To Walk a Pagan Path: Practical Spirituality for Every Day (12 page)

ally) smaller animal that was tamed and fed by the witch.

Although Margaret Murray’s conclusions about a wide-

spread, organized medieval witch cult have been largely dis-

credited, there is no question that people were often accused

during the witch trials of harboring animals matching Mur-

ray’s description of Domestic Familiars. There are detailed

reports of these familiar spirits. The animals were inevitably

given names; sometimes quite ordinary, and at other times

whimsical. Smaller animals like toads and mice were often

housed in boxes, pots and similar containers. Something dev-

ilish was obviously going on, because the witches actually fed

their familiar spirits. Even more, the witch supposedly spoke

to the animal as if it were a person.

As I write this, my dog Caesar lays curled up at my feet.

He does not always stay there; Caesar is just as likely to

retire to his crate when he does not want to be disturbed. Of

course I feed him—twice each day, morning and night. So far

as I know he does not understand more than a couple dozen

words, but I talk to him all the time.

Five hundred years ago people were murdered for exhib-

iting such outlandish behavior as this.

There’s no question about it, my dog Caesar is a familiar

spirit! He fits all of the criteria. When we look at the descriptions of the witches’ familiars, it can be seen that the dogs, cats, toads and mice which were kept by the poor, unfortunate victims of the witch trials were what we now call com-

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panion animals. Not only is there no longer any superstitious

stigma attached to animal companionship, the mental and

physiological benefits of interactions with animals are wide-

ly accepted. Organizations like Therapy Dogs International

and Canine Assisted Therapy, Inc. bring the benefits of ani-

mal companionship to people who are unable to keep their

own pets for various reasons. The magic of familiar spirits

has indeed become widespread in our time!

A familiar spirit is a pet, but not every pet is a familiar

spirit. The key word here, of course, is “familiar”. Some spe-

cies—notably dogs and cats—lend themselves to this role

better than others. We like to think that mankind domes-

ticated these species, but an argument can be made that it

is the human race which has been domesticated. True, we

humans do not always play well with others. A visit to any

animal shelter will reveal the cold, harsh truth about human

compassion. But there is no question that domesticated ani-

mals have, as entire species, benefited significantly through

their relationships with us. The Bengal tiger is on the brink

of extinction, while its small cousin,
Felis catus
, has spread across the globe by partnering with our species. Likewise,

the most successful subspecies of
Canis lupus
, the subspecies that overshadows all others in both range and population, is

Canis lupus familiaris
—the wolf that decided to become mankind’s familiar spirit, the domestic dog.

Some animals are so vastly different from us that we can-

not develop any kind of familiar relationship with them. It is

difficult to imagine having a relationship with a clam! Some

invertebrates do make interesting pets, but it is their alien

nature rather than their familiarity that provides much of the

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interest. Dogs, on the other hand, demand a familiar interac-

tion with us.

Between these extremes—the dog and the inverte-

brates—whether a pet of any species is a familiar spirit is

largely dependent on whether or not you choose to devel-

op a personal relationship with the animal. Again, this is easi-er to do with some species than with others. Cats are usually

very accepting of an affectionate relationship, although they

certainly do not require it. The dog, however, especially if

acquired as a young puppy, needs that familiar relationship if

it is to integrate itself into the human household.

DOGS

It seems fitting that
familiaris
is part of the dog’s scientific name, being the species that almost demands a familiar relationship. With a dog, you cannot just dump some food into

a bowl or in a cage once a day and then forget about the ani-

mal. Not if you have anything vaguely resembling a soul.

To the best of my knowledge, a mixed breed bitch named

Sasha was the first non-human to have an active role in an Ár

nDraíocht Féin (ADF) ritual. It was not an official ADF ritu-

al, which is always open to the public; this was a private wed-

ding, but both the bride and the groom were ADF druids and

the wedding closely followed ADF’s core order of ritual.

During the wedding, the bride and groom asked for the

blessings of the three spirit kindred: the gods, the ancestors and the worldly spirits. First they took turns addressing their respective patron deities, each giving an offering at the altar as they did so. After this they asked for the blessings of their ancestors. In turn, the bride and groom approached their

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families, thanked them for all they had received and then

asked their ancestors to guide them as they entered into a

union with one another.

The officiant then asked if there was anyone who could

speak for the spirits of this world. A young man came for-

ward with the groom’s dog, Sasha, at his side. Sasha wore a

garland of roses around her neck, and she sat politely after

the young man led her up to the groom and his bride. She

had been prepared for this moment over the past several

months. When the officiant asked for a blessing, Sasha was

supposed to lift up her paw.

The officiant looked down at the dog and said, “Sasha, on

behalf of those who have no voice, what say you now?”

Sasha not only lifted her paw, she accompanied the ges-

ture with a quick and enthusiastic bark! Fifty years from now

few people who attended the wedding are going to remem-

ber the vows that the couple exchanged that afternoon, but

they will almost surely remember the dog who gave its bless-

ing!

*

Did Sasha know what was going on around her? Some peo-

ple will say she did not, but I beg to differ. Sure, the subtle nuances of the ritual held no meaning for her, but in her own

doggy way Sasha knew that something special was happen-

ing; something that focused everyone’s attention on her mas-

ter and the female who he was so very fond of. Sasha knew

that she was being included in this special moment. She

knew what was expected (lifting her paw) and she performed

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the gesture so gracefully, with such practiced perfection, that she could not hold in the proud bark. She truly did convey

the blessings of the worldly spirits, because Sasha, like every animal, is very much a spirit of this world.

Folklore describes a variety of dog spirits, from the Celt-

ic
cu sith
to grims, yeth hounds and Gally-trots (Briggs, 140).

These “fairy dogs” have different coat colors and general

appearance, but they are never toy breeds; most are described

instead as exceptionally large. Some of them are benevolent

and some malevolent, but, no matter their intentions, they

are almost always intimidating in some way.

Most fairy dogs are either solid black or pure white,

although, as with mortal dogs, the coat color does not seem

to have any relationship to their behavior. A notable excep-

tion is the cu sith (pronounced “coo-shee”) of the Scottish

Highlands, which has a shaggy, dark green coat. Folklore tells

of the cu sith accompanying Scottish fairies on their hunts,

and guarding their homes. They are sometimes allowed by

the fairies to wander loose, and these large green dogs can be

dangerous if encountered.

The grim takes the form of a large black dog. “Grim” is

another name for the god Woden, and I do not think it too

much of a stretch to surmise that grims answer to him. The

grim is often, but not always, the spirit guardian of a buri-

al ground. In Christian times these black fairy dogs became

known as church grims for their habit of guarding the graves

in churchyards. In Sweden the same beast is known as the

Kirkegrimm. A grim known as the Black Dog of Newgate

was said to go to the window of a dying person and howl

to indicate that the person would soon die. Grims are usu-

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ally associated with the dead in some way, so they are often

feared although they are not really evil. In Yorkshire, the

grim would leave the churchyard and wander around the

countryside in stormy weather (Simpson and Roud, p. 156).

Yeth hounds, or yell hounds, are another breed of spir-

it dog that may have close ties with Woden. These head-

less dogs travel in packs with a huntsman who is said, in the

Christian era, to be the Devil. As Briggs points out (p. 314), it was not uncommon for Christian folklore to portray Pagan

gods as “devils”. In this case the god would be Woden. Yeth

hounds are unusual in that they are headless. Elsewhere in

folklore the dogs in Woden’s wild hunt are described as hav-

ing “hideous eyes” (which strongly suggests that, unlike yeth

hounds, they also have heads). The dogs’ heads in the wild

hunt, or lack thereof, seem to be their most variable feature.

In Lancashire these dogs were called Gabriel Hounds, and

were notable for their human heads.

The Gally-trot is a huge, shaggy white dog. It is said

that the Gally-trot will chase after anyone who runs from it,

which would be more astounding were it not for the fact that

almost every mortal dog will do the exact same thing! It is a

fact of life that dogs chase things. To be fair, the Gally-trot is as large as a steer, so being chased by one would be considerably more frightening than being chased by your average ter-

rier.

As a totem animal, the dog represents both protection

and faithfulness (Andrews, p. 264). It should come as no sur-

prise, then, that dogs are often associated with gods of heal-

ing such as Nodens and Asclepius.

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No animal is better than the dog at establishing a famil-

iar relationship with us. Like us, the dog is a tribal creature.

It has a strong desire to have a safe and secure position in a

pack, even if that pack consists of nobody but the dog and

you. But like other tribal commitments, this is not a relation-

ship to enter into frivolously. A new puppy can be as demand-

ing as a child. It has a lot to learn, and no one but yourself to teach it. Furthermore, it represents a commitment that will

consume the next ten to fifteen years of your life. If you do not think this is a long time, consider where you were ten

years ago today.

Dogs are brilliant animals, but I am consistently amazed

by people who seem to think a puppy is vastly more intelli-

gent than a human being. Time and again I hear of some-

body who has brought home a new puppy, thrown some

newspapers on the floor and then left for work or school.

The story always ends the same way. This person returns

home and is startled to discover that the puppy had no idea

what the newspaper was for. This is akin to expecting a

human child to instinctively know how to use a potty chair

without any training!

If you think you want a dog for a familiar, you need to

first make sure that you understand its needs. Ask yourself

the following questions:

• Can you devote most of your time to the dog for the

first week after you have brought it into your home?

This is especially important for puppies, but a dog of

any age needs help learning the household rules.

• After that first week, can you devote some time
every

single day
to the dog? I am not talking about dumping

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some food into a bowl; the dog needs to interact with

you. This can be a walk, a game of fetch or just about

any other activity, so long as both you and the dog are

involved with each other.

• Do you have sufficient living accommodations for the

dog? A dog of medium size or larger needs a fenced

yard unless you intend to take it on several long walks

each day.

• Can you afford the medical bills? There will be shots

and preventative pills, not to mention the possibility of

a medical emergency that could cost hundreds or even

thousands of dollars.

• Do you have experience with dogs, and, if not, are you

willing to attend obedience classes with your dog? A

good obedience class is for the benefit of the owner as

much as for the dog, and you should attend one if you

have not already kept dogs in your household success-

fully.

If you answer no to any of these questions, you should

probably consider an animal other than a dog. A dog will

be thoroughly committed to you—which is why they make