Enchantment, Emergence, and Egregores: Part 2, The Demons of the Nations

In the last post I described how the egregore is identified as a demonic power holding sway over a group. And while that isn't how we typically think about demonic possession, there is a biblical background for this idea.

In Deuteronomy 32 we are told that when God created the world He assigned a "son of God" to rule over and watch over each nation:

When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance,
when he divided all mankind,
he set up boundaries for the peoples
according to the number of the sons of God.

In some ancient texts, these regional deities and territorial spirits are described as the "angels of the nations." We find these regional deities in Psalm 82 as members of the Divine Council:

God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment. 

As mentioned in the last post, these angelic rulers are described in Psalm 82 as the cause of injustice and oppression upon earth:

“How long will you judge unjustly
and show partiality to the wicked?
Provide justice for the needy and the fatherless;
uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute.
Rescue the poor and needy;
save them from the power of the wicked.”

We also find rebellious territorial spirits at work in the drama of Daniel 10. Daniel has been praying to the Lord for three weeks. Eventually, an angelic messenger arrives explaining that his three week delay was caused by a territorial spirit, the "prince of Persia." Daniel's messenger was only able to break free when Michael, the angelic protector of Israel, came to his assistance:

A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. He said, "Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you." And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling.

Then he continued, "Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come."

Before the angelic messenger leaves Daniel, he anticipates meeting additional resistance from a second territorial spirit. The "prince of Greece" will join "the prince of Persia":

"Now I must return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I am through with him, the prince of Greece will come. But I am to tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth. There is no one with me who contends against these princes except Michael, your prince."

What I want to highlight in all this is how, in the biblical imagination, demonic activity is described as being associated with nations and groups. As I've mentioned, this tends to cut across how we typically conceive of demonic activity. Most of us think of the movie The Exorcist when we think of demon possession, a demon inhabiting an individual. But in the Old Testament, demonic activity was regional and territorial, associated with nations and populations. 

Relevant to our reflections upon the egregore, demonic influence over a group, even a whole nation, is a very biblical idea.