The Familiar Spell

So I would like to know what exactly is a familiar and how it works.

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My familiar is my dog. She warns me and helps me. A lot of witches have cats to be familiars, but I am allergic. Its just another kind of helper, meaning something more than just a pet. BB

Thank you very much for the info. So any animal can be your familiar? And does it have to b just one?

I'm not sure where the idea that a pet is the same as a familiar came from. I guess I have to blame it on some of the crop of poorly researched books on the market these days. But the fact of the matter is that our beloved pets and a Witch's familiar are very, very different things.

A Witch's familiar is an animal spirit or a magical construct created by the Witch or the Magician as an adjunct to their magical workings, as a repository for power, and if needed as a defense against magical attack from another magic user. A Witch or a magician can draw upon the energies of the familiar when they need an extra boost of energy in a magical working. Conceivably if the spell is important enough, the Witch could completely drain the familiar of energy causing it to "die" or cease to exist. And in the case of a magical attack, the attack could be diverted to the familiar so that it would be the familiar which is destroyed rather than the magic user. None of these are things that I think any of us would want to do with our pets.

There is an excellent article on familars here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Familiar_spirit

Animals are very sensitive to the energies around them and they may be drawn to us when we are working magic because they can sense the energy. They also want to be around their people, which again will make them want to be where we are..and that may be where we are doing magic. Neither of these things makes the animal a familiar or inherently magical in and of itself.

Thank you

familiars are magical pets to a witch...they can aid you in spells and protect you from malevolent entities. in the old days witches used black cats to spy on people...and if you rub salt on the fur of a black cat during witching hour you will obtain more money.

They are not just constructs they also have different personalities and they don't have to be dogs or cars I know a person who has a snake

In my own opinion a familiar is any animal as far as I was taught and told a familiar chooses you not you choose them.
My familiar I have now I saved her from death while she was being born she was being born breech. Which means for those that do not know that instead of coming out head first her feet came out first. She knew the sound of my voice and would try her best to get out of her box to get to me. Once she and her siblings opened their eye's and she heard me coming down the stairs she would run up behind me and bat and the back of my leg until I picked her up.
I moved from that place and had to take her with me (I have not ever been a person to have a female cat.) I got settled in my new place and was doing some work one night. I forgot a couple things I needed I was just about to stop so I could get what I needed and have to start over when I looked up and she was bringing me every single thing I forgot.

To me my familiar is for that and so much more.