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 Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 6:44 am
On Egregore
The word “egregore”, which roughly means the “spirit of a thing” is derived from a Greek word meaning “to awaken”. In modern ceremonial magic the term is primarily used to refer to the “over mind” that tends to develop when occultists work together for an extended period of time. An egregore can thus belong to a group of three or four magicians, a full lodge or even an entire magical order, covering multiple groups belonging to that order.
What, then, is the nature of the egregore, and what are its effects on the occultists that it envelops? In Kabbalistic terminology an egregore appears to belong to the realm of Yetzirah, that plane of astral images and creations. Ultimately, as a kind of thought form, an egregore is a tricky sort of thing. On the one hand it is created by a group of people, either consciously or not, and is more or less dependent upon that group for its existence. On the other hand an egregore will often have a mind of its own, so to speak, and will “look out” for the people it is attached to, even going so far as to rejecting potential new members to the group if they do not make a “fit” with the existing group. It can even act in ways that are contrary to the group’s conscious desires. The main influence an egregore has is mental and often unconscious. A person who was originally keen on joining the group may find, after they have been rejected by the egregore, that after being accepted into the group they no longer feel a desire to join and the group will often never hear from them again.
The effects of an egregore are not all negative or restrictive however. Besides this aspect egregores also function to keep a group together and will often aid in mending arguments between group members. At other times will may provoke discord so that hidden disagreements can be brought out and worked on and still other times it may do so to help move one or more member towards psychological or spiritual healing. The egregore is not always gentle but it is quite often effective.
While the effects of an egregore are generally unconscious this does not mean that they are totally uncontrollable by the group, though few groups seem to actively work on doing this. Because an egregore is essentially a thought form it can be worked on like any other thought form and thus changed as needed. Most importantly it needs to be remembered that a group’s egregore is there to serve the good of the group and anything done to it or with it should have that purpose in mind.
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Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 6:46 am
On Current
Closely related to the idea of the egregore is that of current. However, while an egregore is largely subjective and is spawned from a group working together a current is objective and its existence is not dependent upon any group that may be working within it. Where an egregore is from the Yetziratic/Astral realm a current is from the Briatic/Mental realm.
A current serves many of the same functions that an egregore does, but does so on a much larger scale and does so not with the good of a group in mind but with the good of the current and what it strives for in mind. Currents, then, should be seen as more or less set streams of psycho-spiritual energy/influence that work towards a particular esoteric goal in a particular way. Currents then generally manifest themselves as particular types of occult schools: Rosicrucian, Ogdoadic, Thelemic, to name but three. Each current has a particular set of attributes that will then manifest themselves in varying extents in those groups or individuals that make contact with and are accepted by the current.
What, then are the advantages of working within a particular current, and what are the disadvantages? The primary advantage and disadvantage to working within a current is accelerated movement along the path. When working within a current a magician’s development tends to accelerate much faster than one who is not working within a current. However sometimes the magician is not ready for that accelerated growth, along with the trials that often accompany it. Another advantage/disadvantage has to do with personality change. When working within a particular current a magician’s personality will often subtly, and sometimes not so subtly, change to fit the mold of the archetype behind the current. For instance, those working in a Rosicrucian current will often find themselves becoming more like Christian Rosencreutz, the mythic founder of the current. Those working in a Christ-centered current will often find themselves becoming more, well, Christ-like as well as encountering ordeals analogous to those faced by the mythic Jesus.
As I previously mentioned a current also has the duty to protect itself as well as those who are attached to it and can thus act in a similar way to an egregore. However due to the large scope of a current it can act in a larger way and often in much more decisive ways; when you have been rejected by a current you know it. While there are some further similarities between a current and an egregore perhaps the greatest distinction between the two is that a current tends to have guardians or governors. For instance it has been said, independently, by many RR et AC adepts (the inner order to the Golden Dawn) that the RR et AC is governed by the archangel Raphael. This adds a conscious intelligence to a current that is lacking in an egregore. Such guardians will often take an active hand in guiding those groups and individuals that, for lack of a better term, belong to it, though this influence is not always obvious to the one being influenced.
A final difference between a current and an egregore is ease of access. Any small group of magicians who work together regularly can and will form an egregore. However a magician or group of magicians can work for decades within a magical tradition and never contact the current that is behind it. It also seems to be the case that when a “contacted” magical order comes into being and its initiatory lineage remains in tact that the aspect of the current it’s attached to cannot be accessed by anyone who has not been properly initiated into it. On the other hand a skillful magician can actually “break” into an egregore, though such a magician would probably have little need to do so.
Either a current or an egregore (and if a current then also an egregore) can be force behind a magical order; directing it, guiding it and protecting it. Both have distinct advantages and disadvantages and both will do as they please to ensure the continuation of their functioning. While going about creating an egregore is relatively easy for skilled magicians a current can only be contacted and the magician has little say over whether this will happen or not.
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