Liber ab Familia (Book of Familiars—Condensed^1223
years earlier. The other old timers believed his fish story but the young pups challenged
him:“So where’s the proof if you caught him?”
“Out there in the pond. I put him back,” the old timer told us.
“Why?” asked the younger fishermen.
“Because the pond just wouldn’t be the same without him.”Well, old Walt was finally caught in a net. The property the pond was on was pur-
chased at auction. The new owner decided to harvest the pond and sell the catfish
stock off as farm raised, then restart the process by stocking the pond. Because he was
caught in a net and not on a line, the find didn’t draw much attention, no pictures or
documentation in the local fishing journals, but there was a picture up on the bulletin
board at the local gun and rod shop—up for about a week, that is. Then the owner of
that gun and rod shop took the picture down, leaving pictures of other fish that had
been up for years. Why? Because the owner knew Walt too, so leaving his picture up
just didn’t seem right.
I loved those old hicks because they had instinctively tapped into the use of the kith
familiar and even gone so far as to fall into the same trap that has caused much grief for
many Wiccans. They allowed a kith familiar to become kin familiar. Although the land
owner was proud of his catch, no one would display it. Although he allows people to
fish his pond with rod and reel, none of the old timers fish it. Although he desperately
wants to be a part of the culture that had sprung up in that area, he never will be. You
see, he just doesn’t understand the sacred connection between humanity and the di-
vine that is all of Nature.Finding Kith Familiars
I have been Pagan for the great majority of my life. I was introduced to the move-
ment years before I could so much as drive a car. But the last ten years of that life has
been spent completely and totally emerged in the culture in a way that very few people
experience. I own and work in a Pagan shop, live in a Pagan household, and as a result
of my career as an author, my attendance of Pagan functions has risen greatly over the
last ten years. So please do not be offended when I tell you that in observing the Pagan
communities use of kith familiars/Spirit animals I have had many occasions to laugh
hysterically. It seems these sacred critters are found mostly in books and movies. I have
had many a conversation with folk who have only seen their totem in a dream.
While I have nothing against folk who are blessed with such a vision, I simply do
not believe the vision was valid if they have made no real effort at meeting that crea-
ture in the flesh. Unless your kith familiar is an exotic, meeting that critter might mean
something as simple as paying attention to your surroundings. While helping a friend
to move, I once found Hawk to live on the balcony of a second floor apartment across
from a self-service storage facility. Over the week that we made trips to and from her
storage area, I must have seen Hawk sitting there three times.t WB Chap 12.p65 223 7/11/2003, 5:55 PM