Robert Ogilvie Crombie (ROC) was born in Edinburgh in 1899, and was the community’s protector, teacher and friend from 1966, when he first visited, until his death in 1975. His relationship with the elementals, the nature spirits ruled by Pan, is one of the pillars on which the community is built.

During the 60th Birthday Celebrations Robert Holden held an event to celebrate the founders and invited Craig Gibsone to share his personal recollections of ROC.

Best known for his connection with the elemental kingdoms, ROC was a man of many interests and talents. Being born with a heart condition, ROC used the sports lessons at school to explore his interest in chemistry, where he enjoyed creating smells and bangs.

With the onset of the First World War ROC served in the Royal Navy on the English Channel as a telegrapher and communications officer. This led to an interest in radio, and a business in Manchester with a long time friend, selling material for the budding radio enthusiast. Such a specialist interest however, led to too few customers and the resulting closure of the business.

On his return to Edinburgh he took up a degree in music which qualified him to give recitals as a concert pianist.

ROC also had a keen interest in amateur dramatics, even writing his own plays later, and occasionally appearing on television as an extra.

Even prior to his encounter with Kurmos in the Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh he was a keen student of occultism and magic. While Gordon Lindsay called the book he released ‘The Occult Diaries of R. Ogilvie Crombie’, besides the odd encounter with extra-terrestrials and his spiritual master St Germain, most of the entries published are encounters ROC shared with elemental beings in various settings of the Nature Kingdom.

ROC, Peter Caddy, Sir George Trevelyan

It was at Attingham Park, the adult education centre near Shrewsbury, run by Sir George Trevelyan, that ROC gave his first talk on the Elemental Kingdom and his encounters with Pan and His Kingdom.

Within a very short time of Dorothy having her first interaction with those she termed Devas, ROC visited Findhorn and became an ambassador for the Elemental Kingdom.

On 19th March 1966, he had had an unexpected meeting with a faun in the botanical gardens who introduced himself as Kurmos. When ROC leaned forward and said ‘Hallo’, Kurmos jumped back in surprise and said ‘You can’t see me. Humans can’t see us.’ There followed a long conversation between them. On returning to ROC’s flat with him Kurmos wondered at the books that lined the flat. ‘What were they for?’ ROC explained that they contained knowledge and thoughts. ‘Why do you need those when all you need to do is ask?’ the faun enquired. ROC explained ‘Humans don’t possess that wonderful ability.’

His role in the Findhorn gardens was pivotal, as he explained what was to be done and correcting errors that had inadvertently been made. One example was when, in Edinburgh, he received an alarm from the Kingdom and on calling Peter discovered that the gorse bushes, in full bloom at that time, were being cut back. The blossom held the homes of certain elementals.

pg48 From soil to soul David Spangler ©Jonathan Caddy

Peter Caddy, David Spangler and ROC

Without the acute sensitivity that ROC brought to the community the extraordinary results would not have been forthcoming with such ease. Most people in the West turn their attention into the world and ignore the role of those inner companions who bind the energy we share with them into all that we do. As the climate struggles to preserve life on the planet few within the human kingdom consider calling on the help of these inner beings to guide their lives and relieve the disasters we are faced with. They are all too ready to help, as ROC attested, and he would encourage us to do so.

Extract from the Timeline:

1965
Peter meets R. Ogilvie Crombie (ROC) in Edinburgh
1966
ROC’s first visit to Findhorn
ROC makes contact with Pan and the Elemental kingdoms in Edinburgh
Peter, ROC & Kathy Sparks make “Unpremeditated Pilgrimage” to British sacred points
1969
ROC gives lectures on his contact with Elementals at Attingham Park and in London
1973
At Christmas, ROC announces a theatre is needed, triggering plans for Universal Hall
1975
Death of R. Ogilvie Crombie in March

 

For more stories about ROCs encounters please see:

Publications

Encounters with Nature Spirits: Co-creating with the Elemental Kingdom,  FPress, 2009/2018. (original edition entitled The Gentleman and the Faun); published under the title Meeting Fairies by Allen & Unwin, Australia)

Encounters with Pan and the Elemental Kingdom: Man’s Relationship with the Nature Kingdoms/Conversations with Pan – Double CD, FPress, 2009.

The Occult Diaries of R. Ogilvie Crombie, by Gordon Lindsay, Lorian, 2011.
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