h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

My friend Felix the ferret was definitely a "familiar" & Yoda certainly is; in fact people here have actually referred to her as that without knowing of my pagan beliefs.

very nice article Seraphina!

zdt

Thanks Terri

oh they can be absolutely any living creature..and some not!

It's been said that a Witch keeps a familiar around for three reasons - one, the familiar's presence increases or attunes the Witch's psychic awareness, acting as a sort of secondary amplifier. Two, it's a guardian - the familar will act in a hostile or defensive manner, to let the Witch know if a peron nearby is not to be trusted. (If the family dog growls and snarls at the visiting vicar, you'd listen to the dog. Kind of like that.) And third, the familiar is a security blanket, who makes the Witch feel more at ease.

(These are the best three reasons I can think of, anyway, and my ball-python familiar Muladhara has been invaluable in all three aspects!)

Nice article. I have to admit, though, that I was surprised htat you did not list any birds as potential familiars: owls were actually quite common, and snakes are far more common than you might think. personally, my I expect my familiars to be one of my cats but they usually turn out to be the dog instead.