Which Animal Is Your Familiar?

By: Marie Hullett
Estimated Completion Time
6 min
Which Animal Is Your Familiar?
Image: John M Lund Photography Inc / DigitalVision / Getty Images

About This Quiz

In European folklore of medieval and early modern times, animal familiars, sometimes called animal guides, would help witches and healers conduct their magic. While they typically assumed animal forms of the likes of cats, rats or birds, they might occasionally also appear as a human or ghostly figure. Benevolent familiars assisted folk healers in spreading health and wellness, while malevolent ones would allegedly assist witches in ghastly horrors. 

In one tale by Walter Raymond, the white witches and cunning folk of Exmoor in Somerset practiced magic with familiars deep in nature. On a night of the full moon, they listened carefully for the first animal sounds they heard first; then, they would attempt to contact this animal. To do so, they visualized burrowing into the physical being of this creature so as to experience the world from a new point of view. Eventually, this psychic bond strengthened, and the two could work together in magical harmony. 

French philosopher and esotericism specialist referred to such a being as a "familiar spirit," also known as an "alter ego, doppelgänger, personal demon, personal totem, [or] spirit companion." Today, many modern-day "witches" and Wiccan practitioners have adopted the concept of animal familiars. 

So, which animal familiar guides you? Is it the goat or a raven, a cat or a bat? Take the following quiz to find out which furry, feathered or scaled familiar speaks to your unique spirit. 

Animal1 How would you like your animal familiar to assist you?
By helping me garner a fresh perspective
By directing me along the right spiritual path
By dreaming up mischievous schemes for us to enact
By gathering ingredients for my potions

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Animal2 Where do you hope to stumble upon your animal familiar?
On top of a mountain at sunset
In a flower-filled meadow
On a black-sand beach
Deep within the jungle

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Animal3 Maybe your familiar could also help out with some practical tasks. What else do you hope they can do for you?
It would be great if they could take care of some gardening for me.
Do you think they could run my errands for me?
Maybe do my chores? I could use help with the dishes.
They could pitch in with the bills and my streaming subscriptions!

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Spell with Animal Let's say that your animal familiar will assist you in the invocation of a spell. What type of conjuring would you like to cast?
A good-health spell
A love spell
A wisdom spell
A revenge curse

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Hex In particular, which one of these hexes sounds ideal?
"Magically heal my aching back, legs and head 1,000x better than painkillers" spell
"Fall deep in love with me on the night of the full moon" spell
"Give me superhuman wisdom so I can take over the world" spell
"Turn my enemy into a guppy" spell

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Animal4 Let's say that a stranger observes your animal familiar. How will your familiar respond to them?
By greeting them timidly but cheerfully
By scurrying away, frightened
By flying around them menacingly
By stretching and inspecting them casually before walking away

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Magic Place You and your animal familiar just might relocate somewhere new together, wouldn't that be fun? So, where would you like to settle down?
In a little cabin high up on a mountain
In a cottage deep within the forest
In an abandoned castle in a sea coastal village
In a tree house perched upon sprawling hills

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Animal Friend Which of these would you love in an animal friend?
Playful antics
Warm snuggles
Fun tricks
Nonchalant indifference

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Griffin Which of these mythological beings would you most like to meet?
Faun
Jackalope
Griffin
Sphinx

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Animal and Human If you could trade places with any animal for one week, would you do it?
I'd be scared, but I'd give it a try.
No way
Absolutely. I love new experiences.
Sounds boring. I don't think so, but maybe I'll get back to you.

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Scary Which one of these places sounds the most terrifying to you?
The very edge of a slender, craggy cliff
A dark, tiny, enclosed space the size of a twin bed
A broken-down elevator
A room full of people banging pots and pans and generally being as loud as possible

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Fortune Teller Let's say that your animal familiar delivers you a special message of clairvoyance. Which fortune would you most like to hear right now?
"Self-knowledge requires a life-long journey."
"It takes courage to admit fault."
"Do not underestimate yourself. You hold infinite potential."
"Like the river flows into the sea, some things are meant to be."

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Support Everyone needs a little support now and then. What do you find you often need help with?
My career
Relationships
Having fun
Stability

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Focus In order to channel your animal familiar, you must first harness an unwavering focus. Which method would you like to use along your journey to heightened spirituality?
Ritual magic
Meditation
Hypnosis
Yoga

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Casual jewelry Which one of these material items do you covet most?
Artwork
Musical instruments
Anything shiny and sparkly, like jewelry
Cars

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Person Thinking1 Are you more of a solitary being, or do you prefer to be in the presence of others?
I love to be around a lot of people.
I'm a little shy, but I really am quite social.
I love to be alone, mostly.
I like a bit of both. It just depends on my mood.

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Heart Person Which of these qualities do you most appreciate in those closest to your heart?
Playfulness
Benevolence
Intellect
Humor

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Animal5 Most likely, your familiar already has a name given to them in their own animal language. Weird, I know. But if they didn't, what would you name them?
Billy
Bugs
Sable
Beatrice

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Super Animal One of the perks of having an animal familiar is that they can help you obtain superhuman strengths. Which one of these newfound abilities would you like?
The ability to maintain balance in even the most precarious places
The ability to hear on a nearly supersonic level
The ability to fly
The ability to scale any tree or building and leap from immense heights

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Crystals Which of these mystical crystals would you like to harness your powers from?
Crystal quartz
Agate
Moonstone
Lapis lazuli

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Failure In general, how many times do you try and fail at something before you give up?
One million times. I always try, try again.
Once, and then I accept defeat
It doesn't take very many tries for me to accomplish anything, really.
A couple times

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Good Luck Charm Which of these good luck charms would you like to help bring you good fortune?
A horseshoe
A rabbit's foot
A ladybug
A wishbone

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Bad Luck Whether you're superstitious or not, which of these bad luck signs might worry you the most?
A Ouija board
Walking under a ladder
Saying the word "Macbeth" while inside a theatre
A black cat crossing my path

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Tarot Cards Time to break out the tarot deck. Which Major Arcana card do you hope you draw?
The Wheel of Fortune
The Lovers
The Magician
The Chariot

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Ritual Which of these ritualistic activities would you like to partake in with your animal familiar?
Performing flute-music while worshipping Pagan deities
Casting spells in a sacred circle
Dancing around a fire under the full moon
Entering a trance-like meditative state

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Confident Person Everyone excels at something. Which one of these do you consider your greatest personal strength?
Creativity
Compassion
Industriousness
Endurance

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Multiple Dogs Are you more of a tiny, medium or big dog kind of person?
Big dog
Medium dog
Tiny dog
I'm a cat person.

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Person Thinking2 How much faith do you place in your intuition?
A whole lot
Not sure, but my "flight" response to fear is certainly quite strong.
I always lead by logic and intuition.
None, that would be pretty foolish, right?

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Improve Everyone has something they could improve upon. In which of these areas could your familiar extend a little good grace?
I'd love to be more patient. Even this quiz is really testing my patience.
I'd like to improve on my attention spa—what was the question again?
I'd like to be more honest. Actually, that's a lie too...
I'm a little cruel, which frankly doesn't bother me. But someone told me it bothers other people? So maybe that.

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Greek God In addition to your animal familiar, which of these Greek gods would you like to help guide you?
Pan: god of nature, the wild, shepherds and goats
Cybele: goddess of caverns, mountains, nature and wild animals
Aeolus: god of the winds and air
Circe: goddess of magic who transformed her enemies into beasts

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You Got:

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