From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Egregore (also spelled egregor; from French égrégore, from Ancient Greek ἐγρήγορος, egrēgoros ‘wakeful’) is an occult concept representing a distinct non-physical entity that arises from a collective group of people. Historically, the concept referred to angelic beings, or watchers, and the specific rituals and practices associated with them, namely within Enochian traditions.[1]
More contemporarily, the concept has referred to a psychic manifestation, or thoughtform, occurring when any group shares a common motivation—being made up of, and influencing, the thoughts of the group. The symbiotic relationship between an egregore and its group has been compared to the more recent, non-occult concepts of the corporation (as a juridical person or legal entity) and the meme.
History
The concept of egregorial powers has its roots in ancient Greek culture and in Oriental cultures. It was for example featured in the Book of Enoch.[2]
At later times the term and concept found its way in other languages. Manuscrit trouvé à Saragosse, or The Manuscript Found in Saragossa which was written in French by the Polish author Count Jan Potocki (1761–1815) in the Russian Empire in the early 1800s features the term “Egregores,” referring to “the most illustrious of fallen angels.”[3] However, it is important to take note of the novel’s heavy orientalist and fantastical bent.
The term “egregore” was also featured by the French poet Victor Hugo, in La Légende des siècles (“The Legend of the Ages”), First Series, 1859, where he uses the word “égrégore” first as an adjective, then as a noun, while leaving the meaning obscure.[4] The author seems to have needed a word rhyming with words ending in the sound “or”. It would not be the only example of word creation by Victor Hugo. However, the word is the normal form that the Greek word ἑγρήγορος (Watcher) would take in French. This was the term used in the Book of Enoch for great angel-like spirits.
Eliphas Lévi, in Le Grand Arcane (“The Great Mystery”, 1868) identifies “egregors” with the tradition concerning the “Watchers“, the fathers of the nephilim, describing them as “terrible beings” that “crush us without pity because they are unaware of our existence.”[5]
The concept of the egregore as a group thoughtform was developed in works of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and the Rosicrucians[6] and has been referenced by writers such as Valentin Tomberg, notably in his anonymously-penned book Meditations on the Tarot.[7] It was also mentioned in the book El maravilloso universo de la magia, by Chilean author Enrique Barrios.
A well known concept of the egregore is the GOTOS (Gradus Ordinis Templi Orientis Saturni (33°)) of the Fraternitas Saturni.[8]
Contemporary usage
A 1987 article by Gaetan Delaforge in Gnosis magazine defines an egregore as a kind of group mind that is created when people consciously come together for a common purpose.[9]
The concept was featured in Corporate Metabolism series of articles by Paco Xander Nathan, which were published in 2001.
The notion of “egregor” also appears in Daniil Andreyev‘s Roza Mira, where it represents the shining cloud-like spirit associated with the Church.
Egregore is also used in relation to the Montreal Surrealists, best known as Les Automatistes, in Ray Ellenwood’s Egregore: a history of the Montréal automatist movement.[10]
Egregore is also the term for the spiritual personification of each nation in the UK LRP game Empire, run by Profound Decisions.[11]
Gary Lachman identifies Pepe the Frog as an egregore in his book Dark Star Rising.[12]