The Witch's Familiar: Spiritual Partnership for Successful Magic

by Raven Grimassi

Since ancient times, witches and magicians have worked magic with the aid of Familiars, or helpful spirits. Familiars may take the form of a beloved pet, a totem animal, or even a helpful nonphysical entity. Explore the fascinating history of Familiar spirits in The Witches' Familiar . Written by one of today's leading authorities on both Wicca and traditional hereditary Witchcraft, this book is your complete guide to finding and working with a Familiar. You'll read about the three types of physical, astral, and spiritual. Learn how to call a Familiar to you, and how to choose an appropriate name. Discover how to use magical seals and sigils to command or release a nonphysical Familiar. Protect yourself and your loved ones by asking your Familiar to guard your home. Make your magic even more potent by enlisting your Familiar's aid in spellwork and ritual. Keep your bond strong, and find out how to release a Familiar when its work is done or it has passed from the physical plane. This is the first book to present never-before-published traditional Craft methods for working with Familiars as well as historical examples from Western ceremonial magic. Your magic will be even more powerful when you combine forces with a Familiar face.

Genres: Witchcraft, Nonfiction, Occult, Wicca, Paganism, Spirituality, Animals

192 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2003

About the author

Raven Grimassi was an American author of over 20 books, and a scholar of paganism with over 40 years of research and study in the genre of Wicca, Stregheria, witchcraft and neo-paganism.

Reviews

[María · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un libro corto pero muy completo sobre los Familiares de las brujas (y con bibliografía al final). Lástima que hay cierto tono opresivo y dominante sobre estos Familiares. Esto chocará con la mayoría de las brujas, estoy segura, ya que muchas de ellas (me incluyo) ven una relación recíproca, sana, agradable y NUNCA de dominio sobre sus Familiares. Así que no comparto todo lo que dice, pero el trabajo es extenso y cuidado.

[Shari Marshall · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The Witch’s Familiar” by Raven Grimassi is an informative book.

Spirits can live within an animal host’s body, and a witch can develop a relationship with it. Familiars come in many forms and can serve and assist with many purposes.

Although a smaller book, “The Witch’s Familiar” is packed with information. It reads like a how-to text for witches interested in working with familiars. The text includes directions for creating seals and simple drawings, which are complementary visuals. Spells and incantations are included as well. However, spells could be perceived as shocking because they include the use of bodily substances. Overall, “The Witch’s Familiar” is an interesting read.

“The Witch’s Familiar” by Raven Grimassi is an educational tool for witches wanting to learn about familiars.

[nadia anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fact that the book talks mostly about spiritual familiars is exactly what I was looking for.
I thought it to be very informative, not too long, it offered seals to work with, rituals to bond with animal spirit. Of course, not everything resonated with me, but that's normal in witchcraft. You learn a new thing, and you shape it into what feels just right in your own craft. Some parts that felt more like "enslaving" the familiar were not my thing, also I am not Wiccan which is ok, I'll just change the spells so it fits to my needs, I also especially needed help with finding out what's the name of my Familiar and this book just did not satisfy my need with that but that's okay. It deserves 4 stars in my opinion

[Jody · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like this book. First, he wanted to deal mainly with spiritual familiars. Then he talked about taking an animal or plant spirit and imprisoning it in a container so it will do his will. He also permits the spirits to enter his own body to clearly align with them and to strengthen his power and direction over them. The author discusses how they have evil intentions and how you have to control this.

Maybe as I become more informed, this book will become meaningful. However, it seems unkind all around.

(Our book club did not like the book either.)

[Kimberly Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to give this a 2.5, but I will give it a 3, because for most other "Craftspeople" this book will be useful.

This book contained an abundance of information that is good for a practicing "craftsperson"..... But it is not what I needed or wanted.

Personally, I just wasn't moved by the book.... I was looking for something more, but can't really explain it... I was looking for an explanation, an "Aha!" piece of information.

This is a good book, none-the-less for a beginner or intermediate student of the "Craft"....

[Ronel Janse van Vuuren · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting approach to spirit animals/familiars. A good book to have in your library if you’re writing about witches.

[Krisanne Lane · Rating 3 out of 5]

So… this was a decent book about familiar spirits and servitors (though Grimassi doesn’t call them that). There are a lot of crafts and rituals for this purpose, some of which are good, some meh, and some just downright weird. A lot of these practices are more ceremonial, with specific numbers of candles in specific colors in specific orientations with very little explanation as to why those were chosen. Same with any other elements included. Without the why, I struggle to connect with the ritual.

Grimassi makes heavy use of his seals drawn towards the beginning of the book. I’m no artist myself, but many of these seals seem… honestly, kind of cheesy. And even though he tells you when to use them, they still seem unnecessary.

The section on plant familiars began really well, and I was excited to read some detail on how to connect with these. Then the planting instructions came, and it again became overly complicated.

I actually really liked Appendix 2. Even though it was a kind of encyclopedia of animal familiars, there were some interesting nuggets in there. Don’t skip that part.

Overall, this was an okay book. I wouldn’t recommend it to absolute beginners, because I think the complexity of the rituals might turn someone new off. A more intermediate practitioner understands what they can leave out, and how to modify. It’s worth the read, but take what works for you and leave the rest.

[Dalton Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the book is supposed to be about working with a familiar, it tends to conflate familiar spirit and thoughtform/servitor for a lot of the techniques discussed within the book are essentially the techniques of the chaote for creating a thoughtform.

[merlyfe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great if you are knew to familiar work- Wicca based

[Ophelia MJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading books from Racen Grimassi. He was an amazing man. I know some of this went over my head but now I know to take this seriously should I wish to continue.

[Mortuary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish it touched on physical familars a little bit more. Other than that it has alot of great information. I just had a hard time pushing through cause I was losing interest.

[Yolanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a good quick read. I started this book and could not put it down. The method and practice was a bit on the Wicca centric side, but it was informative. I will reread again.

(2020)

[emmaxleslie · Rating 1 out of 5]

delulu.

[Eve · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is an unique take on what a witch's familiar is. Grimassi presents his own ideology in this book along with some historical information and does provide a bibliography. The book has a number of different rituals one can do when working with a familiar. There's a bit of an 'dominion over the familiar' tone in the book that doesn't sit well with me. My own definition of what a familiar is and thus my interactions with such, are different than Grimassi's but that doesn't mean I dismiss his work or himself as an author. It just means we have different views and I respect that. There is plenty of useful information within this book and it part of my witchcraft collection of books.

[Sherry Gewitzke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Facinating
I think a few years in to my study I will be able to grasp this )0(
Sgt

[Rebekka · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a lot of great information that I think was presented in a strange way.