Antonin Zadak on Hermetics

Recently I have been studying an interesting document which gives some new insight on the first steps of IIH. The original text is written in Czech and is anonymous and undated, but is thought by the Hermetic community in the Czech Republic to be written by Antonin Zadak, who was probably a direct student of Franz Bardon. My guess is that his name is known amongst Czech Hermetics, but to my knowledge he is mostly unknown in the English-speaking world.

The document itself begins with some introductory themes and continues with a description of the practical steps 1 to 3, omitting discussion of the theory. In the times of the cold war, I would imagine that any occult teachings, practices or lodges would be have been considered subversive – echoing Lumir’s comments in the foreword to the (much later published) Czech edition of IIH – so the anonymous and unpublished manuscript would have been a necessary way to distribute spiritual teachings. I would hazard a guess that it was probably written some time between Bardon’s death in 1958 and the collapse of the communist regime in 1989, although conceivably it could have been written when Bardon was still alive.

One impression that comes across quite definitely is that Zadak was well-educated and well-versed in Occultism across different cultures and traditions. It is interesting to muse about the insight he might have gained from the Master about different mystical practices, philosophies and groups across cultures and periods of history, from the viewpoint of Universal Hermetics.

Some interesting new practices that Zadak gives include:

• a step one thought control exercise, the exclusion of a particular (usually unpleasant) thought, which fits in between single pointedness, and the vacancy of mind exercise;
• as part of the conscious breathing exercise of step two, imagining skin cooling during a typical inhalation, and feeling a slight breeze from the body during exhalation;
• enhanced body control in step two through carefully maintaining consciousness of the body at all times and controlling gestures, movement and posture;
• the use of the Earth element technique of isolation or ‘ignoration’ to control negative passions as part of step two astral training;
• the measurement of vital force through ‘candles’, 10 candles being the normal measure of life force of a healthy person, and the storing of accumulated vital force in the solar plexus;
• an objective success criteria of 1 deg C change in body temperature for the fire and water elemental accumulation exercises of step three.

Zadak also states was that after any aspirant had completed steps 1 to 3 (a process that could be completed within a year), a master would make himself known to the student. This echoes the well-known occult maxim that it is the master who finds the student and not vice versa.

Furthermore, he says that with serious effort a student could reach the point of self-realisation (or to ‘become conscious of the mental part of his immortality’ as Zadak puts it) within 7 to 10 years. If true, these estimates are important information because Bardon does not explicitly state completion times for any part of the practices in any of his books (except for a time of 4 weeks for step one), probably because he did not want to mislead anyone into thinking that progress could be gauged merely by elapsed practice times.

I have just finished a translation into English, and have uploaded it onto scribd, I hope you find it useful. I am sure my translation leaves much to be desired, so if there are any native Czech speakers would like to help improve the translation by proof reading it, I would be delighted if they would volunteer their assistance.

My thanks to my friend Matt for sharing this with me and for Lusor who originally published the text electronically (I tried to contact him before publishing this, but my email was bounced).

In the light,
luxfortis

The True, True Quabbalah

On the last post I mentioned the KTQ card and Paul Allen’s theory that only the Bauer edition shows the true colours for the third Tarot card.

Looking at the two images, I would say that generally the Bauer symbol seems a little more ‘washed-out’ (perhaps faded due to its age?). But it is clear that the violet colours (Yesod, Capricorn, Saturn) in Bauer appear more indigo in Merkur, but most seriously, Chokmah and Pisces are shown as two different colours, blue and indigo rather than the lavender colour of the original.

While we’re on the topic, I mention Rawn Clark’s intriguing theory that the schema is a kind of wheel for creating KTQ formulae. In its true conception the three rings of colours are not fixed in relationship to each other but instead can be imagined as rotatable around the central point. When the proper correspondences and analogies are known, dialing in the appropriate letter from each wheel gives a formula of the right lawful correspondences.

[Update 20/01/2011 – luxfortis]

The cover of the Ruggeberg edition appears closer to Bauer than the incorrect Merkur edition. One difference that stands out against Bauer is that in Ruggeberg Yesod (a purple indigo) appears to be a different colour than Capricorn and Saturn (a dark indigo).

Bardon editions from Hermann Bauer Verlag

After the post on Lumir’s preface to IIH and the comments from Bill Cranstoun and Richard Tschudi (much appreciated, gentlemen), I came across Evisul’s Adonism site. One of the many interesting sections is a page on the original Hermann Bauer Verlag editions of Bardon’s, with pictures of the covers which I include here. Alexandre Moryason, the French Bardon publisher also shows several of the Bauer covers on his site.

Personally I find the Ruggeberg covers visually more appealing than either the Bauer or Merkeur covers.

One interesting comment that Paul Allen makes, is that the colour mappings for the schematic of the third card in KTQ are not accurate in the Merkur edition and that the Bauer cover should be used for reference.

The Book of the Buddha of the West

Previous posts discussed the images included in Frabato from Hans Albert Muller’s The Book of the Buddha of the West.

In the book Muller promotes a form of the Buddha Maitreya. He believed that the Indian Buddha was a perfected being and that the West needed its own Buddha to complement the Eastern Buddha.

Verlag Edition Geheimes Wissen reprinted the 1930 edition in 2008. Here are six illustrations from the book.

Richard Tschudi

Hans Albert Müller and the Blue Monks

The modern myth of Mahum Tah-Ta and the “Blue Monks” seems to originate in a book written in 1930 by Hans Albert Müller with the title: “Das Buch vom Buddha des Westens” (The Book of the Buddha of the West). The subtitle of the book is “Das unsterbliche Wort” (the immortal word).

The book describes that some priests of Atlantis retreated to the Himalayan Mountains and two of those priest regarded themselves as the guardians of the Atantean, Aryan wisdom.

Hans Albert Müller goes on explaining that there were not only seven Rishis as the Brahmins say, but there were nine so called Manus (+ Takiu and Pragon). These two extra Manus (Takiu and Pragon) are to be considered the primal guardians of the complete Aryan/Atlantean esoteric knowledge. It is important to note, that according Müller those 2 Manu’s are not in charge of the secret teachings of the Tibetan Lamas or the Indian Brahmins (Shankaracharya) or of the Parsis (Zoroaster) but something completely different. Müller continues saying that those very old Manu’s over the times collected students body around them which looks like a brotherhood from the outside, that even may be known here and there as such. It should be noted however that they are not an “Adept-sect”. They allegedly do not accept any students and it would be futile to apply for membership. Müller goes on saying that whenever the Aryan wisdom is endangered in the world this brotherhood sends out a brother to restore this wisdom. In Central Asia this brotherhood is known under the name “The Blue Monks”. This name stems from the fact that the brothers wear a monk like royal blue colored cloak in the fashion of their two leaders. This form of dress allegedly was worn in Atlantis. The books says that Plato in his report about Atlantis writes that the priest of Atlantis wore dark-blue robes. The book also says that the custodian who represents the ancient Manu’s in the outer world is another great Manu with the name Mahum. Mahum is allegedly well known among the Tibetan Bon people and among the red-hat monks of Tibet. This Mahum is the guardian of the Aryan astrology, herbal – and elixir knowledge, magic and esoteric mathematics. He is the first gardener of “the gardeners of the light”. Mahum is as well called the beloved of the mother, the master of the swan and the lord of the chalice.

The brothers allegedly meet in the holy new moon night of March, July and November and talk in an ancient language and use a script which was used in Atlantis. The domicile of the Blue Monks is in the West-Himalayas along the 32 degree of northern latitude, due north of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) near the source of the Indus River. In the centre of their settlement is a temple which like the Cheops Pyramid holds all the secrets of the cosmos. This temple is called the house of the middle (or house of the centre) and it is called “Laga-Vana”. Laga Vana was slowly built over the millenniums. Allegedly in the last millennium exerted their influence in Europe trough Christian Rosenkreuz who was living in Germany around the year 1300. The Rosicrucians were the re-newers of the ageless wisdom within Christianity. The actual work of the Rosicrucian’s started around the year 1410 about the same time when Tsongkapa reformed Buddhism in Tibet with the assistance of the Blue Monks.

The book also claims that on all lunar and solar equinoxes the Blue Monks send out powerful mantras out to the world: “Light above us” – Djam ron kal – “Light within us” – Djam mi kal – “Light with us” – Djam lo kal. These powerful mantras are to protect us and inspire us to attain perfection.

As I said all these are ideas and theories which are contained in the book: “Das Buch vom Buddha des Westens” by Hans Albert Müller.

A few days ago I sent an e-mail to Dieter Rueggeberg and asked him to give me more information about Mahum Tah-Ta. He wrote back to me and said:

It does not make any sense to speculate about such a figure as Mahum Tah-Ta. I wasn’t even able to find any information about the author of the book wherein the picture of him appeared for the first time. It seems that we have to wait until a real initiate will say something about this. With friendly greetings, Dieter Rueggeberg.

I personally do not know yet what to think about all this. I would like to hear somebody elses opinion if possible.

Richard Tschudi

The Three Frabatos

With Richard Tschudi’s recent translation of Otti Votavova’s letter on Frabato (see ‘Letter from Otti Votova to Bauer Verlag.doc‘ and ‘Letter written by Franz Bardon to Maria Pravica.doc‘ under the files section of the Yahoo FranzBardonMagi group), I thought there might some interest in the background of the different editions.

There are three published texts, but due to the substantial differences it may be better to think of these as different manuscripts rather than editions:

1. The ‘Bauer’ Frabato, published by Hermann Bauer Verlag, 1958, 275 pages, in German.
2. The ‘Rüggeberg’ Frabato, published by Rüggeberg Dieter Verlag, 1979, 204 pages, translated into English in 1982 by Dieter Rüggeberg Verlag, into French by Alexander Moryason, and reprinted by Gerhard Hanswille for Merkur in 2003, and Brotherhood of Life.
3. The ‘Aurora’ Frabato, published by Verlag Aurora, 1990, 152 pages, in German, see here.

From what I can gather – not being a native German speaker, so take this with a pinch of salt – the differences include (source http://www.studentenpilot.de/studieninhalte/onlinelexikon/fr/Frabato/) the following (perhaps a German speaker who has read the Bauer or Arora text might comment in due course).

In the Bauer version, the master of the black lodge is a friend who falls out with Bardon through envy, and whose soul Bardon eventually rescues. This manuscript starts with Bardon being ordered to write pass on the Hermetic teachings in book form. He is portrayed as someone who has achieved a lot but still has old karma to pay off. He suffers failures and finally attempts to take his own life but fails, and realises that he cannot avoid his responsibilities. It is this version that Votavova’s letter is directed towards.

The Rüggeberg version is the one that most of us are all familiar with. This version ends with Bardon being instructed to write his books.

In the Aurora version, which also claims to be the original version, Bardon is again portrayed as someone with certain human failings, as he swears he will wipe his enemies from the face of the earth.

Both the Bauer and Aurora versions are quite rare.

I guess we may never know for sure how much of the texts were Bardon’s, Votavova’s or the publishers contributions. Some sources say that Bardon opposed the whole idea of a novel of his life, but this is at odds with the letters where Bardon refers to ‘his novel’ and the film rights to it. There is a clear difference of opinion between Ruggeberg’s description of “finishing and embroidering” and Votavova’s description of “dictation and typing up”. On the balance of things it is certainly harder to believe Votavova’s description verbatim after her somewhat more far-fetched comments in her orbituary to Bardon at the end of the book.

We can believe either one, but whichever way the mythology of Frabato is, at the end, just that, mythology. It is not a core part of the theory or the exercises so we can take it or leave it, if it helps or hinders our practice. Each to his own.

luxfortis

Over the years I have read all three versions of ‘Frabato”. No one I know can prove which is the original “true” version. I like the version which is written in the most interesting way and that is the one published by Bauer Verlag, Freiburg, Germany. It contains an extra chapter in the begining of the book. Bauer Verlag had a great in-house editor for their books in the person of Hermann Geissler. He had an absolute mastery of the German language. He made the books very readable and interesting. I don’t believe that there was a conspiracy by Bauer Verlag to change the manuscript which Otti Votova supplied, Otti’s book was probably hastily put together and needed serious editing. It is also said that the German version of “Initiation into Hermetics” was polished up by Hermann Geissler, without changing the content. That book is an absolute joy to read in German because of the editing by Geissler.

The story line is more or less the same in all versions of “Frabato”: Frabato performs hypnotism, clairvoyance, psychometry etc.; experiments in public places before big audiences; a battle with the FOGC; Grand Master of FOGC was forced to commit suicide; Frabato has to flee Germany; a new beginning in his home country; he is given the task to reveal the secrets of the first 3 Tarot cards; Frabato is rewarded by being admitted into the inner circles of the Broderhood of Light.

The time line in the different versions might be diffently presented, but it is not a big deal.
Overall it is a great story. It would make a great movie.

Richard Tschudi

Brazil cries out for portuguese PME

Brazilian Bardon followers have started a campaign for Bardon’s second book, The Practice of Magical Evocation (PME), to be translated into Portuguese. The petition, started by Philip Rubini Castano, is supported by users of the Bardonista website, Brazil’s largest Bardon-related website. It’s intention presumably is to pursuade Ground, the current, San Paulo-based Brazilian publisher of Initiation Into Hermetics (IIH) and Dieter Ruggeberg, the current copyright holder, of the demand for the book from Portuguese readers, and encourage them to come to some arrangement that would enable such a translation.

Signatories of the petition have included comments like the following: “Brazilian seekers of the light deserve this work”, “A work of such value should certainly be translated into our language” and “That would be one of the most important publications that you ever did”. The petition goes on to state that portuguese followers of Bardon have waited almost 40 years for such a translation, and that a translation of his third book, The Key to the True Quabbalah would also be welcome.

We wish them luck in their campaign! Perhaps Herr Ruggeberg or someone from Ground would care to comment?

(Why is it, I wonder that the appellation -ista is so much more appealing than -ist? Fashionist vs. fashionista, bardonist vs. bardonista, etc)?

luxfortis

[Additional comments – luxfortis 07/09/2010]

Thanks to Filipe for his response on this, he let me know that they did approach several of the leading publishing houses for spiritual books in Brazil but sadly there was no interest in further translations of Bardon’s works. Also he told me that another individual had bought the rights to a new translation of IIH, and was interested in buying the rights to translations of further works, but so far nothing had been released.

More about Mahum Tah-Ta

In ‘Memories of Franz Bardon’, Lumir writes the following description about his father’s study:

On the wall of my father’s study to right was a portrait of a mysterious man with a penetrating gaze. When I asked who the man in the portrait was, he replied that it was Mahum Tah-ta, a wise man from the mountains. That was all he ever said about this man.

Later in the same book, Dr Milan Kumar (the Dr M. K. who was Bardon’s favourite student) tells us:

One time when I visited the Master I tried to open a bottle of beer. I was too lazy to look for the bottle opener and I tried to show off by opening the bottle in the door lock, and although the master warned me, the neck of the bottle broke and almost half the contents of the bottle spilled onto the floor. I was ashamed when that happened, but the master and the housekeeper only laughed while I wiped the beer off the floor.

It was then that the master told me what had happened to him in a previous life in Tibet, when he was a chela (a student).  His guru sent him with a needle, to a friend who lived far away. When he arrived at the friend’s abode, the friend sent him back, without paying any attention to the needle. He was surprised by that attitude, shrugged his shoulders and went back. When he arrived at his master’s place, he sent him immediately back to his friend and when he arrived at the master’s friend’s place he did the same. He became very tired, and he was seized by anger, because he was to run back and forth without anyone showing any interest in the stupid needle. Only when his anger had turned to humility, perseverance, and peace was he allowed to stop, but only after he had travelled back and forth sixteen times. My master concluded the story by saying: “In this world nothing occurs without a reason”, and I was not certain if he did not orchestrate the incident with the bottle of beer in order to teach me a valuable lesson.

In Frabato, Dieter Ruggeburg goes on to explain that the picture of Mahum Tah-Ta (and of Hermes Trismegistos, Lao-tse and Shambalah) were first presented in “Das Buch vom Buddha des Westens” by Hans Albert Muller, published by Verlag des Ordens der Weltvollendung, in 1930, and not as was previously thought that these pictures were first painted by a mediumistic artist using the magic mirror of Franz Bardon.

It would seem likely that the guru mentioned by Dr M.K was Mahum Tah-Ta, and also that the picture of Mahum Tah-Ta that Dieter Ruggeburg mentions is the one shown on this site (and attached here).

Unfortunately, as far as I can tell (I have the Ruggeburg English version of Frabato), the English version of Frabato does not contain either the picture of Mahum Tah-Ta or of Shambalah. Paul Allen’s Franz Bardon Research site (sadly now defunct, although there are mirror sites as I mentioned in a previous post) has a list of supposed Bardon incarnations claimed by Otti Votavova, some with pictures. Mahum Tah-Ta’s year of death is listed there as 1925.

I am guessing that these are the same pictures that Dieter Ruggesburg mentions and that perhaps the picture of Shambalah is the same as the picture of Lagavana in my previous post. Can anyone with the German version of Frabato confirm this?

luxfortis

The Fourth and Fifth Tarot cards revealed?

Recently there has been a good deal of interest in a number of new Bardon-related titles published by Christof Uiberreiter Verlag, a small German publishing house.

Of particular interest are two titles by the pseudonymous Seila Orienta, purporting to be the revelation of the Fourth Arcanum or card – The Emperor (entitled The Golden Leaf of Wisdom), and the fifth tarot card – The Hierophant (entitled Alchemy, Mysteries of the Philosopher’s Stone). The publisher claims that Orienta was not only a direct pupil of Bardon’s but also was the original keeper of the manuscript of ‘Franz Bardon Questions & Answers’ which he made available to Dieter Ruggeberg.

Orienta claims to have written the Golden Book of Wisdom after paying a visit to Dr Milan Kumar in Prague in 2008. He brought the good doctor the gift of a lovely fountain pen with the petition that Dr M K to write this fourth book, but Dr M K instead responded ‘You write this book. You can do that, surely?’. Orienta goes on to say that he then read the Akashic records, as he says any accomplished magician can do, and proceeded to write the book.

Despite claims to the contrary by the publisher (presumably because of copyright infringement fears), the first three chapters and the table of contents are largely identical to the fragment published at the end of Frabato. The remainder of the book is written in a very similar style (as far as I can make out from the German) to the fragment, to such a degree that the publisher cites Lumir Bardon as praising the book and endorsing it as written in the style of his father. The book in now available in English, the first translation from Christof Uiberreiter Verlag range of books.

The impetus for the fifth card is claimed to be from instructions during a vision from Bardon himself where he was ordered to write the book of Alchemy. In this book he claims to describe the basic process of the ‘wet method’ as the easiest way of creating the philosopher’s stone. He goes on to say that in magic, both the quality and quantity keys must always be considered. In the past, the quality key of alchemy was lost, and therefore so too was the entire key to understanding alchemy.

It seems clear that Orienta has no illusions about how occult critics will receive his book when he retorts ‘The old master alchemists will quarrelsomely deny this work and then secretly make it their textbook’. He also writes that many spiritual beings advised him against writing this book, as its time has not yet come but he continued nevertheless as his master Bardon had commanded him.

Unlike Bardon’s own first three books which are very comprehensive, both books are very short volumes, and Orienta stresses that to gain their true value the reader must read between the lines with insight and wisdom. Ultimately, I leave it to more advanced magicians to give their own conclusions on the veracity of these books, but for me there is certainly enough food for thought there for these books to lay a reasonable claim that they represent a level of true revelation from the master.

I will cover more of the contents of these books in following posts. Thanks to Kamael and Martin Faulks for bringing these books to my attention.

[Additional comments – luxfortis 07/09/2010]

Reading Emil Stejnar’s comments on Archiv Hermetischer Texte site, I was struck by his comments on Hermetic revelation working in cycles of 50 years (apologies about the translation):

It belongs to the hermetic tradition that every fifty years, the entire occult knowledge to thinking and knowledge ability of the new generation will be adjusted. Exactly fifty years ago, the works of Franz Bardon was brought out. They reveal the findings of the most hermetic and provide the necessary foundation of any spiritual training. From the practical experience of Bardon’s instructions then are the champions were the books are now finished with this last volume. You will lead the magic and mysticism into the third millennium. But the works of Franz Bardon, yet continue to remain current. On this foundation will rest in the future the humanities. On this foundation will rest the future of the humanities. Bardon’s books will therefore be, over the next hundred years, the three pillars of  Hermetics.

He may have been refering to his own publications, but I notice that the publication date of Seila Orienta’s Golden Leaf of Wisdom is 2008, is pretty close to fifty years from the first editions of Bardon’s books, from 1956 to 1958. Further indications perhaps that now is the time for new revelations of the sacred mysteries?

It belongs to the hermetic tradition that every fifty years, the entire occult knowledge to thinking and knowledge ability of the new generation will be adjusted. Vor genau fünfzig Jahren wurden die Werke von Franz Bardon herausgebracht. Exactly fifty years, the works of Franz Bardon was brought out. Sie offenbaren die höchsten Erkenntnisse der Hermetik und bilden die notwendige Grundlage jeder Geistesschulung. They reveal the findings of the most hermetic and provide the necessary foundation of any spiritual training. Aus der praktischen Erfahrung mit Bardons Instruktionen sind dann die Meisterbücher entstanden die nun mit diesem letzten Band abgeschlossen sind. From the practical experience of Bardon’s instructions then are the champions were the books are now finished with this last volume. Sie werden die Magie und Mystik ins dritte Jahrtausend führen. You will lead the magic and mysticism into the third millennium. Aber die Werke von Franz Bardon bleiben trotzdem weiter aktuell. But the works of Franz Bardon, yet continue to remain current. Auf diesem Fundament wird auch in Zukunft die Geisteswissenschaft ruhen. On this foundation will rest in the future the humanities. Bardons Bücher werden auch in den nächsten hundert Jahren die drei tragenden Säulen der Hermetik sein. Bardon’s books will also be in the next hundred years, the three pillars of the Hermetic.

Mahum Tah-Ta, Lagavana and the Blue Monks

In an interview to Dieter Ruggeburg in July 2000, Dr Lumir Bardon revealed that Mahum Tah-Ta was Franz Bardon’s teacher. Mahum Tah-Ta is described there as the initiator and master of the Blue Monks. Dr Bardon further confirmed the view that Mahum Tah-ta was Bardon’s teacher to Martin Faulks in an interview in July 2010.

At odds with other references, Otti Votavova describes Mahum Tah-ta, the wise man of the mountains, as one of Bardon’s previous incarnations in a letter dated September 1958 at the end of Frabato. Together with the other purported Bardon incarnations in her list, which include Hermes Trismegistos and Lao-Tze, she sadly does a lot to lessen her reputation.

Discounting that information then, we move on to the Franz Bardon 100th Anniversary exhibition, where I came across a curious picture entitled ‘The headquarters (Lagavana) of the Blue Monks’ (in Czech). The picture is rife with symbolism. I have posted an enlargement of the picture on scribd.

As far as I can tell, little is known about either Mahum Tah-Ta or the Blue Monks. Any other information on either Mahum Tah-ta or the Blue Monks would be appreciated.

[Additional comments – luxfortis 09/09/2010]

According to the legends of the Ascended Masters teachings, Shambalah is the dwelling place of Sanat Kumara, the Head of the Spiritual Hierarchy on Earth and leader (Urgaya in the terminology of Frabato) of the Great White Brotherhood. If Lagavana is indeed an esoteric name for Shambalah that may explain certain details about the overall layout of the symbolic temple:

The main temple of Shamballa is topped with a golden dome and is surrounded by seven smaller temples—one for each of the seven rays.

Depending on your interpretation, you may see this as seven smaller temples with a central entrance and a dome, or seven temples including the dome, with the second tier as a single temple. What do you see when you look at this?

Personally, I like to see this as a number of sub-temples across the ages in the Hermetic tradition, from Egyptian, Atlantean, Greek, to the Gothic/Masonic or Rosicrucian, crowned with the geometric shapes of the dome as the purest representation of Universal religion, free from cultural and social facades. If you look closely, you may also notice the lotus, which tops the capital of the pillar of the central door, which Martin Faulks suggests is the symbol of the order of the Blue Monks.