Note: Because of its relevance to today’s spiritual warfare, I’ve republished this Chrysalis Tarot blog from 2018.

An Egregore is often (and incorrectly) referred to as an occult spirit, but in fact it’s simply another archetype or thoughtform. Egregore’s can be positive or negative, good or evil. Chrysalis Tarot itself features only positive archetypes, but this distinctly nefarious fellow pictured on the left warrants a footnote because ‘praemonitus, praemunitus‘ – forewarned is forearmed.

“The egregore connects the people who created it to the psychic energy which created it. It influences others as well. Adolf Hitler used the hatred and anger in the minds of the German people after their defeat in World War I to create an egregore, focusing that energy. A fad in popular culture is a temporary and very potent egregore.” – Wikipedia (Other examples of egregores are Santa Claus and the Devil.)

Like people and archetypes, egregores can have positive or negative aspects; negative egregores seek reflexive control¹ of the human condition. Kali, perhaps the most gloomy and least understood archetype in Chrysalis Tarot, for example, is the Hindu mother goddess of creative destruction. We therefore can assert that this blog’s egregore has affinity with Kali’s negative, destructive aspects. That’s the subject of our blog on alchemy – here.

We often hear talk of spiritual warfare – the forces of light versus the forces of darkness; angels versus demons, good versus evil and so forth, sometimes envisaged as existential realities. Spiritual warfare is a common subject of church sermons. While spiritual warfare may be real enough, the battles are actually fought not in the heavens but in the hearts and minds of everyday people here on Earth.

Remember, we are all connected to one another and consequently to all archetypal cosmic databases. For better or worse, archetypal energy – good or bad – influences our lives on a daily basis.

One of the recurring tenets of Chrysalis Tarot encourages us to listen frequently to our own inner voice (Divine Child), which is always tranquil, rather than to the multitude of voices, particularly on social media, that are anything but tranquil. “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things.” (Luke 10:38-42) In the Gospel account, distracted Martha busily scurries about minding mundane household chores while her sister Mary sits contemplatively at the feet of Jesus and listens. Whether you’re a believer or not, there is great wisdom in this Biblical vignette. Can’t you just picture Martha constantly checking her Twitter and Instagram feeds?

Today, many political leaders encourage divisiveness, which they euphemize as “resistance.” It seems they actually want us to be divided, to be “anxious and troubled by many things” and constantly at each other’s throats. Well, a divided population is easier to control. They, along with their lapdog media (read: lying propaganda) outlets, actively promote anger, discord, and confrontation. They engender fear, this evil egregore’s most powerful spiritual warfare weapon. Above all else, this egregore is an archetypal thoughtform of fearmongering, divisiveness and lies.

So what are some other attributes of a nefarious egregore? What is this grotesque looking thoughtform in our blog really about and why is he important? In addition to fearmongering, this egregore is the preeminent energy behind Group Think or Group Mind. He’s a petri dish of mind viruses. When people are fearful and confused, they are more easily controlled and manipulated; they each think what the group thinks. The group mind is comprised of an egregore’s witting or unwitting minions and provides them protection. Lenin termed such minions “Useful Idiots.”

However, “group minds” are not necessarily bad. The symbols, rituals and meetings of spiritual esoteric groups, for example, when repeated over time, develop an egregore or group mind which binds the members together, harmonizes, motivates and stimulates them to realize the aims of the group, and enables individual members to make more spiritual progress than if they worked alone. An egregore can be disturbed if people who are not sympathetic to its aims think negatively about the elements which make and sustain it. Therefore, spiritual esoteric groups try to protect themselves not so much against exposure of doubtful activities, but to ensure that peoples’ negative thoughts do not disturb the group mind or egregore. (From Gaetan Delaforge, Gnosis #6)

It’s mostly the unwitting followers of an egregore who are anesthetized by its powerful energy and tactics. They can be stripped of all inclination and ability to hear their own “inner voice” because the Group Voice (the prevailing narrative) is so dominant, even godlike. False narratives like propaganda require strict obedience (orthodoxy); the narrative’s angry aggressiveness overwhelms tranquility, thereby rendering critical thinking and cognitive dissonance all but impossible.

To be forearmed against odious groupthink – and its egregore – is to be willing to think for yourself – to think critically and eschew, or at least question, all dogma, be it political or religious. To endure a little cognitive dissonance², if only for a little while. Anyone who marches in lockstep with a negative egregore is incapable of true enlightenment, although many smugly consider themselves the most enlightened among us. Their spiritual captain is their own fragile ego.

The first step in becoming truly awakened is to renounce the egregore’s groupthink in all its fetid forms. Strive to be like Mary (thoughtful and reflective) and not like Martha (anxious and distracted).

¹ Reflexive control is a “uniquely Russian” concept based on maskirovka, an old Soviet notion in which one “conveys to an opponent specifically prepared information to incline him/her to voluntarily make the predetermined decision desired by the initiator.”

² In the field of psychology, cognitive dissonance is the mental discomfort (psychological stress) experienced by a person who simultaneously holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values in their mind in order to make an informed decision. This discomfort is usually triggered by a situation in which a cherished belief clashes with new contradictory evidence brought to the attention of that person.

Chrysalis Tarot Community’s positive egregore, The Muse.

© Toney Brooks, 2018, 2022