Announcement: Familiar Unto Me: Witches Sorcerers and Their Spirit Companions - Soon To Be Released

 

Well, it was about a year ago that I thought I would be releasing this book and my book on Witchblood, but, the extra time has turned Familiar Unto Me into a much more substantial book that has been more thoroughly researched and presents copious additional material and many added avenues of practice. 

I released the finalized table of contents this morning for Familiar Unto Me. Here are the table of contents, the potential back cover description and the description that will be used on Amazon. 

I hope these get you excited for the book. I'm excited for it. Watch this space, and the Glory of the Stars Facebook page for announcements. My anticipation is that it will become available in the next couple of weeks. (The Witchblood book will be the next project I'll be finishing, so follow along for updates on that too.)

Back Cover Text

"Spirits abound. Through most of human existence, humans have recognized that we share a living breathing world with a multitude of embodied and disembodied life. Magic teaches us to go to the places of spirits and entreat them, and to call them to us and bargain with them. But what about the spirits that remain close with us?

 Familiar Unto Me seeks to fill the gap in modern magical literature surrounding the ubiquitous but underexplored phenomenon commonly referred to as the familiar spirit.

 Join us as we explore the basic ideas surrounding what a familiar is, how to acquire and care for one, and how to work with one in magic. Then we will journey through mythology, folklore, and history to explore ideas about familiar spirits. We will look at novel contemporary ideas that have linked to the concept of the familiar spirit and by unpacking how they differ from the folklore which inspired them, consider how they can give us new and additive ways to explore magic. This will lead to a detailed exploration of a magical group's work with their familiar spirit and look at the place of familiars in modern magic.

 Ultimately, our journey will provide you with the tools needed to acquire a familiar and develop a deep and powerful relationship. It will also set you on the road, should you so choose, to exploring how spirit work, and positive possession can contribute to birthing a new living spirit tradition of magical work from the surviving strands of European magic.

 The text presumes you have the essential skills of spirit work. It provides the myths, folklore, and history it discusses in detail for those who may not have as thorough exposure to it. It presents nine rituals and describes a tenth. The rituals are presented with detailed analysis. The text provides options for grimoire magicians, traditional witches, NeoPagan witches, Pagans, and ceremonial magicians."

Description:

"The familiar has been a staple element of the image of the witch for centuries. Despite its ubiquity in folklore, art, books, movies, and television depicting witches and magicians, familiar spirits are an under explored element of modern magical literature. Familiar Unto Me changes that by presenting a comprehensive look at familiar spirits.

The book is divided into three parts. Part One introduces and discusses the concept of the familiar spirit. The basics of acquiring, maintaining, and working with a familiar are presented. Considerations for planning your own rituals for obtaining a familiar spirit are discussed, and example rituals are presented. The focus in part one is familiars for witches and sorcerers; the defining elements of each approach to magic and how it impacts acquiring a familiar are discussed.

Part two explores the concept of familiar spirits in Pagan and NeoPagan contexts with a focus on mythology, faerylore, and the history of the familiar in trial evidence and folklore. Copious descriptions of myths, folktales, and faery stories are presented along with detailed exploration of historical figures, literature, and folk beliefs to paint a picture of the worldview and history of ideas surrounding the familiar spirit. Contemporary approaches to working familiars, fetches, and fylgjur are discussed and analyzed along with traditional lore to explore new and innovative magical concepts adjacent to the familiar spirit. Methods for acquiring a faery familiar are discussed along with the presentation of an early modern ritual for encountering a faery queen.

Part three explores the adventure of a group of magicians acquiring a familiar spirit for their lodge. It presents the rituals, details of planning and execution, and a discussion of the experience. This exploration becomes the basis of exploring the role of familiars, and positive spirit possession in contemporary revivals of magic as a path towards creating living spirit traditions rooted in historical European magical practice, informed by the wisdom and experience of living spirit traditions in the Americas. Part three also explores often overlooked role of spirit magic in the Victorian magical revival and the evidence of sex magical practices related to familiar spirits. Rituals for an elemental lover round out the collection of rituals.

The text provides nine rituals. Two of the rituals are presented with variants for the elements so that the magician can work directly and conveniently from the book. An additional traditional ritual is described and analyzed in detail along with comparison to a description of the ritual in a folktale. Each ritual has either some analysis of the ritual, explanations of why it is designed the way it is, or discussion of experience executing the ritual.

The book discusses spirit assistants from antiquity through today. Modes of working for grimoire magic, traditional witchcraft, NeoPagan witchcraft, Paganism and modern ceremonial magic are all presented or discussed."