On the Mechanism of Gods,

Godesses, Servitors & Egregores

Frater E.S.
A.A.O. in Class C
DCCCLXXXVIII
SERVITORS ARE PURPOSEFUL CONSTRUCTS
designed to carry out specific actions for the practitioner, with more
focus and energy being required depending on the complexity of their
form and assigned goals. In many ways, they represent a further level of
basic sigilization, in that a Servitor is most often treated as a living,
thinking entity which is attuned to a definite visualized form of the
practitioners choosing, such as a humanoid, animal or a mixture of both
in correlation with its programming and various attributes. As sigils are
most often utilized to find, empower and drive a specific desire deep
into the subconscious mind so that it may flourish there, Servitors
entail the sometimes hefty creation of golem-like thought forms
which are believed into being for one purpose: to serve the practitioner.
Although often sharing the same basic charging procedures as
sigils, Servitors are a desire which is purposely given animation and
sustenance by the practitioner, usually alongside a description of its
appearance, characteristics and other details which may increase its
individual likeness and perceived independence. The sigil of the
servitor is thus kept within immediate memory and is not forcefully
forgotten as is the method of Sparian sigilization.
The creation and charging of a Servitor is not much different
from that of a basic sigils, though the methods utilized to change a
personal desire into a being meant to fulfill that desire, or a being
meant to carry out any such activity may vary. For some, it entails the
collection of road kill, animal carcasses or animal bones and utilizing
them and their symbolic attributes in a ritualized transfer of energy
into the Servitors sigil. For others, it may be as simple as channeling
visualized energy into the Servitor, or for others still, smearing ones
own sexual fluids onto the sigil of the Servitor in question in order to
grant it life. In all ways, however, the Servitor remains tied to the
essence of the practitioner, even if perceived as wholly external.
 The practice of creating and maintaining Servitors however
carries along with it some stories of grave concern. If the Servitor is
empowered to such a degree as to assume lasting independence it may
manifest itself as a psychosis or worse when the practitioner has
decided to cancel its ongoing operations. For one practitioner, this had
resulted in a few stitches on the scalp, though some may experience a
more subtle means of the Servitor attempting to maintain
independence, such as personal sabotage, negative voices in the head, or
a strangely consistent stream of bad luck. Most are, however, able to
control their own Servitors and not much difficulty is had when it is
decided that they should return to the body of the magician.
On the dismantling and visualized taking back of a Servitor, the
author most often visualizes the energy returning from it and back into
himself along with some hand gestures illustrating the transfer, and
then burns the sigil in whole, reducing it to ash. For others, the act of
burning a sigil seems to be a form of charging it. As was said, it is the
individual procedure itself which most counts, this form of personal
style being the greatest attribute in the practice of manifesting ones
own inner world out into perceived reality. For most, the cultural,
handed-down techniques usually suffice, though the A.A.O. encourages
the chasing, deciphering and understanding of ones own individual
style. Do not take your own personal mythology for granted.
On a slightly more advanced level, there are Egregores. This
entails the creation of a being utilized within a group format or
structure and is usually considered to be of a higher status than an
individual Servitor, and just as well, is usually granted more freedom
by those who empower it, though sometimes with tighter restrictions
by way of its own agreed-upon attributes. An Egregore is fed and
sustained by the collective utilizing it, and in this way is said to feed
back information and energy to the group which keeps it. A powerful
group Egregore may quickly become an object of worship if not kept
in check, and in this sense is well on its way to becoming an established
Godform, though specific worship of these entities is discouraged by
many practitioners, including the A.A.O., as the relationship may
quickly become perverted into a matter of servant and master
depending on the nature of the Egregore, with the practitioner most
often taking the role of servant. These instances are, however, rare, and
are usually the product of a group dynamic with no attributed or
focused goal within their own foundation, or one which is built upon
the foundation of manipulating others. As a general rule of thumb: an
Egregore tends to amplify and send back what they take in from the
group that feeds it. Some modern examples of wide-spread and, perhaps
over-empowered Egregores may be Jesus Christ, Ronald McDonald,
Mickey Mouse and other such religious or corporate masks.
If Servitors are fashioned as golem-like psychic servants, then
Egregores would appropriately take on the distinction of group
maintained proto-Gods. In this sense, the argument over whether God
or any God actually exists in an objective fashion becomes irrelevant,
as they have always, without question, existed within the confines of a
group or individual psyche - surely a mass delusion, but no more of one
than a group of people who ultimately prefer Coke to Pepsi. Even if
one does not place such a preference upon either or any brand, they may
ultimately place one upon another such higher ideal or attribute found
within themselves or their own intellect; it is naught but a function of
the mind, and even atheists themselves may be included here.
The difference, of course, is that fans of Coke and fans of Pepsi,
despite each brand being equally comforting though detrimental to
health, do not engage in holy wars over their personal tastes.
What were literally dealing with in the context of egregores and
servitors is the bizarre practice of designer divinity; creating a
temporary or lasting god or spirit and believing in it for as long as
one feels he must in order to harness any results which it might bring;
these so-called results most usually only manifest as personal
breakthroughs, revelations or otherwise emotional or intellectual
phenomenon. Even rarer experiences, by unknown variable, may yield
more inexplicable and even terrifying results if left unchecked, though
it appears that not everyone is this sensitive. Make no mistake; we do
not all operate from behind the control panels of identical clusters of
grey matter, and evolution rather prefers a great many types and
varieties through such avenues. One practitioner may be more
susceptible to entities than others, whether they are self-created or
otherwise. This, however, raises another question, and that is why did
humanity feel the need to invent Gods or spirits in the first place?
A valuable question, and whether one takes the side of
genetically-derived predispositions, the existence of a God gene, as it
were, or the condemnation of our previous cultures as antiquated
systems of mere superstition, the answer remains as slippery as ever. I
for one do not tend to think that the mindsets of our distant ancestors
may be accurately explained via the methods and styles of thought
which are characteristic of our modern lifestyles and modalities. A
primer is needed, and that primer may be found in some related, though
more subtle examples of existent though proven phenomena.
The placebo effect may be a good example to begin with.
Although it maintains the almost paradoxical definition as being
medically ineffectual though being regularly responsible for a
perceived or actual improvement in a medical condition, we may at
least say for certain that the logically derived mechanisms for its
effectiveness are somewhere rooted within thought itself, or, believing
that the placebo will actually do some good. This belief-derived effect
has sometimes manifested itself in the stimulation and activation of the
immune and nervous system, almost as if they were being sent the
message to prepare themselves for the faux-medicine. With this fact
in mind, it becomes quickly apparent that consciousness itself may have
a direct impact on the physical, material body. As a revision of that
thought, it may be more correctly assumed that the body itself is a
participating member in the whole of, and is connected to what we tend
to convey as consciousness, whatever it may or may not truly be.
In this sense, it may have been necessary for early man to
externalize his most pressing worries and desires in the form of Gods;
aggregates of thought which were granted governance and supremacy
over various aspects of the human condition, and by way of some
manner of religious surrenderance, ritualistic re-internalization or
perceived divine contact, they might have occasionally managed to
bridge the mirrored aspects of that particular god within themselves.
In other words, the imminent juxtaposition between that which
was birthed from the internal, made external and given the mask of an
anthropomorphic personification of some desire or trouble, connected
back to, understood through its own voice and by means of some
primordial placebo effect might have indeed aided the species in
regards to their budding acclamation and comprehension of such alien
subjects as agriculture, mathematics, metallurgy, more fair and concise
political and cultural systems and the continued and burning libertarian
ideals of the civilized human agenda. Big stuff, indeed, however
Even today we live alongside various Gods and spirits, although
we may have abandoned the practice of their anthropomorphization,
but even this is not always the case. One may easily argue, given this
point of view, that the ideal and concept of Liberty had been
anthropomorphized into one of the best known and most recognizable
Goddess monuments in the modern world; the statue of liberty. If one
were to really get into the subject, he or she may become astounded by
the sheer measure of calculation and pretentiousness demonstrated by
the Freemasons and others in the laying out and architecture within
Washington DC, with many historical buildings and monuments being
made and placed in accordance with the constellation and symbolism of
the Goddess Virgo. Some still may be taken aback when learning of
the rituals held by the Bohemian Grove, an exclusive club where the
wealthy and powerful meet to gather around a gigantic carved Owl
statue, likely symbolizing knowledge and sacrifice. The practice of
externalizing psychic concepts into symbolic figures and totems is not
yet completely out of style, even amongst the rich, the powerful and
the rational. Most of these modern practices of God or Goddess
reverence as they pertain to the externalization of symbolic concepts
may be quickly brushed away as nostalgic divergence; the question is
whether or not it might hold a positive effect or any effect at all, in
which case the only real path towards an answer is: try it for yourself.
For the A.A.O. and many other occultists, it is not that we
concede our higher functionalities of logic and reason in favor of
archaic superstition, though we do travail to read between the lines to
such an extent as to attempt to catch a glimpse as to the why of our
collective heritage as human beings. Faith, indeed, takes the back seat.
If one is facing a problem, he creates an artistic expression which
represents that problem, whether in the form of a sigil, or otherwise.
He externalizes the problem; he creates it a mask, and a mouth with
which to speak. He utilizes the whole of his self in the attempt to
converse with the externalized issue and in this sense, comes to
understand the whole of it, sometimes even being offered plain advice
in the form of dream or breakthrough. For one reason or another, if it
had simply remained internal, such a discussion and comprehension
could not be appropriately comprehended. A sort of childish play is
sometimes required in order to unlock the door desired.
We shall take a step back now and look upon the totems of our
ancestors for an applicable answer. Within these older civilizations we
may look upon the statues of Gods and Goddesses within a lens
befitting of historical reference, but what were they, really? If we tread
back far enough then we may see that these externalized conceptual
authorities, which we call Gods, or perhaps idols, were designated to
specific areas of human concerns; mainly crops, childbearing, leadership
and even some forms of early science and mathematics. The very
knowledge that our ancestors could have believed in such a thing at face
value seems preposterous today, a sort of embarrassment, but perhaps
our worn, highly logical, reductionist and anti-metaphorical hands are
not able to wrap themselves around the whole story as it pertains to the
psyche of these ancient peoples whom we call ancestors, just yet.
We may, as modern peoples, utilize our own highly prized
mechanisms of logic and rationalism in the detailing of this
phenomenon. If we were to adequately describe it within any modern
sense, we may conclude that these were naught but imaginary friends
for a primitive and frightened people, lacking any means or sense of
what reality truly is, in so far as what it means to us, today.
Some philosophers posit that human beings at around the age of
the Greeks, and for a short time onwards, literally thought differently
than we do now. This theory in particular illustrates a few interesting
variables, one of which is that the very idea of I or myself was not
as hardened within our ancestors as it is within us today. Sudden bursts
of inspiration or creative ideas, even going so far as messages being
transmitted between the right and left hemispheres of the brain were
thusly perceived as messages from the Gods, the attribution being
laid upon whichever God or Goddess deals with the aggregate of
knowledge at hand, again, mainly crops, child bearing, perhaps politics,
relationships between friends and family, and all other sorts of
specialties which the early entities, indeed, were deemed to govern.
These instances of personal revelation were both the product of some
deeper faculty of human consciousness which we today, oddly enough,
despite any real measure of increased knowledge, accept as a common
fact and truism of the human condition, as well as being attributed to
the governing bodies which dealt, by their very nature, with the
concerns held within vast bodies of human knowledge, externalized as
symbolic, though invisible, anthropomorphic representations.
We shall then propose that it may not be as ridiculous as it at first
seems, given the vantage point illustrated here. It was never that these
anthropomorphic totems were believed to be literal and external spirits
at the start, although as with any culturally sanctioned belief,
whichever archaic pond it had naturally arrived from, the vast majority
shall take nearly everything at face value. Might we solely blame the
ignorant? Yes, we may. This may seem out of place, but yes, we may.
Despite this, there does seem to exist, as with anything, a form of
hidden structure beneath these totems which govern practical concerns,
and such a structure must, and always will, lie within the psyche. The
first trick of discernment here requires the ability to disconnect these
totems from the external, and allow them to be seen internally. A God
of crops then becomes nothing more than a statue which is symbolic of
that portion of the human intellect which deals with such processes
governing the science of crops; planting, cultivation, and harvest. If
such is the case, then why did our ancestors externalize the
informational aggregate into the form of a statue, a concept; a God?
Herein lays the loophole, repeated. By externalizing any internal
informational body and treating it as an external, giving it a mask and a
mouth with which to speak, one is thus enabled to empower and
converse with it in a manner which was previously impossible if the
concept had remained internal. By this mechanism it becomes trans-
personal; the body of knowledge is offered up unto the mass of a
culture and is no longer hindered by individual assumption. Gods and
Goddesses were, in this sense, our earliest forms of wrapping a
circumference around a body of knowledge; our earliest form of books.
Although knowledge, in this sense, was not written down via the
technology of visual codex, but was rather passed down through oral
tradition and purely symbolic forms of early writing; hieroglyphs,
pictograms, and plain works of art wherein the subject matter, say,
crops, was expressed via a depiction of a wholly imaginary form in the
artistic guise of a man or woman with paranormal attributes, say, a
lions head or other forms of animal symbolism which were also
reminiscent and symbolic of the main function of the God or Goddess.
But then, alright, say that this were true, why did our ancestors
feel the need to pray towards, conduct ceremonies towards and treat
them as real beings? For this, I will only give a simple account.
Mike wants to write a horror novel, although he is struggling
with it. No matter how hard he tries, he cannot invent a brilliantly
frightening story on his own. Hes tried everything; he clears his head
by going on long walks, he even gets drunk now and then while staring
at the blank page in front of him. Try as he might, he just cant bring
himself to come up with a truly scary story. But then, he has an idea.
Hes going to spend a week completely enveloped within
previously successful horror books and movies. The concepts therein
do not reveal themselves at first, but he later comes to understand that
Frankenstein symbolizes the fear of science gone wrong, that Freddy
Kruger symbolizes the inborn fear of madness which issues forth from
the psyche, and that the Alien and Cthulhu symbolize an inborn fear of
the wholly unknown and unexplainable. These concepts are wrapped up
within characters which, after viewing or reading, may be utilized as
vehicles in order to explore his own means of delving those regions of
his mind which naturally synchronize to the masks he has come to
know. Whether he sees it or not, he is accepting the help of psychic
forms, each with their own personality, in order to accomplish the task.
Is it any different that a so-called God of the crops, Goddess or
fertility or God of mystery would stimulate those same corresponding
regions of our psyche if properly exposed to and addressed outright?
 Herein illustrates the loophole, and also the catch; there are no
Gods, nor are there any Goddesses outside the self. They are naught
but the externalized, sometimes anthropomorphized symbolic source
of inspiration which the practitioner might engage with, routed back
into his own faculties, given the stimulation and tease, seemingly
issuing forth from a place outside of his own ego, which then offers,
plainly, a means of immediate acceptance without relentless scrutiny.
The trick therein is two-fold; these things must be treated as
existent both within and without the practitioner. Such a mechanism
has spiraled into the recent prolonged debate between atheists and
religious types over whether or not God exists, the only tragedy
therein being that people of such high intelligence would even think to
engage in a debate which is routed in the duality of mental processes.
But such is the nature of duality; neither explanation will ever be truly
correct, and will only leave both parties with egg on their faces.
For as much as we try but fail to understand our own beginnings,
we neglect the responsibility to understand ourselves; the very seed
from which all that we know and cherish was birthed. As our collective
culture, and indeed, you, the reader, will soon discover, it is not enough
to engage in logical debate over fairly recent masks which only serve to
hide a much deeper origin, nor is it enough to completely disregard the
logical process in favor of slack-jawed, unquestioning faith, but that a
higher form of wide comprehension is required, and never without
compassion. After all, my mystery is also your own, and it is the very
same mystery which allows us to question it in the first place. Were
all in the same boat, were all afraid, no single civilization has its finger
on the ultimate truth, were trying to do the best we can, and no one is
getting out alive. With this in mind, neither nihilism nor authoritative
dogma shall relieve this particular brand of stress. Think big. Think
bigger; bigger than yourself, bigger than history, bigger than your own
conception of what bigger means, and then, ah, were almost there
 All details considered, what I want to say to you is this, and quite
simply, after all is said and done, only this: question everything. It is
not enough, as it seems and quite rightly so, to go head-long with
either the stupefying assumptions of the underground or occult
community at large or to dive head-first into the stifling pool of
reductionism in which our current and unfathomably deadly culture
crisis finds itself. No, this the age of the individual, and all strings end
here; the individual shall be the decider of the new morality, the
individual shall be the decider of the new politic, the individual shall
be the decider of the new societal ideal, and also that of the new and
literal meaning of existence itself. All the pieces of the puzzle fall
before our feet within this age, and we are the only ones rightly
equipped to deal with them. It is a make or break situation, Im sorry
to say, although in saying that, I also purposely allude to the
meaninglessness in all such callings, for we simply do not have a choice.
This does not mean to become a treatise on free will, though it
does mean to say that nature, itself, will not allow the entire game to
run down the drain so easily. For occultists, this takes on a different
meaning, for they have, somehow, always known that by improving and
upgrading themselves and their consciousness that they are already
doing the world, and nature itself, a grand favor.
So then, if you find yourself to be an individual who feels a lack
of participation within the supposed grand scheme of things, all you
need do is rearrange the furniture. By evolving yourself and your own
perception, you are contributing to an unforeseen impact. By accepting
yourself for what you are, and by natural result, accepting your own
inborn, universal nature for what it is, you are, without a doubt, turning
the unseen wheels which make the entire world go round. It is only by
creating a new language, that is, a new and mutually agreed-upon dialect
that we might create a new and widespread reality. This new reality
will in turn fuel and generate the new language, and will fix the new
reality into place so that it becomes, more or less, a part of everyones
reality. By no other means than simple logical progression, then, the
new reality shall literally re-make the world within the image of those
who hold it within their hearts and minds.
You are not without a reason. You are the center of your own
mandala, which is, in turn, the center of the world, allocated towards
your own sensory organs, psychological complexes, chemical variables,
genetic structure and irreplaceable identity upon this earth. Now,
knowing that, we return to our regularly scheduled programming.