That Old Familiar Feeling
It has been some decades since I had a proper familiar. One whose physical manifestation offers companionship as well as assistance in things esoteric. My last familiar, Malachi, met his untimely end fighting with some rather nasty bits too lurid to describe here. Since then I have been without a magical companion for the better part of the last two decades.
A familiar is a common enough idea in the world of magic, that black cat following a witch, a toad in the pocket of a necromancer, we know what it is, or at least we think we do.
Often in the modern world of mishmashed magical ideas the role of the familiar is mingled with the role of the "spirit animal" a concept that relates more to animism than to the practice of the craft.
While a shaman may go to arduous lengths to finally be sought out by a spirit animal, as such a guide chooses a person and not the other way around, a familiar is less of a guide and more of a helper. Providing insight and clues, spying for us and in general attempting to ward away those trivial things that may drive us mad in our journey on the path.
Yet as much as a familiar is more or less subordinate to our practice, it is not just as simple as an animal we are keeping as a pet. The relationship between a familiar and its human is a complex thing, wrought of magical operation and pacts, renewed regularly with the gift of some dietary sustenance we have consecrated, historically our blood.
Emma Wilby, in her groundbreaking volume "Cunning Folk & Familiar Spirits", goes into a narrative of familiar spirit working found in the records of witchcraft primarily in the British Isles. She considers in her work the role of the familiar in the life of the witch, and its historical antecedents going back to the pre Christian era of Europe.
"In early modern Britain both cunning folk and witches claimed to perform magic with the help of familiar spirits, but it is the witch's demon familiar, whether in the form of a man or an animal, which is most recognizable to people today. Although many centuries separate us from the beliefs and practices of the men and women described in this book, there are few who would not recognize the stereotypical image of the black cat perched on the end of the witch's broomstick, or the lascivious horned devil standing at the witch's shoulder, inciting her to evil.
Despite the sensationalism of promising the soul, renouncing Christianity and sucking blood, the most common payment given to the English witch's animal familiar (often in conjunction with payment in blood) was ordinary food. Sometimes these familiars demanded what could be seen as some sort of sacrifice, such as a live chicken, however on a daily basis they generally required nothing more than a bowl of bread, milk, ale, water and so on." - Emma Wilby - Cunning Folk & Familiar Spirits
The making of a familiar requires a great deal of work on the part of the magician. Little text has been written on the various operations one must undergo, including the manner of procurement of the host animal, conjuration of the spirit, or more commonly the duke whom that spirit answers to, and the binding stages that replace the mental state of the normal animal with the invested power of the spirit.
As one can imagine it is an arduous and thankless task. Very few animals undergo the process willingly, some even have a sense of the impending erasure of their identity. Keeping them within the place of conjuration requires its own set of tricks, so as not to harm the animal nor make it experience any trauma.
It's a right fucking pain in the ass most of the time to be sure. Which is why it's been two decades since I last performed the required rituals. But there comes a time when these things manifest and I can feel that time approaching. Who knows what is likely to turn up at the door in the middle of the night. Stray kitten or wayward toad, crow fledgling or new born snake. Whatever form it takes I can feel it on the horizon like the coming dawn.
