Familiars

The definition of a familiar spirit:

A familiar spirit (alter ego, doppelgänger, personal demon, personal totem, spirit companion) is the double, the alter-ego, of an individual. It does not look like the individual concerned. Even though it may have an independent life of its own, it remains closely linked to the individual. The familiar spirit can be an animal (animal companion).

– Pierre A. Riffard

Here, I am NOT talking about the animal companion type of familiar based on ol’ British witchcraft lore. Today’s witches view their animal familiars in a different light. For the modern witch, a familiar can be any animal with which the individual feels an affinity. While these animals are not considered evil spirits, they’re far from being just a household pet and are treated as partners in the practice of magick.

I am talking about the familiar who has its origins from another plane. A familiar spirit who is in the act of looking for a spiritual, demonic, or magical human companion.

Wiki says, “The definition of a familiar may vary from person to person. Some believe that the familar is a projection of the self, others that it is a separate entity, and still others that it is a physical animal.”

You could be confused about the difference between servitors and familiars, as quite often the two terms are used interchangeably. I am guilty of calling my own familiar a servitor. The reason lies in the tradition I am following at that moment. In chaos magick, servitors are energy constructs. In demonology servitors are spiritual energies.

From my own perspective, servitors are thought forms created for a specific purpose, which do not have a separate and existing spiritual entity. Servitors are magical manifestations of desire, created from energy only.

A final note is not to become caught up on these definitions. Once you actually create each type the definitions will be clear.

A familiar(spirit) will use it’s magic, intelligence, and its host’s body(or object) to create a bond with a human that is spiritually/magically inclined as well as(or instead) a personal connection.All living beings have agendas so the relationship between the two companions can be beneficial for both.

The Purpose of a Servitor

Servitors may be created and used for a number of purposes—depending upon its function, a servitor may be referred to in a general sense as persuasive, talismanic, protective or predatory. As a witch i create and use all servitors for many reasons. In spell work for others, I mainly create predatory servitors.

Predatory servitors can:

  • primarily used to siphon or to break down energy – breaking down the outermost energetic layers of his or her aura and infecting or feeding upon their personal energy reserves. Additionally, such a technique may be used to simply weaken the defenses of the individual, leaving them open to attack by the witch.
  • siphon energy – to weaken auras as aforementioned or to harvest and store energy for later consumption by the witch.
  • for maleficium – servitors may be programmed to simply latch onto a person and remain inactive until that individual triggers it to react—such triggers may be that the individual was observed by the servitor plotting against the witch.
  • program a servitor to observe another person and to attack them whenever the person speaks ill of the witch.

You maybe wondering “How do I get a familiar?”

Familiars are created consciously by you – in your own mind or on the astral plane. They are also called Thought foms, Psi-balls, energy spirits etc. The assumption is that you are already proficient in meditation and visualization techniques, otherwise you will be quite disappointed in your inability to draw the energy into your space and/or work with the familiar.

Once you make the decision to create the familiar, and bring a familiar into your life to do the task required, you may wish to call upon a demon who will help you achieve the successful manifestation of the familiar spirit. Demons have great powers and control of such entities, so it is wise to use your relationship with a demon to control the familiar.

The demon I believe is most helpful in this matter, is the Goetia demon Buer.

Buer is a great president, and is seene in this signe; he absolutelie teacheth philosophie morall and naturall, and also logicke, and the vertue of herbes: he giveth the best familiars, he can heale all diseases, speciallie of men, and reigneth over fiftie legions.

Pseudomonarchia daemonum – Johann Wier (1583)

Demons who can help you obtain a familiar

  • Buer
  • Paimon
  • Purson
  • Marax
  • Gaap
  • Belial
  • Amducias
  • Anus
  • Alloces
  • Shax
  • Malphas
  • Sabnock