hi mines female energy-not an animal spirit. I havent seen her but felt her presence right away. I just light candles for her every week.

Mine's a female wolf hound named Queen. She has a house (looks like a wooden bird house) and she came in a quartz crystal. I take her for walks with the dogs and take her shopping with me etc. I light a pink candle for her to honor her and her loyalty at least a couple of times a week. I try to talk to her on a daily basis just like one of my dogs.

I have 2 familiars - one lives in a little birdhouse just like the one Dogs has (probably same source) she is a spirit that is combined of a Russian woman and connected heavily to th planetary spirit of Mars (thats a topic yet to be discussed on CH!) - She is somewhat reserved and cool (in the good sense) but also very kind and brilliant. The other is a spirit of a cat that has taken the body form of a cat and ihas been around at least since the year 1644 (Maningtree Essex UK) and has taken the form of a hugh black pussycat named Pyewacket. Pye can shapeshift from pure spirit into an object. Pye came to me when I was a child. I know this stretches the boundaries of believability ("What, is he nuts?") but true...I saw a movie (Bell, Book & Candle) I went home to bed. He appeared in a dream. Then later, his shadowy cat form was around me a lot!!! and into the present. Pye is also very powerful and also, has a very mischeivous sense of humor.

They pretty much take care of themselves. Pye likes incense and the Russan-Mars Woman (She does not want her name made public) likes little dishes of water and some polished stones , and some "saw-dust cuttings" in a little phial that were collected when scientists cut apart one of those Mars rocks that were found & made the news a few years ago.

TO me, having spirits, familiars around the cabin is sort of a pleasant mix of being a social director, a family member, and having "etherial" friends in addition to ones like me that have a more solid body...

Hope this helps...

Caiyros

My familiar is a flesh and blood cat that I was originally fostering. However, she was still not adopted after a year later. I had had her since she was four weeks old. She was very unadoptable because she has a heart murmur and reduced lung capacity from pnemonia when she was only four weeks old; she spent two weeks in the oxygen chamber and never gave up! She was also in the hospital two times after that. A few months ago, I went to my first Imbolc celebration and the High Priestess drew down the goddess. THen, when talking to the goddess, she told me that this little cat wanted to stay with me, she thanked me for taking care of her, and that she was my familiar. After that, I had to adopt her!

Aww...that's a cute story. Sad though.

SOmehow through the energy of all this specific conversation, a new familiar has (quite unexpectedly) shown up, literally, at my door this past Thursday. Its a "he" with a private name aand a public name. His public name is "Allloway" and he is a shapeshifting toad.

He's quite cool...we are still learning about one another....

I firmly believe that it was the energy of all you guys just talking about familiars, on this thread and in this Forum.

Thanks Guys,
Caiyros

Speaking of familiars, just this morning I took the dogs for our usual walk which is around the horse pasture behind the house and through the woods a little ways. We always walk the fence line and go around twice. Somewhere during the last go around my puppy disappeared. I always take my familiar with me (a large black wolf hound) and hold her crystal in my left hand and stroke it, it's a habit of sorts because it's so smooth and I also know she likes being stroked as any dog would. I asked her to get the puppy and steer him back towards us. As I looked directly across the pasture I could see a large dark shadow darting in and out of the trees - I believe it was my familiar searching for the puppy. In a few minutes he came running across the pasture towards us, happy as a lark! I always say thank you to her, she does a marvelous job helping me keep track of the dogs.

holy moly 6dogs. That is quite a handy familiar. Now if I had a familiar that liked ironing, I would consider my self well set up in life.

LOL Jane! Do you think that there is one that likes to do the dishes?