Recently I saw the release of the book Arcanum Hermeticum by Magnus Sarmax and thought that the contents looked extremely interesting, especially for those practicing the books of Franz Bardons Initiation system. Then I saw that this was the mentor of Andre Consciencia (one of the teachers on Perseus, you can his two courses here and here) and was further intrigued. I contacted Andre to see if Magnus would be open to answering some questions via Andre (sadly my Portuguese ability is nonexistent), thankfully Magnus generously agreed to my request and gave me the opportunity to ask seven questions. So what follows has been made possible thanks to Magnus but also thanks to Andre for acting as a go between,
Interview
PAA: What, would you say, is the importance of mysticism and magic in life?
Magnus: Mysticism and Magic are integral parts of the same coin, one being the internal part that deepens and the other the external part that expands. The first brings stability and the second, comprehensiveness. They are the structures that allow us to, being in this life, live with resources beyond it, thus ensuring the possibility to Taste the World as an epic experience.
PAA: How did you come to know the works of Franz Bardon, and what impact did it have on you?
Magnus: Many years ago, before the great technological and informational revolution of the Internet, little or nothing was known about books such as those by Franz Bardon. Many who practiced magic at the time did so from a religious point of view, using the works of Eliphas Levi and Papus, which were the most popular at the time. A Visionary Magician called Jrr Abraão translated Franz Bardon’s works into Portuguese, but it was not widely publicized before the Internet Era.
At that time, with scarce reviews of books on this subject, when I entered a bookstore with books like this, I ordered my body to become aware of all the information contained in the place and choose the best book to buy. The body would simply move and find the most adequate book to study. After doing that many times, the body simply realized when this book was available at the nearby bookstore when walking around town.
Relief and great happiness were felt when I got his first book, the certainty of being blessed and on the right path, even with all the work that the book demands. It was an excellent base to start and at the time I was already studying the Tao Te Ching and The Kybalion, my bases and references already expanding quite uniquely from what was conventional at the time for many.
So, I followed the book, first as the author suggested, then due to the lack of time in everyday life, I kept training doing speed runs, redoing everything from the mental part, then the soul and finally the physical part. When I reached the end, I would start again.
When I got his second book in its complete format, I was already able to implement a lot in everything it gave us. At the time, I got some of Quintscher’s writings. Bardon’s books and Quintscher’s writings went along with Kybalion and the Tao Te Ching to form an excellent foundation.
PAA: You have spoken of your work as “a step beyond the teachings Franz Bardon”. What do you mean?
Magnus: Everything Bardon did and even what Quintscher and all the other magicians and mystics did before, leaves us a legacy that is a base for the beginning and not the end. The better and firmer the work is the more blessed it becomes, manifests, and allows us to go further. Many of the resources, practices, conceptions, events, and even the state of society that allowed these authors to be successful, changed, many times improved, other times worsened or became inaccessible. This manifested also in terms of communication. Formerly the cryptography of the time often consisted of certain terms and directions that were only clear to those who already had in mind the keys to decode the texts and writings.
There is a “Core” in which everyone who came before us exists. All their philosophy, practices and actions were towards establishing themselves alive in their state of things. So, this phrase “a step beyond the teachings of Franz Bardon” means to decode Bardon’s works and apply to it that which exists now and that can be implemented by way of improvisation, making it accessible for all those who have dedicated their lives to these studies. I wish them to have better results and prosper in the most powerful way possible.
This is regarding practical concepts and applications, and even technological, homeopathic and other resources that exist today at our disposal to help us obtain and remain in the Abundant and Inexhaustible Grace of the Highest Power.
These writings of mine were created as a gift for one person alone and only this person could read them. Some of it can sound strange when another person has contact with the ideas and definitions included. As time went by, I published them. The Plus Pole has an inherent quality that is to always magnify and bless everything it touches and even the book having been written in this way, it remained active. So and so, the blessing and its light live on in those who read Arcanum Hermeticum.
PAA: How can Arcanum Hermeticum, your book at Sirius Limited Esoterica, aid in the practice of other books such as Initiation Into Hermetics by Franz Bardon?
Magnus: The Integration Applied by the Plus Pole gives the Initiate in the practice of Franz Bardon the ability to go deeper into the foundations of what is being formed. The greater the applied awareness, the firmer this foundation is established and the more audacious the results.
In Bardon’s first book, we are only told, for instance, to become the center of the universe of fire and to accumulate it in the body. In Arcanum Hermeticum I give a practical example of how to evoke a Salamander to have power and vigor and an excellent day. I will explain this in stages using only a small part of what I put in the book as a ground for the forms and powers of Universal Fire:
Feel yourself being the center of the whole universe, this universe is made absolutely of Fire and this power increasingly converges in your Being, increasing your concentration by burning everything around you and making your body, soul, mind, and spirit an intense Sun that is Superior, Universal and Absolute, made of Eternal Light without limit, Infinite, protective, strong, capable of creation, authority and the realization of the maximum Blessing.
Here, just reading the words above, your body gets hotter. We can imagine a living red Earth where the air burns with fire, matter is exclusively made of fire and a hot living energy pulsates together with our fiery blood.
Itumo (Jtumo) is a Great Elemental King of Fire who has his kingdom and fleets focused on storms and everything that storms express, such as lightning. Here, start feeling a storm of fire and its rays and intensity and at this moment together with Itumo know that the Now Remembers and is Excellent, it is the biggest, best and most accessible attractor (lightning rod) of lightning that exists!
The energy that was scattered before is now focused and flows through the veins of the world giving power and direction to your excellent day.
In the Plus Pole there is no Limitation, there is no shortage. The Great King of Fire joyfully placed his attention on the blessing of your day, and thus you are already able to perceive new thoughts in your mind, feeling more blessed and alive, in addition to having a greater vigor in your body, even your eyesight improving.
This can be applied to very specific issues such as performing Bardon’s steps of concentration and visualization, or even physical issues.
PAA: At some point, Arcanum Hermeticum depends on extrasensory abilities to reach in and out to the beings of the Magical Current. Can you say more about cultivating these abilities?
Magnus: Direct Contact with Beings is the most advisable act to cultivate these abilities.
To “know” (know, prove, taste, understand) more about a being, power or concept, the best thing is to be in contact with him or it.
The easiest way to do this is to perform a magic formula with a being that “loves” you, which means a Potency that has concepts and powers that you want to acquire and love. There is a Magic Formula of Direct Contact that is in the final chapter of Arcanum Hermeticum, exclusive to multiple beings and having blessing as the objective.
Executing more complex formulas can reach even greater spheres of power. However, the real question here is how can someone still in development get the skills at a perfect operating level that capacitate him or her to execute these formulas. The answer is simple. Using the skills at first borrowed from forces, beings and powers that already possess them. One of the simplest, most direct and most powerful ways to accomplish this is the following:
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- Take a glass, pour water.
- Allow the water to carry the vibration of your words to your goal: Today is a Blessed Day and at this moment we all now Gracefully Remember The Great Lords of Water, the Dream when all of us with all our powers, forces and mights find [Name of the Being] and easily, gracefully, blissfully bring him to me in Joy, Blessing Me Now!
- Drink the water, the world, the realization.
It is advisable to perform this ritual only before going to sleep. Beings and powers manifest themselves in a direct and simple way in this manner. This means that they come to where the magician is, alive and in power. In practices like this, after drinking, the consciousness separates from the body and, at first, it needs to reorient itself in order to converse with the being. “Talking” here does not mean words. The stronger the presence the fewer the words, the more direct the contact and information we receive.
It should be noted that this practice must be utilized first to be in direct contact with elemental beings and only then to go up in the scale of beings, creating familiarity with their strengths and powers. And be coherent. For instance, don’t ask peace of beings linked to war.
PAA: What can the practitioner who completes Arcanum Hermeticum expect to gain from it?
Magnus: To experience and Recall all of his memories, experiences, thoughts and matters turning Into Gold! The Plus Pole is an Exclamation! Nothing escapes its enhancement, It is a work of something far greater, a power enabled from the beyond!
I can promise you, at the end of It, Your very best Smile.
PAA: Plans for any future publications? Will there be a next stage or follow-up to Arcanum Hermeticum?
Magnus: I will finish polishing the “Great Treatise on the Reintegration of Beings” for publication.
And you, reading these words? You are here and you are Alive! Enjoy and be fixed in the most blessed grace, in the strongest exclamation of good luck you can achieve!
PAA: Thank Magnus and Andre for your time in bringing these answers to the readers at Perseus. See more info about his book here.
