Liber ab Familia (Book of Familiars—Condensed^1209

Liber ab Familia

(Book of Familiars—Condensed

1

)

The Second Order of Life

Study Material for the Second Degree

209

s stated in the Book of Soul, that which drives human nature is shared by

animals. Because animals possess soul but not mind as human conscious-

ness, we can look to them to understand the nature of our soul without the

mind obstructing that view. Human consciousness is not a bad thing, but it

does tend to cloud the view of the soul. Consider the first impression, the

animal impression, one might have of a potential mate—not just the look

or body of that potential mate, but the impression one has of the nature of that soul.

History is filled with stories of the Witch and her cat familiar. Many feel those

stories are just as silly a stereotype as the image of the almost classic Halloween Witch

with the big wart on her nose. Others have recognized that a great many Wiccans are

cat-lovers. Others are dog-lovers. And let’s not forget the birds, lizards, snakes, ro-

dents, rabbits, and all order of critters found to be loved by the modern-day Witch.

Hopefully, most of us have done so mindfully.

Yes, modern day Wiccans do commune with their familiars. But the familiar is not

nearly what most folk seem to think it is. As a noun, the first definition given by The

American Heritage Dictionary is “A close friend or associate.” It says nothing about that

close friend or associate mandatory being a cat. Certainly one could have a cat as his or

her familiar, but it is not necessarily.

A

t WB Chap 12.p65 209 7/11/2003, 5:55 PM