Egregores: The Occult Entities That Watch Over Human Destiny by Mark Stavish (PDF)

Description

The first book to explore the history and influence of egregores, powerful autonomous psychic entities created by a collective group mind • Examines the history of egregores from ancient times to present day, including their role in Western Mystery traditions and popular culture and media • Reveals documented examples of egregores from ancient Greece and Rome, Tibetan Buddhism, Islam, modern esoteric orders, the writings of H. P. Lovecraft and Kenneth Grant, and the followers of Julius Evola and Aleister Crowley • Provides instructions on how to identify egregores, free yourself from parasitic and destructive entities, and destroy an egregore, should the need arise One of most important but little known concepts of Western occultism is that of the egregore, an autonomous psychic entity created by a collective group mind. An egregore is sustained by belief, ritual, and sacrifice and relies upon the devotion of a group of people, from a small coven to an entire nation, for its existence. An egregore that receives enough sustenance can take on a life of its own, becoming an independent deity with powers its believers can use to further their own spiritual advancement and material desires. Presenting the first book devoted to the study of egregores, Mark Stavish examines the history of egregores from ancient times to present day, with detailed and documented examples, and explores how they are created, sustained, directed, and destroyed. He explains how egregores were well known in the classical period of ancient Greece and Rome, when they were consciously called into being to watch over city states. He explores the egregore concept as it was understood in various Western Mystery traditions, including the Corpus Hermeticum, and offers further examples from Tibetan Buddhism, Islam, modern esoteric orders such as the Order of the Golden Dawn and Rosicrucianism, the writings of H. P. Lovecraft and Kenneth Grant, and the followers of Julius Evola and Aleister Crowley. The author discusses how, even as the fundamental principles of the egregore were forgotten, egregores continue to be formed, sometimes by accident. Stavish provides instructions on how to identify egregores, free yourself from a parasitic and destructive collective entity, and destroy an egregore, should the need arise. Revealing how egregores form the foundation of nearly all human interactions, the author shows how egregores have moved into popular culture and media–underscoring the importance of intense selectivity in the information we accept and the ways we perceive the world and our place in it.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: Review “Stavish gives not only theories but also facts and examples of these forces in spirituality, politics, news, and entertainment. More importantly, he explains how to recognize and free ourselves from their influences if we so choose.” ― George Noory, host of Coast to Coast AM“Egregores: The Occult Entities That Watch Over Human Destiny marks a major turning point in popular esotericism, with Mark Stavish tackling head-on our society’s most pressing issue–the psychic and physical embodiment of ideologies and systems–with a penetrating and insightful text addressing the hidden life of thoughtforms as they emerge in our culture through mass movements, fundamentalist sects, corporate branding, and identity politics. Put down the fake news, pick up this book, and find out why Enoch warns us that the cosmic control system’s been put on divine probation!” ― David Metcalfe, editor in chief of Threshold“It is a memorable day when the concept of the egregore enters one’s worldview. While these energy-complexes have been around as long as humanity, this is the first book to explain how they work and what to do about it. Mark Stavish’s clear writing and rich examples should convince any reader, whether schooled in esotericism or simply curious about their inner and outer world.” ― Joscelyn Godwin, author of Athanasius Kircher’s Theatre of the World“Every now and then, there’s a book that can change the way you see the world. This remarkable little book about enthrallment and freedom is one. Read Egregores–you’ll look at society around you in new ways.” ― Arthur Versluis, author of The Secret History of Western Sexual Mysticism and Sacred Earth“This encyclopedic account of group consciousness as an egregore, a being conceived to have arisen from the mutual psychic activity of serious initiates, traces the egregore idea throughout the history of Western esotericism and even into the practices of Tibetan Buddhism. Butler, Evola, Masters, Lovecraft, Machen, the AMORC and the OTO, and many other sources are quoted so as to give their opinions about the functions and dangers of egregores. It is unlikely that a more comprehensive book on the subject will ever be written.” ― Stevan Davies, Ph.D., author of Spirit Possession and the Origins of Christianity“Suddenly there is a lot of talk about egregores, but what are they? Mark Stavish introduces some fascinating examples of these mysterious thoughtforms as they appear in different contexts from Tibetan Buddhism to the world of modern pop culture. Stavish’s book is an important foray into what is still almost virgin territory for researchers.” ― Christopher McIntosh, author of The Rosicrucians“While the egregore is a concept with which most esoteric students are at least somewhat familiar, it is unlikely you would find a commonality of definitions among them. It is very appropriate for this vaguely understood concept to be the subject of a more in-depth study, and I can think of no better person to do this than Mark Stavish, whose background brings both authority and depth to such a review. The book provides a historical understanding of the origin of the term and its use through the ages, the various types that may exist in passive and active form, and an explanation of them through profound personal experience. This alone makes the book valuable. However, chapter 7 should be required reading for anyone contemplating joining an esoteric order–or any group with a common objective, for that matter. Stavish writes in a comfortable and informative style, and one comes to the end of the book with new information and much to think about. An excellent primer on egregores.” ― Piers A. Vaughan, author of Renaissance Man & Mason”The idea of egregores could inspire paranoia in a certain kind of personality, and of course that is unwise. But it is no doubt a good idea to remember that false idols can take the form of thoughts and ideas as well as objects. Stavish’s book is a timely, intelligent, and enjoyable reminder of this truth.” ― Richard Smoley, Quest: Journal of the Theosophical Society in America”The reaction has been one of the most positive I’ve ever had. Egregores really has struck a cord in the esoteric community.” ― Aeon Byte, Gnostic Radio About the Author Mark Stavish is a respected authority on Western spiritual traditions. The author of 26 books, published in 7 languages, including The Path of Alchemy and Kabbalah for Health and Wellness, he is the founder and director of the Institute for Hermetic Studies and the Louis Claude de St. Martin Fund. He has appeared on radio shows, television, and in major print media, including Coast to Coast AM, the History Channel, BBC, and the New York Times. The author of the blog VOXHERMES, he lives in Wyoming, Pennsylvania. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Chapter 5 The Lovecraft Circle Robert E. Howard and Conan the Barbarian Robert Ervin Howard (1906-1936) wrote over a hundred stories for publication in a career that lasted twelve years. He is widely accepted as the father of the “sword and sorcery genre” with his creation of “Conan the Barbarian.” In August 1930, Howard wrote a letter to Weird Tales magazine that would begin an active correspondence with H. P. Lovecraft. This exchange of letters, opinions, and literary ideas would initiate Howard into “The Lovecraft Circle,” where he was introduced to many authors of similar interests; each member of the group encouraged others to contribute to the various fictional worlds and mythologies they had created. This unique feature of the circle elevated it beyond what is often thought of as “networking” in modern business terms, or a writers’ club, but into a magical operation wherein the thought forms it generated took on vigorous lives of their own–as can be seen by the longevity of the works created by its members almost three-quarters of a century after it was started. In April 1932, Howard wrote to Lovecraft and detailed his most recent heroic character–King Conan the Cimmerian, also known as “Conan the Barbarian.” Howard later stated, “Conan simply grew up in my mind a few years ago when I was stopping in a little border town on the Rio Grande. I did not create him by any conscious process. He simply stalked full grown out of oblivion and set me at work recording the saga of his adventures.” He would later state to fellow “Lovecraft Circle” member Clark Ashton Smith, While I do not go so far as to believe that stories are inspired by actually existent spirits or powers (though I am rather opposed to flatly deny anything), I have sometimes wondered if it were possible that unrecognized forces from the past or present–or even the future–work through the thoughts and actions of living men. This occurred to me when I was writing the first stories of the Conan series especially. I know that for months I had been unable to work up anything sellable. Then the man Conan seemed suddenly to grow up in my mind without much labor on my part and immediately a stream of stories flowed off my pen–or rather, my typewriter–almost without effort on my part. I did not seem to be creating, but rather relating events that had occurred. Episode crowded episode so fast that I could scarcely keep up with them. For weeks I did nothing but write of the adventures of Conan. The character took complete possession of my mind and crowded out everything else in the way of story-telling.” (1)Arthur Machen and “The Bowman” One of the writers read by Howard and other members of The Lovecraft Circle was Arthur Machen. Machen’s greatest literary achievements were in the gothic horror genre. However, it is his often ignored involvement in a widely reported “paranormal event” that is of interest to shapers of mass consciousness and public perception. In August 1914, the British Expeditionary Force was in retreat. The war–which was supposed to end in a few weeks–was going badly for Allied forces in France and morale was plummeting. Machen recalled reading the newspapers of the day describing the retreat of British forces, and stated that he fell into despair. Machen, who was then working as a journalist writing war reports and various propaganda pieces from the home front, wrote a piece entitled “The Bowman,” first published on September 29, 1914, in the London Evening News. The piece was a work of fiction, but this apparently was not clearly stated, as the story presented soon took on a life of its own. The story reports of ghostly apparitions appearing at a critical moment to protect the retreating British soldiers, with phantasmal arrows slaying advancing Germans by the thousands. Desire for such divine (or at least supernatural) intervention was so strong amidst a population hearing of their army in retreat that it went from being not just the ghosts of English longbowmen–as Machen had originally written–but to angels under the direction of St.George, the patron saint of Great Britain. Churches and other religious bodies took up the story to inspire, comfort, and encourage their congregations, whose fathers and sons were fighting in France for reasons that were not always very clear. Soon, stories appeared of enlisted men and officers who claimed to have seen something miraculous on the day in question–but these were all after the fact, and none were ever substantiated. Machen would later write a letter of regret stating that it “was as if I had touched the button and set in action a terrific, complicated mechanism of rumours that pretended to be sworn truth, of gossip that posed as evidence, of wild tarradiddles that good men most firmly believed.”(2)Over time, this event went from being divine intervention to wishful thinking, coupled with collective hallucination induced by the stress of battle. Yet the desire for supernatural intervention in our world, particularly that of St. George–the patron saint of the British egregore, if you will–was not enough. Many in the occult community saw it as a magical act, either intentional or unintentional by Machen, using the collective energies of the mass mind. Here, Machen was not simply raising the spirits of his readers during a time of despair; he was in fact raising real spirits, an army of them to do battle with very real corporeal enemies. While there appears to be no truth in this, the effect was nonetheless the same: a collective thought form had been created, it was attached to an egregore (St. George), and strengthened through repetition and religious rites. Read more

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐The author of the Preface to this book is obviously operating under the egregore of Trumpism. Shocking to see so much animosity and buying into the fake news drivel of the Far Reich in a book that is supposed to be about esoteric matters. My advice is save your money. Don’t buy into the egregore of hate speech in the guise of spirituality. I only gave it one star because I had to. It doesn’t deserve it.

⭐I wasn’t sure what to expect and wound up being very pleasantly surprised.From the point of view of someone who really enjoys history, especially Classical Mediterranean history, this sheds a lot of light on functions of the ancient Roman state and others who regarded the people who presided over ceremonies dedicated to the gods of their city as very important functionaries. The discussion and examples provided in this book really connected a lot of dots for me regarding a variety of historical anecdotes. The book provides an intriguing lens through which to view ancient practices and the “why” behind them.From a more esoteric point of view, it is an excellent model to use when analyzing groups/lodges/fraternities, etc. Using this framework, it really helped put group activities, how things can succeed, go downhill, our role in those activities, etc. in a new and very helpful light.Very much worth your time and you’ll find a lot of interesting stories and “ah ha!” moments that I think will stay with you every time you interact with a group of people, from a supper club to a nation-state.

⭐Whether one considers an egregore to be a thoughtform, group mind, or entity, this is the first book I’ve seen on the topic, and it is well covered and has been expanded to include other groups I’ve not considered before. Mark not only covers the fascinating history of the egregores but helps us to recognize their influence in today’s world. I now find myself reflecting on my relationships with everything including politics & social media groups. It is a small book but has a lot of “meat” to chew on.

⭐As I’ve always thought egregores explained a lot about reality, I was excited when I discovered this book existed and bought it right away.I wasn’t disappointed, though I would have liked more specific examples of factual proven egregore interactions. I’ve had them myself, and they can be quite dramatic. But many people most likely haven’t had that kind of experience, so egregores may remain abstract and theoretical to them. I too wonder how physical and influential they really are in many cases, where the boundary lies between what can become physical and what remains a memorable pop culture figure of the imagination only. Sometimes I wonder if the intensity of the current political polarization is partially a result of the partisan egregores enhanced by ritual.I found the book to be intelligently and articulately written with a desire for freedom from them, which I think is healthy, rather than a focus on how to draw on their power. Any egregore that has been created and used by people can be tainted and thus dangerous to some degree, in my opinion.I highly recommend this book and in fact, have told many people they should buy it to understand what I’ve been talking about all along.

⭐This is an extremely important book, on a little known aspect of the esoteric, well written and very important and interesting. There is much to consider and be aware of concerning groups, of all kinds, and the forces (egregores), that have the power to control our thoughts and actions. Insights into feelings we may have had, about joining or leaving certain groups, are very helpful.There is one comment/correction, I would make in reference to the Illuminati, pgs. 59-60. It is, rather theGnostic Mystery Schools, who sustain the spiritual tradition, so that it will not be lost to the tides of ignorance that sweep through this, kali Yuga cycle. The Illuminati, on the other hand, operates on the material plain….in politics, government, education, the media, entertainment, social engineering, all and anything that can/will control people.See: Not In His Image by John Lamb Lash 2006, pgs. 146-50. 2013, 2021.I have been on the Esoteric Path for a very long time, and this book by Mark Stavish, is one of the mostimportant books I have read in a long time.Profoundly true; the ‘all-caps’ statement, p. 84.Highly recommended.

⭐I was really excited about someone haven written a book on this subject so I bought it, but I quickly returned this. And I was never so happy to drop something in the return slot.Listen to the author in some interviews about this book and read some online reviews first. Then read the intro. If the author of this intro and its words resonate with you then buy it.But, if like me you were horrified by the not very subtle extremism and bias… well then, enough said.

⭐I can’t commend the author enough for this quite brief, but very informative book regarding the egregores. The time has come for those of us who value our own, personal spiritual freedom to at least consider that unseen forces may be at play in this reality. I am not inclined to make a statement regarding the egregores being living entities as opposed to ill-developed aspects of our own consciousness. I don’t think that matters, honestly. What does matter is, as the author states, that we become fully conscious and aware of these forces and their potential power to control our thoughts and actions, and make informed decisions about what we participate in or play with.

⭐People will have to take my word for what I say for I’ve never seen this printed in any book, there are still some things that Buddhists and Tibetans teachers still don’t speak openly about. The information I give is oral commentary. In fact many Western converts are still ignorant of such things in their naivety. As for academic experts, they either will lie about what I’m about to say or just don’t know ?When one takes a Vajrayana Empowerment or Initiation (Tb. wang) one also takes on certain commitments called Samaya which are considered foundational to one practice, these are composed in total of hundreds of vows if one includes the Bodhisattvas ones as well as the Vajrayana ones, the first being essential to the second. NOW, this is what people are not usually told … If ones practices properly and then for whatever reason rejects these vows without concern there can be consequences, serious ones, these practices have Protectors Deities and they can be as mean as any Demon, yes Demon, one may find in any Western Grimoire, in fact they often perform much the same functions as any Spiritual Creature found in the Grimoires. These Protectors will not only come after the person who’s broken their vows they will also go after close family members and close friends, they will bring back luck, disease and even death. WHEN ARE PEOPLE EVER TOLD THIS ? NEVER, MOSTLY.Now, look at the experiences of some Western practitioners who get into trouble by practicing Griomoiric material, if they become Obsessed or Possessed are their family members also not usually affected, more than likely yes they are and we all have stories to tell. And then there are more well known and published examples such as the late Dr. Joseph Lisiewski. Exactly the same things can happen in Buddhist Vajrayana though I’m sure many middle class converts would freak if they seen this, well that’s just because some things are mostly not taught to them for Tibetans like to strip out anything that does not appeal to our liberal sensibilities ?Obsession & Possession in both cases, most definitely in my honest opinion. How is it different ?So, this is one of the reasons I think Mr. Mark Stavish’s book on Egregores is important even to Western Yoga & Buddhist practitioners, it will help shake out some of the wooly new age love dovy dusty cobwed like attitudes out of their heads. The Kosmos is not all daisies and unicorns, not even in Yoga & Buddhism but so many ignore this.

⭐Now I love anything related to the occult, in fact I’m pretty much obsessed with the occult lifestyle and witchcraft, I bought this book hoping for a book where the information would be separated into paragraphs, where each chapter would be labelled and the information would be straight to the point and then on to the next egregore.I felt like I was reading a scholar’s essay or an outdated book in terms of how it is not gripping at all, the information is not visually displayed well enough and the author waffles a bit too much for my liking.If you want a book with an author that waffles, doesn’t ever get to the point and where every page is a university lecture, then this is the book for you!What’s nice about it? The front cover & the price was affordable, though I’ve now returned it.

⭐The author seems to have got confused between Egregores (A thought based concept) and Tulpas (Thought formed entities). Egregores don’t watch over humanity and don’t physically exist. A good read nonetheless but could be much more detailed and investigate examples of known Egregores in history.

⭐This is an interesting book, but I felt that it needed more content to back up the argument that egregores exist and also more discussion on the nature of egregores. It seemed to lack the focus and depth that would be required to convince a person previously unacquainted with the subject that it’s a real phenomenon. And more detailed analysis/evidence of whether it’s just group think mentality that comes with cliques of any sort or a genuine interdimensional entity created or given access to this realm by the human mind. My feeling is that it’s a starting point of a journey, rather than a full exploration and I think that although the author knows a lot he fails to provide the necessary evidence and thinking to the reader. Probably because he misses elements out that are obvious to him. So it’s worth reading but don’t expect an epiphany.

⭐I found the information in this book very useful. As a geomancer, I have worked with countless National Egregores, but was less familiar with “Egregores” of the modern world and the “hold” they can have on people . This book was quite an eye opener and I have encouraged my students to read it as well.

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