[Help] Familiars

[Sedim Haba]

For your work with Fae, I have no experience, so I can't talk about. It could be worth it to make complete new topic for that, I don't think there is yet a topic where it is discussed into its tiny fine details. I think you really can add to that, so I hope you feel welcome to do that!

I did make such a thread, it's also very informative. Not only are there different kinds of Familiars, there's different kinds of Fae!
Since they are not quite locked into genes like us 'meat-bags' (a name She calls us, in her sense of humor) they have more variety.
It's almost as if ALL the Hominids still existed, and were all intelligent, roughly the same. Imagine Neanderthals walking around in our society!

[Help] - Have you ever interacted with Fae/Jinn?

Post automatically merged: Yesterday at 11:30 PM

No I don't think so. I don't know your familiar so this is just a guess though.

I'm not exactly sure which part of my post this is referring to, I do tend to be all over the place, as you can see. The joys of Autism.

 

[Ohana]

I did make such a thread, it's also very informative. Not only are there different kinds of Familiars, there's different kinds of Fae!
Since they are not quite locked into genes like us 'meat-bags' (a name She calls us, in her sense of humor) they have more variety.
It's almost as if ALL the Hominids still existed, and were all intelligent, roughly the same. Imagine Neanderthals walking around in our society!

[Help] - Have you ever interacted with Fae/Jinn?

Post automatically merged: Yesterday at 11:30 PM

I'm not exactly sure which part of my post this is referring to, I do tend to be all over the place, as you can see. The joys of Autism.

Referring to the tail end of it when you said you think your familiar sensed it was annoying.

I don't think it is annoying more for online safety than anything else. But that is just a guess though since I don't much about familiars or your own relationship with the one you have.

I kind of just run in and learn from expierences. Luckily pretty tough mentally and a fast learner so learn not to do something. But yeah life is pain.

Post automatically merged: Yesterday at 11:55 PM

Referring to the tail end of it when you said you think your familiar sensed it was annoying.

I don't think it is annoying more for online safety than anything else. But that is just a guess though since I don't much about familiars or your own relationship with the one you have.

I kind of just run in and learn from expierences. Luckily pretty tough mentally and a fast learner so learn not to do something. But yeah life is pain.

I also take a lot of downtime for myself. But my suggestion was either keeping it more personal or saying things more generally and allegorical to protect your own personal info

 

[Keldan]

I don’t really believe spirits are limited by regional differences, because you can travel through portals in the astral. I’ve met spirits from as far as the Philippines, local spirits tied to that area, even though I don’t live anywhere near there. So if portals are in play, you can encounter familiars and other spirits from all kinds of places, and there often isn’t as much difference between them as people believe. That’s also why I said practitioners sometimes misidentify spirits as familiars when they’re actually a different type of entity. And no, I wasn’t on a Dutch forum, and I don’t identify as pagan.

I think we could talk about this forever, but it really comes down to two things: how we identify a familiar, and how we tell familiars apart from other spirits. And since our experiences are different, we may not see it the same way.

I think that, seen the locality of things in witchcraft, that there can be regional differences. I see them from the perspective of Dutch folklore and the witches we shared those experiences with, were all living in the Netherlands. To point out a fun difference between countries/regions around us: witches in parts of the Netherlands did not travel on brooms, but in sieves in folk stories. In working with familiars, there will be such differences too. The witches I have spoken with who had an object (mostly a ring) as familiar, described that it acted like a creature: it got wings when it needed to fly, it got eyes when it needed to see, it had special movements to communicate.

Post automatically merged: Today at 1:34 AM

Ooh, if she’s fae, then I wouldn’t consider her a familiar, they’re completely different. Faes are humanoid in form, though they can appear as almost anything, including animals. But they’ll always go back to their real humanoid form since animals aren’t their true form. Their energy is also very distinct, so you can usually tell when it’s a fae versus a familiar horse spirit, for example. The energy is very different.

This is why I mentioned my perspective earlier because practitioners can misidentify spirits. When we say familiars, they may not be familiars at all, but a different type of spirit. A fae can have many abilities, so are familiars. I work with around 32 different fae races, and each one has their own unique energy. And you’re right, there are probably thousands upon thousands of different types of faes within the same fae race.

One point here, then I read the rest of the thread. I don't know my Familiar's True Name. We mutually agreed on this, because, well I
assume everyone knows the power in that. If I don't know her True Name, then I can't divulge it. Protects us both. I have a 'pet' name for her.

One thing I can say is she's a Fae, and they can appear as anything but are Living Beings, therefore it's always a living thing, but always a
humanoid with me. Except when she was a horse, of course. I had Animal Spirit Guide Horse, for years. Horses are used in

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

I had horses as a result. Like, bought a Equine Ranch. Rescue horses and donkeys, mostly. Yes, I'm THAT Autistic that I needed that.

Wow, that was off topic, but one of her Gifts to me was that. The love of horses and the Totem animal. ( I don't have either horse ranch or totem anymore)

 

[Sedim Haba]

I don’t really believe spirits are limited by regional differences, because you can travel through portals in the astral. I’ve met spirits from as far as the Philippines, local spirits tied to that area, even though I don’t live anywhere near there. So if portals are in play, you can encounter familiars and other spirits from all kinds of places, and there often isn’t as much difference between them as people believe. That’s also why I said practitioners sometimes misidentify spirits as familiars when they’re actually a different type of entity. And no, I wasn’t on a Dutch forum, and I don’t identify as pagan.

I think we could talk about this forever, but it really comes down to two things: how we identify a familiar, and how we tell familiars apart from other spirits. And since our experiences are different, we may not see it the same way.

My experience is limited to one Fae, and whoever she introduces me to. She won't let me go into the Astral or even Lucid dreamscape without her
supervision and protection, to curate who I meet, what I see. There are reasons for this, and I'm grateful.

This all brings up an interesting point, how many different types of entities can become a familiar? Obviously ones willing, and able. But are there qualifications? Being able to communicate somehow with a human probably first, and not a given with every entity out there.

 

[Keldan]

So the fae would be more like a friend, or someone your familiar introduced you to?

There are thousands upon thousands of entities people call “familiars.” “Familiar” is really just a human term for animal or creature shaped spirits that help us. That’s it. So if a spirit appears humanoid, they’re a different kind of being and not what I’d call a familiar. If a spirit appears as an object, that’s usually just the form they’re choosing to show you, they will look completely different in their true form, so I wouldn’t automatically label them a familiar either. Creature type spirits on the other hand don’t tend to change form much. That’s part of why people started calling them familiars in the first place.

Even if you meet another entity that looks exactly like your familiar, let’s say same appearance, same form, and they can interact normally with you. That doesn’t automatically make the lookalike entity a familiar. If they don’t supervise you, protect you during travel, or help with everyday things, then they wouldn’t really fit the role.

A familiar is typically loyal, highly attentive, and acts like a “household attendant” in that sense. It’s not just a title, so there’s no such qualifications, it's more like an inherent nature. It’s in their bones to want to help others. You could have a lookalike creature spirit like your familiar who simply doesn’t care about helping you or anyone else, and even though they’re a creature being, they wouldn’t be called a familiar.

Because of that loyalty and protectiveness, I don’t believe familiars would feed on the person they’re meant to guard and support. That’s just not what familiars do. But other entities can take on a creature form and pretend to be a familiar in order to feed on someone and do so easily. That’s where stories about “bad familiars” come from too, of spirits that do harmful things or feed on people. Personally, I wouldn’t consider those familiars at all.

A familiar is just a label. I’m sharing my perspective, not trying to argue with AlfrunGrima or anyone else. Personally, I try to identify the beings I work with, because there’s a lot of interesting information about who they are and what they are, and it’s genuinely cool to learn. If we misidentify a spirit and just put them all in the “familiar” box, we might miss the chance to understand them better.

My experience is limited to one Fae, and whoever she introduces me to. She won't let me go into the Astral or even Lucid dreamscape without her
supervision and protection, to curate who I meet, what I see. There are reasons for this, and I'm grateful.

This all brings up an interesting point, how many different types of entities can become a familiar? Obviously ones willing, and able. But are there qualifications? Being able to communicate somehow with a human probably first, and not a given with every entity out there.

 

[Firetree]

I have now read the post, and such is exactly why I made this thread, and no, I don't mean to pry, I completely understand it's personal.

One point here, then I read the rest of the thread. I don't know my Familiar's True Name. We mutually agreed on this, because, well I
assume everyone knows the power in that. If I don't know her True Name, then I can't divulge it. Protects us both. I have a 'pet' name for her.

One thing I can say is she's a Fae, and they can appear as anything but are Living Beings, therefore it's always a living thing, but always a
humanoid with me. Except when she was a horse, of course. I had Animal Spirit Guide Horse, for years. Horses are used in

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

I had horses as a result. Like, bought a Equine Ranch. Rescue horses and donkeys, mostly. Yes, I'm THAT Autistic that I needed that.

Wow, that was off topic, but one of her Gifts to me was that. The love of horses and the Totem animal. ....

Note the bits I highlighted ^ . I wanted to open this discussion , but not veer off topic . That is difficult as I note varied opinions in what a 'familiar' is . There are also other types or classes of ..... errrmm 'entities that associate with us ' and there seem cross overs .

For me , a familiar is an animal pet ( domestic, or rarely, feral * ) that you are in a 'magical relationship / work ' with ( that's as simple as I can write it ) .

The fae seem half way beings and interact with us sometimes physically and some times 'energetically ' . They seem certainly connected to place , including local and general ( a larger ecological niche ) . I have some connection to them via my part European ancestry and other people that carry their energy, knowledge , and in some cases .... effects ** . But my local environment here in Australia and traditions I am connected to, and being variant due to locality ( ;ground energy ' ) from Europe - they are and it is very different . So I won't go there here .

The animal spirit guide ? That's another thing isn't it ? I have a few and I am right into that . In a way it seems somehow related to the Familiar but I see more differences than similarities . I notice that some, that have these relationships also refer to them as ...

The totem animal . Different again , although the common understanding of it seems to be morphing into combinations of the above . It is something different again and , at least here in this land , is deeply connected to a range of things , including environmental management , moiety marriage rights , etc . So again, not related to a familiar . Curiously , in researching the local traditions I have found no evidence of indigenous magicians ( Kadaitcha ) having ' familiar animal ' relationships - although they hold totems .


* feral pet ; a native animal that interacts and visits you but comes and goes as it pleases eg. I have a ring-tail possum , sleeping on a shelf over my bed on top of the wall ( and about 4 others in various places ) . Birds that sometimes come in for a visit , large lizards that live inside .

** Positive ; Irish Witch I got very good friends with and worked some Wicca with . Negative ; I got assaulted by a 'changeling' once ... definitely a changeling , without a doubt !

 

[AlfrunGrima]

and not what I’d call a familiar.

That's the key here, let's agree to disagree. Me and other witches call them familiar and you don't. I don't see value at this moment to discuss that further in details. We both have different experiences in it and that's it. Experience is valide because experience is always valide. It is up to the practitioner to build their own relationship with the spirit/familiar and how to perceive them, always. You have your tradition and we had our view and way of seeing things. No right and no wrong.

Because of that loyalty and protectiveness, I don’t believe

And here the same, you don't believe. Me and others experienced otherwise and had good discussions about that. Even to give attention and having a good relationship with a spirit, is a form of feeding. Most occultists recognize that very basic principle....... we have both other views and that is what it is. Not more, not less. So here I agree to disgree again and won't talk any further, because when there is believe on the one side and experience on the other there is no such a thing of a yes or no.

To the others in the thread:
for those who like to know more on the historical side of things, the Wikipedia is a good starting-point, it is quite clear which historians are involved with studying it. It is worth while to read those authors, there is a bookshare of Emma Wilby's books. (thanks to @Rowena ) In the wiki the fae as familiar is mentioned here also @Sedim Haba so that could interest you. The familiar as ring/object, the familiar as demon, the tradition of feeding are also mentioned here:

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

I shared what me and a bunch of other people experienced with familiars, if people want to know more about that I am open. Feel free to ask. For the rest I leave the discussion for what it is. I am not here to classify and I am not to here to put what is right or what is wrong.