Egregore
Egregore (also "egregor") is an occult concept representing a
"thought form" or "collective group mind", an autonomous psychic
entity made up of, and influencing, the thoughts of a group of
people. The symbiotic relationship between an egregore and its
group has been compared to the more recent, non-occult concepts of
the corporation (as a legal entity) and the meme. \
History
The word "egregore" (also "grigori") is a transliteration of the
Greek word, ἐγρήγοροι (egrḗgoroi), meaning "watchers". This word
appears in the septuagint translation of the Book of
Lamentations,[1] as well as the Book of Jubilees and the Book of
Enoch.
Eliphas Lévi, in Le Grand Arcane ("The Great Mystery", 1868)
identifies "egregors" (sic) with the tradition concerning the
fathers of the nephilim, describing them as "terrible beings" that
"crush us without pity because they are unaware of our existence."
[2]
The concept of the egregore was developed in works of the Hermetic
Order of the Golden Dawn and the Rosicrucians,[citation needed] and
has been referenced by writers such as Valentin Tomberg.
Contemporary
usage
Gaetan Delaforge, in Gnosis (magazine) in 1987, defines an egregore
as a kind of group mind which is created when people consciously
come together for a common purpose." [3]
The concept has enjoyed renewed popularity among practitioners of
Chaos Magic, following the Corporate Metabolism series of articles
by Paco Xander Nathan, which were published in 2001.
The result of a synergy of thought could be the most concise
description of this state of mind.
Examples
Companies, political parties, religions, prayer groups, states, and
clubs all can be said to have egregores. A prayer is a positive
egregore. When a project "takes on a life of its own," an egregore
might be said to be present. Symbolic characters such as Santa
Claus and Uncle Sam could be described as egregores. Stephen King's
concept of Ka-tet in The Dark Tower series could be compared to an
egregore.
Academic
psychology
There was some debate early in the history of social psychology
over whether groups could be construed as having an autonomous
group mind. Today, psychologists recognize a number of more
localized processes by which a group of people can make decisions
that no individual would endorse on their own. In "Groupthink," a
group can stifle internal disagreement and rush people to a poor
decision, without any individual group member attempting to do so.
In the "risky shift" phenomenon, a group can agree on a course of
action that is riskier (or, in some circumstances, more
conservative) than any individual in the group wanted.
When these situations arise, trying to understand the group by
understanding its members in isolation fails. The group can be
understood by modeling the members' interactions, but the human
tendency to anthropomorphize may make it more intuitive to see the
group itself as having preferences for a certain outcome,
regardless of its members' wishes.
Notes
1. ^ Septuagint: Lamentations, Chapter 4, Verse 14
2. ^ Lévi, Eliphas, "The Great Mystery" (1868) p.127-130, 133,
136
3. ^ Delaforge, Gaeten, "The Templar Tradition: Yesterday and
Today", Gnosis Magazine, #6, 1987.
References
▪ Bernstein, L.S. (1998). Egregor
▪ Butler, Walter Ernest (1970). The Egregore of a School
▪ Nathan, Paco Xander (2001). Chasing Egregors in The Scarlet
Letter, Volume VI, Number 1
▪ Warren, Kenneth; John Guscott (2000). Archetypes, Archons and
Egregores
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