A familiar is a kindred spirit inhabiting an animal that finds and chooses its witchy master or partner. Familiars can also manifest in plants and objects. Familiar animals are inhabited by the spirits of witches past, ancestors, guides and/or guardians who live to guide you and your magickal endeavors on this plane of existence. They can even enhance the power of your spells and your personal power, as divination and spells can be designed to incorporate your familiar into the work. If you're interested in looking further into this subject, I highly recommend the book Familiars In Witchcraft: Supernatural Guardians in the Magical Traditions of the World by Maja D'Aoust.
Pets usually cannot be considered your familiar since you usually choose them rather than the other way around. For example, one of my familiars and power animals is the Raven, a bird associated with my deities, a bird that constantly tends to surround me in flocks and inspire my magick greatly. However, in my case with my cat Silvio, I had the rare experience of getting to have my familiar double as my pet and family member.
I met Silvio at my local humane society two years ago. At the time, I regularly visited the rescue to cheer myself up by petting dogs. I had never adopted an animal from the humane society up to that point, and I was just visiting to play with some kittens that had recently arrived at the shelter, as well as talk to some blubber-lipped pitbulls. Instead, I had the surprise of my life and I, a person who is notoriously not-a-cat-person, went home with 7-year-old Silvio in tow.
Through the glass wall dividing Silvio and one other cat from the humane society's lobby, Silvio stared deep into my soul before I had a chance to pull the building's glass door open. His eye contact was so intense that it made me nervous. He legitimately looked like he wanted to eat me. I couldn't help but continue to look back and take him in; and the more I did, the more I could see the adoration and eagerness in his eyes through the glass wall of his shared kennel, as if he already knew me and was patiently waiting for me to greet him, as if he was trying to telepathically communicate with me. It was so weird! It warmed my heart, though, because the pull was so strong and not a single other cat that day (or any day) had given me that kind of thought or attention...or stalker eyes.
He was a dull, tabby-coated cat with a piece of his right ear torn off, and scars all over his face (his hair has grown back since). Not exactly the most aesthetically-pleasing cat. The entire time I moved around the lobby, talking with my partner and looking at dogs, his deep stare never wavered. And when I looked back, he locked eyes with me automatically, his jaw hanging open ever so slightly. It was intense. After about ten minutes, it was starting to feel like a sign from the universe, a sign that made me thoroughly anxious considering my distaste for and uneasiness around cats. Also, he was creepy. Kittens were okay, but adult cats felt different, dangerous. It didn't help that I was raised by people who also really weren't sympathetic to the feline cause. Lately, though, I was trying to trust my instincts more and not avoid things out of high anxiety, since, historically, this only made me more anxious. So I obliged and bravely, hesitantly, stepped into the cat room he occupied.
He darted away from others moving in and out of the space, including my partner, but he came running right up to me as soon as I sat down, meowing the whole way. I froze; I was so intimidated by a cat running right at me. What was I doing?? My concern has always been getting scratched and getting bit. I braced myself for the impending attack. He landed in my lap with grace, faced me, and then stood up on his back legs to purr in my face, rubbing his wet little nose all over mine and blowing air into my mouth, his eyes closed in pure bliss. "This is pretty damn cute," I thought to myself. But my body still stayed frozen as he continued to rub against me, no clawing into my thighs. I was surprised I had a random cat's mouth against my own and he didn't try to bite me. I also thought it was cool that my anxiety didn't affect him like it did with my sweet dogs. Still, I was wary about being bitten by this tiny monster. Then, he yawned in front of me, and I realized that I didn't need to worry: he was completely toothless - nothing but gums! I don't believe in declawing cats (because, duh), so having the teeth thing out of the equation definitely made Silvio feel more approachable to me...should I want to bring him home... theoretically...
I was in disbelief when I learned that he was found living in a feral cat colony previously, which is why his ear was tagged (which is how people who help restrict the growth of feral cat colonies, by slowly getting each one neutered, keep track of who has already been fixed). How could such a mushy guy start in a feral colony, be taken in by an old couple for two months, and then manage to charm me once they surrendered him to the humane society? I knew it was fate, especially when visitors continued to overlook him in favor of a more conventionally beautiful cat who was nasty - hissing at and biting anyone who came near it. This is something I could relate to as a chronically ill person with autism, having been constantly judged and dismissed for the way my body is and how I inhabit it in the past. I felt for him, though I felt momentary regret at my preference for a witchy black cat with green eyes. But I abandoned that in favor of what felt like my future soulmate. Before I knew it, the adoption forms were signed and I had a CAT in my house. I still didn't know what the hell I was doing or why. I was afraid I would end up regretting it, and the idea of having to give him back to the shelter was a devastating thing to imagine. It just felt like there was no other choice, and at least Silvio deeply understood, without a doubt, that we belonged together. I took his lead and, eventually, I became less and less afraid of him. His cuddles, soft mews, clinginess and rough little kisses persisted regardless, which helped me slowly put my guard down. Fast forward to now and we are absolutely inseparable.
Soon after, I began to realize how magickally inclined Silvio is. He's always treated my altar space and sacred objects with nothing less than respect. I expected him to be like the other cats I've known, jumping up on things and knocking over jars and magickal tools. Instead, he sits right beside me every time I'm at my altar without disturbing me (which is rare for him). On my way to my altar to do my daily practice, Silvio starts meowing and always beats me to it. As soon as I sit down, he perches next to me and watches everything I do from start to finish, his face suggesting that watching me had a sedating, ASMR effect on him. He often falls asleep underneath the altar, and moves away from it as soon as I'm done. His high interest in my craft and I believe our amazing connection really lends a lot of extra power to my spellwork, particularly my psychic exercises. My dogs show no interest, tripping over protruding parts of the altar and poking their noses into bits of spellwork and bottles. But Silvio seems like he actually appreciates the sacredness of the space and my ritual actions, moving around the space gingerly and curiously.
Sil sitting next to me during ritual.
His mere presence beside me puts me at ease, and helps me get grounded for my meditations. We are always very in tune with one another, and we've developed our own language, a series of sounds and body language. He sits beside me and watches the dancing flame along with me as I do candle meditations. I even use Silvio for divinatory purposes. Lately, I've been leaving my tarot deck on the window sill next to the plants where Silvio likes to sit. On his way up, he knocks down the deck, shuffling the cards for me, infusing the deck and the reading with his feline energy and familiar powers. I've been excited at the thought of stepping up our magickal game by coming up with other ways to do divination together, collect and utilize his shedded fur in spellwork about intuition, filling my Book of Shadows with feline correspondences, and writing blessings and invocations for him.
One cool thing I learned since I became more serious about our two-person coven is the significance of the tabby cat. Silvio is a tabby, something I've always seen as ordinary and a little boring. However, I recently learned that the cat the Egyptians worshipped (and based their cat-eye smoky eye off of) were, in fact, regular old tabby cats and their interesting markings. Silvio is a cat with almost no grace, what with his scruffy little body, congestive chronic illness and terrible balance; but it's good to be reminded of the seriousness of his sacredness. My body is also what some might call "flawed." My pain limits my movements, half of my face is drooping downward from neurological damage, and my days are almost entirely dominated by endometrial and POTS-related symptoms. But I'm still a badass fucking sick witch, and so is he.
It's very cool to have a magickal partner. As a solitary witch, I never considered working with another soul, be it human or animal, in my rituals previously. So I feel pretty lucky to have an excellent witch friend in him; and, together, we make our own little coven. When we are at the altar together, performing rites, it's like no one else in the world exists but us. I don't know how this 10-year-old, toothless, scar-covered, half blind cat with herpes and neurological damage found me, but I'm so glad he did. And I don't know what type of spirit inhabits his funny little body but, regardless of who or what lives inside of him, we are definitely soulmates.
Some Cat Correspondences for your magickal consideration:
Associated with: the Moon, Goddess worship and witchcraft, protection (see Black Cat Oil)
Deities: Isis, Bast, Artemis, Diana, and Freyja
Herbs: Catnip, Valerian, Cat's Claw, Thyme
Crystals: Moonstone, Tiger's Eye, Hematite, Lepidolite
Useful in these Types of Magick: Protection, Divination, Wisdom/Intuition, Luck, Workings having to do with flexibility and independence
Powers: seeing the future, predicting the weather, bless magickal workings, and a symbol of secrecy and spiritual knowledge
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