Egregores: The Occult Entities That Watch Over Human Destiny Paperback – July 10, 2018

I read this book once a year to remind me that the world isn't real.

This is about a deep subject that I have seen little written or spoken of until this book, one that affects all of us in our daily lives, society and world in ways sometimes hard to see and understand. The book is very well-written but may require close reading and study to understand the implications of what is being said about the ways egregores are created and the effect they have on our consciousness and the way we think, feel and act in our lives and the direction we are influenced to go in our spiritual paths -- also how to get free of egregores that are harmful to our true growth and personal freedom. Well worth reading--highly recommended!

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.

A decade ago the foreword would have been noncontroversial for any political background in America. The hypernormalization via propaganda both sides of the spectrum have experienced recently have somehow made it illiberal to oppose foreign oligarch-funded social "divide and conquer" campaigns, but it is not. A wonderful anti-fascist foreword in my opinion, labeling our modern brownshirts on both the left and right for what they are: People possessed by deliberately created memetic packages designed much like software for the human mind. A technology that has cost us tens of millions of lives over the last century and erased the majority of native world cultures, starting with Europe and then conquering the world (for all intents and purposes). If we are to stop the colonization by our most powerful, understanding their tools as control software for the human mind rather than sacred, untouchable truths will be essential. Stavish and Wasserman have done something wonderful here for all us humans not born of privileged ruling parasite-class blood. A rare book both Marx and Locke would endorse.The book itself is a great read, though I would love a more thorough dive into the nitty gritty of the interface between mass memetic packages and their host minds.

I recommend pairing it with the book Meta-Magick: The Book of Atem. Because as this book teaches you about egregores, the book of atem shows you how to create one - or rather the two books teach you both sides of the coin.This is a great book and thoroughly interesting read. It will make you blow a gasket in your mind but in the kindest of ways. Wasserman approved and it is the only occult book I have ever seen for everyone.Perfect for any student of metaphysics, philosophy, anthropology, magic, magick, or entertainment as it makes the world around you look like a strange film indeed. It is a must have because it compliments any personal occult library as that one book you don't have but have to get.

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.