Cunning-Folk and Familiar Spirits: Shamanistic Visionary Traditions in Early Modern British Witchcraft and Magic

Many who are involved  with Ceremonial Magick  would be quite familiar with the concept of the Holy Guardian Angel. Going back a step further one would be quite familiar with Christian Holy men having conversation with various saints and angels. Having spirit friends or mentors is something quite common in all religious traditions. Why even Maggid of Joseph Caro in Safad helped this Jewish Holy Man write a book of law called the Shulchan Aruch.In this study penned by Emma Wilby, the concept of the Cunningman is discussed along with his/her spiritual familiar. THe Cunning man or woman was sort of like the healer or wizard of the village . They would use magic to heal sickness and track down thieves. They also could protect one from witchcraft.In comparison witches were the old hags that cast mean spells on people and cavorted with demons. All this happened about 400 years ago. It was at a time when rural Britain was rather poor.  malnutrition was rampant and plagues were a regular occurrence . Medical care was nowhere near advanced as it is today. Police were not as proficient at tracking down Nieves as they were today either. So teh cunning man or woman played an important role in the village. When the witch trials came about at first they spared but later one they too could be hauled in.When the inquisition people tortured witches it was often revealed that they had demon familiars who gave them advice regarding magic and differing herbs that could cure illness. Not much was made of having these demon familiars. Many researchers thought that the demons were part of the church or elitist mindset hoisted on the witch trials. In a word the demons were a church invention .Of course researchers forget the underlying animist faery belief that never die once chrstianity took hold. Often times these testimonial were a blend of church fantasy and the existing peasant belief in Faeries . In fact when comparing cunning folk to witches one sees that they are almost the same exact deal. demons and fae familiars shared a lot in common they both came to the practitioner at a time of need, taught them magic,had very intimate relations, shape shifted and took their charges to sabbats. Cunning folk could both heal and curse so could witches.The author later addresses shamanistic spiritual practices ranging m native American , eskimos, and so Erwin shaman. It can be almost positively stated that there was an underlying shamanistic practice. In pre morn Europe and the faery faith was a hold over or remnant . The final part of the book delves into the spiritual uses for familiars and cunning folk practice, the reality of familiars and what could cause the open mid the ability to perceive these familiars if they are in fact real.This book  puts a lot of magic back into the concept while at the same time digging in depth the concept of familiars and its shamic origin . This book is a must read.

I finished this book a month ago, but I still find myself thinking over much of the information I got from it, and to me, that's the sign of a good book. Its take on the relationship between the witch and the familiar is unique, in my experience. For instance, Wilby shows that familiars were by no means "fetches" for witches and did not act as slaves or pets. They were equals in the relationship and could even act to the detriment of the witch. For me, the concept of moral ambiguity that Wilby posits for the familiar shows the familiar's depth and independence, its realness. It also fits with the position of the witch or cunning folk in their community - they were depended upon for medical help, communicating with the dead, or help in finding things, but they were also feared for the trouble they could cause to someone if they were antagonized.The treatment of the fairy folk is also unusual. These are not Victorian Tinkerbells flitting around the garden like a bunch of beneficent mosquitoes. These are a powerful people with their own agenda, recognizable to those who've read British folklore or even stories by Arthur Machen. Wilby makes a pretty convincing argument that the fairies served the same purpose for early modern witches that guiding spirits have done for shamans in traditional societies. Like those spirits, fairy familiars helped witches acquire practical knowledge, like where a stolen cloak might be or how to cure (or hex) someone, and they were often friends and companions as well. Witches generally first encountered a familiar while being under extreme stress - broke, family members sick, overworked, hungry, fearing the worst - and Wilby compares this to the sort of deliberate preparation to encounter a guiding spirit that shamans in traditional societies engage in - fasting, depriving themselves of sleep, and creating other physical extremes. This interesting parallel fits with assertions made by Carlo Ginzburg in his work on the Sabbat, Night Journies. Wilby also argues that the concept of traveling to a sabbat is basically the interrogators' interpretation of the witch accompanying a fairy to fairyland, where for instance they might learn how to use plants or feast and dance with the fairy folk.I was surprised by some of the information given in simple asides, such as that people at this time kept toads for pets or the average number of cats per household in Britain at this time was five. Something that really stuck with me, though, was how often witches described their familiar as being like an animal but not of any recognizable type, such as "something like a rabbit" which appeared in a witch's bed at night and asked him to love it. Even the pictures of them were somewhat disturbing. Other familiars appeared as humans but often wore old fashioned clothing.This isn't the most engaging book ever written - the writing is just serviceable, and the book feels like it began life as a dissertation. But it does present what in my experience is a unique perspective on familiars. And the information here also goes far to bust up preconceived crusty notions about the good, wise hedgewitch who wouldn't hurt a fly, the Burning Times, Disneyworld-style fairies, and so forth. It presents a world much more complicated than that. The footnotes and bibliography also provide a number of directions for further reading about cunning folk in other countries as well as some interesting books on fairy folk in Britain.

A very. very useful book. It's a lot to take in at once, so take breaks when you're reading it! I learned a lot. It also validated elements of my spiritual practice. I'd been eyeing this book for years on my friend's bookshelf so I am glad I finally bought it.

I'm not quite through yet but i really enjoy Emma Wilbys narration style, lots of footnotes and cross references. Definitely worth the money.

An excellent book, well researched and written.

A must-read for Pagans and witches of all traditions

Nice book