Franz Bardon

An insight into the Ontology of Franz Bardon

Bardon’s books were never written to create a legend around himself. Their purpose was to allow students who wished to practise the work of the energy equation of life to do so, even without the tutelage of a teacher or guru. His works in Hermetics, Magic and Qabalah are all interrelated through this same principle and its application.

Franz Bardon is among the most significant yet less widely known occultists of the twentieth century. The term “occult sciences” refers to astrology, alchemy and natural magic – a definition applied to working with the energies or forces of the universe. Bardon was uncommon in that he placed practice and usefulness above all else. His books incorporated extensive metaphysical sections, yet they remained focused on tangible, usable outcomes. In this respect, his work bears resemblance to the way information is presented through The Life Force Institute, where the emphasis is placed on applying the energies of life in a useful and meaningful manner.

With some occult writers, we are left with virtually every detail of their lives. With others, we know no more than a pen name. Bardon sits somewhere between these two extremes. While much of his published work is accessible, only small details of his personal life survive. This is because it was not the individual who mattered, but the information and knowledge at the core of his works. In the same way, The Life Force Institute focuses on the application rather than the personality of any teacher, guru or master.

The Life Force Institute is committed to presenting information and knowledge in a factual and untainted way, so that anyone ready to take up the work has the opportunity to build their own direct experiences from it.

Franz Bardon’s books address Hermetics, Magic and Qabalah. What is not immediately obvious to many is that these subjects are all interrelated; each deals with the same underlying principles and their application through different approaches.

Who was Franz Bardon

Franz Bardon was born in 1909 in Opava, in what was then Austrian Silesia, now the Czech Republic. He passed away at the age of 49. It is difficult to know the inner life of a man such as Franz Bardon with any certainty. However, particular details can be drawn from the accounts of those who knew him personally, as well as from his own writings.

During his young adult years, Franz grew increasingly interested in aspects of the occult, or what some regarded as magic. Throughout this period, he worked as a stage entertainer under the name Frabato. His performances were considered by many to be unusual, as he presented occult and mystical techniques that were relatively common in that era. By all accounts, he was among a small minority of such performers who openly discussed elements of his acts, and unlike most of his contemporaries on stage at the time, he was no charlatan.

During the Second World War, Bardon was held in a concentration camp, reportedly for refusing to participate in Nazi mysticism. Several accounts describe how he, like many other prisoners, was mistreated throughout this period. After enduring the war, he returned to his work in the occult. At that point in time, he began engaging more thoroughly with Hermetics and ran a successful healing practice built upon those very principles. It was during this later period that he wrote the material contained in his books.

His writings, and what is known of his life, paint a portrait of a modest and sincere man of notable accomplishments. In his books, he documented a course on what he called Hermetic Magic and placed it before the world. Few comparable resources have been made available in published form. Yet he did so without once proclaiming himself a “Magus of the Age.”