Musings on a Witches Familiar



My cat Willow resting after helping us package orders to send out from our Etsy shop!

The concept of a witches familiar is the stuff of legends, we think of the classic pointy hat wearing witch with her black cat as an example.  In the real world and in the craft of real magic, a familiar is an animal that you have a special relationship with, and it's not just about spells under a full moon, its a relationship that helps you find a connection with the animal kingdom.  It is often a favorite pet, and usually you're their favorite person as well.  Sometimes a familiar is not a physical animal, but an animal spirit, or may even be a wild animal that visits you from time to time.  Your familiar is your animal ally that reminds you of your place in the world, of your instincts that have become quiet through years of the daily grind of grocery stores, traffic, meetings and all the other trappings that make us feel disconnected from the natural world that we yearn for.  Our familiars bring us back to what is really important in our spiritual growth. 



My cat Willow is a familiar of the physical kind.  There is something very special about the bond that a person can make with an animal, it's a relationship that's all about sensing, feelings and mutual kinship.  Science has discovered for instance that people have developed the ability to understand the emotions behind animal communication, and our "pet" animals such as cats and dogs have learned the same about us.  It's something that has actually become hard wired into our brains.  In one study both pet owners and non pet owners listened to recordings of dog barks, they could tell what the situation was that the dog was in from the sounds of the bark, playful, scared, lonely, aggressive, they could recognise all the barks. 



With technology that tracks eye movement, it was also discovered that dogs are able to read a humans emotions on their faces in the same way that other humans do.  But of course none of this will amaze anyone who loves an animal, we've known it forever and so have our pets and familiars.  I recently was doing research for Mystical Cats Tarot and was looking up books about reading cats behaviors just for reference and interestingly in many of the reviews on these books many people had commented that much of the material was basic, I believe that it's because to many of us, it really is.  We've lived with these animals for so long, that we've developed a mutual language and we do understand each other to a great degree.
Connecting with the world of animals is important to our spiritual development because it makes us slow down and listen to our own animal selves.  The other day during the mundane activity of taking out the trash, the call of a male cardinal up in the top of my oak tree caught my attention.  Since one of my super secret powers is the ability to whistle a tune fairy well, I repeated the call just for fun.  Next thing I knew he called back.  So I began an conversation with this lovely red bird. 



We called back and forth for quite some time, I just stood there amazed as his call changed slightly, adding more and more repeating notes into the mix.  I struggled to keep up with the aviary jam session, he was clearly the master musician and I not even a novice, but what fun it was.  I felt honored that he would take the time to sing to me, a mere human.  And then I remembered that I was part of his kingdom, the animal kingdom, and it felt amazing to rekindle that connection.I thought about it again as I sat in my overstuffed armchair after breakfast this morning, my cat Willow resting comfortably on my lap.  The windows were all open, and the birds were enjoying their breakfast too right out the window at our bird feeders.  As I stroked her soft fur around her ears and under her chin the way she likes, she purred, delighted.  It occurred to me that it was quite amazing, this friendship.  Of all the things that cats love to do,  looking out the window at birds is one of their favorites, but at this very moment, like many others in our lives, this little animal had chosen what she wanted to do most in the world was to rest in my lap.  My heart just swelled.  That's what it's all about, and here I was, breakfast done, no music, no TV going, and where I wanted to be most at that moment was here in this chair with this little animal on my lap.  We sat there for quite awhile, just me and my little friend.  That's what it is to have a familiar, that unspoken understanding between human and an animal of another species, mutual communication, and love.  When I finally decided that the day was calling and I needed to attend to my various responsibilities that pay for cat food and litter, I pushed my back forward from the back of the chair, her cue that I'm getting up.  At this point the usually jumps down right before the lap turns into a pair of legs, but this time she didn't, she stood up and pushed back against me with the side of her whole body against my chest purring like mad as if to say, "You're not going anywhere."  "Ok, Willow."  I said, "Ten more minutes."

It's my fault Willow is the way she is, she knows she's a star!  She was the cat model for my Magic is Afoot piece.  This mug is available in our Etsy shop, Click Here 

Blessings,

Squirrels Gone Wild

I haven't been very bloggie lately, I've been super swamped at my old wooden art table, working on writing my Celtic Tree Calendar series of classes and art for Mystical Cats Tarot.  But here I am, back to it!  I thought I would drop in today and share a little bit of silliness.

The amazing pole-dancing squirrel!

While I'm working away, I've really been enjoying seeing the birds that come to visit our feeders this spring.  We have a great variety of them.  Our feeders aren't fancy, just plain plastic feeders, the biggest one hangs in the oak, and a smaller one hangs on a shepherds hook near the window.  The cats love to sit at the window and watch them.  I also have a couple of squirrels that like to come around.  Now, I have nothing personal against squirrels, I think they're kinda cool, but they are way too big for these feeders and I'm afraid they'll break them.  Plus they knock all the seed out of the feeder because they're so clumsy when they're trying to get to the food.  A couple of years ago I got so aggravated with them getting at the bird feeder that I decided to hang one of those corn cob feeders on the tree for the squirrels in hopes they would leave the bird feeders alone.  The squirrels proceeded to pull off all the corn, toss it on the ground and left it there and went right back to the bird feeders. 

You can't tell by the photo, but the squirrel was actually slooowly sliding down the pole while eating the birdseed!

This year they are at it again.  Yesterday I captured some  shots of this pole-dancing squirrel going after my small feeder.  They really are fun to watch and pretty amazing.  Dan and laughed our butts off watching this show, squirrels behaving badly. 

I had to stand back from the window so I didn't scare it off, and of course the screen is in the way, but I thought you might enjoy the acrobatics.  This morning I tried a trick that worked to keep my cats from scratching up the legs of my my wooden rocking chair, I wrapped clear box tape sticky side out around the pole.  Either they won't like it and it will keep them off the pole, or it will help them grab it better and they'll give me the big thumbs up!  When they return, I'll be sure to take note of their reactions!

Blessings,

Rainy Day and Secret Messages in the Magical Garden

My sweet grand kids are visiting on this rainy Wednesday, and we looked out the window and noticed a walking stick sitting there on the screen!  So I grabbed my camera to go take a picture.  I didn't want to mess up my camera, so I stuck it in a plastic bag to keep the rain off of it. 

Miss Olivia loved the walking stick!

I looked up the message that the walking stick has as a spirit animal since he came to sit on my window today while I'm working from home.   One of the walking sticks messages is that meditation and prayer will bring much greater results and benefits now. I found that interesting since I have been doing the thirty days of meditating on the crystal grids for world peace, which I'm  happy to report is going well, and filling me with peace as well.  Apparently another lesson of the Walking stick is that there are things going on behind the scenes that I am unaware of, and that I need to sit still waiting and watching and the the proper course of action will make itself known.  Also the need to camouflage and prepare in a quiet and calm manner for what we seek to accomplish and we will find ultimate success.  Even when it seems like nothing is happening, it really is.  Interesting, I will try to heed the lessons of the walking stick, he's still there on my window as I write this.

Raindrops clinging to newly forming acorns on my oak tree.

Once I was outside taking pictures of my friend the walking stick in the rain, I saw lots of other beautiful things on this rainy day I thought I would share with you.

All the flowers are enjoying the rain, the garden is so happy!

Morning glory, I'm trying to clear them out, they've taken over my little alcove, it was looking like Gray Gardens for awhile there!  Here's one I missed, they are so very pretty, I just wish they weren't so aggressive. 

Something as simple as blades of grass can become a source of inspiration on a rainy day.

Have a beautiful day!
Blessings,

The Ballad of Mickie VS the Deer

Once the hoofs and tread were flying, the wide eyed doe and the white knuckled driver had the same goal, not colliding!  Were we lucky or unlucky?  Read on...

Several Hours Earlier:

We had picked up Dans grandma Mar Mar and went our for dinner, we had a lovely time.  We ran over to Costco for gas and to do some shopping, Mar Mar had a blast buying giant vats of peanut butter and bricks of beef.  She keeps me laughing, and is really fun to hang out with.  We three decided that it was time for desert so I dazzled her with my GPS.  We call her Cal, after the computer with a young girls spirit in an episode of Dr. Who called "Silence in the Library".  I asked Cal where the nearest Dairy Queen was and we made our way over for hot fudge sundaes and Blizzards, what a decadent bunch we are!  After enjoying our treats, Mar Mar ordered a shake for Uncle Rick who remained back at the house and we chuckled while the obviously new girl struggled with the shake machine flipping ice cream off the beaters like a bad sit com.  She was very sweet, but clearly still learning the ropes.

We got on the road and as we neared the bridge on hwy 70 in St. Charles, traffic suddenly came to a standstill, and we were in the far left lane with only one exit to go before getting stuck at the bridge.  I managed to get over one nice person at a time and we waved our thanks and got off the highway.  We looked towards the bridge and saw flashing emergency lights everywhere right at the entrance of the bridge.  Dan said, "Mickie, I guess you're just unlucky."  I replied that no, not unlucky, very, very lucky indeed.  If not for stopping to pick up the extra shake on our way out, we could have been on the bridge for that accident!  That is the way I see things.   Feeling quite full of myself for my good luck, we made our way through the other highways and byways having plugged in Mar Mars home address into Cal and found our alternate route back to her house.

Oak Tree Print from Voice of the Trees deck, It might be my deers boyfriend! Click the pic to see it larger.

A Little Dark Road

Once I knew the way, I left Cal running anyway, and she lead me down a turn that I am familiar with but don't normally take.  By now it was 9:00 and dark, and on this little two lane road right next to a corn field, we were only 10 minutes from Mar Mars house.  Even at 45 miles an hour I spotted tiny frogs  hopping hear the side of the road, and I was hoping they weren't hopping under my tires.  I caught a large dark shadow moving quickly on the right side of the car and before I knew it, my headlights illuminated a tawny colored doe running quickly into the road right in front of me!  Without even thinking I swerved hard to the left and braked at the same time ending up halfway in the other lane.  Dan and Mar Mar both stunned hadn't seen the deer until after I took evasive maneuvers.  The frightened deer looked Mar Mar right in the eye and said, "Hey, I have the right of way!" which was probably correct, the doe being a pedestrian and all, even though most deer know very little about traffic laws.  We came so close to colliding that you couldn't have slipped a dime between my front quarter panel and that deer.   I fully expected to hear and feel a crash any moment, but it never came.  The deer dashed off into the dark field.  Once Dan and Mar Mar had breathed a sigh of relief, and my heart started again, I thanked my guardians and the deer for it's part, and we laughed all the way home about our near miss while I bragged unabashedly on my superior driving skills and reflexes.

When we got to Mar Mars house, Uncle Rick met us coming in and told Mar Mar, "The next time you go running around all hours of the night with your wild friends you better check in and let me know where you are!"  We all laughed, I'm sure he heard that many times when he was younger from her, and it gave him a chance to fire it back.  He loved his shake and we shared our tales of adventure on the road.

I told Mar Mar, when we take you out, we really want to show you a wild time!

A Beltane Visitor

Late last night while I was sleeping, my husband discovered a lovely Polyphemus Moth that had fallen from our oak tree and landed on our porch.  My son and I were taking out the trash this morning and we found that it was still there, right in front of the door.  I took a few pics, and noticed it wasn't moving, so I tried to pick it up, and it flapped a bit, but did allow me to carefully cradle it in my hands.  I was worried it may be near the end of it's life since it didn't fly away, so I placed it in my pot of rosemary on the deck.   Apparently they only live a week, and I figured if it was preparing to cross over, at least it would be more comfortable there, and safer too. 

This is where we found her this morning, the males have much bushier fern like
antenae that the females, so I think this one is a female.

I've been keeping an eye on her, so I got to thinking that perhaps she's a messanger of the faeries, and I wondered about what message this moth may have for me to have gotten my attention on this Beltane morning?  I'm going through a transitional period with my employment right now, and find myself trying to decide what direction to turn in for my day job.  Moths have similar symbolism as butterflies; change and rebirth, reinventing yourself,  but moths of course are nocturnal which gives them some slightly different symbolism, more philosophical, being creatures of the night, and the moon, dealing with intuition.

The moth has no trouble making it's way through the darkest hours, and we can learn from that. We can use our intuition, dreams, and our inner knowledge to get us through what may seem like the dark hours of our lives. The moth also indicates a knowing that your needs will be met.

We placed her in the pot of rosemary on the deck.

The moth also is drawn to light, whether the light of the guiding moon, or the dangerous flame, her faith and determination draw her ever towards the light in the darkness.  The moth reminds us to remain determined but careful not to fall victim to blind faith. The moth also reminds us to adjust our course if needed, rather than driving onward ignoring signs along the way. 

I love her sweet little face!

I hope I've made my Beltane visitor comfortable in her pot of rosemary.  I intend to listen to her messages, as I work through these changes in my life and know that all will work out for the best.

Go out, green the fields, live in the now, and enjoy the earth as life bursts forth!
Blessings,
Mickie