An Open Letter to the Children of Hermes

Dear Friends,

In previous correspondence we mentioned that our monographs Wisdom’s Bliss & Khamael’s Spear are available in English, Russian, and Portuguese as part of our free course, Unfolding the Rose-Illumination and Western Esotericism accessible through our programs on Teachable. We encourage you to read these monographs (which we created twenty-two years ago and have sent out thousands of copies for free) to assist in creating a more beautiful world for ourselves and those who will come after us.

Additionally, we have made copies of these same monographs available to several parties we have been in detailed communications with over the last few years. It is a bit of a surprise that Egregores – The Occult Entities That Watch Over Human Destiny (2018) is our most popular book, and has received attention from a variety of unusual sources, in particular several well known “think tanks” and universities. For two years I’ve had lengthy conversations and email exchanges with individuals at Cambridge Analytica, University of Colorado, and Booz Allen Hamilton, and others specifically about egregores – and nothing else. This is a critical point that I fear will be lost on many of you so let me be very clear: there is a brutal battle going on for the control of the human mind – your mind – and some see it as winner takes all.

This is not hysteria, hyperbole, or “conspiracy theory” – this is conspiracy fact whose recent origins can be found in efforts to influence public opinion during and after the First World War with Edward Bernays and his book Propaganda (1922), continuing onward and upward into the 1930s and into the Second World War, and reaching a near zenith of perfection in the 1950s and 1960s. This was detailed in many best selling works of the time written by Vance Packard (The Hidden Persuaders, 1957), C. Wright Mills (The Power Elite, 1956), Joost Meerloo’s landmark book, The Rape of the Mind – The Psychology of Thought Control, Menticide, and Brainwashing (1956), Propaganda – The Formation of Men’s Attitudes (1965) by Jacques Ellul, Power to Persuade – Mass Media and the News (1974) by Robert Cirino, and others approaching these efforts at mass manipulation from a psychological view. Mind Games – The Guide to Inner Space by Robert Masters and Jean Houston (1974) played a prominent role in my book Egregores and well read students of contemporary social theory will have seen both Masters and Houston mentioned repeatedly over the decades as playing some role in the nebulous domain of “spiritual politics” as well.

However, by the late 1960s and early 1970s, we see in the works of B.F. Skinner (Beyond Freedom & Dignity, 1971) and Marshall McLuhan (From Cliche to Archetype, 1970), Thomas Szasz, M.D. (The Manufacture of Madness, 1970), and Jose Delgadro, M.D. (Physical Control of the Mind, 1969), a movement toward chemical and physical controls of the brain to influence human behavior. In his seminal work, On Killing – The Psychological Costs of Learning to Kill in War and Society (1995), Lt. Col. Dave Grossman examines many of these methods in depth as well as their short and long term effects on individuals and society. This of course does not include numerous reports of mind control experiments on individuals as well as en masse through programs such as the CIA’s MK-Ultra, unveiled in 1974 during The Church Hearings in 1975, or the Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities. The Control of Candy Jones (1976) by David Bain was written at the same time as these hearings and helped fuel interest in this area of drug and hypnosis fueled manipulation of the mind.

Nor has this been limited to the United States. We see in Stanley Krippner’s work, Human Possibilities – Mind Exploration in the USSR and Eastern Europe (1980) accounts of the use and power of suggestion, hypnosis, and various early psionic or attempts at mind-machine interfacing with varying results. In some ways Krippner’s book picks up where L.L. Vasiliev’s book Mysterious Phenomena of the Human Psyche (1959) who researched telepathy in the early Soviet Union (1920s) until it was no longer possible under Stalin (1924-1953). Yet, despite this, Stalin is know to have had at least one significant psychic at his disposal, Wolf Messing (Wolf Messing – The True Story of Russia’s Greatest Psychic by Tatiana Lungin, 1989). ESP Wars East & West – An Account of the Military Use of Psychic Espionage as Narrated by the Key Russian and American Players by Edwin C. May, Ph.D., Victor Rubel, Ph.D., and Loyd Auerbach, M.S., (2014) is of value to those looking for a nuanced and insider view of these particular programs. Similar reports have come from the Peoples Republic of China as well, and like earlier Soviet research, indicates if nothing else, significant interest in the topics

United States government research into Remote Viewing is well known and documented and does not need to be examined in any detail here, suffice to say that at the 2022 IHS Annual Conference, Dale Graff (author of Tracks in the Psychic Wilderness: An Exploration of ESP, Remote Viewing, Precognitive Dreaming and Synchronicity, 2003), coiner of the term “Stargate” gave a presentation on his experiences with US Army remote viewers in the 1980s. This nicely complimented those presenting as well as George Hanson’s (author of The Trickster and the Paranormal, 2001) earlier presentation on “Liminality, Binaries and the Paranormal” at our annual conference in 2019.

It is no surprise that even in domains where government support is mixed or unclear, many of those involved in early days of psychic research went on to work in private industry or as consultants in the areas of locating missing persons, natural resources, and psychic/remote viewing training programs, economic forecasting, and predicting social and political events and trends. I have been told by several people that one or more government sponsored remote viewing programs is in existence and that one of the means they identify potential candidates is through online “ESP testing” apps. Which is what leads us to our next point.

What has changed since these early days is nothing in terms of theory, only practice, and by that I mean technology has made it easier, faster, and more effective to achieve the goals of influence and even dominance at various levels. We see this technological concern in science fiction, mainstream and alternative news media, and press releases regarding various brain-computer interface technologies. It is almost as if they were not looking into the future but into the past, as it reads the same:

“Do you know the way technology is headed? It is headed for the metaphysical. Radio waves are no longer anything concrete; wireless is already a highly abstract technique; the transmission of pictures infringes on the realm of religion; the extermination weapons area a point of contact with the universe. The physical world has its boundaries; only the psychic is ‘oceanic,’ as the author of Civilization and its Discontents puts it. That is why mankind’s next bold step must be the materialization of the psychic.” – General von Greehan [Gen. Reinhard Gehlen] in Agent of the Devil by Hans Habe (1959)

More recent titles addressing this idea of mass influence include Thought Contagion – How Belief Spreads Though Society – The New Science of Memes (1998) by Aaron Lynch, Subliminal – How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior (2012) by Leonard Mlodinow, and more recently, The Psychology of Totalitarianism (2022) by Mattias Desmet, the author who coined the phrase, “mass formation psychosis.”

Now, we have not given you this partial bibliography to provide you with more books to read, but to demonstrate to you that there is a long and solid line of academic, commercial, military, and even popular research into these ideas. As we see an increase in the quantity and quality of media messaging in support of violence on a scale the world has not seen in over fifty years, it is critical that each of us focus our attention on our personal practice that we may be more stable and clear in our own mind, and as such, be of greater assistance to others during these psychologically as well as spiritually and physically demanding times.

As we move into the future, the second half of the 2020s, it must be remember that severe trials still await us. As esotericists we must dedicate ourselves to generating a certain degree of optimism in our capacities and goodwill in our actions towards others (without being foolish or naïve), and turning these into actions that lay the groundwork for a more peaceful and productive world. This is not to be done through vast projects, but starting in our own lives and moving outwards into our communities. Not by words alone, but by example that these ideals we hold, that of the power and supremacy of the mind, of thought, is verifiable, demonstrable, and practical. That mysticism and esotericism are not about abandoning the world, nor in saving it, but in seeing no substantial difference between the “physical” and the “spiritual” but both as the domain in which we live and move, and have our Being.

Recently, I was approached by on organization to assist it with the creation of, in their words “an egregore” to help shape the near future that is to come. They see the world as heading towards a period of near universal instability, – even catastrophic collapse of all significant institutions and countries – followed by a period of quick and radical consolidation. The causes and effects of this are uncertain to them, and as such they wish to develop a psychic vehicle to influence the outcome into in a vision of a more positive light.

I have stated that I will inform them to the best of my ability, as I have done others including those mentioned above, of the strengths and weaknesses of their proposal and it will be up to them on how to proceed. The point is simple: they are going to do it anyway, I might as well at least help them understand exactly what it is they are doing and how to avoid a catastrophe if possible, and maybe – just maybe – achieve a glorious success that benefits all of us to some degree. Hardly an overwhelming endorsement, but it is better than doing nothing.

And that is where you come in.

I cannot promise you what the future will be like, only that as initiates it is required of each of us to do our best, (i.e., ‘Imitation of Christ’) to ensure the continuity, and preferably growth and well-being, of the teachings we learn and practice. There can be no substitute for personal experience, and in particular in relation to others on the Path.

The ability of esoteric students to create, build, and sustain viable local and regional groups is a direct measure of the efficacy of their practices. For if they are dedicated enough to establish local and regional resources for themselves and future generations, then they will be skillful enough to apply those same experiences to more mundane and generalized projects: from a local community garden, or playground, to raising money for a library, or stream and roadside clean-up and renewal project. That also means the encouragement and involvement of activities that are beneficial for ourselves and others, particularly those that encourage greater self-realization and inner peace. This is particularly important as it differs considerably from endorsements of specific and particular political candidates and platforms and then viewing that public alignment as an extension and measure of one’s “spiritual attainments.” In reality, it is really nothing more than prideful and vain virtue signaling – a sign of the failure to make progress on the inner journey. Many today would like to see the establishment of some form of “theocracy” in the world (regardless of its actual title), even worldwide. Esotericists must stay clear of such ideas and actions, but instead, demonstrate the value of their philosophy through direct and personal example.

Several people have asked us about the idea of “wetiko” ascribed to Native American philosophy. The term refers to a collective mental illness, what we have called, ‘mind parasites,’ and acts in and through individuals as well as groups. This idea is not knew nor limited to one philosophical view. As we detailed in Egregores: The Occult Entities That Watch Over Human Destiny collective ideas and their resulting actions can work for as well as against our well-being. It is imperative that we recognize our limits as individuals, along with our responsibilities. Collective action can only occur because of individual cooperation. Individual cooperation is only possible by recognizing our roles and responsibilities – for these to be done in a healthy manner, self-reflection is essential. However, reflection without action is navel gazing, and of little use to the person doing it, and of no use to anyone else. Assiah is the World of Action, and action is what life calls for and that will demand courage and commitment of personal Time, Talent, and Treasure. There is no other way as each of us is “the sons and daughters of our deeds.”

Our essay from 2017, Finis Gloria Mundi – The Alchemical Apocalypse and You contains some useful ideas and suggestions for dealing with current events as do several others at VOXHERMES.

Finis Gloria Mundi – The Alchemical Apocalypse and You

Hermetic Prophecy and the Worlds of Light

Hermetic Prophecy and the Worlds of Light

Some Insights on Monotheism, Collectivism, and Good Intentions clarifies the point we are making, so as not fall into the trap of messianic delusions, common in many political and spiritual movements today.

Some Insights on Monotheism, Collectivism, and Good Intentions

Sincerely,

Mark Stavish, M.A.
Director of Studies
Institute for Hermetic Studies