- Franz Bardon was a famous Czech occultist who was known for his works on Hermetics magic in the 1920s
- At the age of 23, he married Marie and they had two children: Lumir and Marie
- During the communist purge, he got arrested and after three months in police custody, he allegedly died of pancreatitis in July 1958
The Key to the True Qabbalah author Franz Bardon was a notable figure in the occult revival of the twentieth century. Following his emergence in the early 1920s, Bardon took the name ‘Frabato’ which he used as a natural magic practitioner.
The Czech magician also worked as a healer using alchemical preparations before the Czech government arrested him for publishing occult materials and books. Although he claimed he had no teacher or working group, his works were often linked to that of famous magicians like Francis Barrett, Alexandria David-Neel, and Aleister Crowley.
Known for his ability to find hidden objects and read people’s minds, František Bardon as he was also called, had two children with his wife, Marie.
Early Life and Background of Franz Bardon
Franz Bardon was born in a small village in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Opava in December 1909. His father, Viktor Bardon, was a textile factory employee and also a Christian mystic. His mother’s name was Hedwika Herodkova.
According to reports, at the time he was born he almost died if not for the help of a midwife who managed to bring him back to life after he fell into a coma shortly after was born. He was the eldest of his parent’s 13 children as well as the only son.
Bardon’s father reportedly died shortly after he fell from a tree while picking linden flowers. He buried his father during WWII and as the first child, he had to take care of his siblings. However, of his twelve sisters, only four, Stefanie, Anna, Marie, and Beatrix reached adulthood. All the others died during childhood.
Franz Bardon attended public school and after he graduated, he enrolled as a sewing machine mechanic at a company.
He Married Marie Bardonova at the Age of 23
In 1932, the self-acclaimed magician and healer married a woman called Marie Bardonova (born 19, 1911). While he was 23, Marie was 22 at that time. According to one of his students, Franz met Marie at the time she was courting two men. She went to ask him which one of the two men she would marry. Obviously, things changed in favor of the magician.
After they married, Bardon allegedly did not want children but his wife did. Reports say he only agreed to have children under the condition that Marie alone would take care of them. There are speculations that Bardon and his wife shared two children: Lumir Bardon and Marie Bardon.
Details about Franz Bardon’s Two Children
1. Lumir Bardon
According to reports, Franz’s wife and his unnamed acquaintance were both pregnant at the same time. Bardon’s son from his other wife was born on February 4, 1937. Although the name of the child has not been disclosed, it is said that the child had a special talent for languages.
Franz Bardon and his wife were told that their first child, Lumir was to be born on February 4, 1937, but he was actually prematurely born on January 4, 1937, in a hospital in Troppau. The doctors told the magician that his son might not survive due to the condition in which he was born.
Lumir was born with one foot that was completely twisted at the ankle. Luckily for him, his muscles and tendons were still very fragile so his father massaged the foot with his healing herbs for about a month till it became better.
Lumir grew up with his mother and grandmother in Gillschwitz while his father stayed in Troppau. He later went to high school in Opava before he went to study medicine at the University. His father wanted him to understand Czech translations of Yoga writings.
He was also given his first book initiation into Hermetics titled The Path of the True Adept. At the age of 14, Lumir became a beekeeper and was in charge of supplying his father with honey for producing his remedies.
2. Maria Bardon
Not much is known about the only daughter of Franz Bardon. Nevertheless, it has been reported that she and Lumir often helped their father to pick herbs. Also, she allegedly helped her brother, through school following the death of their father.
At the time Franz got arrested, Maria and her mother were working for the County Production Cooperative. While she was there, she contracted a contagious fungal disease called trichophyton. After all the orthodox medicine failed to cure her, her father, who was incarcerated recommended that she use decoction from dried stinging nettles.
Maria’s skin condition cleared up in barely one month. Although the treatment was not done directly, she was often referred to as her father’s last patient.
After her father died, she claimed he came to her in her sleep and told her she would marry and have five children which she later did.
Other Thrilling Facts about the Occultist
1. Franz Bardon’s Father Believed He was Sent to Him by Divine Providence
While growing up, Bardon was a normal teenager who enrolled as an apprentice mechanic of industrial sewing machines. At the age of fourteen, he allegedly underwent a mysterious change of character.
He then began to write and express himself in a strange manner. His teachers believed he developed paranormal faculties at that time. Also, he reportedly became very interested in the study of esotericism and initiatory disciplines like Kaballah, yoga, and magic.
As a result of his sudden transformation, Franz’s father revealed he was sent to him by Divine Providence so he called him his Guru. He soon became well known as he displayed clairvoyant abilities. At that time, many people believed he was a reincarnation of the great magician, Hermes Trismegistus.
In the 1920s, he was widely known for his ability to find hidden objects, read people’s minds, and diagnose their health by just looking at them.
Bardon, under the name ‘ Frabato’, gave public lectures on supernatural powers. His stage name was gotten from Franz (Fra), Bardon (ba), Troppau (from German), Opava (Czechoslovakian), (TO).
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2. The Czech Esotericist Had Links with German Dictator, Adolf Hitler
He continued to work as a healer also until around 1939 when he caught the attention of Adolf Hitler. Hitler, who was known as an occult enthusiast, wanted to give the Czech esotericist duties in the Third Reich in exchange for his assistance.
On the contrary, Franz refused and that led to his torture and subsequent imprisonment at a Nazi concentration camp for more than three years. He was reportedly sentenced to death but luckily for him, he escaped before his execution following a Russian bombing of the camp.
Franz Bardon was saved by Soviet soldiers and after the war ended, he helped the police track down missing persons using his clairvoyant abilities. Aside from tracking people down, he also was able to find out if the people were still alive or not using photos.
3. The Magician Worked as an Administrator in a Hospital in Troppau
With a keen interest in herbs and healing, Franz Bardon started working as a healer and also an expert in alternative medicine.
Lumir Bardon once revealed his father loved picking herbs. Although he never liked farming, he grew several herbs like horsetail, plantain, chamomile, stinging nettle, birch leaves, and hawthorn leaves. Franz referred to the herbs as healing herbs. He also gathered weeds because he believed weeds contain ingredients that could heal.
He went on to study at the Munich Naturopathic School. After his studies, he started cultivating and producing medicinal herbs and plants. He even had a home laboratory where he made substances and medicines for treating his patients.
Bardon had patients from all over Europe. He was the only hope for patients that were considered hopeless by medical doctors. In the early 1950s, he became an administrator at a hospital in Opava while he was still focused on his esoteric studies.
In the course of his work, he met so many scholars of esotericism. He also met a woman called Otti Votavova who would later become his secretary. Otti helped him transcribe and edit all his publications at that time.
4. Franz Bardon was Allegedly a Chained Smoker
According to reports, Dr. M.K, a student of the magician once revealed that his master smoked about forty to sixty cigarettes daily. His favorite was Femina, which was made from the roots of the tobacco plant.
His son also revealed he used to smoke right to midnight on New Year’s Eve then he wouldn’t smoke for the whole year. He once revealed that doing that strengthen his will. Aside from cigarettes, the Czech magician also liked his coffee black.
5. Franz Bardon Died in 1958 While He was in Police Custody
In 1958, Franz Bardon was arrested on charges of being a charlatan and also for not paying taxes on the alcohol he used in the production of his medicines. He was also accused of producing alcohol illegally.
While he was still in police custody, Bardon asked his wife to get him a piece of smoked bacon because he was craving it. Upon eating it, he experienced severe abdominal pains but unfortunately, the guards thought he was only pretending. On the third day, he was transferred from Ostrava to the prison hospital in Brno.
Sadly the renowned healer could not heal himself. He died on July 10 of pancreatitis. However, there are reports that assert that he actually attempted to commit suicide in order to avoid being handed over to the USSR by the secret services.
Following his death, the police allegedly refused to let go of the documents and items that were confiscated from the magician at the time he was arrested. Also, after he was buried, the police allegedly wanted to exhume his body without the consent of his family.
Even after he died, it was rumored that he was deported to Russia in order to show the Russians how to make his remedies.
6. The Czech Occultist is Best Known for His Works on Hermetic Magic
Franz Bardon’s three works Initiation into Hermetics, The Practice of Magical Evocation, and The Key to the Trust Kabbalah are the most famous among the several he ever wrote. Apparently, his works are still translated and published in different languages today.
Also, after he died, a fictionalized biography of him, Frabato the Magician was published by his disciples. Although the book lists him as the author, it was reportedly written by Otti Votavova.
7. What Happened to the Esotericist’s Family Following His Death?
While Lumir was still in the university, his mother and sister were allegedly subjected to work hard under inhuman conditions for the County Cooperative. Lumir once revealed he was not granted any scholarship of any sort. He also revealed that he lived in fear at that time due to political reasons.
