Bruno Heller said there would be a big clue in the premiere episode, "Desert Rose". Here is my thought. When Red John paints Lisbon's face with a smiley, there is something off about the smiley. Normally, the eyes are almost horizontal on every Red John smiley, but on Lisbon, the eyes are vertical. In "Fire and Brimstone", Stiles paints one of his lady followers' face with vertical lines of blood across her eyes. To me, that seals the deal. RJ has witnessed a ceremony like this before and is copying the ritual on Lisbon. Haffner is a disciple of Stiles and would have seen one of his rituals. Also, this ritual was about rebirth. Haffner didn't want to hurt or kill Lisbon, so he performed this rebirth ritual on her.
I think the tattoos are a red herring. This "tyger, tyger" organization may have nothing to do with Red John at all. Or, they may be his followers, but why would the leader of such an organization wear such a mark? I don't think it would be necessary or very smart to give himself such a mark. Better to leave no trace of association.