If you ask three different witches what a familiar spirit is, you’ll probably get at least nine different definition....In this piece, I will share what the Familiar Spirit is for me and for my tradition. This isn’t to say other traditions and witches who use the term familiar spirit in a different manner are wrong, just how my views and experiences differ from their views....

I will use capitalization of The Familiar Spirit to refer to the concept we use in Sacred Fires and lowercase familiar spirit to refer to other concepts regarding the familiar spirit, unless quoting someone else. If you’re interested in connecting with this sort of Familiar Spirit, Devin provides a process in of doing this in Chapter 11 of The Witches Book of Power and another process for doing this in Chapter 4 of The Witch’s Book of Spirits....

A few magical practitioners claimed that they first met their familiars in fairyland, or at the sabbath; however, a greater number claimed that their journey to these places had been initiated by the familiar’s invitation....Scattered throughout encounter-narratives from Southern England, where descriptions of sabbath and fairyland experiences are seldom found, we still find references to familiars attempting to lure magical practitioners to ‘go with them’, although the destination- is not specified.

The Familiar is its own independent and conscious entity that exists with or without you....

I can see why the Familiar and the Fetch get confused and conflated as there are many parallels. The Fetch is our lower self, our animalistic self, our connection to nature, and our physical nature....Though we may have different symbols or animal totems that represent the Fetch Soul in different traditions of witchcraft, I believe that the Familiar Spirit takes on the primary form that is familiar to our own Fetch, as a primary form of interaction – though it’s not limited to this. I would refer to the Fetch as the Familiar Soul or Familiar Self and not the Familiar Spirit, which I view as external but linked and understood primarily to the Familiar Self. Another common apparition of familiar spirits in history and among modern witches is that of the imp, which is a very Lower Self image....

The job of the Familiar Self is to help manifest the will of the magical worker....Likewise, this was the task of the Familiar in the European traditions of magic – to work the will of the Witch.

...Familiars can be seen as allies or spirit guides. But I view a strong distinction. I believe they are a type of spirit guide, but differ greatly from common spirit guides.

Familiars are spirits who intimately work with us. Not particularly invested in the enrichment of our souls, they are more interested in being friends and partners in crime. On occasion, as with what happened with me and my familiar, these allies can start off as guides and then over time move into the role of familiar. Guides are rarely permanent fixtures and have a tendency to come when needed and then exit the stage once the job is done. Sometimes you make friends, however, and they stick around, dropping the formality of mentor and guide and sliding into a much more intimate partnership of equals....Our partnership was prearranged in a previous life, and apparently we have been doing this for a long time. In my travels and intrigues I have found that many witches have similar past-life experiences and connections with their familiars.

...Familiars once recognized are lifelong partners, though they aren’t familiar until recognized – until then, it’s pretty much a Stranger waiting for you to remember it. The other key point here is the relationship between the Familiar and the Self through many lifetimes....

The Familiar Spirit is concerned with your vocation as a Witch. As such, they desire to ensure that you are the best witch you can be. They become somewhat of your sidekick (or perhaps you’re theirs) when it comes to the magickal path. As such, they will assist in magickal practices a spirit guide typically wouldn’t – because their focus is on helping you achieve greater magick, not the human conceptions of morality with that magick. They become intermediaries between you and other spirits, translators of psychic information, revelators of new magickal information and insights. The relationship feels like that of a soul mate – a concept I don’t typically believe in. They become your greatest partner, your greatest ally, and your greatest asset as a witch. There’s also a familiarity that feels like it goes beyond any one lifetime, a familiarity felt like none-other....