Egregore
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Egregore is a term from Old English which is fading from general use in modern English. Essentially, an egregore is the "spirit of a thing", usually a human group or organization, shared by the members of the group, for whom it provides guidelines concerning principles, beliefs, and goals. Companies, religions, states, and clubs all can be said to have egregores. An example of the presence of an egregore could be when "a project takes on a life of its own."
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[edit] Egregore in occultism
The term has survived in recent times in the vocabulary of modern occultists, particularly Chaotes, or practitioners of Chaos Magic. While beliefs differ wildly amongst various schools of occultism, most would agree on the definition of an egregore as a psychic group entity or meme made up of, and influencing, the thoughts of the group's individual members in a symbiotic relationship.
One example, taken from Gaetan Delaforgem from a Gnosis (magazine) article, "The Templar Tradition: yesterday and today", shows that an egregore can be created (or an existing one reinforced) and used as a source of strength by its group:
| An egregore is a kind of group mind which is created when people consciously come together for a common purpose. Whenever people gather together to do something an egregore is formed, but unless an attempt is made to maintain it deliberately it will dissipate rather quickly. However if the people wish to maintain it and know the techniques of how to do so, the egregore will continue to grow in strength and can last for centuries.
An egregore has the characteristic of having an effectiveness greater than the mere sum of its individual members. It continuously interacts with its members, influencing them and being influenced by them. The interaction works positively by stimulating and assisting its members but only as long as they behave and act in line with its original aim. It will stimulate both individually and collectively all those faculties in the group which will permit the realization of the objectives of its original program. If this process is continued a long time the egregore will take on a kind of life of its own, and can become so strong that even if all its members should die, it would continue to exist on the inner dimensions and can be contacted even centuries later by a group of people prepared to live the lives of the original founders, particularly if they are willing to provide the initial input of energy to get it going again. |
Another take illustrated by Gabriel Emerson defines an egregore as more of a parasite of the mind:
| What is an egregore? It is the psychic and astral entity of a group. All members of a group, a family, a club, a political party, a religion or even a country, are psychically included in the egregore of the organization to which they belong. Of course, each of us belongs to several egregores at once. Therefore, each individual who is involved in a group receives the influences of the egregores, that is the astral counterpart of the group, in his psyche. This process is unconscious. The resulting drawbacks are, first, some perturbating psychic influences in the majority of cases, and second, a restriction of inner freedom. It is impossible to free oneself from certain egregores, for example the egregores of the country you live in. However, we should free ourselves from all egregores which are not essential. An egregore actually grows by drawing support from the members which constitute it who, in turn, through their repeated actions vivify it, somehow helping it to maintain its power. For a beginner, this is where the danger lies, all the more because of the tendency of man to seek protection, the price of which is often a loss of freedom. We should emphasize here that the association the Philosophers of Nature does not perform any group ritual in order to reduce the influence of its egregore to a minimum. |
Fenwick Rysen, a noted modern Chaote, attempts to define egregores as part of a "fluid continuum"] (external links) or spectrum ranging from mindless Sigils at the bottom, rising through Servitor-spirits to become Egregores, which eventually perhaps rise to become Godforms. Because corporations are known as "legal entities" to governments, various Chaotes have performed experiments using legal lexicography in spells to influence corporate activities, usually targeted by attaching a copy of the target corporation's logo or trademark as a "link" or "address", with varying reported results.
[edit] Examples of egregores
Egregores come in many strange shapes, sizes, and colors. Santa Claus is an egregore which started as stories about a gift-giving Catholic Saint named Nicholas. In the late 19th century, the Coca-Cola Company adopted this figure, gave him a red suit with white fur trim, a reindeer-pulled flying sleigh and a host of helper elves from German myth, and set him loose upon consumer America.
While no factual evidence can be shown for the actual physical existence of Santa Claus, his elves, or his flying reindeer, his effect can be witnessed worldwide every December by any who care to see. Children place milk and cookies over their mantles, people everywhere buy presents for each other, and countless holiday specials are watched on our favorite TV shows, not to mention the combined economic impact of millions of gift givers buying presents from retail stores.
Another historical example of an egregore as a character would be Uncle Sam as a figure representative of American power.
[edit] Egregores in contemporary fiction
Fiction author Stephen King's concept of Ka-tet in his Dark Tower series
