Some folks take things far more literally than I do. With me, many concepts are up for discussion. But discussion isn’t belief. And I do not care for argument. As I’ve mentioned before, in the last few days, speaking things into being starts the universe according to many religions. It is one of those things I think about. My mind has tendency to ponder philosophical and spiritual questions.
Many people fear to speak of certain things as, “Saying makes it so.” Chopra speaks of words and naming as creators of material things.
There is a concept, that of an egregore, that traces back at least to an ancient Hebrew apocryphal text, The Book of Enoch. These are entities created by groups of people.
An egregore, as far as I have been able to figure out, is a non-physical entity that is brought about by group belief. It does not have to be angelic or demonic, but merely takes on the characteristics given to it by its creators. A sports crowd, turned sports mob, feeds into a frenzy that is not under control of any one person and if strengthened enough can promote actions by members of the group. Such entities dissipate easily.
This sounds a bit occult, no? This is a context in which it is often discussed. But it need not be so. We can think of such constructs/concepts of group mind, the collective unconscious, corporate entities, and the like. These seems to be egregoric. (Is that even a word?)
Does Coca Cola exist beyond the individual containers filled with fluid we drink, and beyond the corporate filings that define and delimit the financial entity. It is a brand. Perhaps it is more.
Q as in Q Anon seems to have been created by individuals, but it now seems to direct many peoples thought, and actions.
Hitler’s Reich was a uniting construct that live on in contemporary hate groups.
The Taliban seem to believe in a God that does not seem like what I understand the God of Islam to be. Do groups that fracture from earlier religious groups create their own Egregores or Gods?
Supposedly Christianity is monotheistic, along with other Abrahamic religions, but we have all these other apparently immortal entities running around the universe. Angels, demons, and the spirit that lives in all who believe, and the wise masters who bring the thoughts to us, and the Sons of God who teach us. Isn’t some of this akin to an Egregore?
I don’t know for sure. But I do think “Egregores for Good” is a sorely needed concept. Perhaps Gaia is one. Mothers, aunts, sisters, grandmothers seem to be the natural vehicle for bringing about a new integrity to guide us through the climatic shifts, agrarian challenges, and violent societal collapses that fuel refugee migrations. How do we create a wise, loving goddess to guide us to a culture that can survive?
E in #AtoZ2023 – Esoteric, Egregore