best explained in the text “Pratyabhijnahahrdayam: The Secret of Self Recognition”) with Bardon’s.
Bardon is guilty of innumerable erroneous statements. For example, he says, “the Tarot is the oldest book of wisdom.” False. In fact, the Tarot is built upon astrology and the Kabbalah. And Bardon’s so-called Hermetic text has virtually nothing to say about Tarot, astrology, or Kaballah, which is shameful for a text that bill itself as “Hermetic.” Perhaps Bardon’s worst erroneous statement pertains to his indictment of man’s conceptual faculty. He writes: “Therefore man himself is not the founder of his thoughts, but the origin of each thought is to be sought in the Supreme Akasa sphere of the mental plane. In short, all man believes to have created has been brought out of the world of ideas.” If you believe yourself incapable of originating your own thoughts or creating anything, then you might find Barzon worth reading.
The core of Bardon’s book is “magic” physical, mental, and psychic exercises. These exercises are just rudimentary focusing exercises, not fundamentally different than ones that can be found in basic concentration/meditation texts. But Bardon makes outrageous claims for the powers they can grant. For example, regarding one exercise, he says, “Adepts who have been practicing this exercise for years are able to understand any animal and handle it with will power.” Here’s another: “Should the magician decide to extend these exercises over the whole body, he would succeed after a while, without any doubt, in raising his whole body by his will power. He would be able to walk upon the water without sinking down; he could even ascend into the air with his whole body and accomplish numerous other similar actions just as it pleases him.” Simply amazing. The stage magician James Randi has, for years, offered a million dollars to anyone who can demonstrate any true psychic ability under laboratory conditions. So far no one has been able to collect. But if what Bardon says is true, you’ll be able to pocket a cool million and transform Randi from a skeptic into a true believer.
The most important point regarding initiation into Hermeticism--and it is a point Bardon fails to make—is that such initiation only begins when one is initiated, or “baptized,” by the Holy One. Until a disciple communes with the Deity and receives His Power—Shaktipat in Hinduism, the Holy Spirit in Christianity, the Sambhogakaya in Buddhism—one cannot become a true mystic, a genuine spiritual esotericist. And the direct way to contact the Absolute and receive its Blessing Power is via the practice of the true Eucharist, which is equivalent to the practice of true Dzogchen and true Kabbalah.
If you’re interested in real Hermetic literature, I suggest two texts: Meditations on the Tarot: An Astonishing Journey into Christian Mysticism, and the aforementioned “Pratyabhijnahrdayam : The Secret of Self-Recognition.” Regarding the spiritually perfected Franz Bardon, I can hardly wait for his next incarnation to see what new books of wisdom he will bestow upon mankind.
[My 1-star Amazon review (NDA) of “Initiation into Hermetics” by Franz Bardon.]
Franz Bardon was/is probably the greatest man/spirit who ever lived. According to the website that bears his name and ends in a com: “Franz Bardon’s spirit has been perfected over thousands of years. Before incarnating as Franz Bardon, he had incarnated as Hermes Trismegistus, Lao Tzu, Nostradamus, Robert Fludd, Count St. Germain, and Apollonius of Tyana.” Moreover, my secret hermetic sources inform me that Franz currently dwells among us as none other than… “The Most Unusual Man in the World”—and while he doesn’t always drink at the Fountain of Poppycock, when he does, books like “Initiation into Hermetics,” are produced. I will now proceed to review this book, but before I do, I want to let readers know who the reviewer is. I am an unsurpassed expert in mysticism, having devoted the past forty years of my life to studying and practicing it. And if you doubt me, check out my Amazon.com reviews.
According to Franz Bardon, “There is no difference between magic and mystic or any other conception of the name.” Nonsense. Mysticism, as dictionary defined, is “communion with Ultimate Reality. Magic is the transformation of reality in (supernatural) ways that defy (or seem to defy) the ordinary laws of nature. Hence, when Bardon, states, “Magic is a sacred science,” he is off base. Magic has nothing to do with science and can only be understood, at best, as an art, or, at worst, as an impossibility (if the laws of nature are insuperable, as science claims).
Bardon builds much of his Hermetic scaffolding upon tattvas (the emanated constituent principles of Ultimate Reality), but, egregiously, only lists five of the thirty-six tattvas identified by Kashmir Shaivism (the preeminent Hindu yoga tradition) and other Indian tantric traditions. Moreover, Bardon tells us that the four gross elemental tattvas—Vayu (air), Teja or Agni (fire), Apas (water), and Prithivi (earth) descend from Akasa (ether), which Bardon apotheosizes as: “the ultimate, the supreme, the most powerful thing…the causal sphere….the non-created… the incomprehensible…the original power…everything has been created by it…various religions have given it the name God… it is the quintessence of the alchemists; it is the all in all.”
Franz Bardon is wrong. Akasa (ether) is actually a gross element that descends from “Sabda,” the “Word,”or universal Vibration. In fact, in the hierarchically ordered Kashmir Shaivism schema, akasa (ether) is the thirty second of the thirty-six tattvas, not even close to the two highest (universal) tattvas—Siva (the Absolute’s Will) and Shakti (the Primordial Energy of the Absolute). Because Bardon is wrong and his metaphysical scaffolding defective, the Hermetic superstructure that he builds upon it falls apart. If you want a true, esoteric explanation of the tattvas (or “tattwas,” as Bardon has them) compare Hindu Kashmir Shaivism’s (best explained in the text “Pratyabhijnahahrdayam: The Secret of Self Recognition”) with Bardon’s.
Bardon is guilty of innumerable erroneous statements. For example, he says, “the Tarot is the oldest book of wisdom.” False. In fact, the Tarot is built upon astrology and the Kabbalah. And Bardon’s so-called Hermetic text has virtually nothing to say about Tarot, astrology, or Kaballah, which is shameful for a text that bill itself as “Hermetic.” Perhaps Bardon’s worst erroneous statement pertains to his indictment of man’s conceptual faculty. He writes: “Therefore man himself is not the founder of his thoughts, but the origin of each thought is to be sought in the Supreme Akasa sphere of the mental plane. In short, all man believes to have created has been brought out of the world of ideas.” If you believe yourself incapable of originating your own thoughts or creating anything, then you might find Barzon worth reading.
The core of Bardon’s book is “magic” physical, mental, and psychic exercises. These exercises are just rudimentary focusing exercises, not fundamentally different than ones that can be found in basic concentration/meditation texts. But Bardon makes outrageous claims for the powers they can grant. For example, regarding one exercise, he says, “Adepts who have been practicing this exercise for years are able to understand any animal and handle it with will power.” Here’s another: “Should the magician decide to extend these exercises over the whole body, he would succeed after a while, without any doubt, in raising his whole body by his will power. He would be able to walk upon the water without sinking down; he could even ascend into the air with his whole body and accomplish numerous other similar actions just as it pleases him.” Simply amazing. The stage magician James Randi has, for years, offered a million dollars to anyone who can demonstrate any true psychic ability under laboratory conditions. So far no one has been able to collect. But if what Bardon says is true, you’ll be able to pocket a cool million and transform Randi from a skeptic into a true believer.
The most important point regarding initiation into Hermeticism--and it is a point Bardon fails to make—is that such initiation only begins when one is initiated, or “baptized,” by the Holy One. Until a disciple communes with the Deity and receives His Power—Shaktipat in Hinduism, the Holy Spirit in Christianity, the Sambhogakaya in Buddhism—one cannot become a true mystic, a genuine spiritual esotericist. And the direct way to contact the Absolute and receive its Blessing Power is via the practice of the true Eucharist, which is equivalent to the practice of true Dzogchen and true Kabbalah.
If you’re interested in real Hermetic literature, I suggest two texts: Meditations on the Tarot: An Astonishing Journey into Christian Mysticism, and the aforementioned “Pratyabhijnahrdayam : The Secret of Self-Recognition.” Regarding the spiritually perfected Franz Bardon, I can hardly wait for his next incarnation to see what new books of wisdom he will bestow upon mankind.
