Built Different: A Hermetic Exposition of the Six Perfections

By Virgil

This book contains an exploration of a crucially important topic. It will revolutionize the world's understanding of what the journey through IIH is like.

More importantly, it will make this journey possible for many individuals for whom it was previously impossible. It will provide them with essential but previously unavailable knowledge that is necessary for success.

 

The first edition of IIH was published in 1956 as Der Weg Zum Wahren Adepten. The fact of the matter is, since that year, no initiate has ever revealed the key to successfully working through this training system, the key that is everything. That all changes now. In this book, in the year 2024, sixty-eight years after IIH was first published, the key has been revealed by Virgil at last. The absence of this key, which is needed by all Bardonists except for those with large

trees, is the reason the majority of those who attempt to work through IIH fail drastically. For almost seven decades, the Bardon community has been asleep to the importance of this key. But this book is a shout, a shout that has been prepared for a long time. Now, with its publication, the shout is released, the identity and importance of this key is made clear, and the Bardon community is finally awake.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Falcon Books Publishing
• Release date: Mar 26, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224359738

Virgil

Virgil is a writer and Christian magician who has worked extensively with Franz Bardon's system of magic and enjoys sharing his insights through various outlets. He is currently the author of four books – 'The Spirit of Magic'. 'The Elemental Equilibrium,' 'The Covert Side of Initiation,' and 'The Gift to be Simple.' He runs his own blog 'Living Franz Bardon'. Although he enjoys sharing his insights, he enjoys encouraging others to share theirs even more. For this reason, during the summer of 2019, Virgil organized the first Franz Bardon community fundraiser, which resulted in the publication of the collaborative book 'Equipoise: Insights into Foundational Astral Training'. This book is a compilation of essays and poems about magical equilibrium written by over two dozen students and initiates of Franz Bardon's system, and all profits from its sales go to the Best Friends Animal Society. Virgil believes that who a magician really is depends on his or her level of compassion, kindness, and forgiveness. According to Virgil, magical skills, psychic abilities, and occult knowledge can never substitute for these three traits, but aspiring magicians, in their rush to explore the Greater Mysteries, often lose sight of this basic spiritual fact. Many of Virgil's writings are intended to remind readers that one cannot be a good magician without first being a good person, and that at the end of the day any form of power, including magical power, is of no value unless one has the wisdom needed to use it for the purposes of love. Although he is able to write about the technical aspects of magic, Virgil rarely does so, opting instead to produce writings that help aspiring magicians keep sight of the things that truly matter.

Book preview

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List of Titles

The Elemental Equilibrium: Notes on the Foundation of Magical Adepthood, Falcon Books Publishing, 2017.

The Covert Side of Initiation, Falcon Books Publishing, 2018.

Equipoise: Insights Into Foundational Astral Training by the Franz Bardon Community (organized by Virgil and contributive author) Falcon Books Publishing, 2019.

The Spirit of Magic: Rediscovering the Heart of Our Sacred Art, 2nd edition, Falcon Books Publishing, 2019.

The Gift to be Simple: My Answer to a Student’s Question, Falcon Books Publishing, 2020.

The Franz Bardon Tradition: Interviews with Experienced Practitioners (contributive author), 2021.

Wisdom For My Younger Self, Falcon Books Publishing, 2022.

Rewriting Fate: Practical Hints for Bringing the Stage Exercise to Life, Falcon Books Publishing 2022.

Marian Hermetics: A Rosary-based Approach to Franz Bardon’s System of Magical Training, Falcon Books Publishing 2024.

Future Titles

Prayer: by The Franz Bardon Community (Organized by Virgil and contributive author)..

My Sword is Fire.

The Elemental Equilibrium: Notes on the Foundation of Magical Adepthood, 2nd edition.

The Covert Side of Initiation, 2nd edition.

Copyright © (2024) by Virgil

All rights reserved. Interior illustration and cover design by Hermetic Muse Copyright © (2024) All rights reserved.

No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by UK copyright law.

First edition 2024

Printed in the UK Published by FALCON BOOKS PUBLISHING LTD

St Neots Masonic Hall 

166 School Lane, 

Eaton Socon, Saint Neots, 

England, 

PE19 8EH

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ISBN: 978-1-915827-16-6 

Order paperback versions at: 

www.falconbookspublishing.com

Contents

Preface

Introduction

1.Drive >>> Motivation

2. The Supreme Incinerator of Defilements

3. Becoming a Tzadik Bardonist

4. The Truth Shall Set You Free

5. Discernment Is Everything

6. IIH Has it Backwards

7. Pushing Off

8.Conclusion

9.Bibliography

About the author

Preface

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I’m going to say something that will probably end up being controversial. I think a large portion of Bardonists – possibly even most Bardonists – really shouldn’t be Bardonists. The reason is that they lack the spiritual maturity needed to walk the magical path. The thing with serious spiritual paths is that, although they will help you become more spiritually mature, you also need a certain level of spiritual maturity to begin walking them. Consider it a prerequisite. I first encountered this idea in Charlotte Joko Beck’s book Everyday Zen . In that book, Joko Beck explains that not everyone is ready to walk the Zen path. According to her, some people who show up at a zendo really need to spend a few years or even decades being knocked around by life before they gain the spiritual maturity necessary to begin Zen practice. This idea also appears in another book I once read on Dzogchen. The authors explain that in order to start walking the Dzogchen path, you first need to arrive at the beginning of the path. That means attaining the level of spiritual maturity needed to walk the Dzogchen path.

The magical path is the same way. There are many people who are trying to walk the magical path, but who haven’t yet reached the beginning of the path. Since they haven’t yet reached the beginning of the path, their efforts to walk the path are obviously futile. If I want to walk the Appalachian Trail, I first have to get to the starting point, which is Springer Mountain. If I’m at my apartment in Philadelphia, which is hundreds of miles away from Springer Mountain, then I can’t begin walking the Appalachian Trail. If I think I’m walking the Appalachian Trail but I am really just in my apartment, then clearly I am very confused. A lot of Bardonists are like that; they’re hundreds of miles away from the level of spiritual maturity needed to begin walking the magical path. This is why a lot of Bardon forums and online groups are the way they are, if you know what I mean. You have a bunch of people on the beginning steps of IIH asking for guidance on astral projection, which is a Step 9 exercise. You have people who, based on their behavior, clearly don’t possess magical equilibrium asking for guidance on evocation and Quabbalah, and in some cases even trying to teach evocation and Quabbalah to others. You have people encouraging others to tack on arbitrary extraneous stuff to IIH for no good reason whatsoever. You have predators selling misinformation-packed courses and books at high prices to stuck beginners who are desperate for something, anything, that might help them make even a little bit of progress. Such forums and groups are clown shows, and one would do well to stay far away from them.

With this in mind, I have decided to write this book on the six paramitas. I think knowledge about the paramitas is important for aspiring magicians to have. Those who lack the paramitas are certainly not spiritually mature enough to work through IIH, and their efforts will be met with failure. As for those who possess the paramitas in abundance, if they are not yet spiritually mature enough to work through IIH, then they are certainly at least very close to being spiritually mature enough to work through IIH.

Introduction

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During the time period I currently live and write in, most people who attempt to work through IIH will fail. Perhaps during some future time period, when humanity as a whole is more spiritually evolved, most people who attempt to work through IIH will succeed. However, that is not the case right now in the twenty-first century. Perhaps only one in a thousand, or even fewer, of those who attempt to work through IIH will succeed.

So, why do some people succeed in working through IIH while so many others fail? The answer to this question is very simple. Those who succeed in working through IIH are just built different. That’s all there is to it. If you are stuck on the beginning steps of IIH, then you’re clearly not built like the people who are making rapid progress through IIH. For this reason, you cannot do what they do. And as long as you remain the way you are, you will never be able to do what they do.

If you take a random person who is making rapid progress through IIH and examine how they are built, what building blocks will you see? You will see the six paramitas. You will also see other building blocks in addition to the six paramitas, but you will see the six paramitas for sure. If you have the six paramitas, those six invaluable building blocks will help you obtain whatever other building blocks you need in order to be the sort of person who can rapidly work through IIH. So if you are seeking to collect all of the building blocks you need, I recommend starting with the six paramitas, which are as follows.

Virya paramita, the perfection of drive

Kshanti paramita, the perfection of patience

Sila paramita, the perfection of righteousness

Prajna paramita, the perfection of understanding

Dana paramita, the perfection of generosity

Dhyana paramita, the perfection of focus

You are probably aware that the six paramitas are often discussed in Buddhist texts. It is obvious that the six paramitas will help any Buddhist walk the path of Buddhism. But given that Buddhism and magic are two different paths, why would the six paramitas also help Bardonists walk the magical path?

Although Buddhists lump these particular six qualities together and call them paramitas, the importance of each of these qualities is emphasized in every major religion. For example, my religion is Christianity. In Christianity, drive is one of the seven capital virtues. Generosity is a form of kindness, which is also one of the seven capital virtues. Understanding and patience are two of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. And the importance of living righteously and focusing on growing closer to God is emphasized over and over again in both testaments of the Bible. Regardless of what spiritual path you walk, whether it is a Buddhist path, a Christian path, a magical path, or any other path, the rate of your advancement will depend in large part on how strongly-developed these qualities are in your personality.

1

Drive >>> Motivation

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The first job I held after graduating from college was a construction field technician. I remember during my interview, one of the questions I asked the interviewer was What qualities do you think someone would need in order to excel in this role?

Now, this interviewer knew that the position