How to Work With Animal Familiars
How to Work With Animal Familiars covers tips on how to find your animal familiar, signs that a witch’s familiar is near you, and the magical properties of animal familiars with The Green Hearth Witch! Working with familiars is like having a spiritual ally at your side at all times, especially when you practice magic.
Most witches have at least heard of the concept of familiars. When you become a witch, and possibly long before that, you are assigned a spiritual ally, also known as the animal familiar. During the Salem Witch Trials, one of the key aspects was the superstition of an animal familiar that could put a curse on you.
While the witch trials were built around superstition and fear, witches do indeed have an animal companion by their side. In some cases, it’s not an animal at all. A familiar can be a plant, animal, tree, or even a mushroom.
Additionally, a familiar can be a faery, gnome, or a nymph. They can take many forms and are incorporeal. A familiar is not a pet, though in modern times it’s become popular to call your cat or dog a familiar.
It’s important to note that familiars are spirits that protect the witch from dangerous entities, especially while hedgeriding, and they can assist with the creation of spellcraft. They are not physical, but completely spiritual.
For the most part, an animal familiar will come to you, not the other way around. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t seek a familiar out, or find your familiar on the Other Side.
While I have a main familiar, the hedgehog, I also have others who come and go in my life all the time. When I’m in crisis, they circle the wagons. They come through when I need them the most.
Once you find your main familiar, it opens the door for more to come through. I also often receive visits from a crow animal familiar. The crow spirit usually comes through when something in my life is about to fall away.
I’ve also worked with the lunar moth, butterfly, and the lucky black cat at different times. They tend to come in and out of my life during life transitions and changes.
With familiars, there are times when you want to call on the spirit of a particular animal, thinking maybe it’s a coincidence. It’s not. When a familiar comes into your life, it’s because they choose you.
There’s something in your life that needs to be worked out, and during those times, you might feel drawn to a specific animal. The animal spirit will come forward to aid you because it was already waiting in the wings.
With time, you’ll form a magical bond with the supernatural spirit companions that come into your life! It will not only help you on a spiritual level but also help you form a connection with real-life animals as you spend time in nature.
Working with animal witchcraft is a magical, life-changing experience! They always come through with knowledge and wisdom like no other. Today, we’re going to talk about how to work with them in your everyday witchcraft!
How to Work With Animal Familiars
To work with an animal familiar, you must learn who your witch familiar is and try to understand them in an arcane way. For most witches, finding their familiar happens while visiting the spiritual realm.
Astral traveling, journeying, and hedgeriding are the best ways to achieve that goal. There are three realms on the Other Side. The lower realm is where familiars and the fairy realm reside, the middle realm is where the ancestors reside, and the higher realm is home to deities, unicorns, and angelic spirits.
I recommend reading about dream magick to travel into the different realms and explore them. It is in the lower realm that you’ll meet your familiar. It might not look like you’d expect.
They come in all different shapes, sizes, and forms. When you meet your familiar, it will come forward and stand out from the crowd. There will be something familiar about them.
They are called familiars because they are familiar to you and are part of your spiritual family. Just like a spirit guide, your familiar has been with you your entire life, watching over you.
When you meet your familiar for the first time, you might be shocked by its appearance. You might go into it thinking you’ll meet a cute, cuddly animal, only to find something from where the wild things are.
Don’t let that deter you, no matter what form your familiar comes in. With time, you’ll get used to it and even form a deeper understanding of why they come to you in spectacular form.
On the other hand, some people, myself included, end up with a cute, small animal familiar. Whatever form it comes in, know that it is the right animal for you. It’s chosen to guide you for a reason and has been observing you your entire life.
A familiar is like a soulmate and a kindred spirit. When you work with them, you form a deep, reciprocal bond. The familiar will be there for you throughout your life, acting as a guardian and magical ally.
What Can Animal Familiars Help With in Witchcraft
Animal Familiars aren’t just a cute stuffed animal to cuddle up with at night. They can assist and guide you through your magical witchcraft journey. They can do things for you that you never even dreamed of!
They know that the journey is wrought with many dangers, toils, and snares. They are there to ward off danger, dark entities, and negative energies. They will ensure it never even lands on you.
Familiars also make incredible spies, keeping their eyes peeled while you perform spells and sacred rituals. They can see things we can’t from a higher vantage point. Additionally, as incorporeal spirits, they can fit into nooks and crannies, seeking out the information needed.
As spiritual allies, they are like an encyclopedia of spellcasting. For anything you need to know, you can ask them, and they are happy to share information, wisdom, and knowledge.
If you need help from your animal familiar, don’t be afraid to ask! Whether it be struggling with a spell or finding an unusual ingredient, your familiar is eager and ready to help.
They act as an energy shield, protecting the practitioner from dangerous forces and negative energies. They are there to ward off danger long before it ever makes its way to you.
Animal familiars can act as spies, offering surveillance and a second pair of eyes. Additionally, they can “fetch” ingredients for spells and deliver spells to where they need to go.
They can offer magical assistance through spellcasting and acting as a conduit for magic. They are a wellspring of knowledge for any kind of spell work and its ingredients.
Familiars offer companionship, affection, and kinship. They are spiritual allies to the witch, helping them gain knowledge and wisdom.
They can assist the witch with divination practices, such as reading tarot cards, using a pendulum, and interpreting spiritual messages. Additionally, they can assist with meditation, shamanic journeying, and hedge riding practices.
Animal Familiars can be quite helpful for healing, especially when working with herbs. Spiritual healing, heart healing, and emotional growth are all areas the familiar can assist with, including developing remedies.
They serve as a link between our world and the Other Side, bringing important messages through and interpreting them in a way the witch will understand.
Familiars are masters at raising energy in spell work, which increases the likelihood of the spell hitting its target.
They make great travel companions, in my experience. Whether it be astral traveling, going on nature adventures, or traveling to faraway places, your familiar can make travel lighter and easier.
Tips On How to Find Your Animal Familiar
The easiest way to meet your animal Familiar is to pay attention to an animal that seems prevalent in your life. You might see the animal everywhere and feel an instant connection to it. It can show up in pictures, in a song, or on billboards.
The familiar will creep into your mind as an obsession until it can grab your attention. That happened to me with the otter animal familiar. It kept showing up until I received the message loud and clear.
Maybe you’ve felt drawn to a certain animal your whole life. Perhaps you even thought about adopting one or enjoyed visiting it at a local zoo or aquarium. This could be a sign that it’s your familiar trying to grab your attention.
Pay close attention to unusual animal behaviors, such as making eye contact and seeking the comfort of your companionship. A familiar will make itself known to you.
Another way you might encounter it is on a nature walk. You might see the animal in person or come across its bones and connect with it. There’s always a “knowing” when you meet your familiar.
Animal familiars often come through dream work, signs, and synchronicity. You can ask them to send you a sign that will lead you to them. They might lead the way through feathers, markings, and animal bones.
Sometimes, they show up as an apparition. You see them, but no one else does. Familiars can often show up through the gift of sight.
Most witches find their familiars by journeying through the different realms. To do this, you must reach a dream-like state, which can be reached through drumming, dream tea, and visualizing, to name a few. Find the path that works best for you.
When you reach the lucid dreaming state, you can enter the lower realm and ask your familiar to step forward. Whoever steps forward is your familiar. It might be surprising who ends up showing up for you.
Your familiar might be sleek, black, and terrifying. Or, it could be small, mousy, and bewildering. The familiar that steps forward is the familiar for you.
It chose to make a spiritual alliance with you for a reason. It will be there to guide you through life and assist you in your magical workings. Be grateful for that choice!
Signs That a Witch’s Familiar is Near You
There are signs when a familiar is nearby. There might be an intense shift in energy when the familiar shows up. They might even shapeshift from one form to another.
If a familiar is around, things just sort of light up, or become magical. Maybe you get goosebumps, and the hair on the back of your neck stands up. You might feel surreal.
The more you get to know your familiar, the more you’ll begin to recognize the signs. It will become their calling card, a signature trait that lets you know they are with you.
When a familiar pays a visit, they come with an incredibly calm, peaceful energy that makes one feel safe, warm, and loved. They are deeply comforting, like a warm blanket on a cold winter day.
What makes this experience special is the deep resonance that comes from within. There will be something deeply “familiar” about your animal ally.
The most profound feeling I get from my animal familiar is feelings of being deeply loved and adored. It’s affectionate, sweet, and comforting. It’s an unconditional love.
The Magical Properties of Animal Familiars
When I create plant profiles, I always talk about the magical properties of plant spirits. Well, animal familiars have magical properties, too. These properties are the materials that make up who they are.
Since a familiar is supernatural, it’s going to have abilities that go beyond what the eye can see. It’s important to remember that they come from the lower realm, but still have the ability to move through the other realms, too.
They also have insights that a mere mortal human or even a pet would have. They stockpile them on their many travels across the various realms. They are well-traveled and possess worldly knowledge gained from their intensive studies abroad.
When looking at their magical properties, it’s important to note their individuality. They have unique personalities and characteristics. Each individual animal familiar will come with its own set of gifts.
They are highly intelligent yet also childlike. I would liken them to that of a child prodigy. They make great tutors.
Animal Familiars create worlds within worlds. This is called world-building. They can assist the witch with finding and making “homes” in the two lower realms, and even in between.
They speak through intuition, feelings, and emotions. They are telepathic and have high emotional intelligence.
Animal Familiars can read people and situations. This helps them ward off danger and better understand their animal handler. Being highly intuitive is one of their greatest gifts.
They hold the ability to both create and protect sacred places. These are places where rituals are performed, such as an outdoor nature altar.
Animal Familiars are natural healers with extensive knowledge of herbs. They can assist with any kind of herbal remedy.
They can "raise” energy for spell workings, amplifying its energy. They are conduits for magic.
Animal Familiars are shapeshifters. From my experience, they can assist the witch in shapeshifting while in the spiritual realm as a sort of cloaking device. This has happened to me on more than one occasion.
They create mood and ambiance if you ask them for it. They can make it feel like the whole world has fallen away and all that’s left is you. It’s perfect for spells and rituals in which you don’t want to be disturbed.
