the death of a familiar

may I ask, just out of curiousity, what happens when a familiar has passed away?

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I personally believe that animals have soul too ,so they either can stay around you watching over you ,or they can let go and move on .Some may be reincarnated and some may decide to stay in spirit for longer time .It is pretty much similar to human spirits .Having said that keep in mind my believe is not everyones believe .So it is always better to seek the truth valid for yourself :)

... once you let their spirit pass how do you find a new familiar?

Simply repeat the spell of creating a familiar on a decided rightful animal for you.

I think it honestly depends on your belief, tradition, practice, etc.

For instance, in the Norse tradition (which I follow): Your animal fylgja, which can be akin to a familiar, is attached to you in such an intricate way. It is believed that the fylgja is actually a part of the "soul", and thus as you can imagine the death of this fylgja would be devestating for the person it belongs to. Its thought that if the person passes, the fylgja will pass as well. If the fylgja passes, the person is said to become very sick (not unlike shaman sickness) and possibly pass as well. While that person may eventually form a new fylgja, or connect to another animal, they would still have to do shamanic work to overcome the loss of the first.

I'm sure the views vary from practice to practice, culture to culture- so I cannot say what is thought to happen from any other perspective than this one, which is my own.

your post i quite helpfull to me personified.i view my craft as very shamanistic though i obey few traditions as i follow and individualized sect of the arts.

I believe that since familiars have such a close tie to us, they come back to us. My familiar followed my mother and I home when I was four years old, he was a stray kitten. He was a carrier for feline aids, but lived a long life free of the disease. He died when I was 17. A litter of kittens was born by a stray in my backyard when I was 19. I caught one of the kittens when they were 6 weeks old but unfortunately his mother had feline leukemia. He died when I was 21 of the disease his mother gave him, we had hoped it wouldn't become active but it did. Before he died, when he became ill, he began to display the same behavior of my old cat, and I recognized in his eyes that it was the same soul. I put him down to prevent him from suffering severely, cancer had developed in his stomach. A chihuahua showed up at my doorstep, 2 years later at 5mo old. He had no tags or chip. Like the others he quickly became attached to me. When he first saw me, he wagged his tail and came to me as if he recognized me. Thankfully he is very healthy and for that I'm grateful. He acts just like a cat. He chases string, laser pointers, and hates water/baths. He begs for milk and tries to rub his body on tuna fish like its an exotic perfume (I had to stop treating him to it because he would wear it instead of eat it). He even plays with toys by himself by tossing them and chasing after them. I don't think he realizes he isn't a cat.

So I am certain they come back ;-)

I believe that they pass on and reincarnate as I believe we do.

thats uncanny white raven... the physical form of my familiar was a kitten me and my mother found when i was 1, also a carrier of feline aids, that passed when i was 17.

I just lost my familiar of 12 years today. She had to be put down. She chose me, sat with me when I first became Wiccan. I would leave her a spot to sit on my alter because I knew she would be there. I'll be burying her in the garden when I get her back from the vet, anyone have any ideas on how to honor a lost familiar?