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kombuchacorture · 1 month ago

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Familiar Spirits in Eclectic Paganism & Witchcraft

Hey, you! Have you ever wondered what familiars are, and if you have one? You've asked the right person—I've been working with animal spirits for as long as I can recall! I recently contracted two wolves that have been spirit guides following me my whole life to be permanent familiars. I've gotten quite a few questions on my experience in spirit work recently and wanted to talk about it.

Before I even start to give a brief background on what familiars are and how to know if you have one, a quick disclaimer:

Familiars are not your spirit animals! Or totems! They are a type of contracted spirit and/or spirit guides.

Spirit animals and/or totem animals are closed to Native American/indigenous practices. A familiar animal spirit or spirit guide is an entirely different concept. Don't get them mixed up! I'm tired of seeing appropriation in animal spirit work with people taking the term "spirit animal" and running. Native spirit animals are an entirely different concept that I, as a white person without an indigenous culture or background, do not have the authority to speak on nor practice.

So, what is a familiar spirit? Are they real animals, are they ghosts, or are they spirit guides?

The answer: a "familiar" can be all three, depending on who you ask! "Familiar" is a very broad term that you can find in many practices and various branches of witchcraft. Some folks have a physical animal companion/pet as their familiar, such as a cat or dog, that they called out for and/or received as a gift. Some people's familiars are the spirit of a past living animal companion/pet that accompanies them in the metaphysical. Some familiars, and this goes for my case, are contracted forms of spirit guides gifted by deities, ancestors, guardians, etc.

In my own definition, I would define a familiar spirit as a spirit bound to a practitioner in a contract. Most of the time, a familiar will take the shape of an animal. However, historically familiar spirits have also been mythical creatures, such as dragons, elves, or fae.

Let's keep in mind that spirits, especially spirit guides assigned to you, will appear to you in the form they choose, so, yes, it is entirely possible you've got a dragon spirit that's reaching out to you. It's also possible for your familiar spirit that was a cat to appear to you as a dog if it decides to change its shape. In my experience, I haven't encountered any mythical creatures, but your familiars are a unique experience to you!

Today, I'll be talking about familiar spirits in particular. I don't have experience on the end of physical familiars, so I'm going to speak about familiars that accompany us in the spiritual, metaphysical, or energetic realm.

What are familiar spirits good for, and why should I want a spirit following me around?

There's quite a few reasons folks work with familiars! For one, their energy is a lot more gentle, louder, and softer (in my experience) than a deity's energy. They are personal to you, are meant to work with you, and can act as a guide that is with you 24/7, whenever you call upon them. They are for you!

Here are a few different reasons I, or other witches, might work with a familiar:

A "alarm system" for spiritual attacks. If someone attempts to harm you or your energy, your familiar will likely be the first to know, and can alert you to it.

Aide and assistance in spells, magic, and divination.

A safe and trustworthy lucid dreaming or astral travel companion. If requested, familiar spirits will happily follow you into your dreams and walk with you when your body is at rest. This was huge for me as someone who suffers from PTSD and has frequent nightmares—after contracting my familiars, I found that going to sleep I felt protected and guarded when I was not awake.

Many familiars can provide wisdom or knowledge from an animal's unique perspective, and can help with advice specific to their species. For example, a cat might help you to understand how important rest and relaxation is, encouraging you to take it slow and let yourself bask in the warmth of the sun.

A comfortable spirit that you can feel and understand that it's there for you—it is with you, all the time, it understands every aspect of your life and soul, and may be a comfort entity. Mine certainly show up when I need to feel better or overwhelmed.

Clear communication from the spiritual realm—I've found that familiars are very quick and concise when communicating, making them excellent messengers for deities or ancestors. Sometimes mine deliver messages from my God Squad.

This is not an all-comprehensive list, and I have many of my own interpersonal reasons for working with familiar spirits. The point is: they can help in a ton of different ways as a safe and trustworthy spirit.

Well, that's cool! How do I know if there's a familiar spirit reaching out to me?

Everyone is going to have a different experience in this front. Here are some signs to look out for if you're feeling an animal or creature's presence and sensing a spirit around you that may be interested in becoming your familiar:

You are repeatedly dreaming about the same animal(s), or seeing them in the astral.

You are drawn or interested to a specific species of animal (a lot of times, look back at your childhood; that imaginary friend may have been a spirit guide!)

You repeatedly see signs of this animal surrounding you, such as repeated imagery of a crow, or people just can't stop mentioning bears around you and you can't figure out why.

Your deities or spirit team have communicated to you that they have sent you a spirit, or that there is one in your presence.

The spirit feels playful, wild, or behaves like an animal does in comparison to a spirit that might carry energies of a deity or any other supernatural spirits.

The spirit is not causing you harm or distress. If you are being caused distress by a spirit, it's absolutely not a familiar, as they are sent to aide you and become a companion, and you might need to Banish The Thing That's Causing You Stress because it's not a familiar spirit!

You vet the spirit and its communication may seem more primal or animalistic.

The spirit feels smaller (or larger) than a deity or other entity's presence, and more concise to its shape. I found that my familiars feel much more compact and true-to-side with their energies when they are around me compared to the ambiguity with my deities.

Once again, many of these are unique to my experience, and with this topic, you'll find that many people have so many different stories as to how they got their familiar. The important part is to vet your spirit, make sure that they are a creature trying to reach out, and find out who or what sent them to you. Trust me, you don't want an unwelcome spirit following you around. Always confirm with divination, with your God Squad or spiritual team, that this is an animal spirit reaching out to you.

Okay, that's awesome. I know and got confirmation that there's a familiar spirit reaching out! What are my next steps?

PAUSE! Before you contract or bind yourself to any spirit, you need to spend time with it and get used to it to make sure you for sure want this presence in your life consistently. Contracting/binding is non-reversible and permanent. It is a big decision, and you need to be super prepared and confident in making that decision.

You may choose to do a meditation to reach out to this spirit. Ask it what it looks like, its name, how it feels, etc., to get a full feel of its energy. You may do a tarot/oracle reading with the spirit. You may ask another witch to confirm that it is a familiar spirit and what messages it has for you. You may walk with your deities to meet the spirit. You may also choose to work with the spirit for a bit before fully contracting it to become a spirit if you are hesitant or new to spirit work.

I worked with mine as spirit guides for, well, 15+ years through the course of my life before I contracted them. It'll take patience, and it's a big decision to contract a spirit. Familiarize yourself (pun intended) with its energy, advice, knowledge, and how it interacts with your practice and through your daily life.

Is the spirit too overbearing or strong? Is it overwhelming? Is it an energy you wouldn't want surrounding you constantly? You may not want to contract a spirit of this manner. Tread carefully, and be aware of what you are binding yourself to. You can always peacefully depart with any familiar spirit who you choose not to work with if the "trial period" doesn't feel right—they won't take it personally, I promise! I've actually worked with quite a few animal spirits who were first spirit guides that had the potential to become a familiar, and did not end up contracting them as I found that they were simply not totally aligned with my life's overall path.

I've worked with the familiar spirit, gotten my confirmation, and know that this is a spirit I want to contract. How do I do that?

First of all, congratulations! That's a big deal. You've put in the work, and now you're ready for the next step. What's a contract and how do you do that?

Well, it's exactly what it sounds like. You can write or speak the contract when in contact with your familiar spirit and have their presence with you. Contracts are two-way, so you need to be able to allow the spirit to communicate their own boundaries and ensure they agree to the terms. Here are some things you may or may not want to include in your contract:

Your boundaries. How often do you want to feel your familiar's presence? How are you going to communicate if you need space from the spirit? What does that look like? Do you want the spirit to be able to walk into your dreams without permission?

The familiar's boundaries. Does this spirit want to be with you constantly, or do they need time for themselves where you may not be able to reach them all the time? How would they like to be addressed or treated?

The things you would like your familiar to help you with. Do you want them to assist you during spells with their energy? What about walk with you in your dreams?

How much the familiar wants you to talk about them. Some familiars are very quiet and like to keep their experience personal to their person, while others are perfectly fine with the witch talking about them. Mine are!

How you can give back to your spirit. This is a two-way contract, and even though your spirit is there for you, it's always kind to consider what the spirit may want as well. Would it like an altar or sacred space? Does it want you to talk about it? Perhaps it wants you to research and learn about its species to help preserve or safe its kindred souls!

What an alert from a familiar looks like. Coming from someone with a service dog, you should want to know what it looks like when your familiar is reaching out to you! If you want to be alerted of spiritual attacks, how should your familiar notify you of that?

Restrictions to the contract/binding. Maybe you don't want it to be entirely permanent—maybe you only would like to work with this spirit for a set amount of time, or vice versa.

Come up with your own rules! Write, revise, and write again. Edit your contract until it feels right between you and your familiar(s). When you are both ready, you can agree to the contract. With mine, I signed a physical letter that I wrote to my familiars, and let them channel through me to speak on their own behalf. How you do this is unique to you!

My familiar wolf spirits and our story.

Who the heck am I to speak, right? Figured I'd share a little bit of my experience with my familiars.

I've been working with my now-familiars for as long as I can remember, upwards of 15+ years. I first saw them when I was around 1st or 2nd grade, and I definitively remember seeing a black wolf curled up underneath my desk as a kid. I would walk with these spirits throughout my childhood in my dreams, or the space between awake and asleep. I would speak with them, see them when I closed my eyes, and when I was very young, saw them when my eyes were open as energies. Consistently, I was followed by a male black wolf and a female lighter gray wolf. They happily guided me through my childhood and sparked a great passion in me over wolves.

When I grew older and lost my ability to see these spirits right before my eyes, I decided that they were imaginary friends, as I'm sure most of us had when we were kids. I would talk to my friends, my parents, my brother, everyone I knew about these two wolves. Everyone thought it was adorable; me with my little imaginative mind, and imaginary friends.

When I was a teenager, I was reintroduced to these two wolves in a meditation to reach out to my spirit guides. The black wolf began to walk with me as a spirit guide and the lead of my spiritual team before I began deity worship and work. He would be my guiding light as I explored my craft and paganism. Later on, his white wolf mate would reappear to me in the same form. And then there were two!

I later learned after working with deities, especially with Loki, that the black wolf was a spirit companion sent by my ancestors. He (the black wolf) has walked alongside me for many lives. Once upon a time, he was alive, originally domesticated in ancient Scandinavia by his original person, one of my ancestors. His spirit followed my own through many cycles of death and rebirth after becoming domesticated. His mate, the white wolf, followed him into astral, and in this life, my deities allowed her to become one of my guides. I worked with these two wolves for a large amount of time as spirit guides before finally doing the research and deciding to contract them, as suggested by Loki.

I contracted my two familiars for life recently. My practice with them looks like feeling their presences, walking with them in my dreams (I like to call it "wolfwalking" lol), inviting their presence to my rituals, and pretty much incorporating them into every part of my practice. They are always with me, following me into my rest each and every night. I am constantly working with these two spirits and have dedicated myself and my work to them. They are, simply put, my companions for life!

In return, I have dedicated myself to spreading awareness of the wolf. I am a professional naturalist and author, and every day I speak about protecting the species and their life histories. I am writing my thesis over wolf reintroductions. They are the key to my passion and heart!

If you made it this far, thank you for reading! This is my experience and advice, so questions, comments, or additions are always welcome.

If you thought this was super useful and would like to give thanks for the 3 hours I spent writing and revising this post, I have a Ko-Fi for tips! I also do accept requests in my inbox for topics on familiars, including interpretation and communicating messages from your familiar spirits.

Thanks friends! <3

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kombuchacorture · 1 month ago

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𓉸ྀི HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 𓉸ྀི

Halloween, celebrated on October 31st, has a rich history rooted in ancient traditions and diverse cultural practices. While today’s Halloween is known for costumes, trick-or-treating, and eerie decorations, its origins reveal a complex tapestry of customs from various cultures.

Origins in Samhain

The origins of Halloween can be traced back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, observed by the Celts in Ireland and other parts of Europe over 2,000 years ago. Samhain marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter, a time when the boundary between the living and the dead was believed to be particularly thin. On the night of October 31st, the Celts believed that the souls of the deceased returned to the earth. To honor these spirits and protect themselves, they lit bonfires and wore costumes, often made from animal skins.

The festival held significant agricultural importance and was imbued with spiritual beliefs. The Celts thought the presence of the dead could bring either fortune or mischief, prompting rituals to appease these spirits. It was common to leave food and drink outside homes to satisfy wandering souls.

Transition to Halloween

By the 8th century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1st as All Saints' Day, intended to honor all saints and martyrs. The evening before became known as All Hallows' Eve, which eventually transformed into Halloween. The Catholic Church's efforts to Christianize pagan practices led to a blend of religious observance and folk traditions, paving the way for the Halloween we recognize today.

In the 19th century, Halloween began to gain traction in the United States, especially among Irish immigrants fleeing the Great Famine. These immigrants brought their Samhain customs to America, which evolved into practices like guising—children dressing in costumes and going door-to-door for treats. This practice laid the foundation for modern trick-or-treating, which became widely popular by the early 20th century.

Halloween Today

Modern Halloween features a variety of customs, including costume parties, haunted houses, and trick-or-treating. The holiday has transformed into a significant commercial event in the United States, with billions of dollars spent annually on costumes, decorations, and candy. This commercialization has shifted some aspects of the holiday away from its spiritual origins, emphasizing entertainment and community engagement.

Cross-Cultural Parallels

While Halloween has distinct origins, many cultures worldwide celebrate similar festivals that honor the dead and explore themes of the supernatural. These celebrations reflect local customs, beliefs, and historical contexts.

Dia de los Muertos (Mexico)

Celebrated on November 1st and 2nd, Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a vibrant holiday honoring deceased loved ones. Families create ofrendas (altars) adorned with photographs, food, marigolds, and candles to welcome back the spirits. This celebration blends indigenous beliefs with Catholic traditions, emphasizing joyful remembrance rather than fear of death. Festivities include parades, traditional dances, and the creation of intricate sugar skulls, symbolizing the connection between the living and the dead.

Obon (Japan)

Obon, celebrated in mid-August, is a Buddhist festival honoring the spirits of ancestors. Families light lanterns to guide the spirits home and engage in traditional dances called Bon Odori. Offerings of food are made at gravesites and altars, reflecting the belief that ancestors return during this time. Obon emphasizes gratitude and respect for ancestors, mirroring Halloween's focus on honoring the deceased but with a stronger communal aspect.

Chuseok (South Korea)

Known as the Korean harvest festival, Chuseok occurs in late September or early October, providing families with an opportunity to gather and pay respects to ancestors through Charye (ritual ceremonies). Traditional foods like songpyeon (rice cakes) are prepared, symbolizing gratitude for the harvest. This celebration emphasizes family ties and respect for heritage, akin to the familial aspects of Halloween.

Hungry Ghost Festival (China)

Celebrated during the seventh month of the lunar calendar, the Hungry Ghost Festival honors spirits believed to return to the living world. Families prepare offerings of food, incense, and paper money to appease these wandering souls. Performances, such as Chinese opera, are often held to entertain the spirits. This festival underscores the importance of honoring ancestors and reflects cultural beliefs about the interconnectedness of the living and the dead.

Pchum Ben (Cambodia)

This 15-day festival, occurring in September and October, honors deceased relatives through offerings and prayers at pagodas. Cambodians believe that during this time, the gates of hell open, allowing spirits to receive offerings from the living. Families gather to share meals and remember their ancestors, emphasizing communal ties and respect for the deceased, similar to the communal aspects seen in Halloween celebrations.

The history of Halloween is a complex interplay of ancient traditions, religious practices, and cultural adaptations. While it has evolved into a festive occasion marked by fun and frivolity, its roots reflect humanity’s enduring relationship with death and the afterlife. The global parallels found in other cultures emphasize a universal desire to honor those who have passed, highlighting both shared values and unique interpretations of life and death. As Halloween continues to evolve, it serves as a vivid example of how cultural practices can transform and adapt, preserving essential human connections across time and geography. Understanding these connections deepens our appreciation for Halloween, revealing it as part of a broader human narrative that spans cultures and centuries.

dont kill me i know this is rushed im posting this last minute

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