A Brief Word about Familiars
I received a question yesterday asking for books on familiars. I found I could only recommend one - a high-quality, dry, academic text that costs about $40. So I tried to find posts about familiars here on Tumblr.
I wish I hadn’t. I was like…
But then I took a moment and decided to write a little blurb to set the story straight.
So let me start by saying that this is not the core of my practice. I have a familiar spirit. I will not talk about Him at length here for reasons you can probably gather. We do stuff together. Not that much stuff together, over all. But I know a few things about familiars so let’s do this.
Despite the popular conception here on Tumblr, familiars are not pets. That is, they are not physical animals you can buy at an animal shelter or a pet store. Your cat is not a familiar. Your dog is not a familiar. Your chinchilla/snake/tarantula/lizard/whatever is not a familiar.
A familiar is a nonhuman spirit acquired by a witch. It may take the guise of a human, an animal, or an otherworldly being. Though it may occasionally resemble an animal, it is not, strictly speaking, an animal. Gaining a familiar was often part of the initiation process. When it was not part of initiation, obtaining a familiar sometimes mirrored the initation process in that it was often done through a major spirit (i.e. the Devil) or through another witch.
In times gone by, having a familiar spirit was one of the criteria for being a witch. According to the Witchcraft Act of 1604, possessing or communing with a familiar spirit was a crime punishable by death. It was one of the major markers of witch-dom.
During the New England Witch Hysteria, sightings of familiar spirits were used as evidence against the accused parties. Tituba, in her confession, claimed that the witches of Salem used a variety of familiar spirits to cause harm to others. These spirits included black dogs and foxes, as well as a hog and most notably, a yellow bird. During the trials, the afflicted girls of Salem Village claimed to see a yellow bird that bit and attacked them. Tituba also claimed that the accused Sarah Osbourne possessed a creature unlike anything seen on this earth. Her familiar spirit had a woman’s head and wings.
In the early modern period, these spirits would have been given to witches by the Devil as part of their pact with him. Modern witches working in the traditional paradigm who wish to acquire familiars would be wise to seek his wisdom on the subject.
Familiar spirits were said to pass along family lines, too, as was magical capability in general. It was fairly common, in Salem and abroad, for the family members of witches to be accused of witchcraft themselves, namely the daughters and husbands of accused witches. A witch, according to the belief of the day, could gift her familiar spirit to her daughter or to another family member. This is the another way to obtain a familiar spirit.
Most of the witches I have spoken to have obtained their familiars through others. Emma Wilby describes another way witches obtained familiars - sometimes they just pop up. A witch will be traveling through the country or will be in a moment of great need and a familiar will appear to help them.
So what do familiars do and why would you want one?
A familiar can act as a witch’s servant. If you wish to harm someone, you may send your familiar (perhaps in the guise of an animal) to attack them. Been attacked by a crow? Hounded by a black dog? Scratched by a strange cat? Could be a familiar. This prevents the witch from getting her hands dirty. If the witch appears as a spectre, sitting on someone’s chest, it is immediately obvious who is causing the attack. If a witch sends a yellow bird to bite her victims, there is room for doubt.
Familiars, being spiritual beings themselves, possess a magic all their own. They can lend their assistance to magical works. Like any other spirit, they can put their power into a spell. Without going deep into the subject, some familiars are more, well, familiar with certain kinds of magic than others. They possess both knowledge and power.
According to Emma Wilby, the use of familiar spirits is linked to the reminents of shamanic practice in early modern Europe. If we accept the idea that witches “flew” via shamanic journeying, the popular image of the witch flying with her cat-familiar makes sense. The familiar spirit can protect and guide the witch through the spirit world. Being a spirit itself, this is terrain the familiar spirit knows. The familiar spirit is not just a helper, but also a teacher.
Familiars can do pretty neat things, too. Despite its flaws, the popular series “The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” shows this fairly well. When Sabrina is in trouble, her familiar spirit, Salem, protects her. A familiar spirit can also act as a witch’s protector. They can devour curses and ward the home.
Familiars do require upkeep and regular offerings. Historically, these offerings would have been blood. When initiated, witches were given witches’ marks. These sometimes acted as teats from which spirits could draw blood from the witch. Blood (of any kind) is a good offering. In modern times, a bit of wine or milk often suffices.
One kind of familiar I do not wish to discuss here (because this post is already waaaay longer than I intended) is the plant familiar. Plants (especially mandrakes) can work like familiars. Do a Google dive. You’ll find something.
So that’s the tea on familiars. In summation,
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