Egregores: The Occult Entities That Watch Over Human Destiny

by Mark Stavish, James Wasserman (Foreword)

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.

Genres: Occult, Nonfiction, Magick, Spirituality, Psychology, Religion, History

199 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 10, 2018

About the author

Mark Stavish, the Director of Studies for the Institute for Hermetic Studies (which he established in 1998), is a life-long student of esotericism with over 25 years experience in comparative religion, philosophy, psychology, and mysticism with emphasis on Traditional Western Esotericism. His articles have appeared in academic, specialty, and mass market publications specializing in spiritual studies, making Mark one of the leading authorities in Hermeticism today.

In addition to being a member and officer of several prominent Rosicrucian and Martinist societies, he served as the Director of Research for the Occult Research and Applications Project, of the Philosophers of Nature (PON). The Philosophers of Nature was founded by Jean Dubuis in France in 1979 and for twenty years was the leading resource for practical information on mineral and plant alchemy, as well as qabala. ORA, a statistically based research wing of the American branch of PON performed detailed exploration into the validity and practicality of various traditional esoteric methods. Original research from the ORA Project was published in the organization's journal, The Stone.

A graduate of King's College, in Theology (B.A.), and Communications (B.A.), and Rhode Island College (Providence), with a Master's degree in Counseling emphasizing psycho-spiritual modalities and Psychosynthesis, he brings a unique blend of tradition with modern research to the application of esoteric philosophy.

Reviews

[Victor Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Stavish’s Egregores: The Occult Entities That Watch Over Human Destiny is an adequate introduction to a concept important not only to paranormal studies, where it means a thought form or collective group mind, but to general psychology and sociology, where it is equated to community, corporation, or meme, all critical concepts under discussion in just about every forum today.
The book is short and largely a compilation of quotes from earlier as well as contemporary thinkers on egregores (H. P. Lovecraft, Julius Evola, Kenneth Grant, Mouni Sadhu, Alexandra David-Neel, Valentin Tomberg, Eliphas Levi, Gary Lachman, Robert Ambelain, Morris Berman, Joscelyn Godwin, and others) with partial attempts to ask and answer key questions related to the phenomena: Other than etymologically, how is the modern egregore related to the “watchers” (egregorii) of the ancient Book of Enoch? At what point and with what mechanism does the thought-form entity acquire an existence of its own, separate from its creators? Once the egregore has lost the majority of its psychic supporters, how does it maintain its existence so that it can be revived at a later date as happened, according to Stavish, to the Roman imperial egregore, which Mussolini resurrected?
Credit is due Stavish that I can ask such questions —and probably other readers could add many to my list—about a word few moderns have heard of that names a phenomenon most of us sense daily but with no idea it is a specific entity, perhaps even with physical characteristics, that can be analyzed, understood, and thus at least partially controlled.
The book has some downsides, thus only four stars. I too might have been turned off, like one recent reviewer who put it away because of right-biased political insinuations expressed in the Foreword, written not by the author but by Mark Wasserman. I’m glad I got past them and to the meat of the work; Stavish himself did not veer in alt-right direction that I noticed. Wasserman’s comments were irrelevant to the book’s theme, and I hope they did not deter too many other readers.
This book is a brave beginning, a valuable compilation of what has been written so far about egregores and their impact on human existence. While it does falls short of a full justification of its subtitle, The Occult Entities That Watch Over Human Destiny, I look forward to future titles on the subject that hone in on and develop the many key concepts and applications offered by touched on by Stavish and his sources.

[Ivy · Rating 4 out of 5]

EDIT: Others have written that there is a very alt-right introduction written by someone else at the beginning of this book. The version I read did not have this introduction so I cannot speak to that and did not know this until reading other's reviews.

Original Review:
Fascinating. If you have ever been curious about egregores and their history with the occult... pick up this book. I don't know if I necessarily agree with all points made but the presentation was interesting and it felt similar to reading a meta-analysis. For someone interested in chaos magic, I found some of the content relevant to my practice.

[Buck Wilde · Rating 2 out of 5]

A harmlessly insane academic talks about Santa Claus being an extant astral being without realizing that he was talking about Santa Claus.

Egregores are a whitewashed version of the Tibetan tulpa, which is turn is essentially an imaginary friend. As more people believe in these nonphysical entities, their powers grow, and they implant ideas and drives in humans and animals. They eventually level up to a point where they can manipulate the material plane and zany poltergeist theatrics ensue.

When the author talks about egregores, he means gods and spirits. It's sort of like the plot of Black & White by Lionhead Studios, where the more belief you get, the more spectacular your miracles, the less deniable your power. He makes a bunch of allusions to various Buddhist leaders who would appear to their cultists after they died because they had become such powerful egregores and gathered so much astral clout. He seemed to consider these anecdotes to be some sort of proof, as he has never heard of lying.

The thing is, playing by these American Gods rules, there would be immensely powerful egregores like the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, and Santa Claus. Not as powerful as Jesus the Christ, but more than strong enough to manifest hardboiled eggs, or Twizzlers your stocking. And yet!

Two stars because the writing was good enough and I knew it was a kook book walking in. The other three were subtracted to encourage Professor Stavish to be a little more discerning.

[Logan Albright · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent and thought provoking treatment of a subject that is usually only mentioned in passing in occult literature. While I was aware of the power of collective consciousness and mass-created thought forms, I hadn't given much consideration to their potential for evil, which the second half of this book deals with extensively. This holds particular resonance as we witness an onslaught of ideological possession, propaganda, and indoctrination into cult-like ways of thinking. The connection between egregores and these real world events hadn't really occurred to me before, and to the extent that Stavish's work functions as a sort of psychic self-defense guide against obsession and the madness of crowds, I found it useful as well as interesting.

Of course, egregores ned not be negative; like all powerful things, they can be used for good as well as evil, and Stavish doesn't neglect this aspect, but I suppose I found the idea of egregores as a potential threat to individuality and independent thought more interesting simply because I hadn't encountered it before. Definitely a worthwhile read for anyone deeply involved in mass organizations, movements, ideologies, or religions. It's important to learn how to participate in such things without becoming overcome by their egregores, or collective consciousness.

[Tony Sunderland · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a materialist who likes to investigate the esoteric traditions that have permeated Western civilisation, I found this book an impressive summary of spiritual entities that believe there is 'more than this'. Stavish effectively links human material existence to a higher realm of collective thought and spirituality. From an occult or magical perspective, an Egregore is a an entity that encircles a group of likeminded individuals. They create it and feed it with their thoughts and actions. In return, the Egregore becomes the spiritual focus for the collective by focusing the mental and spiritual energies together towards the same goal. In other words, we create our Gods and they in turn, provide order and meaning to human existence.

I particularly enjoyed the idea that science may have a long way to go if it wants to understand the real essence of human nature and destiny. Finally, Stavish gives us a disturbing message of the possibility that Egregores may develop sinister intentions and act as a divisive force that diminishes human agency and lower our sense of a 'greater good'.

[Morgoth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This guy, this guy

So this genius concludes shiningly :

“To truly grasp the power of ideas we must stop thinking in terms of “good” and “evil.” Good and evil are simply constructs; they have no rooting in any singular, absolute, and universal doctrine or experience”

This can be only the ridiculous conclusion of an adept of the “left hand” path. Where the void of darkness can be “equal” to Light.

Let me laugh in front of your face, author guy.

[Nimue · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was all over the place, rather narrow minded and even had a surprise alt-right themed introduction by James Wasserman. I feel like I learned nothing except "egregor bad, video games and media bad, modernism BAD!" All set.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book really crystallized a lot of thoughts I've been kicking around. I would recommend this book as required reading for an occultist. It is also useful for someone with a materialist bent who reads the egregore as a metaphor for social psychology.

[Nico · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read my review of Egregores in Spiral Nature Magazine here: http://www.spiralnature.com/reviews/e...

[Rinstinkt]

The book deals with the concept of "egregore", which under a common definition are: "autonomouse psychic entities composed of and influencing the thoughts of a group of people". Most believe these to have only harmful effects, although some believe there can be some positive egregores.


Below are some of my personal highlights from the book:


To my knowledge, the only modern scholar of esoteric philosophy who has written about the importance of the egregore is Joscelyn Godwin, of Colgate University in New York State, who dedicates a chapter, aptly titled “The Power of the Egregore,” to it in his book The Golden Thread.

There is an occult concept of the “egregore,” a term derived from the Greek word for “watcher.” It is used for an immaterial entity that “watches” or presides over some earthly affair or collectivity. The important point is that an egregore is augmented by human belief, ritual, and especially by sacrifice. If it is sufficiently nourished by such energies, the egregore can take on a life of its own and appear to be an independent, personal divinity, with a limited power on behalf of its devotees and an unlimited appetite for further devotion. It is then believed to be an immortal god or goddess, an angel, or a daimon.

-

We also hear this concept repeated in the Christian scriptures, although as we will see there is disagreement among authorities on whether this constitutes an egregore in either the classical or modern sense of the word (paraphrased from Matthew 18:20): “When two or more are gathered in my name, I will be in the midst of them.”

-

The mystics of Tibet consider that gods and demons, paradise and hell, exist only for those who believe in them. Although existing in a latent state, the god created and kept alive by the imagination of the masses has power only over the man who comes in contact with him. A filament is necessary in order for that the electricity dormant in a storage battery may cause the light to appear in the lamp. This comparison explains with a fair degree of accuracy what is in the minds of the Tibetans.

The majority of the [initiates] are not aware of the dual origin of the deities. . . . They do not comprehend that the latter are born of the mental concentration of the masses of believers and again, temporarily created by the thought of the officiating monk who acts as a magnet attracting these already existing occult forces or personalities. [emphasis added]

-

Offerings of food, drink, tobacco, and prayers to the dead, particularly to one’s ancestors, strengthens and maintains the collective notion of “family,” even if only on a psychological level. It therefore becomes possible that families who achieve renown or are even feared over several generations do so in part because of the egregore they have built up around themselves. This egregore may at first be unconscious, but it soon becomes a focal point of belonging to the family. Such notions as family traditions, business, customs, and pride all contribute to the creation of a clan structure that reaches back in time as well as into the invisible. It is no surprise then that some of these well-known historical families should either have, or be thought of as having, an actual interest in occult practices. When a family patriarch or matriarch is established as a spiritual or philosophical head, this formation of dynastic power becomes all the more potent. It should also not be a surprise that many of the religious, spiritual, and esoteric groups existing today were in fact at one time little more than family lineages that grew beyond the confines of a specific bloodline or geographical boundary. Thus one’s position as an important, well-known, and respected teacher in life may be able to accumulate sufficient psychic attention after death to create a sort of “positive limbo” so that dissolution—as some believe—does not happen. Instead, one is held awake and in contact with both the spiritual and material planes through one’s created position as intermediary for one’s followers. In short, one is able to enjoy the best of both worlds—for a time.

-

[Tibetologist Herbert Guenther:]

Analogy . . . is a hermeneutical device that opens up a way to an understanding of the many horizon forms of lived experience by making the beholder ponder and establish new connections. That is why symbol and analogy are inextricably interwoven; what is conceived as an analogy on one level or in one direction, becomes a symbol on another level and in another direction. Both play a vital role in quickening, vitalizing, and vivifying the individuation process. Today we witness the destruction of symbols and analogies by an unprecedented reification of them, in the wake of which we ourselves become reduced to manipulatable things that have no individuality of their own. Stories of individuation . . . may come as a timely reminder of looking deeper and farther ahead into the being-ness of our Being.

-

[Walter Ernest Butler (1898–1978)] goes on to point out, as have previous authorities, that the fundamental nature of the egregore consists of collective emotions and that the thoughtform itself is amoral, taking its directions from those connected to it.

As a general rule, the thought-form is built around some person or group of persons, and as the numbers admitted increase, so the power and range of the Egregore increases, and a peculiar reciprocal action takes place. Each member of the group pours energy into the collective thought-form but, equally, into each member there also passes the influence of the group as a whole. This reverse action brings to light certain problems. It is increasingly apparent to those outside the group that any member of it is being influenced to some degree by the pressure of the collective thinking of all linked with it, and unless care is taken, the power of independent thought may be reduced. For many people this is something they actually seek, they may feel inadequate in the everyday world and feel that by being linked in this way, they are protected from what they see as aggressive tendencies from other people. Or again, they may feel inadequate to deal with new ideas and situations and feel that the Group mind will do their thinking for them, and they will not be in danger of wrong thinking. [emphasis added]

-

Despite his claims of not discussing the metaphysics of evil, [Valentin] Tomberg does take a slight detour down the road of attempting to explain the role of evil in the world. He speaks of the “hierarchies of the Left,” those beings often referred to as the Qlippoth in Kabbalah, whom we have mentioned before. These demonic beings are the counterpart of the hierarchy of angels. Tomberg places them in a scriptural context, such as in Job, wherein the purpose of the demon is to test the spirituality of man. Here, he says, the demon will only leave once it is convinced of an individual’s holiness. It acts, as it were, as “the devil’s advocate” in the trial of the soul before God, for one is only holy once “good and evil agree upon it.”

-

It is not just one person who is being distracted from the search for inner spiritual awakening or Truth. No, it is everyone who reads or comes into contact with a book of such banalities. We also see that evil does not need to control everyone, it just needs to influence the right one, and through this influence not even control people—simply keep them distracted. These themes are addressed by renowned British philosopher and author Colin Wilson in The Mind Parasites and by British author of the occult Gary Lachman in A Secret History of Consciousness. However, with the exception of Lachman’s book, which is largely a restating of Wilson’s premise presented in a historical context, few writers on the paranormal have approached this critical point: evil does not need to control everyone, it just needs to keep as many people as possible distracted from progressing on the path. This distraction comes in various forms by way of the media, personal electronic devices, video games, movies, television, music, and sports. Mindless political memes are among the most popular manifestations at the moment. This also means that the creators and purveyors of these media and the products produced for them are prime candidates for demonic obsession and possession. To affect one of them is to reach millions through them.

-

In the 1990s Jean Dubuis (1919–2010), founder of the French alchemical association known as the Philosophers of Nature (PON), would often lecture about the issue of egregores. For Dubuis, far too often the egregore, or group mind or soul, was a trap rather than a channel toward liberation. Personal agendas hidden inside the desired manifestations utilized the emotional energy of the group to bring to pass what one person could not—all without the knowledge or consent of the group. This was not limited to esoteric or magical circles but included politics, business, the military, and religious organizations. For this reason Dubuis advocated a solitary path wherein the external influences could be minimized until they could be effectively managed and made more or less inconsequential.
During this same time period Dubuis often used the example of a group working in Switzerland whose obsession was with unidentified flying objects (UFOs), saying that this was all an effort to create a thoughtform that would materialize so that group leaders could take on the role of “interplanetary mediators” and thereby gain some significant level of political control that, in his words, “would be worse than Hitler.” Having lived through the Nazi occupation of France in the years 1940 to 1945, this was no empty statement or hyperbole by Dubuis. To this end he would quote his fellow Frenchman, scientist, Hermeticist, venture capitalist, and author of several bestselling books on UFOs, Jacques Vallée.
Vallée is famous for being the inspiration and technical force behind the Steven Spielberg movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind and is renowned for his scientific investigation of UFO phenomena. Having started his research looking for extraterrestrial sources of UFOs he would ultimately come to the conclusion that they were interdimensional beings. His third book, Passport to Magonia: From Folklore to Flying Saucers, detailed this research.
He also advocated that UFO phenomena was multifaceted, including manipulation by government and nongovernment entities of the sightings —be they real, false, or fabricated—intended to generate belief in the benevolent “space brothers,” as some cults have called them. As with the “Unknown Superiors,” those illuminated beings who guide humanity (referenced in chapter 2), these space brothers always seemed to speak through “chosen representatives” who would foretell of a certain doom that would befall humanity, resulting in mass death save for the “elect.” This message did not resonate well with Vallée. Maybe the space brothers and their self-appointed representatives were not so benevolent after all.
In addition to expressing the views of Vallée, Dubuis also stated that he had been contacted by a magical group in the Channel Islands who invited him to work with them in their efforts to destroy or at least weaken the egregore of Islam. This was five years before the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City and the launching of the War on Terror. Dubuis declined the offer, stating that he had other work to focus on.

[JHM · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book, and I think I enjoyed it as much for the things I disagreed with or questioned as I did the things I agreed or resonated with. For example: I disagree with the belief that deities are a form of egregore, but it was interesting to read why it's a credible theory.

Stavish does a fine job surveying a range of sources from mutliple time periods to explore how people have defined and/or experienced egregores. There is far more variety to the definitions than I had expected, which is one reason I enjoyed it so much. He also did a good job balancing the theoretically with the practical: if such-and-such is true, what are the implications for an individual and for groups?

I was surprised by the negative view Stavish has about egregores. While he acknowledges that participating in some egregores can be positive or helpful for some people at certain times of their lives (eg: when they need outside help to protect or develop themselves) his overall position is that an egregore is a form of external authority which can shape our thoughts, feelings, and actions beyond our conscious awareness. Because of this, they are things which a mature person needs to free him/herself from in order to achieve true mental and spiritual freedom. His section on "Therapeutic Blasphemy" as a method was fascinating and gave me insight into why some people engage in "unbaptisms" and other rituals as a way of separating themselves from spiritual communities they no longer wish to be part of.

While this book is primarily for people involved in magical work, I think it could be interesting for open-minded people in general, since we are all involved in groups which exert influence over us and are bombarded by media and advertising. Even if someone doesn't believe in magic, there are concepts here which can be applied in purely psychological terms.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was badly in need of a good editor. It's a collection of loosely-related essays (gently massaged into book chapters) on egregores and related phenomena in different occult traditions, groups, and time periods. It's quite sprawling, and the chapters vary in quality. The best are quite good; the worst are a bit of a slog. It doesnt really offer a single coherent narrative or theory of egregores. The author's sometimes unusual views on various related matters dominate whole sections of the book, potentially risking confusion and misinformation for an underinformed reader.

This book is only for those already well-read in Western esotericism. It's rather technical at points and assumes a general background in the history of Western esotericism.

It's worth reading if you're interested in egregores and know a good deal about related topics, primarily because it's the only book-length text which treats the concept in a broad context. If there were another book on the subject, I might recommend it instead.

3/5 because the author is clearly well-read in the area, and does succeed in collect a lot of interesting related material on the subject in one place. (Also, the bar for esoteric books is just lower because there arent enough of them, so it gets some bonus points for that.)

[Ian Schultz · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read to say the least, but I feel that the presentation of the book may be a bit deceptive. On the surface it appears to be a book solely about Egregores, what we have instead are collections of writings from other writers who mention several concepts (Collective thought forms being the prominent one) and the author of this work is saying "They were talking about Egregores when they said that." And honestly, he's not wrong. It is an enlightening read, with several mentions of other great books to read in its reference, but it is too short to pay the price I did....Did I love it? No. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Would I recommend spending 20 dollars for less than 150 pages of material? Absolutely not.
This book is not for the casual reader, but rather, it is for those who already have a passing interest in the occult.

[Taylor Ellwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is more of an academic treatise on egregores than anything else, but the author presents an interesting take on the subject and explores examples of different egregores and how those egregores can effect the people that work with them, for better or worse. He also presents ways to break the connection with an egregore. It’s a good book on the topic and worth giving a read to better understand the nature of egregores.

[Dave Lindley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Myopic and similar to evangelical fear and paranoia script.

[Cwn_annwn_13 · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 out of 5 stars.

[Florian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly, this was an insightfully published work that came at a fortuitous time in my own personal writing / artwork. The concepts mentioned here are concepts I have spent the last six years uncovering piece by piece, largely unaided by others in the process, and knowing NOTHING of the historical significance. I purchased this book as soon as I learned of the word Egregore, unsatisfied by how much digging was needed for more info. It's largely overwhelming to have everything I've suspected wholly validated at once, stitched neatly together by this book. I look forward to how I can best express this in my own work. I appreciated the variety of opinions and beliefs cultivated for quotes, and how the author explores these topics with respect towards the loaded nuances as a result of these beliefs. There's so much more I could add, but that needs to be correctly expressed through my own work!

[BJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was interesting, but seems different than what the title implies. I was expecting a slightly more academic work on the commonalities between spiritual entities in different occult and religious contexts. There is some of that, but it is more of a treatise on the concept of Egregores and the potential power of human psyche/emotion/will in groups where ritual and values are common and enduring.

There are a lot of anecdotal accounts that serve as evidence or demonstrations, which is par for the course when it comes to occult theory, but I was hoping this was more of an objective study on the characteristics of entities through myriad beliefs and time.

It's still definitely worth a read for the fan of the occult, and I found the sections on Lovecraft and Howard particularly interesting as a fan of both writers.

[C Blake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

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.

[Tom J · Rating 1 out of 5]

i was going to write a big long thing here but someone else summed it up perfectly in the reviews; the author is a harmlessly insane academic who has a bizarre hatred of video games and memes. the book is all over the place, it doesn't really flow logically and has several chapter long tangents that don't add anything to the core arguments of the book.

the concept of egregores is interesting, but somehow doesn't have the legs to maintain the entire (short) book. given the immense scope that the subject should cover, it's quite something that the author had so little to say about it that i could knock this over in two days over the christmas break

[Tina Daniels · Rating 1 out of 5]

Literally couldn’t make it past the introduction.
Getting major anti Semitic vibes, not to mention ableist ones. Super super right wing leaning intro.

The book could be good in itself, but I couldn’t in good faith recommend it to a single person I know interested in the subject matter, because of the introduction.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Independent Group mind thought forms.

Best book on a seldom discussed phenomena. Highly recommended for those dealing with thought forms and the creation of group mind entities.

[Sudipta Nandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

From Azâzêl, book of enoch, 200 fallen angels, lengends of nephilims to Tibetan Buddhist concepts, it was an engaging and interesting journey.

I learn a lot about different types of consciousness. However, mention of kaliyuga and certain rituals touched me deeply.

Some Tibetan concepts are irresistible. Sharing one!

"The mystics of Tibet consider that gods and demons, paradise and hell, exist
only for those who believe in them."

So what did I understand?

Hmm, I think Egregores or watchers are created by group consciousness with certain practices and rituals which later develop their own body, mind in different planes.

However, I was disappointed to see absence of some particular how to datasets.

Otherwise, theoretically, an informative read.

[Alan D.D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

No puedo no mirar este libro con sospecha. El tema es atractivo y el autor ha realizado una investigación respetable para presentarlo de manera comprensible, pero hay un par de ideas que no estoy seguro caen en el ocultismo sino en la psicología. Tal vez este es uno de esos casos donde dos temas comparten un terreno común.

I cannot not look at this book with suspicion. The topic is appealing and the author has done a respectable research in order to present it in an understandable manner, but there are a couple of ideas that I'm not sure fall into occultism but into psycology. Maybe this is one of those cases where two topics share a common ground.

[Anne-Maaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written... & comprehensive guide to egregores / thoughtforms... You can truly "grasp" the idea! (pun intended!) States very clearly what egregores / thoughtforms are... and tells that they differ a little bit from each other. Uses an examples of places, times... And many famous occult people (dead & alive) who have had "correspondences" with these (sometimes autonomous) entities in all of the realms (physical / astral / mental). The book also have instructions on how to get rid of all the excessive invisible entities. It claims to be one of it's kind... and i have to agree that i have never read more about egregores... or thoughtforms... than from this book!

[John Greene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some people may regard this book as evil, and others as nonsense. This book is, in fact, an important work. It gives some body to the spiritual realities that continually affect the human race. In fact, the concept fits with the other main world religions, and provides a good start to help toward understanding, as long as you have enough spiritual knowledge that you don't fall into the trap of blindly believing every word without being able to reason it successfully. It is important reading that may help you to begin to understand why this world we inhabit is in such a mess. It makes good sense, and is not a con.

[Chris Corbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty good overview of the concept and topic with some examples. There are some specious claims and assumptions by the author regarding morality and distinctions (or lack thereof, in his opinion) between egregores as living entities vs. projected thought-complexes, and the "testimonial" examples at the end are not very coherent or evolved. Nonetheless if you're interested in the concept of the egregore it's a though-provoking introduction, with some nice surveys of a few different esoteric traditions and experiments.

[Mitchell Stern · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides an excellent overview of the history of the concept of the egregore. Stavish clearly shows knowledge of the topic and presents it thoroughly yet compactly. I docked one star for two reasons. My primary reason is Wasserman’s foreword which is intensely and aggressively right-wing, the kind of commentary one would expect if Breitbart knew about occult topics. I also think Stavish is too neutral towards Evola who was very much a fascist and I do think that fact ought to be acknowledged and appropriately condemned if one references him even in this context.

[Cian Kenshin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Just wow. What an amazing expose on something that’s hidden in plain sight. The appendix was rather chilling for me personally…having had a close call with both vajrayana Buddhism and golden dawn within a couple years of each other. I’m with the author on the idea of personal direction and leveraging the wisdom of the spirits without completely subjugating personal power to them. After all, they really don’t have a good of an idea of how space and time work, now do they? It’s up to us to take their requests and bring them into form, in a way that we feel will work best for humanity. Thank you!

[Coraly · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5
Its an intro to Egregores. Provides loads of cultural and historical examples of how egregores and similar thoughtforms are defined and used. From Tibetan Tulpas and Tulkus, to Lovecraft and the Necronomicon, to Slenderman. It doesn't go too indepth though and does not go into the practice of creating egregores. Its a fairly easy read, while also cautioning the reader every few chapters. I approached reading this as a study and reference. It gave me some of the answers I needed while also opening up more questions.