Metaphysical Monday: Egregore and the Created Self

In 1972, a group of Canadian paranormal researchers undertook an experiment to contact a fictional ghost.

That group was the Toronto Society for Psychical Research and in 1972 they documented quite the successful set of senances and other instances of contact with their created spirit, Philip in what is commonly known as The Philip Experiment. They did it in the context of exploring what may have been at work at many parlors during the heyday of the Spiritualist movement. Most occultists, however, point to it as the perfect example of how a group can create an egregore or group spirit.

In metaphysical philosophy, it is a commonly held belief that we have the innate ability of creation. This applies not just to the things we create in traditional manners–like building houses, painting pictures and writing stories–but to any number of non-physical things. This idea could be a driving force behind the prevalence of group working techniques in many magick practicing organizations and societies. By constant repetition of the same ideas, by cementing a unified vision of what the group is or of a deity, an egregore embodying that form is created.

That egregore can serve many purposes. Once firmly in place, as demonstrated by the Philip Experiment, it can become interactive, serving to reinforce the notion of its existence as an individual entity. The more energy and attention it is fed and the more it is fleshed out, the more real it can become. Over time, it may become more than just the spirit of the group–it may become a spirit that helps the group. A well-formed and established egregore could, in theory, help a group through more than a few rough-spots and serve as a rally point for group members.

It has been said that a strong egregore can even outlast the group that created it. It may lay dormant or wander about, waiting for others to stumble upon it or inspiring others to take up where the original group left off.

In the Philip Experiment, the egregore appears to have faded after its lack of individual importance was pointed out. Other groups, such as Merseyside Anomalies Research Association (MARA) have conducted their own Philip-type experiments with little success. The fact that an egregore can not always be created is an indication of the kind of time and attention that must be applied to consciously craft such an entity.

But it must not be forgotten that an egregore may just as likely be created accidentally or unwillingly. Imagine, if you will, a classic folk tale of a ghost in the woods. Who is to say which came first: the ghost or the stories of the ghost? Taken in another direction, one slightly off from complete accident, what of the notion of a nation? Does not a strong nation with many patriotic people have a group spirit that can be put into motion? One could definitely envision the national spirit of Germany in the 1940s crossing swords with the egregore of the British Isles (and every other nation on the side of the Allies).

The egregore created by the Nazis–or any other aggressive and oppressive organization–can be seen as a very negative application of our creation abilities. A negative or destructive egregore can grow on its own when a large population is constantly put upon, oppressed and repressed. This can be a backlash from or inadvertent result of actions by another group or egregore. If not care is not taken in birthing an egregore, it may serve as the catalyst for many unwelcome others.
The imagery is strong and comes naturally to most of us. Humans are creative creatures and we can use that creativity to do many, many things.

It may take a group months to create an egregore that can interact and years to create one that will outlast them. But what if we apply the same idea of creation on a more personal level. What if we use our power of creation on ourselves?

The self-help market is full of books that capitalize on that idea. Most of them owe a great deal of thanks to Norman Vincent Peal, one of New York Cities most famous citizens. A preacher and an author, Peal propagated the notion that how we approached life had a grand effect on what we experienced. Through his inspirational magazine Guideposts (started in 1945) and his best-selling (and still quite popular) book The Power of Positive Thought (first published in 1952), he helped make the idea that we can create our own reality commonplace.

While some say that Peal went too far in his claims (an assertion that I can neither refute nor support having not yet read his works in their entirety), the appeal of the idea is clear. A more recent and, perhaps, more active example of using the power of the mind to change ourselves can be seen in popular businessman and speaker Tony Robbins. His use of neuro-linguistic programming techniques to inspire and empower is only a few steps away from the preparation magicians and occult practitioners have used for thousands of years to prepare themselves for their workings.

Again, those techniques consciously used to create a better self can accidentally be used to create a negative self. If we stumble in to spirals of self-reinforcing negative thoughts and world views–or overly positive ones detached from reality–we may find ourselves falling further and further away from where we actually want to be on our chosen paths.

The strength of our power of creation is that we can consciously direct it. For those on a path of spiritual development, taking conscious control of that power is of the utmost importance. Choosing the groups we associate with, carefully crafting the groups we found and taking note of our own thought processes and self-creation methods give us a great deal of control over the reality around us.

It is up to us what we do with that power and control.