A witch’s familiar: Demon or pet?

From time to time, I poke my nose out of my burrow and inevitably regret it. I simultaneously love people, wondering at the goodness in their hearts, and I’m sick of their shit.

Out of seemingly nowhere, there’s a rise in witches bickering over what constitutes as a familiar. That’s nothing new. Even when I first started practising there were ‘wannabes’ calling all their pets their familiars and thinking everything is a sign. But now, for the first time in my life, I’m coming up against the idea that a witch’s familiar is not—and never has been—a real-life animal. Apparently only fans of Sabrina believe that. The enlightened know that a familiar is a spirit that is used as a decoy, taking the hit for you if bad energy comes your way, and if you believe otherwise you’re a pretender.

Can we hold up for a minute while I ask the witch police to kindly suck my balls?

Despite my disdain for people telling each other how to practice, I thought this one was worth looking into, and most of the information available about familiars does say they are spirits, specifically small demons, or possibly faeries. One point for team spirit.

Most of the information also comes from accounts of witch trials, which you might agree aren’t the most reliable sources. What with the torture and general hysteria and all.

These accounts state that the familiar was visible. It looked like an animal (or sometimes a person), it needed to be fed, and you could touch it. One point for team pet.

Something many witches seem to forget is that all living beings have a spirit (and arguably some inanimate things too). It’s not necessarily a demon spirit, but it’s a spirit nonetheless. It’s also worth noting that if small animals could be possessed by demons during the dark ages, there isn’t a reason they couldn’t be possessed now. Just because she’s on the internet, doesn’t mean a witch doesn’t have a legitimate demon in the back yard.

One thing team spirit like to bang on about is that they wouldn’t want their beloved pet to be their familiar, because a familiar is a tool. They are used until they die, their death being necessary in their function. So we have compassion for our pets but not the other spirits we work with? Or is the price the witch pays this small demon high enough to cover their (temporary) death?

Meanwhile, team pet wants to know what they should be calling the animal they have been doing all their magick with if these animals aren’t called familiars. If it does magick with you, helps you ground and centre, carries out simple magickal tasks, doesn’t that make it your familiar? Apparently not. You can call them an animal companion or a friend, but if it’s not a demon, it’s not a familiar.

I see both sides as valid. For starters, whilst Sylvanas isn’t my familiar, she certainly is some kind of domestic demon. There is a possession going on there. It’s got nothing to do with my witchcraft though.

The cat of my heart, Messiah, I did consider to be my familiar. As folklore states he should, he showed up in my life in a time of trial and hardship, and he got me through it. He worked magick with me and brought me life-changing lessons. He was so much more than a pet, it feels offensive to call him such. Did I consider him a tool of my craft? Certainly not. But then, I don’t consider the elementals, the watchtowers, or the gods to be tools either, while many witches clearly do. I’ve heard the terms “summoned” and “used” many times in reference to the gods. Maybe it’s my Christian upbringing, but that shit makes me cringe.

The bible is another source that mentions familiars. That’ll be another point for team spirit, as they are considered demons there too, but I’m not sure when we started letting Christianity define our practices.

On that tangent, just because a Christian (inquisitor or not) decides witches work with familiars and that they are demons, does that make it so? Perhaps all those people hung were normal citizens, and their familiars were simply pets, or wildlife that happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

So there you have it, the two sides of the familiar debate, neatly summarised.

Why does it matter?

Well mate, I have no fucking idea. Who cares? And why do they care so much?

This is something I often say to my kids that I’d like to broadcast to the witch community: If you understand what the other person is trying to say, you don’t have to nit-pick the words they use to say it. We could all spend a little more energy on being nice, rather than being right.

Miriam Cumming has been a witch for over half her life, and currently practices a Reclaiming-style of Wicca. When she’s not praying over her coffee and doing rituals at the local park, Miriam enjoys reading and playing with stickers. You can get her free book Get Your W*tc# Together by signing up to her newsletter via the initiation link on the main page.