T.H. Pattinson's Vision with Angel R(aphael)

T.H. Pattinson was a watchmaker in Yorkshire of northern England and a member of Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia (S.R.I.A.). He was initiated in the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn in 1888, thus he was one of the first members. At 20th of June he wrote a letter to Westcott, the founder of the Golden Dawn, in which he describes a vision he had. The letter can be found in R.A. Gilbert's book, The Golden Dawn Scrapbook, Weiser 1997

Frater Vota Vita Mea (Pattinson) describes a crowned spirit who gave him a symbol. It consists of three rhombs one vertical in the middle and two horizontals to the sides. This is a symbol which illustrates the primary creation or the union of first causes.

Months ago, I was writing an article about crossroads and their meaning. I had some thoughts on the three ways crossroads (triodoi) and one of them was the use of the letter I. I told Eirini that if we put two I horizontally and one vertical we have three realms or three powers interconnected. Then I asked her to visualize it with a rotation of 90 degrees. This makes the following symbol -l- (now turn it 90 degrees) which is based on the same idea. I mainly thought the middle I as our realm and the other two as the upper and the lower realms. So, in my mind, crossroads is a gate, as it was in antiquity, but not of the underworld only.

In the vision, we see that the rhombs are a symbol of union, well yes, they are interconnected and visually we see a chain of different movements, horizontal and vertical. But the spirit will say that the symbol illustrates the primary creation. I leave that to you.

In the vision, Frater H (another one) is moved by Angel R. He says to Frater H that in the Order of the Golden Dawn, they should select carefully the members. Those who have no tendency in occultism should be rejected. He advices him of careful use of the divine names and symbols. He also warns that many people can direct the energy rightly but if one evil appears, he will shake the harmony of the order. So, all members should be students of the occult. He also states:

"The idea in view must be not to establish an Order, but to gather together those men who are an Order in themselves."

The Angel R. warns both Fratres for the good of the Order, which he claims to be His order. Under that prism, it is very natural to give advices and guide the members. By reading the view of the Angel, one may say that this is elitism. Well, in the Golden Dawn there was elitism. Selected people who had the capabilities to work and learn moved to the upper degrees. This might seems strange, but even today in covens, we see that people try to select members who will be a part of the team, will have something to offer and they will learn. Other people can join another coven or turn into solitary Witchcraft.

I have to add my personal opinion on this. I certainly believe that Hekate can be worshipped by everyone. In fact, Hekate should be worshipped by anyone as a Goddess and as the Cosmic Soul. If we see Hekate as a Cosmic Soul, then the symbol presented by the crowned spirit could be Her symbol and that's why it seems like the crossroads symbol with I have received. Anyway, those are my personal thoughts and not teachings. I also want to make clear, that I do not consider a good idea that Hekate can work with everyone. If we have a Witch that he/she wants to work with Hekate, she/he has to be absolutely sure that 1. he has connected with the Goddess 2.the Goddess wants to work with him/her 3. he/she takes that commitment very seriously. This is something we see also in the vision with Angel R. After all, isn't that fair? You want a higher and more intelligent entity work with you, but if you want that entity to follow you ego-ill pursuits, will that be good, or do you think that it can work? Also, I tend to believe that those entities are able to see not even your future growth but even your mystical powers and your potential and also your character. In all cases, they know better what is best for you and of course someone can change and then try to work with them or join an Order.

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