Franz Bardon, the greatest Hermetic teacher of the 20th century, was born on December 1, 1909, in Troppau (now Opava) in the current Czech Republic. Adopting the stage name Frabato, Bardon performed as a magician -- although little did audiences suspect that Bardon's "tricks" were in fact quite real. Bardon lived a seemingly ordinary life, though he was certainly regarded as the local sage. Like other workers for the Light, Bardon attracted the attention of Adolph Hitler, a member of a black occult Lodge, who attempted to entice Bardon to assist him in winning WWII. After Bardon's refusal, he was incarcerated and sentenced to death in 1945. Before the sentence could be carried out the prison where Bardon was held was bombed and he was rescued by Russian soldiers. After the war, Bardon lived a quiet life with his wife Marie. He often traveled to Prague to teach universal principles to students. Bardon's teachings formed the basis for his now famous books on Hermeticism, Initiation into Hermetics, The Practice of Magical Evocation, and The Key to the True Kabbalah. Franz Bardon's Hermetic work was interrupted forever in 1958, and he died under "unusual circumstances" in a prison hospital in Brno, Czechoslovakia.
