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Discussion
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I have always loved animals, and I’ve felt a strong connection with them. So much so that I’m dedicating my career to working with animals. I’ve read a little about familiars, how they are supernatural beings that are connected to the individual and assist that individual with rituals and other things.
I wanted to see if anyone had a familiar, or if anyone had thoughts about familiars. I am interested in getting a familiar. I hope that I’m not saying anything wrong, so if I am, please let me know and I’ll take down this post. I’m just genuinely curious about learning about familiars and if/how I can find one
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Thoughts on familiars?
updated 1 year, 5 months ago
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My personal view is that our four-footed friends aren’t familiars in that sense because familiars are spirits, and familiars are there to (essentially) take the hits for us and defend us against psychic/spiritual attacks.
Doesn’t seem right to saddle our four-footed friends with that responsibility. They can be attuned to our magical practices, and they can most definitely sense magical goings on… but are they our familiars? I don’t think so. I don’t think it would be right to force that on them either.
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Familiars are spirits witches bind to themselves for protection and aide in magic. They are often animal spirits so they’re represented in media as real animals because that’s cheaper than a CGI budget.
You can start doing research with these books:
The Witch’s Familiar: Spiritual Partnership for Successful Magic https://a.co/d/3EgLu9W
Familiars in Witchcraft: Supernatural Guardians in the Magical Traditions of the World https://a.co/d/8pR51a7
Consorting with Spirits: Your Guide to Working with Invisible Allies https://a.co/d/fQjVVuU
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I have a familiar, but she only shows up when she wants to. She’s a fox spirit that has presented herself to me on several occasions.
The one time I was doing a bunch of magick at like 2am and I saw her complete form sitting in the corner watching me. She looked like a blue light had taken the shape of a small fox.
Haven’t seen her in a while now, but she’ll comeback eventually.
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I have the traditional opinion on what constitutes a familiar— it’s a spirit which takes the form of something living, often an animal, to aid in your craft and provide protection. Familiars aren’t pets and pets aren’t familiars.
There are rituals and spells to call familiars to you but they should only be performed by experienced practitioners IMO.
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People have varied opinions/beliefs on what familiars **are** and what they can do.
What I believe is this:
Familiars are spirits that aide a witch (or other magick practitioner) in their Craft / magickal path. They can do a variety of tasks or jobs for their human, such as: accompanying them when they astral travel/project or when “crossing the hedge”, traveling to the astral plane to fetch things (typically this would be things for spells but it can be other things), fetching things from our realm here, traveling to other realms and bringing back knowledge, helping to teach/ guide their witch/practitioner, **protecting their human, which can and does lead to their death**(which is a big reason why I don’t believe we should call our living animals familiars), and other such tasks and duties.
What a familiar does will obviously vary from practitioner to practitioner, but there are “default duties” which every familiar will do unless their contract explicitly states otherwise; one of those duties being the protection of their human, and protecting them could mean the end of the familiar’s “life” (I don’t believe familiar spirits die completely but that’s another topic of discussion). I believe it cruel to task a living creature with such a duty. I’ve unfortunately seen many pets die because their witch made them their familiar without knowing the consequences of doing so. (Again this is my opinion and experience, other people may not believe this!)
I believe there is a difference between “familiar spirits” and “magickal pets”. Our pets can definitely take a unique interest in our magical workings and want to be included! In modern times, people seem to be equating familiar = magickal pet. So for them the definition of familiar may be different than the “traditional” meaning.
> You can summon or call upon a familiar spirit if you want one. There are many ways to go about actually doing that, so you may have to try a few methods to figure out what would work for you. It would also depend upon what you’ll consider a familiar to be.
Some ways to summon a familiar spirit include:
– going somewhere and proclaiming you wish to work with a familiar spirit. Often times people go into some woods for this, but this isn’t always an option. A local park may be more viable, or even just within your home, possibly at an altar or other “magickal location” whatever that may be for you.
– Some people meditate on finding/ summoning a familiar spirit; similarly people who are able to astral project/travel may do that to find their familiar. That’s not always an easy road, but meditation may be easier.
– Some people also have them come to them in dreams! You could create a sigil to aide you in this method, a spell sachet or keep a crystal such as labradorite under your pillow. You typically want to go to bed with the goal in mind of meeting a familiar spirit.Sometimes you’re not ready though, for a familiar to come into your life. If you’re really determined and it’s something that you really feel you want, just keep working towards it. It may take time but it should happen eventually. Sometimes it happens when you aren’t expecting it.
TL;DR
**People have different views on what is and what isn’t a familiar.** I believe they are spirits that take on the form of an animal, typically. They are spirits, because they have duties that put their “lives” in risk, and living animals shouldn’t be tasked with that. Familiars can and will die to protect you. They aide you on your magickal path and help teach you. There are various methods to go about obtaining a familiar spirit, meditation, astral travel, dreams, rituals, etc. It may take time before you’ll successfully find your familiar, but that’s okay! Decide what you believe and constitutes a familiar and proceed accordingly.
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Perhaps you can start out by finding out what your animal totem is, this can help you call on them to aid you. I’ve only been Wicca for about a month, but a great resource I’ve found is the book ‘Shamanic Power Animals: Embracing the Teachings of our Non-Human Friends’ by Don Jose Ruiz. (if you’re low on money, try Thriftbooks.com.)
I also love animals, and went to school for/current work as a veterinary technician for a vet ER – I completely understand where you’re coming form as I wanted a little familiar of my own. But I’ve recently learned they aren’t animals, they’re spirits that sometimes take the form of animals. A totem may be more what you’re looking for rather than a familiar. -
Some people consider their animal totem or spirit guide thats an animal as their “familiar”. You can meet them in dreams, meditation, journeys, or signs.
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Just want to add the perspective of someone who has a familiar that is not in any way an animal. My familiar is a chthonic nature spirit. I offer it my blood once a month or so in return for its services. It is bound to me and must do whatever I ask of it. It essentially becomes more powerful over time by consuming some of my life essence (this does not harm me in any way). Once I die it is automatically released from the contract. My familiar agreed to this but there are some traditions where the spirit is forced into servitude and is never released and is instead passed down like an heirloom.
