This is a subject not everyone agrees on, even right down
to the simple questions, "What is a familiar" and "Do familiars really
exist?"
The answer to the latter is Yes. Familiars do exist.
I have had the privilege of retaining one for a short
time. His name was Shadow, and he was an enormous, well-toned, black tiger
style cat. He had the most remarkable emerald eyes, and was black as pitch,
unless he stretched out, at which one could faintly see the dark, dark
grey stripes on the underside of his rib cage.
He was very opinionated, always talking (meowing) back
to me, could always sense when I was upset, as he would come and silently
curl up on my lap, wherever I was. He was notorious for beating the snot
out of this German Shepard that lived behind us. He feared nothing.
The bond between us was indescribable. I have never had
a friend (human) that I was so connected to. He understood every way about
me, and in many feline ways, was exactly alike.
Then feline leukemia reared it's vial head, ...and took away my friend,
companion, and familiar.
He is still with me in a way. I could not bear the thought
of an animal cemetery, so I had him cremated. He still lays upon my top
desk shelf (his second favorite place) in a copper urn, with a photo of
him, and a clipping of his fur tucked inside.
He will be buried with me when I leave this world. He
is a part of me still.
I often find myself speaking to him, and sometimes, I
can almost hear his purring, or his meowing reply. And, Sometimes, late
at night, I can still feel him brush against me, or curl up between my
feet in bed.
Yes. Familiars do exist.
In answer to the first question...
Familiars
by
Deva Bluewing
Non-Pagan history describes familiars as low-ranking demons
in constant attention to Witches for the purpose of carrying out spells
and bewitchments.
Familiars usually assumed animal forms - cats, toads,
owls, mice and dogs seem to have been the most common - though virtually
any animal or insect could be suspected.
In the Witchcraft Trials, if so much as a fly buzzed in
the window while someone suspected of being a witch was being questioned
or tried, it was said to be her (or his) familiar. The inquisitors took
the Bile to heart: those who had familiars were "an abomination unto the
Lord" and should be "Put to death: they shall stone them with stones: Their
blood shall be upon them" (Lev. 20:27).
Familiars - also called imps - were said to be given to
Witches by the Devil or bought or inherited from other Witches. A Witch
could have several of them.
Cats were the favored forms, especially black ones. The
fear that all cats were Witches' familiars was one of the primary reasons
for the famous cat massacres that swept through medieval Europe.
Familiars were given names like any household pet, which most of them undoubtedly were. Perhaps the best known familiar name is Pyewackett, the monicker the Witch's cat in the movie Bell, Book and Candle, and a name that dates back to Renaissance England. Pyewackett, Matthew Hopkins (the famous Witch hunter) stated, was a name "no mortal could invent."
During the Witch hysteria of the Middle Ages and Renaissance,
the obsession with familiars was confined mostly to England and Scotland,
where they are mentioned in numerous trial records, especially those related
to Hopkins.
The Witchcraft Act of 1604 made it a felony to "consult,
convenant with, entertain, employ, feed, or reward any evil and wicked
spirit to or for any intent or purpose." But the Malleus Maleficarum (1486),
the major Witch inquisitor's handbook, offers no instructions concerning
familiars in the interrogation and
trial of Witches. The book does acknowledge that an animal familiar
"always works with the Witch in everything."
There is a scant evidence of familiars in early American
Witch trials. In the Salem Trials in 1692, John Bradsheet was indicted
for "inciting a dog to afflict."
The dog was tried and hanged as a Witch.
Outside of Witch trials, more benevolent familiars were
believed to exist, serving wizards and wise men (and women) who were magicians
or village healers. The familiars helped diagnose illnesses and the sources
of bewitchment and were used for divining and finding lost objects and
treasures. Magicians conjured them in
rituals, then locked then in bottles, rings and stones. They sometimes
sold them as charms, claiming the spirits would ensure success in gambling,
love, business or whatever the customer wanted.
This sort of familiar was technically not illegal; England's
Witchcraft Act of 1604 prohibited only evil and wicked spirits.
Some familiars were said to be Faeries. Oberon was a popular
name for fairy familiars in 15th and 16th century England.
Many modern Witches have animal familiars, usually cats,
which are their magical helpers. Some also have dogs, birds, snakes or
toads.
Witches do not believe the familiars are "demons" or spirits
in animal form but simply animals whose psychic attunement makes them ideal
partners in magical workings. Some Witches say that it is possible to endow
pets with magical powers and turn them into
familiars, though others don't believe it should be done. Still others
believe familiars are never "pets" (and should never be treated as such)
but are animals who volunteer to work as familiars and are Karmically attracted
to Witches.
Witches who do not have familiars send out psychic "calls"
to draw the right animal.
Familiars reputedly are sensitive to psychic vibrations
and power and are welcomed partners inside the magic circle and other magical
work. They also serve as psychic radar, reacting visibly to the presence
of any negative or evil energy, whether it be an unseen force or a person
who dabbles in the wrong kind of
magic. Familiars are also given psychic protection by their Witches.
Some Witches it seems also use the term familiar to describe
thought-forms created magically and empowered to carry out a certain task
on the astral plane.
Sorcerers and shamans in cultures around the world also
have helpers in the form of spirits. Dispatching them on errands to heal,
harm or kill - called sending.
The physical shape of a familiar varies. New Guinea sorcerers
rely on snakes and crocodiles, while in Malaya, the familiar is usually
an owl or badger passed down from generation to generation.
Throughout Africa, the wild creatures of the bush are said
to be Witches' familiars: for the Lugbara, they are said to be the toad,
snake, lizard, water frog, bat, owl, leopard, jackal and a type of monkey
that screeches in the night; for the Dinka, they are black cobras and hyenas.
The Zulus' familiars are said to be corpses dug up and
re-animated with magic; they are sent out at on night errands to scare
travelers with their shrieking and pranks.
In Shamanism, a novice shaman acquires his familiar spirits,
usually manifesting in animal, reptile or bird shapes, when he completes
his initiation. He or she may send them out to do battle in his or her
place, but if they die, so does the shaman. Familiars usually stay with
their shaman until death, then disappear. Among certain
Eskimos, the familiar is embodied in an artificial seal, not a live
animal.
In closing, what I usually instruct in this area is that
the student of magic who feels that they have found a familiar is that
they should practice an exercise called "Trading Places" by Keith Harry.
This exercise is simple enough to memorize and to practice,
and though it was not written specifically for bonding with an animal familiar
it was designed for becoming familiar with an animal, and
inducing a mystical experience. I think you will readily discern its
value in the acquiring of a familiar.
Trading Places Exercise
Objective:
To trade places (mentally) with a dog or cat, or other animal.
Setting:
Home, Zoo, Wilderness, etc.
Instructions:
1. Relax your body as completely as you can. Calm your mind, eliminating
all thoughts which do not relate to your intent and purpose. Sit so that
you are comfortable, and as nearly as possible on the same level with the
animal you will be working with. Lie down if you like. The important thing
is that you are able to
comfortably make eye contact with your animal partner in this exercise.
It is also important to satisfy yourself that the animal is likewise comfortable
and secure with you.
2. Take a deep breath. As you slowly exhale, look into the animal's eyes, and imagine that a part of your awareness is being transmitted through your breath into the animal's mind. Watch the animal breathe, and imagine that a part of its awareness is being transmitted into your mind.
3. Continue looking directly into the animal's eyes until you fell your consciousness merge with the animal's consciousness.
Benefits:
As the boundaries between you and the animal dissolve, you may feel
as if you've really traded places with a member of another species, as
though a part of you has become the animal - this is the height of subjective
merging. You may begin to feel compassion for another species. You'll also
probably recognize some of the artificial differences between the human
and animal worlds. You may be able to feel or sense the actual flow of
the animals emotions and mental imagery. Should you accomplish this then
it should be no trouble for you to contract with the animal to serve as
your magical partner. Asking another to become such a partner also places
upon you the responsibility of becoming its partner. I would not recommend
contracting an animal to become your familiar and then treating the animal
as a pet. A pet is something you possess, own. A Familiar, to my way of
thinking, is an individual who has entered into a mutually beneficial relationship
(partnership) with you, and therefore should be afforded the respect and
consideration due a partner.
Sources:
The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft - Rosemary Ellen Guiley
Twelve Exercises For Inducing Mystical Experiences (Omni Dec. 1988) - Keith Harary
Other Articles by Deva:
Soul Seller