Franz Bardon and the Four Humours: Outdated Theory, but Timeless Practice
Franz Bardon, one of the most influential figures in modern Hermetics. At least he directed much of my own spiritual learning over the last 20 years. I acquired his book around 2007/2008 on recommendation from a friend after I had finished a more teen goth-oriented author called Konstantinos. Yes, I was one of those! He structured much of his system of Initiation on classical elemental theory. You will see me make countless references to Franz Bardon’s Magic Mirror. This isn’t an actual Mirror like a black scrying mirror, no, but instead it is a deep, spiritual, cold, hard, analytical look at yourself. A look performed regularly with repeated attempts to balance your personality to reflect balanced elements.
A key part of this framework is his reliance on the ancient concept of the four humours—blood (sanguine), phlegm (phlegmatic), black bile (melancholic), and yellow bile (choleric). While contemporary science has discredited humourism as a medical model, Bardon’s application of these principles remains a practical and powerful tool for spiritual development. But is there a new tool that we could be using??? Spoiler, yes there is … it’s a bit California influencer-y, but it’s still useful, and worth considering… Anyway I’ll get to that later and let’s not spoil the surprise.
The Four Humours and Their Fall From Grace
The humouric model, originally developed by Hippocrates posited that human temperament, health, and even personality were dictated by the balance of these bodily fluids (Blood, Phlegm, Black Biles and Yellow Bile). I wonder if my personality changed when I threw up some phlegm the other day? Over centuries, advancements in medicine revealed that illnesses were not caused by humouric imbalances but by pathogens, genetics, and biochemical factors. By the 19th century, the humouric system had been largely abandoned in favour of germ theory, generics, other forms of modern medical science, believing that 5G radio towers are controlling secret chips that Bill Gates supposedly hid in Covid injections and other crazy shit. We may have moved on from 4 humours, but actually… now I’m beginning to question did we just swap one load of BS for another?
About Bardon, very little is known other than his origins and his arrest by Nazis during the Second World War. Having survived execution in a Czech concentrating camp, he wrote three books which he is most well known: “The Path to the True Adept” (later renamed “Initiation into Hermetics”), “The Magical Practice of Evocation” and “Key to the True Kabbalah”. He continued to use the humouric framework, mostly in IIH —not as a biological model but as a psychological and esoteric system for self-mastery. Despite the scientific refutation of humouric medicine, the symbolic and practical aspects of Bardon’s system still hold significant value for practitioners of magic and self-development.
Why Bardon’s System Remains Useful
Even though the four humours no longer describe physical health, they still serve as archetypes for understanding and refining personal energy as it pertains to the human soul. Bardon’s system aligns these humours with the four classical elements: Fire (choleric), Water (phlegmatic), Air (sanguine), and Earth (melancholic). In doing so, he provides a structured way to examine one’s strengths, weaknesses, and energetic imbalances. One criticism of this system is that he wrote when it was not clear the impact of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn on neopagan, new age and modern Western occult practice. His system does not fit neatly with what a large proportion of the Western occulture is doing. Personally, I work a little differently.
- Self-Diagnosis and Balance – Practitioners using Bardon’s system evaluate their elemental composition to determine which traits dominate their psyche and which are underdeveloped. This self-reflection can lead to greater emotional intelligence and significant behavioural refinement.
- Energetic Exercises – The exercises Bardon prescribes, such as conscious breathwork, visualization, and meditation, are methods of harmonizing and balancing these elemental forces. Naturally, this has not been shown to actually affect the quality or quantity of any actual humours within the body. While humouric medicine has been replaced, energetic balancing remains a foundational concept in many modern spiritual traditions, from Taoist inner alchemy to contemporary energy work. I wrote a long article here about why it is important in ceremonial magic as one of my first articles.
- Ritual and Magical Application – Bardon integrates the humouric system into ritual magic by emphasizing the necessity of elemental equilibrium. Without this balance, a practitioner risks becoming overwhelmed by their own unchecked traits, leading to instability in magical work and personal life. As the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn’s Theoricus ritual commands us “So shalt thou gradually develop the powers of thy soul, and fit thyself to command the Spirits of the Elements” and as Aleister Crowley also warns in Liber Librae (bk 30) when essentially parrots much of Theoricus ritual “Thou therefore who desirest Magical Gifts, be sure that thy soul is firm and steadfast; for it is by flattering thy weaknesses that the Weak Ones will gain power over thee” and “For wert thou to summon the Gnomes to pander to thine avarice, thou wouldst no longer command them, but they would command thee. Wouldst thou abuse the pure beings of the woods and mountains to fill thy coffers and satisfy thy hunger of Gold? Wouldst thou debase the Spirits of Living Fire to serve thy wrath and hatred? Wouldst thou violate the purity of the Souls of the Waters to pander to thy lust of debauchery? Wouldst thou force the Spirits of the Evening Breeze to minister to thy folly and caprice? Know that with such desires thou canst but attract the Weak, not the Strong, and in that case the Weak will have power over thee.” So it becomes clear that the magician must command his own elements and bring them to a state of magical equilibrium otherwise they would overcome him and he could achieve nothing.
Reinterpreting Bardon’s Model for Modern Practitioners
Understanding that Bardon’s use of the four humours is symbolic rather than literal allows modern practitioners to engage with his teachings without being hindered by outdated medical paradigms. Instead of focusing on bodily fluids, students can work with the psychological and energetic implications of the four elements, applying them to personal transformation and magical practice.
I find that working with the personalities associated with the different zodiac signs is extremely useful. I ask students for each zodiac sign what negative personality traits they associate with the sign and of these, which ones represent an excess of each element and what negative personality traits represent a deficit. So being over-analytical and emotionally detached might represent an excess of air, but on the other hand emotional reasoning and irrationality might be its deficit. Often we end up talking about air energy or deficit thereof. Not being able to get up in the morning could be an excess of earth energy, whereas not being able to sit still could be a deficit. Unable to stop crying could be an excess of water energy and having no ability to emphasise is apparently “being a good Republican Christian and not sinning”. Sorry … I mean a deficit of water energy. Finally, feeling no passion for anything could be a lack of fire energy and being angry all the time is probably learning that Hungary just banned all Pride protests like some Nazi-sympathizing oppressive authoritarian state. Also, it might be an excess of fire energy. Sorry it’s been a difficult few weeks.
My students will quickly learn the elemental pentagrams most commonly associated with invoking and banishing the elements through their Sabbath rituals, but drawing these pentagrams become a much greater tool when turned on themselves as they attempt to seek balance. My close friend, DJ, remarked that it formed an incredibly effective and almost supernatural system of self-regulation. Hesitatingly, I postulate that it is more than that. As the student uses the pentagram over and over they are brought into an Occult current that has powerful skills that do not just impact the personality, but the very soul as well. The student becomes more and more effective at commanding outer elemental powers and they build up their strength on their inner elemental energies. This is like lifting 50lbs / 20 kg in the gym before moving on to 100lbs / 45kg. You’re less likely to hurt yourself.
By refining one’s elemental balance, a practitioner strengthens their ability to manifest intent, cultivate willpower, and maintain spiritual equilibrium. This reinterpretation bridges ancient wisdom with contemporary understanding, ensuring that Bardon’s teachings remain relevant in the 21st century.
The 4 Neurotransmitters/Hormones?
This is a brand new idea for me so it runs untested. Forgive me if it doesn’t work quite right, but what if we weren’t working with humours but with neurotransmitters?
A book once recommended to me by the very same DJ, called Leaders Eat Last opens with a long discussion about the 4 main neurotransmitters that impact our experience and seemingly our personality. These neurotransmitters are cortisol, oxytocin, dopamine and serotonin. They shocked me when I realised just how neatly they fit with the 4 element model.
Cortisol and Adrenaline
Cortisol is our stress hormone. It helps us get into fight or flight mode when he need to, sadly it also does it sometimes when we don’t need to. It drives our excitement and allows our body to handle our more passionate moments. An excess can lead to irritability. This fits neatly with Fire.
Oxytocin
This is often nicknamed “the love hormone” (insert Barry White music here). It plays a crucial role in bonding and social development in children. It can be deliberately triggered by spending time with our loved ones, our pet animals, and our loved ones who like dressing up as pet animals. Oxytocin can have a calming effect, often reducing anxiety and stress. It also enables us to better empathise and understand each other. Its ability to counteract the negative impacts of cortisol is like water putting out fire. Perhaps this could be the water neurotransmitter? (I missed a load of content about its impact on pregnancy and mothers causing contractions and lactation because it didn’t seem relevant to many readers, but it might be worth looking up).
Dopamine
Okay, this is one of the harder ones to place. It could be fire… it could be earth… but the truth is I could not get any of my learning done if it weren’t for dopamine. Learning how to hack my brain’s dopamine issues to get the most out of learning is such a godsend that allows me to learn in a way none of these other hormones will. I mean there are other neurotransmitters which manage recollection and learning, however, this is the easiest one to trigger with dopamine fasts, learning what it feels like when a dopamine boost hits and learning how to reproduce that. Teaching the body to release dopamine when needed takes a long time of trigger and reward. Learning to use checklists, break things into small tasks and add novelty to every situation are ways to trigger it. Also, the opposite is important too. You need to recover which I do by watching re-runs of old TV shows like Star Trek, Golden Girls and Buffy. This provides Oxytocin release by seeing familiar characters you know and love without the novel situations which trigger dopamine. So for me Dopamine is associated with Air. It has that tendency to encourage the mind to flitter about if present in excess, but with too little the body can hardly move as was shown with rats who would not even bother to eat and eventually starved.
Serotonin
Again a bit of a stretch and I question whether this and dopamine could be swapped, but an excess of Earth and the initiate cannot get up in the morning. A deficit and they can barely sit still. Serotonin is the exact opposite. Too much serotonin and the body can experience muscle twitching a state of extreme confusion and difficulty which is almost like a deficit of earth. My housemate recently reached this state with poor use of his antidepressant medicine. Alternatively, a deficit of Serotonin prevents us from being able to do much at all. Hardly even think. Our entire body reaches a state Crowley would refer to as “Tamasic” from some Hindu philosophy that Crowley as a typical Brit naturally equated to the entirety of India. Serotonin can be more easily managed by regular exercise, a healthy diet and getting Vitamin D either by direct sunlight which our bodies can convert into Vitamin D like plants (I’m secretly an old Oak tree) or by having fun in the bedroom, yes we like to get our Vit D there too.
What do we do with this?
Could we find a form of biofeedback that allows us to deliberately trigger these hormones as and when we need them with a ritual similar to the pentagram? Would that be helpful? Would it balance the elements within our soul or be a simple false lid on a deeper issue? Is the deeper issue real at all.
We should also consider things like Noradrenaline, Acetylcholine and Glutamate for air, then maybe Dopamine could be moved over to earth, Gaba could join Oxytocin with Water and add Endorphins with the rest of fire maybe? I think there’s some potential here and hope I have time in the next few months to form a coherent system that is suitable for students of Modern Hermetics.
This could be a very useful replacement for Franz Bardon’s Humour theory that is based in modern science.
Conclusion
While humourism has been discredited as a medical theory, its application in Franz Bardon’s system continues to offer value as a tool for self-awareness and energetic refinement. By viewing the four humours through the lens of elemental psychology and esoteric practice, modern students can engage with Bardon’s work in a way that is both effective and intellectually sound. His approach serves as a reminder that even outdated models can contain timeless wisdom when viewed in the right light.
Some adjustments are suitable for making the system more compatible with the rest of the Hermetic movement in the Western Occult community.
If we are making some adjustments anyway could we make a system that reflects our modern knowledge of neurotransmitters and hormones? Hopefully more posts to follow.
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