LEXICON - E

An Egregore (also spelled egregor; from French égrégore, from Ancient Greek ἐγρήγορος,egrēgoros 'wakeful') is a concept in Western esotericism of a non-physical entity or thoughtform that arises from the collective thoughts and emotions of a distinct group of individuals.

Overview

In magical and other occult traditions, it is typically seen as having an independent existence, but in other kinds of esotericism, it is merely the collective mind of a religious community, either esoteric or exoteric. In the latter sense, as a collective mind, the term collective entity, preferred by René Guénon, is synonymous with egregore.^[1] See the usage overview below.

In the apocryphal Book of Enoch, the term referred to angelic beings known as watchers.^[3][4] Some other literary and religious works, such as The Manuscript Found in Saragossa, have also made references to these angelic beings.

Variant descriptions

As independent angelic being

Egregores are quite independent entities in the Book of Enoch, and there was then no notion that they arose from a collective. In literature, especially older literature, "egregores" have often been straightforward references to these Enochian entities. This is the case in Jan Potocki's novel The Manuscript Found in Saragossa, which calls egregores "the most illustrious of fallen angels".^[5] The French author Victor Hugo, in La Légende des siècles (1859) ("The Legend of the Ages"), also uses the word égrégore, first as an adjective, then as a noun, while leaving the meaning obscure.^[6]

As spiritual elite

The Traditionalist School philosopher Julius Evola, in his Revolt Against the Modern World, referred to an elite of spiritually aware people, who keep Tradition alive,^[6][7] as "those who are awake, whom in Greek are called the εγρῄγοροι",^[7] apparently alluding to the Watchers,^[6] and the most literal sense of their name, which is "wakeful" or "awake".

In esotericism, "egregore" has been used to denote a "group mind"^[2] or "collective consciousness" of a religious community. René Guénon said, "the collective, in its psychic as well as its corporeal aspects, is nothing but a simple extension of the individual, and thus has absolutely nothing transcendent with respect to it, as opposed to spiritual influences, which are of a wholly different order".^[1] This usage was followed by *Gnosis* magazine and by Olavo de Carvalho,^[8] and, according to Guénon, began with Éliphas Lévi. The concept of a tulpa is similar.