The Personal Daimon Personified
‘He had more trust in his familiar than in God, that there was more profit in it than in God, and that he gained nothing by looking to God, whereas his familiar always brought him something.’
- Court record of Gentien le Clerc, sentenced to death, 1615
The Familiar, or Personal Daimon, is both real and unreal, material and not, neither of our world nor outside of it. They are glimpsed most readily at dawn or dusk, yet are not bound to the constraints of time. They are beings of liminality who are formed from the void we call the imaginal. Ungraspable and intangible to us in every way, the only certitude of daimons is their existence.
Every culture has its own version of these elusive beings, with the best-known to us in the West being the faeries. Every aspect of the fae is notoriously impossible to classify. Do they originate from the sky, or are they born of the earth? Some are as tall as trees, and others are as small as bees. The faeries of lore are largely wingless, though many persons report them as having wings like those of insects. They have been seen wearing green caps, red caps, or no caps at all. Some are described as radiant and beautiful beyond description, while others are too frightening to behold. In all of their variations, it would be unwise for us to assume what, or who, faeries are, beyond being daimonic.
In pre-Islamic Arabian cultures, there were the jinn. Similar in concept to the fae, jinn have carried over into early Islam. The jinn are described in the Qur’an as beings created by Allah, but not of black mud, like humans, but of smokeless fire. The jinn are spiritual equals to humans and contain free will. As such, they are capable of doing both good and evil. The jinn have their own society, separate from the human realm, and it is generally inadvisable to seek them out.
More well-documented examples of daimons come from the Greeks, who have their fauns, dryads, nymphs, and naiads. The Romans understood daimons as being land spirits, genii loci, who inhabit every aspect of nature. The equivalent of the Personal Daimon was called the Genius. The Genius/Personal Daimon/Familiar has existed throughout recorded human history, and continues to do so today.
What differentiates the daimon from the Personal Daimon is its curious interest and attachment to us humans. Again, most cultures have their explanations of what daimons are and also how and why they become involved with us. Are they assigned to us at or before birth, as Christians believe of the Guardian Angel, or are they otherwise met with and subsequently obtained? This is where the mystery lies. The answer is forever unknowable, much like the origin of daimons themselves. What is knowable is that daimons are discoverable.
The analytical psychologist and mystic, Carl Jung, famously encountered his Personal Daimon, Philemon, in a dream in 1913. Philemon took the form of an old man with kingfisher wings and the horns of a bull, carrying with him a ring of keys. In his memoirs, Jung wrote of having long conversations with Philemon while strolling the garden of his home in Küsnacht, Switzerland. Philemon was a guide and mentor to Jung, even going so far as to teach him about psychological objectivity and the actuality of the soul.
For the witch, the Personal Daimon, or what we call the Familiar, lies in wait in the recesses of non-ordinary reality. Familiars come to us as lovers, guides, and confidants. Soul-Mates. They appear in times of great desperation or when adequately summoned; an occurrence often the same. Periods of extreme sickness, hunger, fatigue, or an otherwise precarious state teetering between life and death swiftly invite the Familiar in. It is the defiantly courageous witch who, having long-suffered, appeals most to the Familiar. It must be stressed that these conditions are not a prerequisite, although they are conducive to easy entry into the Otherworld. For those who have not balanced on the knife’s edge of mortality, entry is granted in another way.
The Familiar is neither a construction of the imagination nor a nifty psychological tool of the mind. For the witch, the Familiar is an ally in every sense: friend, lover, partner, and equal. Should we cultivate this relationship and heed their advice, they will guide us to reach our full potential. Not everyone has the same kind of potential, nor should they. Some people obtain fame and riches, going on to become household names, while the majority pass into anonymity. One potential is not more or less full than the other, despite what society teaches us. For some and their Familiars, living a simple yet mindful life by tending a garden or caring for the elderly is what it means to live fully. If you are unsure of your potential, your Familiar can help guide you to it.
The Familiar is not bound by corporeality and, as such, is capable of numinous forms at any given time. In one moment, they may appear as a perplexing cluster of lights, and in another, as a pillar of fire. To the witch, they most readily appear in the guise of an animal or an animal-human hybrid. One may wholly desire for their Familiar to take on the form of an impressive predator or majestic beast, only to be met with one who presents as a lowly fly or slimy snail. Know this, despite their chosen outward appearances, each Familiar has its own discernible personality and strengths. Most importantly, each Familiar works seamlessly in tandem with the needs of the witch and the situations they find themselves in. Desire not, the Familiar always has the witch's best interests in mind, for ours align with theirs.
Early amateur anthropologist and author, Margaret A. Murray, wrote in 'The God of the Witches' that witches of old had two main familiars, the ‘Divining Familiar’ and the ‘Domestic Familiar.’ The latter was said to belong solely to the witch and “was kept in her house, and was often called an Imp or Spirit, and occasionally a Devil, was fed in a special manner and was used only to carry out the commands of the witch.” The Divining Familiar belonged not to the individual Witch, but to the coven as a whole. It was lent by the Master (the Devil) of the coven and used solely for divination purposes. Although we cannot take what Murray wrote as full truths, we can look at traditions that have resurfaced today. Though a Witch may indeed have multiple Familiars, the separation of them does not often happen in the way described by Murray. Today, a coven would more likely have a ritualistically created egrigore than a 'Divining Familiar' lent by the devil.
Despite much documentation on the use and keeping of a Familiar, it is unclear whether these familiars were of flesh and bone. I believe that, by and large, they were non-corporeal. Most testimonies, albeit recorded by their antagonists, describe Familiars as taking the form of an animal or human, implying that they are not flesh and bone. Perhaps some Witches did believe household creatures (i.e., mice, toads, cats, etc.) were able to carry out their magical biddings; however, evidence is weighed in favor of a more daimonic link between Familiar and Witch. We must also remember that many allegations of keeping live Familiars were confessed to during torture.
Because Familiars are non-corporeal, you may eventually seek to offer your Familiar a "body" by ritually inviting it to inhabit a vessel or spirit house. This process must be consensual and mutually beneficial, as not all Familiars want or need a physical dwelling. If you find that your Familiar enjoys habituation, take care to attend to their needs regularly. Needs of a Familiar vary according to their form and function, but nearly all enjoy being offered incense, light, and water. In time, you will learn which offerings they prefer. Examples of vessels include a lovingly made ceramic pot, a repurposed tea kettle, an ethically sourced and preserved animal corpse, or any other home object that feels appropriate. A Tutelary Spirit of mine has chosen a resin skull that I feed with offerings of herbs, sigils, and jewelry.
A surprisingly good interpretation of a Familiar can be seen on Netflix’s show, “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.” In the very first episode, Sabrina Spellman summons a Familiar, who takes the form of a cat named Salem. She does this by entering the woods with a walking stick and a bell, and calls out,
“Spirits of the forest, I pronounce my intentions to thee, come forth and seek me, an equal we will be. Not master and servant, but familiar to familiar. To share our knowledge, our spirit, and our traits.”
Frankly, this is a phenomenal line from a television show that I would recommend replicating as a spell!
