Years ago we had lively debate here, asking the question, does life imitate art or is that reversed? This debate is settled for me at this point, as we see all these programs, tv or otherwise, that clearly "predict" what we will be doing in the future. If this is outside your realm, here's a good example. It's the opening ceremony of 2012 Olympics.
I watched this live, in 2012. I vividly recall it. As a matter of fact, I turned it off and never watched the Olympics, ever again.
It wasn't a conscious choice. I just got the wrong feeling from this. I was looking for upbeat sports with heart-warming stories and people all over the world, getting along. You know. JUPITER stuff. But I got this instead.
I am sure others can post other examples. But here's my new question:
Can we change this?
Years ago we had lively debate here, asking the question, does life imitate art or is that reversed? This debate is settled for me at this point, as we see all these programs, tv or otherwise, that clearly "predict" what we will be doing in the future. If this is outside your realm, here's a good example. It's the opening ceremony of 2012 Olympics.
I watched this live, in 2012. I vividly recall it. As a matter of fact, I turned it off and never watched the Olympics, ever again.
It wasn't a conscious choice. I just got the wrong feeling from this. I was looking for upbeat sports with heart-warming stories and people all over the world, getting along. You know. JUPITER stuff. But I got this instead.
I am sure others can post other examples. But here's my new question:
Can we change this?
The unsettling 2012 Olympics fanfare described by Elsa here is the most powerful example of an egregore I know of. I watched with horror as this carefully-crafted living psychic cloud was beamed worldwide to a mass audience of 900 million viewers. This was programming on a vast scale.
The only other comparable event I know of - the infamous Nuremberg Nazi Rally of 1937 - just take a look at this incredibly powerful egregore which was the work of Joseph Goebbels, who said:
“It would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition and a psychological understanding of the people concerned that a square is in fact a circle. They are mere words, and words can be molded until they clothe ideas and disguise.”
― Joseph Goebbels
SO - WHAT IS AN EGREGORE?
Few people know that what you just seen above are examples of powerful psychic entities called egregores. Some, like those above, are deliberately created to manipulate the masses. Others are not. Mark Stavish, of the Institute of Hermetic Studies, has written a ground-breaking book on the subject which is a must-read. Here are extracts, taken from an interview. I hope I will be forgiven for extensively quoting from it. What I will say is: buy Mark's book! It's called Egregores, The Occult Entities That Watch Over Human Destiny.
https://www.newdawnmagazine.com/articles/the-power-of-egregores-an-interview-with-mark-stavish
What is an egregore?
An egregore is an autonomous thought form or psychic entity created when two or more people are focused on the same idea or image. Thoughtforms are purposely developed to serve the aim of a group or individual. They’re also created organically when people who are not necessarily connected in a formal group focus on the same ideal or image, like entertainment characters that go viral and become icons. Spiritual, occult, religious, political and other groups with specific aims create egregores, using symbols and rituals to focus and draw upon the energy of individual members/believers/fans/participants to fuel it. Their energy helps to sustain the psychic entity, and the psychic entity then influences the individual in some way through this connection.
Egregores exist on three levels
Once formed egregores exist on three levels: the material, the astral, and the celestial. On the material level the thoughtform is connected to symbols, icons, images, talismans, relics, ritual objects, rituals, or materials that represent and connect to it. We live in a world of symbols and icons, from the simple forward pointing arrow that means ‘go this way’ to the ubiquitous Coca-Cola symbol and religious symbols like the Christian cross. On the celestial level, egregores are connected to cosmic principles. These could be deities, god forms, archetypes, or abstract principles like beauty, harmony, or war...
The stronger we identify with something, the stronger the egregore becomes
Egregores are utilised by people every day, they just don’t call them by that name. Instead they call them by the name of a sports team, a political party, a political leader, a church/temple/spiritual group, by the name of an entertainer, or activity, or by an ideal as broad as justice. Egregores can have positive, negative, or neutral impacts. There are instances, though, when people are devoting their time, energy, and resources to a group and the leader(s) of the group may be using them for selfish purposes, or funnelling resources to activities that individuals in the group may not agree with...
...With collective ideas and ideals, there is a strong call or pull on us to identify with them. Whenever we say “I am __________” we’re associating ourselves with an egregore. Think of all the things that are supposed to go along with that uniform, the whole package. They can be religious, political, or social terms that we’re using, but as soon as we say, “I am this,” the whole package comes along with it. These uniforms are control mechanisms.
Egregores can take on a life of their own and no longer obey their masters
Egregores who have existed for a period of time will become independent and no longer obey their earthly masters...
Some Egregores Exist Just to Distract
TV and movies give people an escape, a distraction from daily life. They keep them from seeing reality as it is. And what is enlightenment? It’s being able to see reality for what it is.
Egregores can be destroyed - Disengaging from an egregore
Freeing oneself from an egregore is entirely possible – it takes effort, action, and mindfulness. Depending on one’s relationship with it, disconnecting from it may require several levels of disengagement.
One of the instructions in Mark’s book for freeing ourselves from these psychic entities is getting rid of, or in some cases, destroying the icons and symbols in our home or personal space that belong to them. The same tactic is sometimes used by invading armies to disempower their targets. When they invade, they destroy the religious or political icons that belong to that culture, thereby weakening the egregore and the people.
Figure out where you put a lot of your time and energy on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Take a month off from it. Take everything associated with that activity – books, posters, email newsletters, apps, magazines, channels, etc. – and put them away in a closet or make them inaccessible to you for a month. If it’s a group activity you are involved with, take a break from it. During that month off, don’t talk about the subject with anyone. Just don’t talk about it. Get off the email list or autosave them in a folder so you can’t see them. Remove the app from your phone. Then notice how much free time you have. Notice how neurotic you suddenly get because those control mechanisms that were filling your mind and time are no longer there.
If it didn’t work then they wouldn’t do it. It’ll stop when it stops working. We only need to not let it control our minds (and we can only control our own, or we are just like them) and it’ll stop. It’s symbiotic. It’s like trying to take peoples drugs away. You could do it, knowing it’s not good for them, but they will still want them and will probably figure out a way to get fucked up on something, somehow.
Eta: I see that I didn’t really address the actual subject.
It’s about magick and symbols. Magick is real. It works. Spells are real. Symbols are very very powerful. Rituals are powerful. They can be used to control or enlighten and anything in between. The power that that particular cult has is that its been able to hide its symbology, hence the shhhhh finger. Although positive magick is also often secretive too, but for different reasons.
Telling people doesn’t usually work, because they don’t want to see it. It’s their pride that can’t admit that they were played and they will punish and ridicule those that speak out, but all of that is part of the spell. It’s like waking someone up when they want to sleep. It’s a delicate issue.
Im at the point where I just try to hold space on the physical Earth. I do my own practice, always honoring freewill and the non aggression principle and speaking when I feel that it would be accepted.
Astrologer True Brilliance has said that movies are predictive pieces--in other words, these scriptwriters aren't just coming up with ideas out of thin air--they are (consciously or not) showing us the future. She gave "Bird Box" as an example.
I've heard a lot of references to the TV series "The Handmaid's Tales" since Trump became President, especially when all the court cases on restricting abortions were going on. But the novel the series was based on was inspired to some degree by the rise of the religious right in the '80's, from what I understand.
A great maxim of alchemy is: 'Change yourself, change the world.' This is based on the premise that within each of us is a mirror of the universe - now weirdly confirmed in the very latest scientific discoveries:
https://www.techeblog.com/human-brain-vs-universe/
Hermetic and Magical practice teaches us that if we can connect with this inner universe, we have the power to literally re-image that which we perceive as reality itself.
'As above, so below. As within, so without' - Hermes Trismegistus
On that same topic, I find it equally fascinating that in an earlier study along these same lines, neuroscientists discovered that the brain is full of multi-dimensional geometric structures operating simutaneously in as many as 11 dimensions:
https://www.sciencealert.com/science-discovers-human-brain-works-up-to-11-dimensions
I remember reading in a separate article to the one above that while 10 of these dimensions were clearly delineated, there were also indications of an 11th, 'hidden' universe. I found this very interesting indeed, as this so beautifully fits the description of the Qabalistic Tree of Life, with its 10 Spheres - each a universe in itself - and an 11th, hidden Plutonic Sphere - Daath - which is only accessible by the initate who has crossed the Abyss - either literally or spiritually:
Considerable food for thought, eh?
Cripes! Edit to fix Autocorrect and add pic
This is a designer on named "Kovid" on Project Runway in 2019. Guess what he designed?
https://mobile.twitter.com/wokewithkels/status/1333149157536583680