A Familiar Friend

As an animal lover, I feel that one of the perks to being a witch is the possibility of sharing your life with a "familiar." Although they usually tend to be cats, some are also dogs, birds, snakes, etc. These are animals whose psychic attunement make them ideal partners in our magickal workings. But remember, you don't choose a familiar, a familiar chooses you! These very special animals volunteer to work with us and are karmically attracted to us as witches. They also act as a type of psychic radar, visibly reacting to any negative or evil presence - be it an unseen force or a threat of some kind.

Another interesting aspect of a familiar is that, unlike humans, they may freely walk both in and out of a magicak circle. Part of the reason for this is because  animals have no pre-conceived notions and/or intentions about what is good or evil - they simply are. And they are, generally speaking, more attuned to their natural surroundings than we, as humans, are. In Shamanism, a novice Shaman acquires his familiar spirits, usually manifesting in animal, reptile or bird form, when he completes his initiation.

So far, I have had seven "furry feline children" over the past 15 years. Only one; however, has ever chosen to be my familiar - my companion when I either meditated or performed magick. That kitty, oddly enough, was actually my husband's cat Mr. Bojangles. He was given to us as a gift from Willow when he was a kitten. "Bo," as we called him, was a beautiful black and white tuxedo cat with four white "gloves" on his paws and a white "tie" on his chest. The strange thing about this is that Bo, as a family pet, had never particularly bonded with me and seldom ever wished to even be around me for the most part.

Then, a couple of days after I had set up my altar room, Bo followed me downstairs. Much to my surprise, he walked over to me and comfortably sat himself right down on my lap while I was sitting in front of my altar. After that, he would always accompany me anytime I worked in the altar room.

Sadly, about four years ago, we lost Bo to kidney disease. We will always miss him dearly and I haven't had another familiar since - nor have I looked for one. I truly believe that Bo's spirit is still with me today, guiding me and watching over me as if he'd never gone.