Unfamiliar Familiars: Extraordinary Animal Companions for the Modern Witch

By Megan Lynn Kott and Justin DeVine

Unfamiliar Familiars is a comprehensive and humorous handbook to finding and caring for the unconventional animal companion.

This guide will help you find the animal best suited to your personality and particular magical needs.

Animals include a narwhal (strong in clairvoyance and fencing), an albatross (best for sea-faring witches), or an earthworm (for garden-based magic and fish summoning).

• Features real-world facts with a playful, magical spin
• Includes a helpful quiz for finding your own familiar
• Brimming with suggested names, strengths, weaknesses, and more

Forget the toads and black cats: Every witch is unique, so shouldn't you have a familiar as one-of-a-kind and extraordinary as yourself?

Unfamiliar Familiars is an entertaining and educational guide to a menagerie of magical, less-appreciated creatures that may just become your ideal partner in the arcane arts.

• Filled with quirky, charming watercolor illustrations
• Perfect for anyone who wants to find their own familiar, just as they love learning about their own horoscope, zodiac reading, or Pottermore Patronus
• Sure to delight animal lovers who have a sense of humor
• You'll love this book if you love books like Sad Animal Facts by Brooke Barker; Basic Witches: How to Summon Success, Banish Drama, and Raise Hell with Your Coven by Jaya Saxena and Jess Zimmerman; and The Wild Unknown Animal Spirit Deck and Guidebook by Kim Krans.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chronicle Books Digital
• Release date: Sep 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781797200804

Megan Lynn Kott

Megan Lynn Kott is a Milwaukee-based illustrator and author of projects including Cat Lady Old Maid, Cat Tarot, Unfamiliar Familiars, and Pawmistry. She has collaborated with Maximum Fun, Tea Collection, Kitten Lady, and others.

Book preview

Acknowledgments

WHAT IS A FAMILIAR?

A familiar may be many things, but fundamentally it is a witch’s animal companion.

In ancient times—which is to say the 1950s and earlier—people believed that familiars were not animals at all, but were in fact imps, or other spirit- beings taking on animal shapes for the purpose of deception. As longtime researchers and self-proclaimed familiar experts, we emphatically dispute this. Although the old stereotype is still occasionally reinforced in the modern era (notably by television programs about teenage witches), it is now much more commonly known that familiars are just regular flesh-and-blood creatures, albeit magical ones.

While all people have access to magic (in theory at least), some are considerably more aware of and in touch with the arcane world than others. It is these individuals who are most likely to become witches. Similarly, some animals are more in touch with the flow of magic than others, and it is these mystically attuned creatures that are best suited to becoming familiars.

Not all familiars operate in the same way; some can cast spells independently, while some can only lend their strength to boost others’ magical efforts. Some possess sensory abilities that humans do not, whereas some are best at performing simple tasks that human witches are unsuited for (due to being too large, too small, not having gills, etc.). Some make fabulous guides to the unseen realms, and some are best at gently guiding others toward self-awareness and actualization.

Above all else, the thing to remember about familiars is that they are not servants and they are not pets. When a witch enters into a Familiar’s Pact, they are voluntarily partnering with the familiar in question, and such a partnership may last their entire lifetime (or beyond). Also, it’s almost guaranteed that a new familiar will annoy one’s pets, roommates, and possibly house-plants. Thus, the decision is not one to be made willy-nilly.

CHOOSING A FAMILIAR

Entering a Familiar’s Pact will undoubtedly be one of the most important decisions of your magical life. To aid you in that decision, this book seeks to elucidate the benefits and drawbacks of some underrepresented familiar types.

All witches are unique, and we believe that the range of animal companions should reflect the diversity of the magical community. For whatever reason, though, many people still limit themselves to the same few old-world standards (toads, crows, black cats, tiny horses, etc.). While there’s certainly nothing wrong with any of these options, we encourage you to leave them to those basic witches, and consider instead some of the unconventional options described within these pages.

Reviews for Unfamiliar Familiars

[Kristina Rose Donison · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Really well written - though I wish they put in a lot more information about the general topic of familiars.

[rubberkeyhole · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was provided an advanced copy of this book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a novelty book that is as much silly as it is informative; it is lighthearted in terms of how your familiar becomes "yours," but the pages about each of them are written well. It gives a great introduction to familiars while using "unfamiliar" or animals that aren't usually chosen as familiars. The illustrations in the book are amazing - they're worth just as much as the information in the book.

Overall, I wouldn't buy this book for myself or others because I'm not particularly interested in owning novelty books, but it is definitely worth a read through as a library book or similar.

[pardamustang · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Unfamiliar Familiars by Megan Lynn Kott & Justin Devine was an amusing read. I loved all the unusual animals listed. Especially the tardigrade!! I adore tardigrades. Even moreso after Star Trek Discovery featured a gigantic cousin of our little 'water bears'. I'm a magical practitioner myself, however, and I was a little disappointed that there wasn't a mention that this way of familiar finding isn't the only way, merely one of many. The spell to summon a familiar was a little goofy, though that's fine. Many spells are, though this one was a bit vague. Walk to the third tree of what?? Your garden? What if you don't have one? Or have no trees? I’d’ve liked to have seen mention of the fact that intention is the driving force behind magic, and suggestions for crafting one's own spells for finding a familiar. I realise this is likely supposed to just be a novelty book, but many of the animals are impractical or illegal to actually keep in any way, shape, or form, not without permits or such. This guide would be better labelled as a spirit animal guide. Indeed, despite lots of interesting facts, cheeky humour, and delightful drawings, I felt that the authors didn't take the magical aspect seriously at all. This disgruntled me a surprising amount. Take the ways to figure out your familiar. Either you can rip out the animal pics, fold them into swans and float them down a river, and in three days one will return to you some way. Or you can just follow a bizarre flowchart. Huh? I followed it and got Sloth. I love sloths, so that was cool. Each animal has a 'partners well with'. Sloths apparently partner well with 'witches who grow their own kombucha'. Um, eww. No. Or take the name suggestions, strengths, and weaknesses. "Choose a powerful name." Name suggestions for ball python include Boop Noodle and Shoelace... Weaknesses of the Capuchin monkey include frequent drunkenness, and strengths include poop throwing. Son, what the hellz?Actually, this book made me think of a magical text from the world of Harry Potter. Taken in that context, it's an amusing humour book perfect for magical practitioners. In the context of actual practise, this book leaves much to be desired, at least, for this practitioner. ***Many thanks to Netgalley and Chronicle Books for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

[astults_3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was a spur of the moment pick from NetGalley. I follow the publisher on Instagram and during the pandemic they've been posting a lot of stories which I actually watch and don't swipe through. This cover caught my eye and then seeing who the publisher was... I grabbed it.It appeared it would be a lighthearted read and possibly provide some laughs. At 96 pages it could be read in a day or two, but why push yourself? These 40 unique familiars aren't going anywhere.The books notes what a familiar is, how to choose one, and how to summon one prior to explaining who would make a good match for each familiar. It's important to remember that a familiar is not a servant or a pet!According to a decision tree (if you don't want to summon a familiar), the Ball Python would be a good match for me. They are a limbless cuddler known for getting along well with witches allergic to dander.That's me, exactly!Great at hugs. Cool. Shed their skin every 4-6 weeks which require renewing the pact? Okay. Renaming must also be done and can't be a repeat of the last 6 names. Ummm. I guess that's why the witches they're paired with must have good memories!The drawings are all cute. The descriptions of the animals as familiars veer into silliness. Who doesn't need a bit of silliness now and then? As the authors noted, if the facts couldn't be found, then they just made it up. Bonus points to Megan Lynn Kott for proclaiming Valiant, the 3-legged Corgi as her familiar. I would've done the same.