Re: the death of a familiar By: Personified / Knowledgeable
Post # 5 Aug 01, 2012
I think it honestly depends on your belief, tradition, practice, etc.
For instance, in the Norse tradition (which I follow): Your animal fylgja, which can be akin to a familiar, is attached to you in such an intricate way. It is believed that the fylgja is actually a part of the "soul", and thus as you can imagine the death of this fylgja would be devestating for the person it belongs to. Its thought that if the person passes, the fylgja will pass as well. If the fylgja passes, the person is said to become very sick (not unlike shaman sickness) and possibly pass as well. While that person may eventually form a new fylgja, or connect to another animal, they would still have to do shamanic work to overcome the loss of the first.
I'm sure the views vary from practice to practice, culture to culture- so I cannot say what is thought to happen from any other perspective than this one, which is my own.
your post i quite helpfull to me personified.i view my craft as very shamanistic though i obey few traditions as i follow and individualized sect of the arts.
Re: the death of a familiar By: WhiteRav3n / Knowledgeable
Post # 7 Aug 01, 2012
I believe that since familiars have such a close tie to us, they come back to us. My familiar followed my mother and I home when I was four years old, he was a stray kitten. He was a carrier for feline aids, but lived a long life free of the disease. He died when I was 17. A litter of kittens was born by a stray in my backyard when I was 19. I caught one of the kittens when they were 6 weeks old but unfortunately his mother had feline leukemia. He died when I was 21 of the disease his mother gave him, we had hoped it wouldn't become active but it did. Before he died, when he became ill, he began to display the same behavior of my old cat, and I recognized in his eyes that it was the same soul. I put him down to prevent him from suffering severely, cancer had developed in his stomach. A chihuahua showed up at my doorstep, 2 years later at 5mo old. He had no tags or chip. Like the others he quickly became attached to me. When he first saw me, he wagged his tail and came to me as if he recognized me. Thankfully he is very healthy and for that I'm grateful. He acts just like a cat. He chases string, laser pointers, and hates water/baths. He begs for milk and tries to rub his body on tuna fish like its an exotic perfume (I had to stop treating him to it because he would wear it instead of eat it). He even plays with toys by himself by tossing them and chasing after them. I don't think he realizes he isn't a cat.
thats uncanny white raven... the physical form of my familiar was a kitten me and my mother found when i was 1, also a carrier of feline aids, that passed when i was 17.
I just lost my familiar of 12 years today. She had to be put down. She chose me, sat with me when I first became Wiccan. I would leave her a spot to sit on my alter because I knew she would be there. I'll be burying her in the garden when I get her back from the vet, anyone have any ideas on how to honor a lost familiar?
Re: the death of a familiar By: Nekoshema / Novice
Post # 11 Apr 01, 2013
it is believed when humans die their spirit will be reborn as someone we know in the future. i don't see why the same wouldn't be true for animals/familiars. my first cat died suddenly [hit by a car] for many years after his death, at 1 in the morning [as he did when he was alive] i would hear my cat purring, i could feel him jump onto my bed, and even see his eyes, and he would curl up at the foot of my bed. sometimes i would try to move my legs to see if it was my imagination, or my other cat, i could swing my legs through the spot. my legs would go through fine, but it would feel as though it was passing through something, or something pushed against my legs slightly.
my dog [my familiar] also passed away suddenly [long story] i could still feel him with me for many years. he was a Sheppard mix, so with his bad hips he could never make it up the stairs [where the livingroom and my bedroom was] when he wanted me to come down, he would scratch at the first step. every so often after he died i could hear him scratching, and when i would go downstairs i felt like he was standing there.
one more, my cat died in 2009, we found him in our wood cellar when i was 7, all skin and bones. he was a very loyal cat. when i was 11 i moved, but Licorice hated cars [we think he was brought up in an RV because we lived near a bunch of camp sites, and he was declawed, no vet for miles would declaw cats] so we left him with my Nannie at the family farm [it's a huge house, we lived there too, my dad still did, a long story] well he lived there, outside, for many years [we think he was around 20] he died of old age, we still visit every summer, and even my Nannie [who can see spirits too] could see him sitting on the porch when it was sunny out. her dog [who was best friends with my cat] died last year, and we haven't seen Licorice's spirit since.
lol, i know that was more of a person story than any actual facts, but i've seen it myself, they normally stay behind for a little while before crossing over. then they could be reborn as another pet, or even a human, you never know.
Hello. I am new to the forum . What you wrote is dead on . My familiar is Comming to his final days . As he weakens so do I, as he forgets things so do I, as his health is failing so is mine . I didn't make the connection at first , getting weaker and weaker . Then I saw what was happening . He has been with me for 27 years . I am at a loss as what to do. When I moved here I left all behind . It's been a hard road . Not sure how to handle this one. But it was good to read your post. Made me feel like someone out there knows.
