Much Love 
and respect 
for all you do in and for our coven. You need never apologize to me and I can’t think of anyone that speaks more beautifully than you and respects all you speak to. Keep up the wonderful work you do and I look forward to many years of learning and joy.
Thank you Bry
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!
Your birds sound simply wonderful, if you catch them dipping in their pool, I’d love to see a photo. 
Thanks for sharing this information, I too have also heard if you kill them it will bring bad luck. We are in the same boat they will be staying around, LOL.
Challenge Entry - A Witch’s Companions
This challenge was more difficult for me than I had expected.
For most of my life, I have been fascinated with birds, especially crows. I don’t think there’s a day when I don’t see one somewhere.
"People with a crow totem are well-known for their outside-the-box thinking. Additionally, people with the crow as their totem animal tend to have a knack for creating things. For some, this is a purely artistic pursuit, but for others craftsmanship is key.
People with the crow totem are excellent at reading others. They are chameleons who quickly analyze the appropriate response to their situation and adapt accordingly. For this to be possible, individuals with the crow totem must be able to empathize with others instantaneously."
(Source)
This is absolutely me to a T! I love to make things, collect and gather things. I am intuitive and empathic.
Part of why this was hard was because while I didn’t consider Donut my familiar, he was a companion and a source of happiness and support in my life. I almost skipped this challenge entirely since I didn’t want to bring him up yet again, but I read through the challenge again and came across the Prayer for a lost pet and knew this challenge was here for a reason.
It was a lovely prayer. It made me cry while smiling. Just another step along the way of processing my grief and it was a needed step.
I think my highlight of the past 2 weeks was creating my pawprint pendant which I wear all the time. I love the weight and feel of it. It brings me happiness and comfort.
Thank you as always for the opportunity to grow with each challenge!
Aww this is really beautiful and sensitive. I love the necklace you created.
Your totem is pretty and I appreciate you sharing your story. That is a cute necklace as well.
So sorry for your loss, the necklace is beautiful!
I’m currently working on my challenge entry, it’s about Magic of course. At the point of describing him and how to interact with him I’m laughing to the point of tears thinking “Damn, he’s a pain in the ass” 
For this challenge I have a book recommendation!
The Spirit Animal Directory: 100 Spirit Animals for Inner Enlightenment by Dawn Baumann Brunke
This book includes 5 different chapters…
Chapter 4 breaks down into these sub categories…
Disclaimer: this isn’t a definitive guide because there are millions of species out there
I have to admit this one was harder for me than I initially thought it would be when I first saw it on Wednesday. It’s been awesome & heartwarming & I am so filled with love 
for everyone that has shared the stories of their beloved pets & companions. I completely empathize & understand how everyone feels & the losses incurred. They are all beautiful entries & amazing pictures. 
I have said before within the coven 
that a friend of mine had said that I needed to make my spirit animal the turtle 
when I was at the beginning of a long journey with some physical health things & healing from them. I have read about familiars, spirit animals, & totem animals since then throughout the forum:
→ Familiars and A Pet
→ Familiar Spirits and Power Animals: What is the difference?
→ Spirit Animals 
So from that I’m not sure that my friend making my spirit animal the turtle is exactly right. However, at the time & since then I have connected with the turtle in more than a few ways & I always go back to it. I also now have charms on my bracelet, a stuffed animal, & sort of collected (& still do) crystal carvings in the shape of a turtle. I have quite a few now 
Honestly, I still didn’t know how to approach this one, because after reading about them & then trying to think of animals that I come across or that seem to be attracted me & act a bit out of the ordinary (not in a bad way of course or in a way that would mean something was wrong or I could be harmed) I wasn’t sure… since I don’t have much time to really meditate 
on it (my daughter has a long weekend from school 
& a friend over) & clearing my mind with this kind of clogging up the mind & making me feel a bit mentally & physically weighed down 
I decided to look for maybe some quizzes to help me out. 
The first one I decided to take was What’s Your Totem Animal from the How Stuff Works website. My result was:
Ah… can’t say that I really identify with parts of this 
but it’s a quiz from a website on How Stuff Works so really taking this one with a grain of salt. Honestly, the result from @SilverBear’s post on Spirit Animals within the replies makes a whole lot more sense to me. That result was the Snake 
& it resonated a lot more then & now. I also know that according to the Western Zodiac, I was born under the year of the Snake … now that I think about it animals & signs associated with rebirth, transformation, renewal & associated things seem to be a theme for me
So after that, I decided to do another quiz on Spirit Animals & that result kind of surprised me 
The site itself is a Spirit Animal site, but I always have a grain of salt mindset until you can find out more when I do online quizzes
I was kind of shocked 
Never in a million years did I think that I would actually get this result. Plus, what it was saying completely resonated & made sense & clicked in so many ways… So I continued reading:
Now, this site seems to use Spirit Animal & Totem Animal interchangeably. I can’t say that I agree with that, I feel like they are 2 separate things even if very similar. I also feel like I need to research & learn more about the similarities & differences then see if maybe they are or not. That’s my own thing though & my need to know & understand things. 
At any rate, I was shocked that my result was the Turtle & based on what this says, I really connect & resonate with what it has about it as your spirit animal & things about you or that you should remember, know, be aware of, who you are; I’m not sure if I am using the right words for it but hoping that you get the idea of what I’m trying to say … Gotta love word salad 
in the morning.
With that being my result & how close I feel to the explanation… & with most of my family attending to some other commitments, I think I am going to start cleaning my main altar where most of my crystal carvings of turtles are currently.
I want to look into Celtic 
Animals & see what I can find out about those & then how to reach out, know, or find out what (if any) they would be for myself. Kind of gather information about the types of animals whether spirit, totem, or otherwise & see if any of them resonate with me, are with me, or have a connection with me, in my practice & workings that maybe I did or didn’t actually know or realize before now.
A turtle, how serene. They’re so beautiful and calming when you see them swimming. And the ocean, calm, clear and vast. I can imagine swimming with the turtles to calm the mind after a hectic day.
I have a little onyx crow just like that one. I love crows and I collect them, (well, I collect everything because I’m a hoarder, lol)! I have all of them on my Morrigan altar. Thank you for sharing!
Weekly Challenge
I know some of you know this story, because you were there comforting me when it happened. I love you witches and thank you for that.
I found a 3 week old kitten a few years ago. We have a lot of feral cats around and I was walking the dog and we came across her. She couldn’t see because she had eye infections and they were glued closed. Hubby named her Booger because of that. Fast forward two years. She became a house cat, but she still had the feral blood and she thought she was a dog. In March we had a beautiful spring day and hubby opened the door. He did have the screen door shut, but it had a hole in it. Booger escaped. I was so upset that I took a blanket and pillow and slept on the front porch hoping she would come back. I cried for two weeks over my baby. I gave up and thought she may know she’s a cat after all and joined a cat family. Two weeks to the day that she disappeared, I was feeling sick, so I laid on the couch and fell asleep. Hubby woke me up to go to bed, but I stayed on the couch. I woke up around 12 or 1 and couldn’t go back to sleep, so I started reading a book. I heard a meow on the front porch. I opened the door and there was Booger! The dogs started barking and I was worried she would run away. With all the commotion hubby woke up holding the dogs and Booger ran in the house. She was skin and bones. I think she must have been in a tree for two weeks. She is my constant companion now and whenever I am in my witchy room, she is right there beside me. She has also gained all of her weight back.
Oh that’s lovely news! I’m so happy for you that she’s returned and back to health. You must be sooo happy. Many blessings
Hear hear!!! I am completely agree with this @Shadeweaver @BryWisteria you are absolutely brilliant and I too look forward to the many things you teach through either your sharing of knowledge or the grace and love of your responses. Thank you for all you do!!
I wanted to update you all that after my ritual, I was finally empowered to finish my big memorial project - a shadowbox for Donut with his noseprint, final paw prints, a vial of fur, and his second favorite toy - Purple Mousie.
His first favorite was Robomousie and we buried it with him. My husband said that when Vikings were buried they were sent with their prized weapon to accompany them in Vahalla. This challenge was what I needed to take another step forward.
Yay, I am glad my post about the Spirit Animals resonated with you!
I like turtles- one of my favourite quotes when things are taking too long is the it is like “turtles stampeding through peanut butter” lol
What a beautiful necklace!!
This is great I love how you put the fur 
in a witch bottle and stamped the paws. it’s a beautiful memorial.
