The movie Branded from 2012 is the best example I have seen when it comes to egregores. You can see the film for free here.
Excert from the book Egregores by Mark Stavish:
“The first book to explore the history and influence of egregores, powerful autonomous psychic entities created by a collective group mind.
The most commonly used definition (taken from Wiktionary.org) is as follows: “(occult) autonomous psychic entity composed of and influencing the thoughts of a group of people.” However, there is a second definition, an older, more significant, and perhaps frightening one. Here, an egregore is more than an “autonomous entity composed of and influencing the thoughts of a group of people”; it is also the home or conduit for a specific psychic intelligence of a nonhuman nature connecting the invisible dimensions with the material world in which we live. This, in fact, is the true source of power of the ancient cults and their religious-magical practices.
Walter Ernest Butler (1898–1978) is among one of the most important, and often little-known, occultists of the twentieth century. His association with Dion Fortune, British esotericist and occult author Gareth Knight, and British occult author, psychic, and esoteric practitioner Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki was critical in bridging the gap between the splintering Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and the adaptation of its rituals and teachings to the general occult public.
In an article titled “The Egregore of a School,” published in 1970 by the Servants of the Light, Butler provides what was for decades a common manner of presenting the idea of an egregore among British-based occultists. What is critical is that in the very first line of the article Butler states that he is about to “speak about something that is very important but which is usually forgotten by the majority of esoteric students.”5 This fact is vital to an understanding of how the term and idea of an egregore became increasingly common in English language occult literature during the second half of the twentieth century.
In the article Butler goes on to point out, as have previous authorities, that the fundamental nature of the egregore consists of collective emotions and that the thoughtform itself is amoral, taking its directions from those connected to it.
From the inner point of view, we may see it as a composite thought-form charged with emotional energy. This energy is evoked from all those who are linked with the thought-form and, if there are those in the group who know something of the psychic mechanism involved, it can be directed upon any chosen target.
It is obvious that such energy can be used for good or evil purposes, the intention of those who manipulate many people this is something they actually seek, they may feel inadequate in the everyday world and feel that by being linked in this way, they are protected from what they see as aggressive tendencies from other people. Or again, they may feel inadequate to deal with new ideas and situations and feel that the Group mind will do their thinking for them, and they will not be in danger of wrong thinking.
Both these tendencies are unhealthy but they are also common, more particularly in occult and religious or semi-religious circles. Indeed, where the mental and psychic conditions justify such domination by the collective Group mind for a limited period, such dependence upon the Egregore may even be remedial. But any organization, which makes such dependence mandatory upon all its members, is treading a dangerous and slippery path and will, sooner or later, come to grief.
Butler then describes the nature of discipline in practical esotericism as the personal decision to follow a chosen teacher; in reality, a form of guru yoga: “The discipline is in fact the deliberate choice of the disciple to follow in the footsteps of one he or she admires. It is a link of admiration and love. Where the object of this love is wise and understanding, such a guru-chela relationship can be of the greatest value, as we have said. But, all too often, it becomes an unhealthy psychic and mental relationship, which like a diseased limb, can poison the rest of the body.”
Dion Fortune used to say that the best way of judging the spiritual health of any organization was not to take its public teachings and statements as proof of its integrity but rather to look closely at the type of person its discipline turned out. . . Here is the ancient touchstone we can always apply for it is eternally true: “By their fruits shall ye know them.”
Mouni Sadhu, a Polish occultist of the French-Russian Martinist lineages, defines an egregore in his seminal work, The Tarot, as “a collective entity, such as a nation, state, religions and sects and their adherents, and even minor human organizations. The structure of Egregors is similar to that of human beings. They have physical bodies (that is, collectively all the bodies of those who belong to the particular Egregor) and also astral and mental ones; the Egregor being the sum total of all these elements. And later on Sadhu states that “in the colloquial language it can be said, that the magic Chain is composed of both living and dead men, as well as elementals of different types.” He further elaborates how egregores come into being:
Imagine that an intelligent and well-disposed man, who is able to concentrate, is thinking about a good idea, giving it a certain form. He may then find others, who have the same or similar ideas, and so a circle of men may come into being, who are all thinking along the same lines but in a different form. It is as if every one of them is repeating the drawing of a plan, placing a pencil again and again on the same con tours. The thing grows in strength, develops an astrosome and becomes an “Egregor” or collective entity.
Such an Egregor, like each astrosome, defends, heals and even resuscitates the physical bodies of its members, rousing them to activities and realization of the principal idea incorporated in the Egregor. So, for example, an Egregor of a benevolent society may urge its physical members to still more activities and work, and the attracting of new members. Egregors belonging to organizations and nations which are inimical to one another, are able to fight on the astral plane, while their human beings fight on the physical.
If on the physical plane, enemies destroy the bodies of members of a particular Egregor, their astrosomes [astral bodies] fortify the Egregor on the astral plane, while their human beings fight in the physical world. Recall the persecution of Christians by the Jews and Pagans in the early days of the new religion. The former won the fight, because they were stronger on the astral plane. That is why the Church, at that time, said that the blood of martyrs is the best seed for the new Christians.
Egregores can even establish themselves through various physical locations, thereby assuring their continued survival. The location or object—such as a relic—then becomes a talisman of sorts, directly connected to the Earth and the life experiences of the Adept who established it. This is often a “natural occurrence” rather than the result of rituals, invocations, or those operations limited to creating a single object exclusively for ritual purposes.
It has, if you will, an element of “grace” about it.
According to Sadhu, “Very advanced elementars [Adepts] connected with powerful Egregores (usually religious ones) sometimes leave certain centres on the planet, through which the Egregoric forces may act. Such are the graves of some saints, or genuine advanced yogis, or other spots like Lourdes, the Holy Sepulchre, and some less well known places, often accessible only to initiates.
Freeing oneself from influence of egregores:
Can egregores be avoided? Yes, but only if human beings can be avoided. If we take the words of the Gospels to have any truth to them, then “when two or more are gathered in my name I will be in the midst of them.”
While we can learn to dissolve the energy that connects us to an egregore (as we saw being suggested by the occult masters) and to direct it to a nonspecific but generally beneficial purpose (as we see in Tibetan Buddhism with “dedication of the merit”), it is more important to be clear about what our purposes and expected outcomes from affiliating with specific groups are—be it association with a street gang, the Parent Teacher Association, an esoteric order, or a loosely organized artists’ circle. If we are to achieve our goals in life through affiliation with an organization or participation in a movement, it is critical that we know what our goals are to begin with.
Only by having a clear understanding of what we desire to accomplish can we know if the groups we associate with will help or hinder us in our journey. Clearly knowing our goals can also act as a beneficial checklist during our participation with groups to see if our time is being well spent. It is too easy to get distracted by promises before we join and by other activities once we are in the door. Knowing what it is we desire to accomplish and comparing what is being promised and what is really being delivered is a way to keep us moving toward our goals—and away from those who would use or abuse us in pursuit of their own.
Be it the spontaneously arising “genius cluster” as suggested in The Geography of Genius by the highly regarded American author Eric Weiner, or the more individually created “master mind” from American self-help author Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich, groups of like-minded people are created not by chance but out of necessity. In a word, necessity breeds genius, but it is also what breeds resilience and personal mastery. The only thing we may very well get out of a knitting circle or occult lodge is what we really want—deep down inside—to begin with. We need to know why we are really participating in the first place. In the end, over the Temple of Apollo at Delphi (and said to have been derived from the Egyptian temple at Luxor) was not engraved, “Know the party line and conform” but rather “Know thyself.”
Just as we can destroy egregores—be they of the classical form wherein they are ensouled by an intelligence or of the modern definition wherein they are a collective consciousness but not of a fully autonomous nature—we can also free ourselves from their influence.
To free ourselves we need to limit our connection and contact with the members, rituals, symbols, and activities of the egregore and its material anchors to the group. This may be a simple matter in some cases: we stop paying dues, attending meetings, or reading the organizational literature.
Organizations such as social and business clubs will have a weaker group mind than a religion. An organization that we join as an adult will also generally have a weaker pull on us than one that we join in our childhood or teenage years. However, each individual enters into various relationships out of personal needs. Each must also find their own reasons for staying, modifying, or leaving various associations. School alumni associations—whose main area of focus is constant identification with one’s high school or college, particularly around its sports teams—is one of the stranger manifestations of a group mind and also one of the most common.
Some psychic or emotional connections or “memberships,” if you will, are easier to form than others simply due to their size. It is not possible to completely leave the egregore of a nation, although its nature and strength will vary from location to loca tion. The influence of egregores will also wane over time as new and different concerns take a predominant role in one’s life—the key word being concerns. Emotions are the food of egregores as well as what direct and define our actions. Whatever we love the most is where we will find the greatest concentration of our life energy, our magical force, and with it the egregores we are in communion with.
For students of esotericism, the main areas of concern are separation from the egregore of a dominant religious movement, or even from one or more initiatic organizations to which they belong or have had previous affiliations. Separating from these requires a focused effort, possibly repeated attempts, and a clear realization of why one joined in the first place and why one now wishes to leave, or at least why one wishes to minimize the influence it has on one’s life and its spiritual path.
Some entities are more difficult to identify: Are they a collective consciousness or a classical egregore complete with preternatural intelligence?
For example, in recent decades the reach, consistency, and frequency of messages made available through mass media have transformed many areas of popular culture from entertainment into lifestyles. Whether it is Star Wars and people identifying themselves as Jedi or Sith in the religion category of any given census, or those individuals who follow musical bands or personalities, the purpose of media is, on its most fundamental level, to create an egregore.
This can also mean the arising of an umbrella movement, something general yet clearly identifiable, such as the New Age movement, Steampunk, or even various historical (and not so historical) reenactment groups. Each group will have its own “typical” member, a stereotype or archetype that is identifiable and, more importantly, marketable. Common characteristics and values can be used to create temporary or transient collective minds, or egregores.
As a result of their relative strengths, and particular emphases, these forms of media-created and media-sustained groups often have a highly transient membership. In short, this type of membership is something one grows out of over time as various unrelated needs and obligations increasingly demand one’s time and attention. When one does not grow out of them or allows them to dominate one’s relationships they can easily be seen as a detriment.
The entire action of an egregore, be it a political philosophy, family history, cultural mythos, or initiatic organization, can be summed up in the commonly heard phrase controlling the narrative. Controlling the narrative means to be in control of the story, of the story you want people to hear, believe, and act upon—all three parts must be present. It is not sufficient that they hear it; they must also believe it, and from that position of belief act in the manner that the narrative is directing them to. Again, this is not always a negative, and there are egregores that are healthy for some people—one need only look at the number of people who overcome addictions, health concerns, or emotional distress by interacting with healthy support groups.
When removing ourselves from the influences of various groups, however, we need to recognize that now we must define and control the narrative—the story and its values—of our own life. This can be done by reading what was once considered “forbidden” literature or undertaking activities previously frowned upon.
This is not to encourage reckless behavior or self-indulgence but rather to show that many of the things various groups discourage their members from doing are relatively harmless. This also means not simply reading other points of view but also actively taking them on for a period of time and finding value in them, even if one does not buy in to them completely, thereby exchanging one controlling egregore for another. In fact, being widely read about the very topic one was once devoted to can help heal the wounds caused by slavish and idealized devotion to just a limited view of it. Typically such devotion is made out of ignorance and a desire for safety rather than knowledge, self-awareness, and courage.
In the end we can see that if the ancients are correct, then egregores are also living beings. An egregore has a body, a mind, and a purpose that sets it apart from other beings—including other egregores—and it has the power to act on all three levels: material, psychic (emotional), and mental (ideas). It feeds off the emotions of those who participate in it and fulfills certain expectations and desires of its creators and followers.
It is functionally irrelevant, except for academic definition, if an egregore is understood to exist only in the classical sense or if we can consider a thoughtform an egregore. It is also equally irrelevant if thoughtforms as actual psychic entities exist either—as modern media has demonstrated that ideas (or memes) are constructed with the intention of manipulating mass opinion and, thereby, public activities.
The effectiveness of memes at becoming “alive” (i.e., “going viral”), even if for a short period of time, has been demonstrated. All mass media, advertising, marketing, the psychology of crowds, and even the often bantered-about idea of “archetypes” are operative expressions of the ideas and actions put forth in ancient and modern occultism regarding “egregores.”
We are surrounded by these creations, and we participate in their lives as they participate in ours.”
CAN SIMULATION THEORY EXPLAIN BOTH CREATIONISM AND EVOULUTION THEORY, AND MERGE THEM?
