The Witch's Familiar: Spiritual Partnerships for Successful Magic » (First Edition)

Raven Grimassi is a Neo-Pagan scholar and award-winning author of over twelve books on Witchcraft, Wicca, and Neo-Paganism. He is a member of the American Folk Lore Society and is co-founder and co-director of the College of the Crossroads.

Raven's background includes training in the Rosicrucian Order as well as the study of the Kabbalah through the First Temple of Tifareth under Lady Sara Cunningham. His early magical career began in the late 1960s and involved the study of works by Franz Bardon, Eliphas Levi, William Barrett, Dion Fortune, William Gray, William Butler, and Israel Regardie.

Today Raven is the directing Elder of the tradition of Aridian Witchcraft, and together with his wife Stephanie Taylor he is developing a complete teaching system known as Ash, Birch and Willow. This system is the culmination of over 35 years of study and practice in the magical and spiritual traditions of the indigenous people of pre-Christian Europe.

Since ancient times, Witches and magicians have worked magic with the aid of Familiars, or helpful spirits. Familiars may take the form of a beloved pet, a totem animal, or even a helpful nonphysical entity.

Explore the fascinating history of Familiar spirits in The Witches' Familiar. Written by one of today's leading authorities on both Wicca and traditional hereditary Witchcraft, this book is your complete guide to finding and working with a Familiar.

You'll read about the three types of Familiars: physical, astral, and spiritual. Learn how to call a Familiar to you, and how to choose an appropriate name. Discover how to use magical seals and sigils to command or release a nonphysical Familiar. Protect yourself and your loved ones by asking your Familiar to guard your home. Make your magic even more potent by enlisting your Familiar's aid in spellwork and ritual. Keep your bond strong, and find out how to release a Familiar when its work is done or it has passed from the physical plane.

This is the first book to present never-before-published traditional Craft methods for working with Familiars as well as historical examples from Western ceremonial magic. Your magic will be even more powerful when you combine forces with a Familiar face.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Illustrations x Publisher’s Note xii Introduction xiii
1 History of the Familiar Spirit 1
The Concept of a Familiar 2
Nonphysical Familiars 5
The Church and the Familiar Spirit 7
The Court and the Familiar Spirit 8
The Modern Witch and the Familiar 12
2 Choosing Your Familiar 15
Part One: The Journey Quest 16
Part Two: Creating the Links 21
Using the Magical Cord 25
Part Three: Controlling the Familiar 26
The Genesis Seal 28
The Seal of Calling 30
The Seal of Departing 32
The Seal of Protection 34
The Seal of Dreaming 36
The Seal of Carrying a Spell 38
The Seal of Protection Against Unwanted Familiars 40
The Seal of Severance 42
The Seal of Binding 44
The Seal for Controlling an Errant Familiar 46
The Seal of the Vortex 48
Using the Magical Seals 50
Ethics 54
3 Relationship with the Familiar 57
Merging with the Familiar 59
Working with the Nonphysical Familiar 62
Summoning the Familiar 62
Embracing the Familiar 63
License to Depart 63
Naming the Familiar 64
Working with the Familiar 65
For Healing 66
For Magic 66
Housing the Familiar 68
The Artifical Familiar 70
The Elemental Condensers 71
Absorption and Projection of Elements 72
Exercise/Techniques 72
4 The Guardian Familiar 75
Part One: Home Guardian 76
Personal Protector 78
Dream Guardian 82
The Plant Familiar 84
Method One 86
Method Two 88
For Extra Potency 89
Working with Plant Familiars 89
Magical Plants 91
Part Two: Magical Charges 95
The Odic Breath 96
Forming an Energy Sphere 97
Informing 98
Thought-Form Familiars 99
5 Parting with the Familiar 101
Part One: The Energy Bodies 102
Astral Doorways 115
Etheric Parasites 117
The Astral Substance 119
Part Two 120
Crossing-over Ritual 121
Ritual for Dissolving 122
The Vortex Ritual 124
Parting Words 127
Appendix 1: Keyword Associations for Familiars 129
Appendix 2: Concerning Classic Familiars 133
Appendix 3: Names of Familiars 149
Appendix 4: The Witches’ Alphabet 151
Bibliography 153
Index 155