ofwoodandbone:

odinnsdottir:

ofwoodandbone:

ioqayin:

fuckinmagicman:

theowlandthekey:

In an attempt to pull away from the cultural appropriation that had plagued modern wicca and neo-pagan movements, I notice many people gravitating towards traditional witchcraft in it’s various incarnations. While this is a broad conversation to enter into, something I want to bring up for the possibility of open conversation is the concept of the Fetch (traditional witchcraft) and the Spirit Animal (Native American shamanism). Bare in mind, my understanding of the spirit animal is limited to what I have been told and I am open to being given more information to better develop my grasp of the concept. Take the following definitions as generals, not absolutes.

A ? around a sentence means I’m not sure of the validity of this information.

Spirit Animal: An entity, separate from the self, which appears to guide or, through lessons, help one become stronger and persevere through challenge. They represent a mind set or perhaps ones strongest traits, what will become most important to them, or the path they should follow in life. ?A spirit animal does not ‘belong’ to any one person? However a totem animal is one with the person both in the physical and spiritual realm. Spirit animals may come in and out of ones life at times of need or to convey messages. ?Sometimes they have strong affiliations with a specific tribe?

Fetch: A fetch is, at it’s core, a representation of the persons most primal and uncivilized self. Wild and perhaps even dark, it is meant to act as a challenger to the persons progress in the craft and, once the challenge is won, the fetch will act on behalf of the person by helping them travel the spirit realm. They can be totemic (as totems and shamanism is not limited to Native American tribes) as they are in essence the person at their most wild and free self.

Why differentiate? Well beyond the two being very different both in concept and intention, I do feel there is a need to stop using the stolen ideals of another culture, especially when we don’t have a good grasp of what they are and simply fling around the term because we took a buzzfeed quiz. Spirit animals do not belong to witchcraft. We do not have a right to them under the concept that they exist for Native Americans. Now there may be some similarities between spirit animals and fetches, familiars, totems, et cetera in other practices. But that does not make the terms interchangeable.

Thoughts? Comments? Expansions?

Could you talk abt the origins of fetch? Like how it was used and where it historically and culturally came from? Thanks!!

The word “fetch” is based on an old English word meaning “double” or “specter”, apparently of Irish origin. It was believed to be an individual’s spiritual double and would appear shortly before the person died. 

As to how it is used in witchcraft, and especially traditional witchcraft, I think we need look no further than Feri witchcraft, as I can not find any reference to its use in witchcraft before that tradition. The way that Feri use the word is a little different, though related to what the OP is talking about. 

The connections to the PIE verb “to walk” (root “ped”) are interesting in that it is the fetch that goes “oot and aboot” when one is asleep or flying. When the witch is able to “wed” with their fetch, then they will remember these experiences rather than as hazy dreams. 

The Fetch is found in Irish folklore. 
There, it’s like a spectral doppleganger of someone. 
It is the ghost or spectral double of a living person, especially when that person is soon to die. 
It’s often associated with the Fylgja, which is the Norse concept of a spirit companion in the form of an animal. I think it’s there that it started to be associated with the idea of spirits in animal form, but I could be mistaken. 

*nodnod* Yup that’s what flygja are, but it’s a bit more complex. From what I understand, fylgja can be both a part of one’s spiritual self that manifests as a physical animal, or a helper spirit separate from oneself which takes the form of an animal or sometimes human.

Odin has several flygia (his ravens Huginn and Muninn, the wolves Geri and Freki, his horse Sleipnir), which he sends to me as black birds, dogs, or horses. If constantly feeling like you are a character in the Hitchcock film “The Birds” isn’t your taste, I would not recommend calling upon Mr. Grimm.

P.S. @ofwoodandbone I really cannot express how much I adore your blog. It’s funny, though; your descriptions of the Man in Black are extremely similar to my experience of Allfather Odin. He is the many-faced, the masked, the hooded one, the god of a thousand names. I have often wondered if the devil archetype in paganism and traditional witchcraft are just another name and persona he goes by. 😉

Oh, thank you! 
Odin the Old Wander… Father of Magic and Whisperer of Secrets… There are some streams of traditional witchcraft (small, quiet ones) who view him and the Devil as one and the same. No wonder though. They are incredibly similar. 
Odin is one of the many deities who will guide witches, and even initiate them as he did to himself. 
An old man wandering through the wilderness dressed in black, attended by beasts. 
It’s hard to tell who I’m talking about between the two.