One of the most relaxing and amusing things I've found is watching three cats explore the back yard. It helps, I suppose, that the branch of one of the trees and the wood pile form a sort of doorway onto the neighbor's yard from where I'm sitting, so I feel as if I'm looking into the Sídhe or the Shire or something, especially with the way the sun is shining through the leaves and painting everything a very vibrant green at the moment.

But back to the cats. As you may or may not have noticed, I have three. The eldest, and orange tabby whom I shall call O.T. here, T, the feral tuxedo in the middle, and B, the chubby, long-haired black cat rounding out the trio. At the moment, B is stuck inside with a plastic cone on (the poor thing!), so it's just O.T. and T prowling around the yard. It's fun to pick out their different personalities as I watch. And there's just something so graceful and natural about cats, and animals in general, that is relaxing to me. So I've spent the last half hour or so watching kitties prowl around the yard.

I promise, this isn't going to turn into a "all I do is talk about my pets" blog. As a matter of fact, I'll twist it a bit right now and go on about familiars. I've wanted a certified familiar since I started on this path. Since B showed up very soon after I began my studies (and he's a black cat, go figure), I was convinced for a while that he was my familiar. I'm not sure if it's because I've been away for three years or what, but we don't seem as in tune any more. He hasn't shown up to any of the magickal workings I've done in the last few weeks, and, honestly, seems to be avoiding me on occasion. So the question arises: how do you know when your pet is just a pet and when (s)he's a familiar? Have you ever had one change into the other?