Égrégore
Égrégore (French spelling of egregore) is a term used in esotericism for a group spirit, a psychic entity said to manifest from the collective minds of people linked in pursuit of a common goal1 • 2. The word has entered wider circulation through album titles in French pop and underground metal, a book on the Quebec automatist movement, and the singer Mylène Farmer, who named it as her favorite word.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Meaning | In certain strains of esotericism, a psychic entity that manifests from the collective minds of a group1 |
| Definition as quoted | "Un terme essentiellement utilisé en ésotérisme qui désigne un esprit de groupe qui subirait l'influence de désirs communs de personnes liées dans la poursuite d'un même objectif"2 |
| Best-known musical use | Égrégore, 13th studio album by Mylène Farmer, released 30 October 20262 |
| Metal use | Canadian blackened death metal band Egregore, with albums The Word of His Law (2022) and It Echoes in the Wild (2026) on 20 Buck Spin3 • 4 |
| Book | Égrégore by Jean Antonin Billard (Du Passage, 342 pages), a reference work on the Quebec automatistes5 |
Meaning in esotericism
The word designates a collective thought-form. One metal review glosses it as "a concept by which a psychic entity manifests from the collective minds of a group"1. The definition the novelist Tatiana de Rosnay transcribed after asking Mylène Farmer for her favorite word runs along the same lines: a term used essentially in esotericism for a group spirit subject to the influence of the shared desires of people bound together in pursuit of the same objective2. Farmer explained her attraction to the word by "la notion vibratoire de la communion", the vibratory notion of communion2.
Mylène Farmer's album Égrégore
The most prominent recent use of the word is Égrégore, the thirteenth studio album by the French singer Mylène Farmer, released on 30 October 2026, four years after L'Emprise (2022)2. The album was announced on 24 June 2026 with the cover photo and title, and it is described as an "album événement" produced in part by DJ Lewis2 • 6.
The rollout was unusually elaborate. The lead single "C'est à qui le tour", produced by DJ Lewis, appeared on 29 May 2026, with a video directed by Julia Ducournau; the second single "Des lols et des quoi" followed on 11 September with a video by Thierry and Didier Poiraud2. On 27 October 2026, three days before the record, cinemas in France, Belgium, and Switzerland screened Égrégore - L'Avant-première, a 65-minute film directed by François Hanss that put the new album "en images", with previews in 39 IMAX theaters2.
The album runs 45 minutes across 13 tracks2. DJ Lewis co-wrote most of the material, with collaborators including Ana Zimmer, Antoine Chatenet, and Ragio; DJ Snake features on two tracks, "Combien pour la nuit" and "Sans amarres", and Moby composed two, "Recréer un jour" and "Plus d'écho"7. The tracklist also includes "Confession", the song Farmer performed at the opening ceremony of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival as a tribute to David Lynch2. Physical editions span standard and collector CDs, a double vinyl, a crystal vinyl, and an orange vinyl exclusive to Fnac6.
Egregore in metal
Several extreme metal acts have taken the word as a name or title, drawn to its occult connotations.
Egregore (Canada). A Canadian blackened death metal band featuring current and former members of Mitochondrion, Auroch, and Funeral Circle released its debut album, and first recording, The Word of His Law, on 20 Buck Spin in 20223 • 4. The sophomore album It Echoes in the Wild followed on 20 March 2026, ten songs in about 48 minutes, described as old-school death metal with a blackened flavor and occasional thrash influences4 • 8. Reviewers place the band near The Chasm, Negative Plane, and Mortuary Drape, with frenetic drumming from Essentia Collapse, the pseudonym of Shawn Haché1.
Other namesakes. A separate grindcore band called Egregore issued Synchronistic Delusions on Sentient Ruin Laboratories on 1 September 2023, a 33-minute record mixing d-beat, death metal, and Carcass-style melodies9. The French atmospheric black metal project Bâ'a titled its second album Egrégore (2022), six tracks in about 43 minutes built on hermetic polarity and the four horsemen of the apocalypse10. The Pittsburgh technical death metal band Victims of Contagion released an album called Egregore in 2026, and the Minneapolis progressive sludge band Phase Meridian released its sophomore album Egregore on 28 May 202611 • 12.
In literature
The word also titles a substantial work of Quebec cultural history: Égrégore by Jean Antonin Billard, published by Du Passage at 342 pages, described as the most complete work on the automatistes, a mine of information, images, and reproductions of the group's journals5.
References
- Review: Egregore – It Echoes in the Wild, Nine Circles (March 17, 2026)
- Mylène Farmer – Album Égrégore, Mylene.Net
- Album Review: The Word Of His Law – Egregore, Distorted Sound Magazine (April 16, 2022)
- Egregore – It Echoes in the Wild (Review), Wonderbox Metal (March 18, 2026)
- Les choix de la rédaction, Les Libraires no. 86
- ÉGRÉGORE, Variété Française, Fnac
- Mylène Farmer – Égrégore – Tracklist, Mylene.Net
- Egregore, Apple Music
- Album Review: Egregore — Synchronistic Delusions, Nine Circles (August 31, 2023)
- BÂ'A – Egrégore (2022) | Review, Mystification Zine (March 22, 2022)
- Victims of Contagion – Egregore Album Review, Pitstop Metal (October 2, 2026)
- Egregore | Phase Meridian, Bandcamp
Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026
Your notes
© 2026 Biostate AI. Free to use with credit under the Edgepedia Community License. Embed a reference card.