If you read some of the dreadful witch Trials you will find that much of the "evidence" against witches (and most were quite innocent!) was that they had a "familiar", and that they could "change" into a cat, or a toad, or something else just as stupid.Then the "witch" would be put to torture until she confessed to all sorts of rubbish, such as flying on a broomstick for instance.Those times were long ago. Let's hope they never come back.
I thought that familiars had their origin in shamanic practice. A medicine man or woman would spend their entire life focused on one particular animal. To some it was the first animal the father saw when the child was being born, to others it was an animal that most closely resembled the personality of the person. In some cultures these animals were white or albino (like the great white buffalo). When in trance, the medicine man would "live through" this animal, and believed he or she could share its body (experiencing all it did) or see through its eyes. But that is just Native American.
Other tribes in australia, various islands, etc had similar beliefs. Here is one well documented one.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/sa/aflg/aflg07.htm
The origin of cats being sacred was most definitely the Egyptians. By many cultures cats are viewed as very spiritually attuned or almost supernatural themselves. If you kill a cat in Egypt you were killed! They would even build a sarcophagus and mumified their cats.
The word familiaris in latin means belonging to a household or simply "domestic". So any spirit dwelling in your home with you (even a spirit guide) would be considered a "familiar". Since cats are believed to be more receptive to the spiritual, it was believed that the spirit would work through the cat, not that it was the cat themselves. There is a similar reason why the Egyptians revered cats, they were the symbol of the light force of nature, Bastet, a female goddess with the head of a lion. And if you had one, you had the protection of the goddess. So in a way, the cat was a part of this goddess.
Yes,the cat was sacred to ancient Egyptians.And yes, Native Americans did "connect" with animals. I was writing about the European old beliefs. Some of which "travelled" to the USA, for instance the Salem witch Trials, with early European settlers.
And for Oraclewitch. Just as posted by WhiteRaven, "familiar" does mean, originally, "part of the family". In that sense I have a familiar! He's a dog called Toby, and he really is part of the family! But in those now far off days every mishap in a rural setting, crops failing.Too much rain, not enough rain, was blamed on witchcraft. And any old woman who had what was claimed to be "a familiar" was,ergo, a witch.
Oh, I know what you speak is truth Brysing! I was just giving the origin so that others would understand.
The "familiar spirit" in the Jewish Torah which of course folded over into Christianity was considered "evil". I'm sure this became mixed up with the close connection of a witch or herbalist with their animals friends. The scare of demons embodying cats to help witches in their worship of Satan -- yep, that was the belief! -- caused the villiagers to kill all their cats and of course many innocent people along with them. Ironically, because of a lack of cats to rid the homes of rats (that carried fleas) a terrible plague ravaged and killed many. It's the exact reason the Egyptians domesticated the cat in the first place, as their own personal hunters to protect their homes from pests that could cause them illness or death.
Witches flying in the sky, worshipping Satan, and owning demonic cats lol...there were so many lies about us. It makes it difficult to make heads or tails ( in that time period to modern day) of what is true pagan knowledge or Christian destortions of our ways.
My best advice to anyone reading this, is to always research the origin of all terms and practices to avoid falling for the fabricated, so-called "facts" that Christians came up with.
There are historical, anthropological, theological and archeological studies of every culture known to us. So always go with the best possible resources. Once you find the real "facts" you may continue reading other literature with an informed mind, allowing you to throw out ridiculous ideas and identify the good vs misinformed authors.
My resource on Egyptian belief around cats is from Harvard University, and I have the article printed and saved in my papers.
