Metavisionaries

It has often been understood and taught that an initiate must first reach out to a specific Spirit, Entity, Totem, or Deity they wish to work with as their chosen Patron in order to pursue an alliance with them. But what is less often acknowledged is the more important occurrence in which Patrons choose their initiates first without being asked to. An invitation to become an initiate is extended from the Patron because they recognize their own attributes, coherence, and compatibility within the new adept, and want to help them or grow their reach within humanity. This could be to help them spread awareness, or offer them protection and guidance.

If we do feel ready to work with a Patron but haven’t felt their presence yet, we can ask them to appear and respond to us. We can invite them to make their presence known so that a relationship can develop. This is an important step that we often overlook when working with new energies. We cannot just expect protection or favors without earning it. A Patron represents those who emulate what they are known for. And this can extend beyond cultural, ethnic, or spiritual lineages.

Working with a Patron requires devotion, discipline, and humility. More importantly, it requires loyalty, patience, and a willingness to learn in order to evolve. Many of us call out for help or assistance from a favored Patron when we’re in distress and need rescue, but don’t reciprocate appreciation, mention, honor, or with offerings to show gratitude. Even if we do not feel we owe them anything, it is important to reciprocate their energy and effort. We cannot expect them to come at the ringing of our dinner bell without also putting in the work on their behalf. This is in part, what shapes our rite of passage to earn their representation. It is like paying a retainer for an attorney. We cannot expect an attorney to represent us if we do not compensate them fairly for their knowledge, time, and resources.

Patrons will often approach someone they’ve chosen to work with through a series of communications. An example happened many years ago when I was teaching Mediumship classes. A woman who was new to Native American Shamanic pathwork had a dream in which a Lynx appeared and bit her on her hand. She was confused and a bit afraid, but I smiled and said, “Oh that’s wonderful! The Lynx had made contact with you. It is inviting you to work with it as one of your Animal Totems.” She thought at first it was a bad omen or a warning. But nature Spirits often reach out in this way to get our attention when first making contact. I suggested to her to research the symbolism and meaning of the Lynx in order to gain the full message of what it was trying to say to her. By its very nature of attributes, its strengths, weaknesses, habits, and habitat were likely representations of what she needed to hear. Lynx are often solitary animals, and can move quietly over snow while hunting mice beneath the ground. This was a message to her that even though she may feel alone, she is being heard. But it was also a message for her to tread lightly, because every small step affected others she was unaware of, especially those who felt afraid. It was a message to harness her power appropriately, and not use defense postures or fear in reaction to what happened to her.

Dreams are powerful portals in which Patrons can first make contact with us. Deep and profound messages can be delivered this way where symbolic, literal, and figurative information can be shared all at once. It is not uncommon for these types of contact dreams to be laden with many things that take time to interpret. This is a clever delivery system because it can be interpreted objectively since the receiver is asleep and unable to consciously direct the content of the message needing to come through. It leaves less room for error or mishandling. It isn’t something the dreamer creates themselves so it lends to the authenticity of the contact. Dreams we spend time digesting and figuring out also keep our attention to the particular energies that appeared in the dream. The more time we work with a particular dream, the stronger the thread of connection will be with the Patron who appeared in the dream. It creates a prompting for the dreamer to keep reaching for answers which the Patron can then answer through more occurrences of communication.

Keeping a dream journal bedside helps. Having disciplined routines of meditation regimens before bed help induce active dreaming too. We must create mental space for information to come through. And once it does, we have to be careful not to dismiss it or ignore it. Every little thing means something, even if at the moment it would seem insignificant.

Other ways in which Patrons make contact are through the actions of other people who are already working with them. A Patron can motivate their current initiates to reach out to others to suggest working with them too. This gesture may or may not be understood by the current initiate for what it is; an assignment. Those who already work with particular Patrons will often be assigned to new initiates to share the teachings of the Patron in order to grow the circle of initiates. The newly selected initiate of course can decline the prompting or invitation. Nothing is forced and we all have free will to decide if that particular path or teaching is for us. When Patrons make contact through the influence of current initiates, it’s not uncommon for a new initiate to have a sudden shift in their social circle. New people are brought in who align with the teachings and workings that the Patron wishes to extend to others. This aligns with the ascension process as well. As our vibrations and awareness grows, our social circle changes to match that vibration. It is also not uncommon for a new initiate to take on the physical characteristics of a Patron over time such as emulating the same hair color, clothing, or home décor.

When a new initiate recognizes that a Patron is making contact, it is common for a slurry of signs to appear back to back to validate the contact. This could happen in the form of everyone suddenly talking about the same thing, physical signs like particular images or symbols being seen multiple times, or more dreams coming through that reveal answers the new initiate has been asking for that can clarify former signs and messages.

Once an initiate agrees to align with a Patron and take on the mantle of their attributes, major shifts occur to create the alignment. For example, if one of the attributes of a Goddess is to protect children, there could be a situation in which children needing help show up in the initiates life in which a decision can be made to intervene on their behalf. Or if an attribute of a Goddess or Deity is known as a guardian of Mother Gaia, a situation could occur in which the initiate is invited to work on a planning committee for water clean up projects or planting trees. If the initiate declines the prompting to act, sometimes the Patron pulls back and reserves their involvement until the initiate is ready to take action, or stops representing them altogether.

If there is already a preexisting situation in which an initiate needs representation but doesn’t have it yet, Patrons who wish to help may sense the need and appear to lend assistance. For example, if there is a situation of animal abuse or neglect, and someone desperately wants to intervene to help those animals, a Patron will often provide divine intervention in order to aid the person in this task. We can see this example in multitudes of ways in which there is a need for representation and divine intervention. We must first ask for intervention however and be ready to do our part to follow through, in order to make our intentions clear. And once we do, help can come.

©Debbie Edwards

Artist Credit: ramaringo