Egregore (also egregor) is an occult concept representing a "thoughtform" or "collective group mind", an autonomous psychic entity made up of, and influencing, the thoughts of a group of people. The symbiotic relationship between an egregore and its group has been compared to the more recent, non-occult concepts of the corporation (as a legal entity) and the meme.
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History
The first author to adapt "egregore" in a modern language seems to be the French poet Victor Hugo, in La Légende des Siècles ("The Legend of the Ages"), First Series, 1859, where he uses the word "égrégore" first as an adjective, then as a noun, while leaving the meaning obscure. The author seems to have needed a word rhyming with words ending in the sound "or". It would not be the only example of word creation by Victor Hugo. However, the word is the normal form that the Greek word ἑγρήγορος (Watcher) would take in French. This was the term used in the Book of Enoch for great angel-like spirits.
Eliphas Lévi, in Le Grand Arcane ("The Great Mystery", 1868) identifies "egregors" with the tradition concerning the "Watchers", the fathers of the nephilim, describing them as "terrible beings" that "crush us without pity because they are unaware of our existence."
The concept of the egregore as a group thoughtform was developed in works of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and the Rosicrucians and has been referenced by writers such as Valentin Tomberg.
A well known concept of the egregore is the GOTOS of the Fraternitas Saturni.
Contemporary usage
Gaetan Delaforge, in Gnosis magazine in 1987, defines an egregore as a kind of group mind that is created when people consciously come together for a common purpose.
The concept was featured in Corporate Metabolism series of articles by Paco Xander Nathan, which were published in 2001.
The notion of "egregor" also appears in Daniil Andreyev's Roza Mira, where it represents the shining cloud-like spirit associated with the Church.
Egregore is also used in relation to the Montreal Surrealists, best known as Les Automatistes, in Ray Ellenwood's Egregore: a history of the Montréal automatist movement.
Paranormal enthusiast Fiona Broome created a concept called the Mandela Effect, a situation where a number of people have memories that are different from available evidence. This could be evidence for the collective group mind supported by Egregore.