--- title: "Beyond Boundaries: A Journey through Mental Discipline, Telepathy, and Hermetic Practice" url: https://staging13.perseusarcaneacademy.com/post/beyond-boundaries-a-journey-through-mental-discipline-telepathy-and-esoteric-practice/ date: 2024-11-07 modified: 2026-07-03 lang: en author: "Perseus Arcane Academy" description: "Introduction What a nice interview this is with Anna, it is great to hear about all the curiosity and experimentation with different methods. Anna very generously shares with us her..." categories: - "Franz Bardon" - "Interviews" tags: - "Energy" - "Franz Bardon" - "Magic" - "Meditation" - "Remote Viewing" image: https://staging13.perseusarcaneacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/DALL·E-2024-11-07-15.24.36-A-surreal-mystical-image-representing-remote-viewing_-a-figure-sits-in-meditation-with-eyes-closed-and-a-glowing-third-eye-symbol-appears-on-their-f-768x768-1.jpg word_count: 3743 --- # Beyond Boundaries: A Journey through Mental Discipline, Telepathy, and Hermetic Practice ## Introduction What a nice interview this is with Anna, it is great to hear about all the curiosity and experimentation with different methods. Anna very generously shares with us her approach to the Hermetics of Franz Bardon in addition to her experiments with fascinating subjects like Remote Viewing, Manifestation techniques and methods of Telepathy. If you enjoy this interview, then please let us know your thoughts in the comments and consider sharing the interview to others who may enjoy it. --- **PAA: What initially drew you to Initiation into Hermetics?** A few years ago I was in an online group that focused on magic and parapsychology. Other members kept mentioning Initiation into Hermetics and finally I read it out of curiosity. My first impression was that it was a kind of bootcamp for aspiring magicians (in a good sense). What struck me was how complete and structured the training was. Up until that point I had been practicing magic on a regular basis, but in a somewhat haphazard fashion. I also felt that my ability to concentrate let me down and needed developing. Not long before that I had read 'The Confessions of Aleister Crowley' and was interested in the chapter where Crowley described how he abandoned magical practices for a time, replacing them with a variety of exercises aimed at improving concentration, imagination, and so on. I had intended to incorporate something along those lines into my own daily routine. However, when I read IIH, I discovered that it not only covered everything Crowley had talked about but other skills that appealed to me as well, such as mental wandering. **PAA: Can you describe your experience with the first few steps of IIH? What challenges did you face?** Funnily enough, the Thought Control/Thought Discipline exercises in Step One were my greatest challenges of all, particularly Vacancy of Mind. The undisciplined monkey in my head kept interrupting, and there were times when I wondered whether I would ever make progress. What ultimately helped was to focus on a ticking clock: the idea was to see how long I could go without a single thought interrupting. At first, I barely managed twenty seconds but built up gradually until I could finally go for at least a couple of minutes without any other thought being allowed in. Having mastered that, I resumed my work on VOM without the clock. It made a big difference. Inhaling the elements from Step Three onwards was tough at first. Feeling like I was surrounded by a universe of "Fire" was easy enough, but when it came to working with the Water element I found myself struggling. Somehow it felt easier to accumulate "heat" with the Fire element than to lower my body temperature via the Water element. My solution was to create an "anchor": every time I took a cold shower I'd anchor the sharp, icy feeling of the water by crossing my fingers and telling myself that every time I did so, I would feel "cold". After repeating this routine for several days, I gradually began to associate that particular anchor/finger position with cold water on the skin and would automatically start to shiver and feel the effects. On the other hand, constructing my soul mirrors was empowering. Observing my behavior and internal dialogue from day to day, a pattern began to emerge that I had never been aware of before. It was as if one "negative" emotion started off a chain of other related feelings and reactions that took on a life of their own. Having to face up to these failings and weaknesses was a bitter pill to swallow, but the idea of "recreating" myself was appealing. Being able to take control of a deeply rooted negative trait and tackle it once and for all was deeply satisfying. Dark Mirror aside, I also balked at the idea of admitting to the "good points" of my Light Mirror. I had grown up in a culture where modesty was espoused, and so pointing out things I liked about my own personality was difficult, to say the least. In the end, I made a little pact with myself that once I got into energetic equilibrium, I could move on to Step Three. This was incentive enough. In the concentration exercises of Step Two (partly inspired by a Poke Runyon podcast) I found it helpful to select items in strong primary colors: a sunflower yellow pencil; a small plastic bottle filled with blue watercolor paint; a pillarbox red paintbrush. These I'd position on a tablecloth or placemat in an equally vivid contrasting color to make the object stand out. A black and white fridge magnet or a "Yin/Yang" symbol completed the selection. I did well with most of the concentration practice, but quickly discovered that I lagged behind with the sensory exercises. To help improve things I would imagine stroking a fluffy rabbit, touching sharp or rough objects, and items of varying temperatures. In my day-to-day life, I would remember to touch everyday objects and try to memorize how they all felt. One of my favorite parts of the training was in Step Three, where I could create more mobile and realistic imaginal scenes. At first, I would watch and then etch in my mind's eye various short YouTube videos of themes Franz Bardon had suggested: A field of wheat blowing in the wind; a cat cleaning itself, a ticking clock, busy street scenes… The famous Rank movie studios clip of a man striking a gong was one I returned to repeatedly, trying to memorize every tiny detail in the man's profile and the way the gong sounded. As I progressed, my 3D scenes became longer, more detailed, and included many senses at a time. Typically I'd imagine loafing around my apartment, going to the kitchen, picking up an apple or orange, smelling the fruit, and then hearing the crisp crunch sound as I bit into it. **PAA: In your opinion, what is the significance of depth point in Step 5?** From my perspective, it's about separating ourselves from the physical realm and learning to experience "infinity" within an object. It's a sense of limitlessness in all directions. In Step Four, we were able to transfer our consciousness into a person, animal, or tree and actually experience the world "from" them. But depth point in Step Five takes things even further: the rock you transfer yourself into is a whole universe in itself, while you are just a tiny speck. At first, it seemed that I was sensing "the beginning of time," but repeated attempts brought on a curious sense of endlessness in the past, present, and future that is hard to describe but compelling to experience. **PAA: How has your understanding of mental exercises evolved through your practice of IIH?** At first, I made the fatal mistake of thinking I could just randomly select exercises that appealed to me, rather than working with the order Bardon provided. Luckily that phase didn't last long. These days I'm very aware of how all of the exercises work together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle: with just a single piece missing, the overall picture can never be complete. It's a bit like the Qabbalistic Tree of Life: Malkuth contains aspects of all the previous sephiroth that came before it and cannot exist without any of the others. **PAA: Are you a strictly by-the-book approach or do you sometimes take a different approach?** Apart from the clock exercise I mentioned earlier, I go strictly by the book. I believe that Bardon set out the exercises in the way he did for a good reason. It's the same in the art world with some of the geniuses of the past: they liberally broke all the rules, but only after those rules had been fully mastered. **PAA: How do you integrate the principles of IIH into your daily life?** Most of Step One is still incorporated into my daily life exactly as Bardon outlines, including food impregnation, the magic of water, and so on. My thought control exercises are performed early in the morning, followed by whatever step I'm working on (currently Step Eight). Usually, I'm able to find time in the late afternoon/early evening to repeat the routine as well, but the morning exercises I am super strict about and will never skip unless it's a real emergency. I do find IIH to be extremely practical, and many of the exercises that I've already mastered are worked in on a regular basis, as needed. If I have a basic question in my mind or need to recover a lost item, I'll get out the pendulum, for example. I might charge the front door of my apartment with protective energy to repel intruders, or impregnate a crystal to create a peaceful atmosphere in one of the rooms. At first, I wished Bardon would give his students more direction on exactly how and when to use the techniques in daily life, but later I came to understand that he wanted us to figure it out for ourselves rather than be spoon-fed. **PAA: How did you first become interested in telepathy, and how does it relate to your other magical practices?** My interest in telepathy was sparked after noticing certain things occurring in my life that couldn't be explained away by science. It seemed that directing a bit of concentrated thought at someone I hadn't talked to in a while would cause them to reach out with "I had this urge to update you". It would happen again and again, to the point where it became predictable. Similarly, I would find myself thinking in a loop about someone, only to find they had or were about to contact me. At around the same time, I read a number of books on the subject, including those by William Walker Atkinson, René Warcollier, and Annie Besant. One that really grabbed my attention was "Mental Radio" by Upton Sinclair. Sinclair suggested working with a partner: having one person draw a basic image on a piece of paper and the other getting into a relaxed state, placing the paper face-down over their solar plexus, attempting to tune in to the drawing, and then finally sketching what appeared in their mind's eye. I discovered the drawings produced during my own experiments were often strikingly similar to the original, and again, this couldn't be put down to science or coincidence. Further sessions revealed that time and distance are unimportant for the success of the exercise: similar experiments could be performed between myself and people on the other side of the world. I do believe telepathy is quite closely related to my other magical practices, since many of the latter are "mind-to-mind" in one way or another (including from person to spirit and vice-versa). **PAA: Can you share a specific experience where you've successfully practiced remote viewing or astral travel?** Let me briefly describe the process: To begin with, I am given a "coordinate number" which is to be written at the top of a plain sheet of paper in black ink. Then I will touch the number with the tip of my pen and try to "tune in" to certain things that start to flood into my mind. I will ask myself questions such as "Is it tall or short?"; "Natural or man-made"?; "What shapes/colors do I see?"; "What does it smell like/taste like/feel like?", etc. I will sketch the images that come up for me, although they are usually just fragments of the "target" and I'm usually not able to understand what it actually is until I finally get to see it for real. As a typical example, I once drew a crisscrossed image during a session and wrote of "something dark," "slender," "metallic," "iron-like," "tall," and "near water," which turned out to be the Eiffel Tower. I am certainly no heavyweight remote viewing expert, and I often break the rules by using squared paper to work with rather than the recommended white, simply because it's what I happen to have at hand. But it's an ability that anyone can have fun with, and I would say that practicing IIH will enhance it, simply because perception skills are strengthened through the training. ![](https://staging13.perseusarcaneacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Remote_Viewing_1_Target_Psyclone.webp)**Remote Viewing Target 1** ![](https://staging13.perseusarcaneacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Remote_viewing_1_Psyclone_Session_results.webp)**Remote Viewing Target 1 Result** ![](https://staging13.perseusarcaneacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Remote_Viewing_2_Target.webp)**Remote Viewing Target 2** ![](https://staging13.perseusarcaneacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Remote_Viewing_2_result.webp)**Remote Viewing Target 2 Result** Astral travel took me a long time to achieve. Like a lot of people, I had read the books of Robert Bruce and attempted to follow his instructions, but whenever that upwards "pull" started to occur, I would panic and "fall" right back to the place where I was lying (it really did feel like falling fast). I would also experience something similar to sleep paralysis, where my limbs felt like lead and were unable to move, which scared me at first. But finally, it all happened quite naturally and was a vivid experience where one moment I was up on the ceiling, glancing at all the items in the room, seeing myself lying on the sofa, and the next thing I knew I was over the rooftops, moving further and further up. I possessed an eagle-sharp eyesight (far better than my real eyesight) and could zoom in on the tiniest details like the roof tiles below, the cracks on the sidewalk, etc. I would move up in stages to begin with; hovering over the town for a while, then suddenly lifting still higher, before entering into a kind of restful, ethereal light. I have never learned how to control the direction: it's always been as if something else is in charge of that, either pulling me upwards or keeping me stationary. A lot of it is about putting fears aside and being able to let go, really. **PAA: What techniques do you use to enhance your telepathic abilities?** I have experimented with accumulating vital energy and then charging a chi ball with a specific thought or emotion, which gets sent out to the target person. That is effective but really all that's needed is to take some time to "tune in" to the person by imagining them, calling their name several times in your mind and then seeing them turn to look at you. Often at this point there will be a sinking feeling in the solar plexus which I have come to know is a sign of connection. Once you have eye contact you send them the chosen message, visual image or emotion, repeating several times until you intuitively feel the message has been successfully sent. It can be helpful to spend a few minutes looking at a photograph first, but it's not essential. Just as Bardon would surely point out, it's important to note that telepathy should only be used for the good, or for sending neutral messages. Anyone who directs harmful or controlling thoughts at a target will be negatively affected by its rebound. Since we've been discussing IIH, many of the teachings there can strengthen telepathic abilities, particularly in some of the earlier steps where you have to imagine people, animals or plants standing right in front of you; all of those will boost telepathy because it is through this kind of visualization that you make the mind-to-mind connection in the first place. ## Influences: Bardon, Crowley, Spare, Goddard, Swann. **PAA: Among your influences, which teachings have had the most profound impact on your magical practice, and why?** Neville Goddard's writing and lectures have probably had the most profound impact on my magical practice, particularly "Prayer - the Art of Believing" (which explained his methods of thought transmission) and "Awakened Imagination". I discovered in my teenage years that one's own reality could be manipulated, but it was Goddard's work that introduced me to the concept of the "As above, so below; as within, so without" which runs through so many magical teachings. Goddard's work is centered around passages from the Bible, but he also studied Kabbalah in depth and that influence is evident on nearly every page. His quotes of "Nothing to change but self" and "The world is a mirror where everyone sees himself reflected" resonate with me to this day. He had a number of popular techniques, but fewer people know about his experiences with mental wandering and teleportation. I was recently intrigued by an account of how he vividly imagined being in his sister's house many miles away and then she called in shock to say she'd actually seen him standing there, in her living room. Aleister Crowley's writing got me interested in the Ars Goetia, and before discovering IIH I regularly would use what I'd learned for petition spells and invocation. The invocation method I used was not dissimilar to the Automatic Writing of IIH, in fact - only rather than getting my Higher Guardian Angel to write through me, it would have been, say, King Paimon, or Dantalion. What made an even greater impact in my own magical practice, though, was Crowley's "The Book of Thoth", along with the Thoth tarot deck itself. Initially it was the beauty of the cards that attracted me and I bought myself a pack even though at the time I knew nothing about tarot or how to use it. As I struggled to learn how to read the cards I was simultaneously attempting to gain an understanding of the mystical Qabbalah via Dion Fortune's seminal book and I discovered that the Thoth deck itself, being such a huge deep-dive into Qabbalah, assisted with the learning process. Austin Osman Spare's teachings are written in a complicated way, yet paradoxically the simplicity and effectiveness of the practices themselves was what appealed to me and I have been able to continue using them even in the thick of my IIH training. There are no magical weapons or robes required; just a carefully drawn sigil, or a short line of symbols copied from an "alphabet of desire" that the magician himself/herself has created. Spare had a familiar called Black Eagle, which intrigued me, since I have several servitors that I created a few years ago. Kenneth and Steffi Grant's book, "Zos Speaks!" (which include Spare's insights and grimoire) made the concepts easier for me to get to grips with than Spare's own "Book of Pleasure". I read a lot about the "psi" experiments that Ingo Swann carried out in the 1970s and it wasn't so much that they impacted my magical practice as the magical practices impacting my parapsychology hobby. IIH is full of exercises that work on the clair senses, energy manipulation, mental wandering, and telepathy - all of which are basically psi skills as well. Another thing that interested me was an experiment Swann did with plants that were connected to a polygraph: Swann would (in his imagination only) strike a match and set fire to one of the plant's leaves. Even though this was only an imagined attack, the polygraph registered a marked stress response from the unfortunate plant. This particular experiment was (to me) rather unpleasant, but "positive" thoughts could just as easily have been directed at the plant and it demonstrated how dramatically the human mind can penetrate and affect other living things, which has all kinds of implications for healing and so on. **PAA: How do you incorporate Neville Goddard's concepts of imagination and belief into your chaos magic work?** Manifestation is like a seed that is planted in the subconscious mind, where it can be allowed to grow. However, the conscious mind can interfere with the process and cause the magic to fail. In a way Goddard's concepts have something in common with chaos magic (sigil magic and "Alphabet of Desire", at least): both work on the subconscious mind and bypass the possible sabotage of the conscious mind. Many of Neville's techniques center around the wish or desire being planted in the subconscious mind while drifting off to sleep, where it can then be free to work without doubts or mental chatter getting in the way; With Chaos magic, the desire behind the sigil is also planted into the subconscious and then "fired and forgotten". I tend to use either method, depending on what it is I want to manifest. Austin Osman Spare, "the grandfather of Chaos magic", had a philosophy called "Zos Kia Cultis": "Zos" represented the human body; "Kia" refers to the "Universal Mind" and can be likened to the "Ain Soph" of the Kabbalah. So like Neville Goddard's philosophy there is the idea of the macrocosm and the microcosm constantly mirroring each other. **PAA: In what ways do Aleister Crowley's philosophies challenge or align with your current magical practices?** I wouldn't describe myself as a Thelemite, but "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law" makes sense to me in that we should follow our passion and our calling in life, which in my case includes magical practices. It's interesting to note that Bardon himself did write to Crowley for insights and information, so it's quite likely that he found some value in Crowley's work even though they were very different people. However it's undeniable that quite a few of Crowley's and Bardon's philosophies don't mix and therefore I will probably modify my practices from now on to fall in line with my Hermetic training. Being on Step Eight of IIH, I'm now in a position where I can begin working on The Practice of Magical Evocation, which will replace my former work with the spirits of the Goetia. ## Additional Topics **PAA: What advice would you give to someone just starting their journey with Bardon's works?** Follow the exercises exactly as Bardon outlines and don't try to tinker with them, cherry-pick only the exercises that most appeal to you, or move ahead too fast. Suspend any disbelief for now and just enter into the training with an open mind. I would like to close by thanking Perseus Arcane Academy for interviewing me. It's been a pleasure. **PAA: Thank you very much for taking part.** --- ## Meta Magick Tarot The Meta Magick Tarot is a unique, 3-part college level course which can be pursued on your own time, or synchronized with the 32-week calendar of Venus, the Forest of Life. The entire Tarot (Magick, Quabbalah, everything..) is covered in 32 lessons with PDFs, Video Support, and guided meditation for each class. The meta-magick philosophy is future oriented, and understands magickal thinking in a way similar to an engineer's perspective. [Learn More](https://courses.perseusarcaneacademy.com/b/meta-magick-part-1) ![Meta Magick Peter](https://staging13.perseusarcaneacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Peter-Rooftop.jpg) ---