Liber ab Familia (Book of Familiars—Condensed^1221
foe. When they saw the well-functioning communities created by Beaver, they called
on Beaver for the order and wisdom to create and maintain well-functioning commu-
nities. Although the practice may seem either overly mystical or even a bit silly to some
urban folk, it can easily be seen as nothing more than asking your neighbor to help you
with a skill that you are lacking. If it feels a bit silly to you, think about this:
Overnight one of the tires on your car goes flat. You have never changed a tire in
your life, so you go next door and ask your neighbor, the mechanic, if s/he can show you
how. Of course if its a hot day and you know your neighbor likes Beck’s Dark, you
might want to mention that you have some when you ask. For larger favors, you might
want to find out what type of pizza he likes and offer to have one ready. So is it really all
that strange that I make a short journey several times each Spring and Summer to ask
a favor of Duck? Or that I often bring him treats? After all, it wasn’t until very recently
that our critter friends were not our next-door neighbor.
You might have noticed I just personified Duck in the masculine. Later, you might
notice the attributes for Duck are feminine. This is because although their are general
guidelines for the gender associations made with animals, those gender associations
change with our involvement with the critters. Gender is a very personal thing, and that
is exactly the order of relationship we experience when we allow our hearts to be touched
by kith familiars. So let me tell you the story of Duck in the hopes that you will under-
stand my experience with kith familiar and use such critters to greatly advance not only
your own life and relationship with critters, but the relationship between our immedi-
ate human and extended animal family.
I first met Duck a few years ago after coming out of an emotionally draining rela-
tionship. There is a waterfall not far from where I live, and I wanted desperately to get
away from humanity, if only for a few hours. After hiking down to the stream fed by the
waterfall, I spied Mama Duck and her five chicks walking towards the creek. I became
completely still, hoping she would not notice me. I think she did but decided to take a
chance. Her and her chicks entered the stream and started swimming towards the falls.
I entered the stream and followed after them.
The shallow water was flowing strongly enough that I figured it would cover the
sound of my footsteps, and it was a hot day, so cooling my feet seemed in order. What
I hadn’t counted on was that when I stepped into the stream, I placed myself in the one
spot that was not shielded by the canopy of green. Mama Duck didn’t have to hear my
footsteps; she needed only to hear Papa Duck’s warnings to know that I or some other
threat was present. She and her chicks sped up and then disappeared somewhere far
ahead of my position, although I tried to find them again it was as if they had become
completely invisible.
The next day I returned with a camera and telephoto lens. That day, I kept my
distance but knew that Papa Duck was again watching from above. When I came too
close, he yelled his warning. I started to wonder if he was warning his family about my
approach or warning me about his. It occurred that there was little difference. Each
time I visited, he was always there, watching me more intently than I watched his fam-
ily. Eventually I found myself watching him more than his family. That was about thet WB Chap 12.p65 221 7/11/2003, 5:55 PM