Weekly Witchy Challenge: A Witch’s Companions
For this challenge, I learned more about Familiars by reading Silver Bear’s forum entry. I admit that I knew nothing at all about familiars before reading this, only jokes people made about their cats being their familiars. I found Silver Bear’s post so informative. I learned that pets are NOT familiars. Familiars, evidently, are spirits that can take the form of animals, but they are not limited to animal forms. I had always thought of a familiar as being almost a servant of a witch, but that is not the case, according to Silver Bear. While a familiar may shield the witch from malevolent works by another witch, it may also demand works of the witch. There were some other descriptions of familiars that made them sound, at least to me, pretty frightening! Perhaps the most scary aspect is the idea that having a familiar is not so much a choice. Yikes! So, if familiars exist, I don’t think I would want to include them in my practice. I’d probably do everything possible to keep one away!
In terms of witch’s companion, I wish I had a a pet. I like hearing people’s stories of the interest their cats take in their crystals or circles. I do pet sit and take care of cats occasionally, but that is very un-magical, LOL. I’d say the closest way I incorporate animals at all in my practice is just in my enjoyment of nature and occasionally as the interpretation of a possible sign or sweet message, in the case of wild bird visits or encounters. My sister believes when she sees an Eastern blue bird, not too common around here, it’s the spirit of our mom or aunt, both of whom died last year. Right now, there is a drought here, and I’ve got a mini swimming pool (it’s just a deep tray) for the birds on my patio of my apartment, where I have a weedy bit of grass. I fill it with fresh water. I have sliding glass doors so I can see them visit from my living room. It’s so gratifying to see them come by and drink or take a dip!