#alectromancy

[witch-upon-starr]

Fun fact

Alectromancy is divination by observing roosters pecking their food.

Make a circle using the letters of the alphabet (use chalk, use sticks to write in mud, use cut out letters, etc).

Place an equal amount of grain on top of each letter.

Put a rooster in the center of the circle and let him loose.

Observe the order the rooster picks up the grain. The words that are formed is your oracle.

[proflambeovt]

People have a lot of methods to tell the future, but personally I wouldn't put a lot of stock in the rooster to foretell the winning soccer team. #instaart #artistoninstagram #cartoon #characterdesign #oldlady #fortuneteller #alectromancy #rooster #chicken #lineart #disneyanimation #pixarstudios #cartoonnetwork #blueskystudios #laikastudios

[chickensinliterature]

Magic and Divination from CHICKEN by Annie Potts 

This post welcomes you to our new page “Chicken Recommended” wherein us chickens get to bring you some things we particularly like and care about.  Click here.

“Chickens play a role in divination for many cultures. The Azande tribe of Sudan feeds chickens benge, a substance poisonous to them, and determines the answer to a problem depending on whether or not the birds survive. Africans taken to America as slaves brought with them beliefs about divination and magic; one traditions deemed that ‘the avid scratchings of a wildly feathered, “frizzled” chicken in the earth [revealed] that some dangerous unknown maleficence lay beneath the surface’.The Pwa Ka Nyaw Po of Myanmar and Kariang or Yang tribes of Thailand use bamboo splinters insertied in the holes of chicken bones during rheir fortune-telling ceremonies, and decisions are based on the angles thet the splinters arrange into when placed inside the perforations.

The role of chickens as soothsayers goes back to ancient times. In Greek legend Alectryon was sent to guard against intrusion while Ares and Aphrodite conducted and illicit affair. Because he fell asleep at his post, leaving the two lovers to be discovered by Helios the sun, Alectryon was turned into a rooster so that he would forever remember to announce the coming dawn. Fortune-telling involving chickens is therefore called alectromancy, from the Greek for alectruon for ‘cock’ and manteia meaning ‘divination’. Alectromancers interpret chicken entrails during ritual named haruspicy; they examine stones found in the stomachs of roosters (a practice called alectorii); and they observe chickens’ appetites through a process called oraculum ex tripudio. For the latter method a circle is created using the letters of the alphabet, each sprinkled with an equal quantity of grain. A rooster or a hen is placed in the circle and observed to see how quickly he or she eatsand which letters are favoured. The letters chosen spell out a prophesy—a gallinaceous precursor of the Ouija board. 

The Etruscan civilization of ancient Italy and Corsica used another version of alectromancy: a high priest interpreted the order in which hens pecked at corn. The Etruscans also originated the wishbone custom—the practice of pulling apart the chicken’s dried clavicle bone to determine who gets the longer fragment and is thereby granted a wish. Both traditions were adopted by the Romans when they colonized Etruscan society at the end of the sixth century BC.” 

Painting of Woman Feeding the Hens from Tacuinum sanitatis, a medieval health and wellness book (ca. 1370-1400).

[escher-room-with-a-view]

elaborating on my autism headcanons!!

- sarah -

her special interests are usually between one and three. once she develops a special interest, it stays with her for years; in fact, some of her interests, like reading and writing, have been with her for as long as she can remember. her other special interests are theatre and arts and crafts; the latter is quite a broad category, but it includes things like sewing, felting, embroidery, watercolor painting, book binding, and making collages. sarah delves further into her interests the more they’re encouraged, but she also uses them as coping mechanisms to feel better about or distract herself from the real world around her. in the cases of acting and crafts, she uses these to express how she feels, whereas reading and writing are used more as forms of escapism. her favorite genre of literature is fantasy, though she doesn’t mind any particular fantasy subgenres and is willing to broaden her knowledge of the genre by reading most of them. meanwhile, she isn’t anywhere near as selective when it comes to theatre. so long as there’s a soundtrack and cast that resonates with her, she doesn’t care if it’s opera or ballet, tragedy or comedy, contemporary or dating back thousands of years. indeed, she doesn’t ever feel like her knowledge of theatre is complete—and while it feels unattainable, she’d like to develop at least a cursory knowledge of every play there is.

sarah stims by talking to herself, chewing on her lips or hair, pacing, doing needlework, doodling, and absentmindedly writing. she also has echolalia, repeating the same word or phrase to herself either out loud or in her head; certain phrases can get stuck in her head for weeks on end. she’s rather quiet when she talks to herself—in fact, most of the time, she just whispers or mutters. furthermore, when pacing, she walks in circles or back and forth. she doesn’t use stim toys very much because they don’t appeal to her, though she does like the idea of making her own stim toys and other objects, such as slime or reversibles.

her relationship with routine is complicated. on the one hand, she doesn’t take change well and has difficulty adapting to new situations, especially those that are unfamiliar and stressful. this means that, to some extent, she prefers it when things stay the same. however, this is more of a general status quo sort of sameness that she likes to maintain. on a smaller level, she’s easily bored by sameness and likes it when at least one novel or interesting thing happens each day. for instance, if sarah has gone to the same school her entire life, she’s going to be upset—even devastated—if circumstances force her to change schools without any sort of preparation or warning. however, if her commute to the school every day is identical, she’ll grow bored of it easily and may one day consider taking a different path there just to see what happens.

sarah tends to struggle with eye contact and, on the rare occasions that she wants to maintain it, has to force herself to do so. it makes her immensely uncomfortable to look someone in the eye for an extended period of time. while irene sometimes mistakes this for her not listening, sarah is trying to explain that it’s not something within her control.

she is hyposensitive to (and indeed fascinated with) colors and lights. however, loud noises bother her and can be painful for her. sarah also prefers not to be touched unless she initiates the contact first. being touched without her permission startles her and makes her immensely uncomfortable, as does being surrounded or cornered; all of these can easily overwhelm her in the right circumstances. she hates haunted houses for this exact reason. her hyposensitivity also extends to texture and physical sensations, albeit not in the same way; rather than being obsessed with or actively seeking out sensations and textures, sarah is so hyposensitive to both of them that she sometimes doesn’t even notice sensory input unless it’s excruciatingly painful or needs constant adjusting. her senses of taste and smell are neither above nor below what’s considered average, though she has a preference for sweets, white meat, and anything crunchy. 

something else that she and jareth have in common is the fact that their living spaces, specifically their rooms, both have to be organized in a very specific way. any alterations in this organization are bothersome and overwhelming to the both of them; this includes rearranging or removing objects, changing the location of the room entirely, or changes in things like how much light or air the room receives. 

- jareth -

he tends to have a lot of special interests at a time, and they change often. his current ones are architecture, illusions, astronomy, fashion, humans/anthropology/sociology, various pseudosciences, and surrealist art. however, in the past he’s been interested in ornithology, geology, romanticism in art and literature, the labyrinth’s prehistory, wordplay and rhetorical/literary devices, cats, different types of governments, letter writing, collecting trinkets and antiques, choreography, and many, many more. living for such a long time has provided him with the opportunity to both develop and engage in a wide variety of passions. in fact, some of these past special interests still remain with him today and simply aren’t considered his “main” ones anymore because they’re not as strong.

his favorite pseudosciences are graphology, phrenology, and astrology. he also likes to try and determine the future via methods like alectromancy, astromancy, augury, scrying, and lithomancy.

he stims using crystals/via contact juggling. this is usually when he’s understimulated, absentminded, or just needs something to occupy himself with. it’s also enjoyable to him. he has other ways of stimming, though, many of which are meant to self-soothe. for instance, feeling nervous or excited might drive him to shake one leg or hand; he also feels compelled to chew on things in such instances. when overwhelmed, he scratches his arms as one would if they had an itch. jareth is trying to stop doing this and is thus looking for alternatives. he views stim toys as some of humanity’s greatest inventions. if he lived aboveground, i imagine he’d have different versions of the same stim toys for different purposes: neutral colors when he needs to prevent overstimulation, bright colors when he’s just stimming because it makes him happy.

he doesn’t mind loud noises, but he is sensitive to bright lights and colors. in fact, he’s so nonchalant toward noise that, when he listens to music, he likes for it to be as loud as possible. in his mind, good music is never quite loud enough. there are certain textures and tastes he doesn’t like, which drives him to be very selective with what he wears and what he eats. with regards to clothing, he likes silk and leather but can’t stand wool, denim, anything baggy or distressed, or velvet. because he conducts magic through his hands, he has sensitive palms; his gloves allow him to touch things without being bothered by them, while also allowing him to use magic undeterred. he’s especially sensitive around food, preferring things that are bland or savory and refusing to eat anything with a consistency that’s too soft. for instance, he finds eggs revolting in most forms.

without a routine, jareth tends to become dejected or burnt out. unfortunately, though, his frequent executive dysfunction makes it difficult for him to plan out and adhere to routines without frequent reminders—which, when they come in the form of goblins, usually annoy him more than anything else. this is why he hasn’t had a proper schedule in years. it’s a bit of a vicious cycle; his unhappiness has led to a lack of motivation, and his difficulty creating something he can stick to has made him even more unhappy. he works best with clear, written instructions that are placed where he can see them. he especially needs specific times to eat and sleep; without them, irritability and physical discomfort set in. in the event that he does have a routine, changes that might seem small to others are often nerve-racking to him.

though he sometimes uses eye contact and close proximity to others to intimidate, he genuinely feels uncomfortable without eye contact and has difficulty remembering to mind others’ personal space most of the time. he can be quite touchy-feely when he cares about someone—even platonically—and isn’t afraid of showing it, but he doesn’t really know when or if to back off unless explicitly told to.

- didymus -

when it comes to special interests, he and sarah have a lot in common. they both love drama and literature; however, didymus has a particular interest in folklore, both that of humans and that of the labyrinth. he only has two special interests: literature (including plays) and history. both of these influenced his desire to become a knight and continue to influence his behavior, as he seeks to emulate the idea of a noble and valiant knight to a T. he has some difficulty responding appropriately to or understanding various social cues. as a result, he spends most of his nights and some of his mornings scripting out how his day is going to go: how he’s going to speak to other people, how they might respond to him, and how he’s going to respond to their responses. whenever didymus makes a new friend, he puts effort into studying their mannerisms and personality so he can adequately pinpoint how they might behave toward him and thus figure out how he’s going to interact with them. furthermore, he speaks and acts like a gallant knight from a fairytale or play because of his constant reading. his consumption of literature provides him with a consistent model of behavior that’s bound by a set of rules, unlike the behavior of people in the real world—which can often be unpredictable, and whose rules are less coherent. as a result, didymus believes that emulating the kinds of characters he admires will make others admire him in turn, and make him easier to understand. 

his favorite earth authors are william shakespeare, miguel de cervantes, and alexandre dumas. he is also especially fond of arthurian legend and various human mythologies, such as norse, celtic, and japanese.

one of his favorite ways to stim is by chasing or wagging his tail. he also stims by absentmindedly practicing swordfighting moves with his cane, scratching behind his ear with a hind paw, pacing, and talking to himself. pacing is the only one out of all of these that doesn’t lift his spirits; rather, he does it when he’s thinking because it helps his ideas flow. didymus is most inclined to chase his tail or scratch his ears when he’s bored, practice his parries when excited, and talk to himself when he’s overwhelmed. in the last case, this is often combined with pacing; together, both stims provide a good release for emotions he has difficulty expressing otherwise. when didymus talks to himself, he is unlike sarah in that he doesn’t do so quietly. his volume remains the same as it usually is in a conversation; when he grows passionate, it raises accordingly. sarah introduced him to stim toys; his favorite ones are the ones that make noise, whether they click or woosh or do something else. he also uses dog toys as substitutes and enjoys the ones that squeak, though he has to keep his own set somewhere where ambrosius won’t find it.

his strongest sense by far is his sense of smell; it isn’t necessarily a lot of scents at once that can be upsetting for him, but rather scents that he finds unpleasant. these include sharp or chemical smells such as vinegar, ammonia, spices, perfume, citrus, alcohol, cleaning products, and herbs. aside from these, there aren’t any smells he can confidently say he doesn’t like. he also has hypersensitive hearing and prefers soft classical music, hymns and chants, or music that dates back thousands of years. he hates the sound of bells chiming, loud drums, or thunder; the last of these especially bothers him, though he would never admit it. he was once bothered by the sound of metal objects clanging together when he was a kit, but he appears to have outgrown that in particular. he has poor color vision, as do most canines, so bright colors don’t affect him at all. he finds flashing lights mildly frightening in some cases and annoying in others.

to didymus, routine is the thief of joy. he craves adventure every day and hates when things are the exact same; even having to do the same task in the same way as he did the day before, for instance, is enough to bore him out of his skull. as a result, he likes to mix up how he does things by placing his daily activities in different orders, doing them with his friends, or replacing some activities with others entirely. for instance, he, hoggle, and ludo take turns with household chores—not only so that they can share responsibilities, but so that didymus can have time to go off and pursue his knightly dreams. much of the time, his friends are willing to accompany him on his adventures so long as he’s able to keep them safe—and so long as they can be home by dinner.

he doesn’t really like eye contact, but he tries to maintain it because he thinks doing so is respectful. he does see one perk to his small stature; he’s too short to meet eyes with most people, so his lack of eye contact usually isn’t judged. it wouldn’t be either way because almost everyone in the labyrinth either is ND or knows someone who is ND, but he really does want to maintain eye contact because the books he reads make him think that it’s the proper thing to do. his friends are trying to convince him that he doesn’t need to make eye contact if it makes him uncomfortable; however, because he seems to believe that it’s a rule, he has difficulty convincing himself not to follow it. in fact, didymus is very much inclined to follow the rules that are provided to him and becomes anxious when encouraged or required to break them. without clear rules, the world becomes nonsensical and unpredictable—and therefore upsetting—to him. it was his idea to propose a set of rules for his friends’ home; they accepted and have worked together to write them down so that guests know how to behave.

he gets along really well with the wiseman; despite his typical impatience, didymus is one of few people who actually have the patience to listen to the wiseman. in fact, didymus isn’t just patient with him; his ramblings actively intrigue didymus, and whenever he has the opportunity he makes his contributions as big as he possibly can. didymus really appreciates it when his friends let him infodump, and he figures it’s only fair that he should let others do the same. in fact, didymus also places a lot of value on fairness; it’s the whole reason he opposes jareth in the first place.

[barberwitch]

I was wondering about your thoughts on familiars? 🐍🦍🐆🐺🦉🐈🦚🦔🐇😁

*Cracks knuckles…prepares for the shit storm* brace yourselves...loooong fucking post.

95% of people I’ve seen talk about familiars, post pictures of their familiars and talk about how their *insert animal companion* helps them with their spell work…aren’t familiars. They are animal companions, aka pets. They also insist that because they are a witch with and animal who sits on their tarot cards, that it’s automatically a familiar.

Familiars can come in different forms (not talking about cat vs dog vs snake) but it must be reminded that familiar is shortened of “spirit familiar”. It’s not that pets can’t be familiars, it’s that the people who talk about their pets as familiars take inspiration from pop culture of what a familiar is. It’s not just an animal that follows the witch around. A familiar actively assists with the witch’s work. 

Familiars that come in the shape of animals have been around for ages, and across cultures, but the things that ties them together is they appear of their own volition or in specific ways. They aren’t purchased from a pet store, they aren’t adopted from the shelter…is it possible? Sure I guess? Pet stores weren’t really around when most of the accounts of familiar came from. Oof. I need to organize my thoughts a bit.

Familiars Spirits are traditionally intangible/supernatural entities that may or may not choose to appear in physical form whether animal, entity’s “True Form”, or even under disguise, whether as something else or even as another person. Spirit familiars may also inhabit inanimate objects such as statues, spirit vessels (fetiche) such as roots, clay or earthen figures, empty boxes etc.

Familiars as Gifts

In some accounts, a familiar is given to a witch or cunning folk by another person. 

In these cases it’s usually given by a teacher or mentor, or a family member to assist the practitioner in their path. Traditionally it’s someone with a hand in the recipients magical practice.

The spirit passed down may be the witch (or cunningfolk, but for the remainder of this post, I will refer to them interchangeably) indefinitely. The implication there is that the familiar not only is connected to the witch, but to their specific practice and thus can be viewed as a guardian of the path with the assumption that eventually, the witch will pass the familiar onto the next generation.

It may also be a personal familiar that is passed down. Personal as in this is the first time the familiar is passed on, and could become the type mentioned above (guardian style of either the path or family line) or it may be a temporary contract. The familiar may be with the witch to protect it, and assist in place of the original practitioner and may leave/disappear/die when they are able to conjure their own and enter into a pact with a new familiar (or create a pact with the old familiar).

In the case of being passed on, the relationship between witch and familiar, in lieu of a teacher, may impart certain secrets of the path. IT may also not even give the option to continue the relationship if the previous witch only extended the contract to get the new practitioner to a certain point or through hardship. 

It should also be pointed out that specifically in european traditions and some north american lore, that the spirit familiar is given to the witch or magical practitioner by yet another spirit or entity who is more powerful. This could be a spirit mentor, Faery, or as a pact with “The Man in Black” Ol Scratch, or some iteration that has been interpreted as the devil or satan. In these cases, it is both a symbol of the relationship, a representative of the pact, a gift, and a tool.

 Familiars as Animals

As mentioned and popularized both in folklore and in pop culture, familiar spirits may appear in the form of animals.

In the overly popular example of the Salem Witch trials, we see through trial records the purported importance of a “Witch’s Mark”. The mark is some bodily anomaly that supposedly was where the witch could suckle their familiar. It could be a mole, a birthmark, skintag, and was instrumental in the conviction of the accused.

Certain animals are more likely to be the form of a familiar, and that also depends on the geography of the witch as well as the culture. Example, in the US, black cats are inherently associated with witches, but in Scottland, Britain and other countries, you’re may be more likely to find a connection through hares, toads, and ravens more commonly than the black cat.

One reason that they appear as more common animals is to maintain the secrecy that envelopes the witch.

In pop culture, it’s always obvious when a familiar is a familiar because the animal is represented in stark contrast between the other animals. You will notice if a black crow flies to the same person’s house day in and day out when there are no other crows around. You would also notice if you were in the dessert, and a toad is always standing guard outside a home. The animal forms match the surroundings so it would be conceivable for the witch to deny the familiar as what it is “I found this toad in the scullery, it’s so pesky living near that damnable pond. Please wait a moment while I put this outside.”

There is also a connection and interpretation of familiars as being body doubles, or as having room for 2 spirits. Many stories about the folkloric witch hold that the animal appears throughout the town, or visits neighbors etc and is in fact the witch. Some versions hold that the familiar takes the form of the specific animal because that’s the form the witch can assume (conversely, the familiar teaches the witch to transform into a copy of it). This again maintains the witch’s anonymity because if you see the same animal around for a long time, it’s less likely to raise suspicion. It has also been alluded to that the witch enters the body of the familiar or projects their conscious into the familiar to see what need be seen and do what need be done remotely.

Animal familiar spirits in other accounts assume that shape to better serve the witch whether as lookout, intelligence gatherer or collector of needed ingredients.

Familiars also can assume the shape of multiple animals at once, but usually will be the same one, and smaller such as a cloud of flies, grouping of spiders, several small frogs, and even flocks of birds such as starlings, magpies and sparrows. Again, this depends on both the area and the witch.

Familiar Pets

This is one exception that can easily fall into the category of mundane pets and animals being considered familiars (Please note I said this is the easy exception. There may be others, but those are individual cases.)

Some animals are kept as divinatory familiars. This falls under the branch of Zoomancy - divination done through interpretation of movements actions and reaction of animals.

Ailuromancy, coming from the greek ailouros meaning “cat” is divination through…cats. How this is done varies depending on the culture and time, but it’s done by interpreting the movements, and actions of cats. Noticing how cats jump, where they land, what they do with their tales, whiskers, how they curl up, wash their faces, intonations of their meows. 

Alectromancy is the process of using hens and or roosters for divination. Sometimes its observing their movements naturally, other times it’s done by placing the chicken in a circle with different symbols and placing feed on all the symbols, interpreting the actions and choices of the chicken as the answer to the question.

Arachnomancy is the process of divining knowledge past present and future through spiders. It’s been done in multiple cultures from the Inca who kept spiders to answer questions by placing them in bowls and reading how they moved the leaves around. In China, women would collect spiders at fortuitous times in incense boxes and determine events based on if they made webs or didn’t over night. In other cultures, the keeping of spiders was done to read their webs and habits. In other parts of the world, different type of leaves, or cards were moved by kept spiders to interpret omens and fortune.

The reason that these are considered familiars is because they are used directly in the witch’s work. They are kept and fed and cared for, but they have a separate purpose from just existing, and that is as a tool.

I have nothing against pets, I’ve got three myself. I love them, I care for them, they comfort me when I am sick, or tired, or stressed, but they are mundane animals. They were adopted, they were raised, and they do dog things. I joke when I refer to my black dog Arlo as a familiar because he brings me avocados. I don’t use avocados that often in my craft and there’s a tree in my backyard so it’s nothing spiritually enriching, just adorable.

Is it possible that your pet is a familiar? Yes. But most likely it’s just a treasured animal, and familiar in this definition: One who is often seen, and well known; synonym: Companion. Alt.: in close friendship; intimate. Synonyms: Casual, friendly, comfortable, informal.

The term “familiar”, the noun in regards to witches is a different definition: a spirit often embodied in an animal and held to attend and serve or guard a person.

There is precedent to referring to pets as familiars when it comes to having animals that are integral to your craft.

While it may not do anything inherently magical, if used for magic then it is sometimes referred to as a familiar.

Using an animal/pet for a working can also be referred to as using a familiar. Some people use their pets as a conduit or even as a spell holder to deliver the spell to someone else.

Paul Huson refers to these types of animals/familiars/magistelli as a power object

Yes, I mean you can put a hex on someone through your dog. Yes I also mean you can deliver a hex to someone by them petting your dog. or a blessing...that too

Additional note...If you’ve pissed off another witch and go to their home ask if they’ve read my blog before petting their dog. They may be using it to hex you...or bless you.

What does this mean?

If your pet doesn’t attend and serve you in your magical workings, or used in your magical workings on purpose it’s not a traditional witch’s spirit familiar.

If your pet gives you attention and happiness it is familiar to you.

A witch doesn’t need to have a familiar to be a witch. Yes, the 1648 law in Massachusetts defined a witch as one who “hath or consulteth with a familiar spirit.” But even that denotation of what makes a witch was repealed in 1682, ten years before the Salem witch trials. Even the puritans recognized that not all witches have familiars, and sometimes an animal is just an animal.

Familiar Spirits additionally

Some familiar spirits may appear and be subservient or loyal immediately. No pact or contract needs to be done, it’s more just…there.

Familiar spirits may be other spirits who enter into a pact with the witch. Either appearing spontaneously, or through a summons and communication.

This pact may be for a week, a month, several years, or a lifetime…even longer (see above, Familiars as gifts).

Familiars may not always be present. Some may have a resting place the witch must go to, some reside in a different realm, plane, dimension or whatever and need to be called forth to do work. Some may be around the witch at all times, but there is still the function of the familiar.

Familiars do what witches cannot. If that’s going out, gathering items, retrieving lost things, there is an air of purpose that familiars fulfill in assisting the witch in a real way.

This real way is often either physical or spiritual, and with the exception of popculture, most times it is not in an emotional sense like pets fulfill.

Familiars are spirits, and their forms may change, but they are spirits none the less. 

Plant familiars are a thing. Most famous is the Alraune/Alrune/Alruna made from a mandrake. Other plant familiars are grouped under the title of Magistellius Flora.

Magistelli is one title for familiars, and some historians denote that the term “familiar” was passed on from the church to further pass judgement on witches for becoming familiar with the devil (through demonic servants).

As mentioned previously, spirit familiars may inhabit objects and go forth from there. The physical tether is usually cared for and attended to by the witch.

Even though the vessel isn’t living, it is fed and tended to usually as part of the pact made with the spirit.

Familiars in Pop Culture That are More Accurate than Others...

The VVitch (Movie)- the hare that appear numerous times throughout the film is a familiar. It’s not made clear if it is there as a watcher for the witch either holding the witch’s conscious, or as the witch herself. Another possibility is that the hare is a harbinger, delivering an enchantment on behalf of the witch to go unnoticed (The musket backfiring while the hare is watching). Another iteration or possibility is that the familiar is taking on the stance of protector or guard. When deep in the woods the hare is seen, and as the location of where the witch(es) live in the woods, it could be implied that it stands guard to repel interlopers, or notify the witch(es) of the presence of the puritans. The hare also, while not as widely associated with witches in the United States currently, must be recognized as still being very intensely connected to witches during the time period. The puritans immigrated to the colonies from England, and it can be inferred that the witch(es) who are at work in the woods also came from England or another European country.

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV) - Sabrina actively seeks a familiar and goes into the woods asking for a (hob)goblin to attend her as a partner. Though it’s also acknowledged that familiars can be subservient and chosen that way. Numerous times, the cat (Salem) acts as a protector for Sabrina. As mentioned above, familiars are sometimes called forth to guide and protect witches through trying times, or to be near the witch to assist with workings when other witches cannot. You also see the spirit form of the goblin before it chooses what shape to inhabit. It’s usual for the true nature of the familiar to only be visible by the witch it has a contract with, but accounts (and experience) of others being able to see flits of the spirit if not discernable details is exhibited by Salem only showing his true form to Sabrina when they enter into the pact.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (TV) - Being a prime example of the British and Scottish interpretations of Spirit familiars being Fae, Faery, or the Good Neighbors, the story line includes a Faery referred to as “The Gentleman” (Further example of the relationship between fae and witches relating to the importance of names) who wishes to be the assistant, teacher, mentor of Mr. Norrell. A “common” occurence in scottish witch lore is that either the faery that the witch/cunning folk learns from in some cases is a familiar, but in other accounts bestows a familiar (lesser faery, animal spirit etc) unto the practitioner. This also is a fair representation both of the care needed when working with the fae, but also with working with spirits in general as they have autonomy, and a familiar gained through a pact, needs to be respected.

Harry Potter (Movie And Book Series) - While there are plenty of animals, fantastic beasts and witches throughout the story lines, there are only 2 (kinda 3) animals that fulfill the traditional sense of the word “Familiar”. Mrs. Norris the cat and Argus Filch have a relationship that is a parody of who people would assume is a witch (the irony being that he has no magical powers, but lives among those who do). A curmudgeonly man with a bad attitude, snarl and distaste for interacting with the general populous and a craving for torturing children with a cat (reads like a stereotypical witch). Mrs. Norris is described as having an uncanny ability to find rule breakers and an unexplainable connection to her owner. Being able to notify him when there’s rukebreaking afoot with a yowl and also being able to recognize and see through enchantments (Harry’s cloak). Nagini also fits the bill as being an animal with whom only the witch/wizard can communicate who also is able to act independently of them. Also being sent out both as scout, guard and having a connection the owner can use to see through their eyes/inhabit (Voldemort in Nagini/ the department of mysteries. Also the shapeshifting into Bathilda Bagshot and notifying her owner of Harry’s prescience.) **BEFORE YALL TRY AND GO OFF. I realize that as of the newest film, nagini can’t be considered a familiar as she’s a cursed witch blah blah blah. Before it came out, the books representation of Nagini is textbook Familiar.** Speaking of Fantastic Beasts, the Matagat are described as familiar spirits and it’s a little nod to folklore. They appear for like 3 minutes.

Bell, Book, and Candle (movie)- this film is full of tropes. It lays on some pretty thick liberties loosely based on lore surrounding traditional witches mixing it with fairy tale lore about them, namely witches being unable to love etc. But, the cat familiar Pyewacket is an accurate representation of how a familiar can act and be used. Touching on the subject of working magic through the familiar who is more cat with magic, than imp/goblin/demon/fairy/brownie in animal form, the main character uses Pyewacket as both a conduit for her spells as well as sending it forth for her bidding. It also represents the familiars ability to have autonomy and choose whether or not to listen if the pact is broken (this is shown by Pyewacket’s rejection to the main character after she rejects her powers).

Salem(TV) - Another example of familiars, with the additional Witch’s Mark lore incorporated.

Pan’s Labyrinth (Movie) - The mandrake is a textbook magistellus flora root familiar alrune piece of delicious representation.

There are others too but this post is long enough.

So....there are some of my thoughts. Also keep in mind that this is focusing on familiars in North America and European lore. There’s additional context to be had and differences when including South America, Asia, Africa and Australia. Also keep in mind, this is my view and opinions, if you call your parakeet a familiar, I don’t really care. That’s your choice and your practice and as the world adjusts so do practices, but as a traditional witch and folkloric witch myself......I could go on and on and had to stop myself from talking about Greek Genius spirits, Animism, accounts and trial records of witches and familiars, the Allegory of the Cave and more.

TLDR: Familiars are real, I work with them and they are not my pet dogs. If the only reason you call a pet a familiar is because it’s in the room while you light incense and you’re a witch...it’s probably not a traditional familiar. You can call it that sure, but it’s a different definition than is widely accepted and assumed when you say Witch’s familiar. If you do include your pet for workings then that falls in line with some of the iterations of the classical familiar.

🦇Cheers, Barberwitch

[theladymorganlefay]

Alectryomancy 

(also called alectoromancy or alectromancy) is a form of divination in which the diviner observes a bird, several birds, or most preferably a white rooster or cockerel pecking at grain that the diviner has scattered on the ground. The observer may place grain in the shape of letters and thus discern a divinatory revelation by noting which letters the birds peck at, or the diviner may just interpret the pattern left by the birds' pecking in randomly scattered grain.

In another version, the observer tethers the bird in the center of a circle, around the perimeter of which is marked the alphabet, with a piece of grain at each letter. For each grain the bird pecks, the observer writes down the letter which that grain represents. The observer also replaces each grain as the bird eats it, so that letters may be repeated. The sequence of letters recorded will presumably contain a message.

[smallandtinyhomeideas]

Wishbone Tiny Homes | Teal Brown & Associates

photos / Christopher Tack

Gentle reminder: dry your bones thoroughly prior to alectryomancy.