PBP :: F is for Familiar

There's a great quote I've long associated with Willow Rosenberg in Buffy the Vampire Slayer that deals with the idea of not being a true, self-respecting Witch without her familiar.

If memory serves correctly, because I no longer have the quote, it was something about a proper Witch's familiar being a frog.  At the time, the quote struck me as amusing because I owned a Pacman Frog, so I incorporated it into a signature file for an old yahoo email address I was using at the time.

The quote became a source of amusement for Mama Bear and me, and eventually it just faded into cobwebbed memory.  But it also has made me really think about the role of familiars in my spiritual practices.

I've been lucky enough to have several pets that served as familiars over the years.  My two Pacman Frogs were not familiars at all, though I did feel amused to have them.  Most of my familiars have been either cats or rats.

The first cat that I owned while in Oregon was a grey tabby barn cat that I adopted.  Her name was Sarafina, but I always called her Mama Fina, pretty much from day one of owning her.  She had the air of a Voodoo priestess about her, and she often would guide parts of my rituals.  Twice I had to give her up.  The first time, she went to the farm of a friend of a friend when my apartment complex wouldn't allow me to have her.  I got her back not long before I moved to the Seattle area, and BD took her in while I was still in that apartment.  BD's girlfriend at the time had a cat that didn't like Mama Fina, who ended up becoming an outdoor cat again.  Eventually, she was adopted by another family in the complex where they lived.  I miss Mama Fina to this day, and still have her collar with her Tibetan serenity bell on it among my altar possessions.

Part of the reason that I was able to let Mama Fina go to her new family was because I had Toby.  He was more than just a pet or familiar to me.  He was my soulmate, to be completely honest.  He and I were connected at first sight, and that connection never weakened.  The only living thing closer to Toby than me was Leo, his "brother" [not related, but spent the vast majority of their lives growing up together].

When Toby died in 2004, barely 2 1/2 years after we adopted him, it devastated all of us.  Leo and I have never really gotten over his loss, no matter how many other cats have graced our lives.  His spirit has stayed with us, helping to guard our home with the darker cat spirit already in the house.  Toby also became the de facto guide to the other side for the other deceased pets.  We always knew when someone was going to pass away because he'd come and specifically make his presence known to me.

Just typing this up and remembering him has me teary-eyed and missing him fiercely.  That loss has been one of the hardest for me, and it hasn't lessened at all in the last almost 8 years.

Our current youngest cat, Elphaba, is interested in the energy raised by my spiritual practices, but really doesn't care much for it otherwise.  BD has tried to get her to help with divination, but Elphaba usually doesn't seem to want to participate.  Have BD start drawing though, and Elphaba perks up for that energy.  LOL!

But the most interesting familiars I've had were two of the pet rats that we'd bred and raised.  Sappho and Jolynne both had the magical touch to them.  I'd most often utilize our connections when doing rune readings.  I'd lay out all of my runes, face down, and let them [separately, as I only worked with one at a time] wander around the stones.  Whichever they were most interested in, or pee-marked the most, would be the ones I'd turn over and read.  And they always got very affectionate when they did this with me.  Sappho was a licky kisser, and got even more so when she did magic with me.  I kind of miss having a pet/familiar with that sort of ability.

I've never actively sought out my familiars.  I treat familiars like mentors or teachers.  When it's the right time, they will come to me.  And that's how I intend to keep it.

-- Sadie