Animal Witchcraft: Using Animal Magic in Green Witchcraft covers animal familiars, animal spell uses, and the spiritual meaning of animals with Plants By Laurali! Animals are more than just pets when it comes to green magic.

While this article focuses on animal magic in green witchcraft, any kind of witch can work with animal spirits to accomplish their magical goals and intentions! The truth is, that we receive signs and symbolism daily when it comes to the creatures of planet Earth.

How many of us walk the earth and see animal signs and symbolism? In my personal life, I often see owls when it’s time for me to mature and seek wisdom. I see butterflies when it’s time for transformation and moths indicate lunar magic for me.

Animal magic helps us not only connect with the signs and symbolism of our animal ancestors and spirits but also with the animal itself. You can incorporate animal witchcraft into your green witch practice, as working with animals is a huge part of green magic.

How does one incorporate animals into their witchcraft? Let’s deep dive into it, shall we? Animal magic creates an invisible thread between humans, plants, and animals.

Animal Witchcraft: Using Animal Magic in Green Witchcraft

To work with animal magic, you’ll need to connect with animals and plants. While animal witchery focuses on animals, we can branch out and incorporate plant familiars and earth spirits into the mix too.

Earth spirits are made from the elements of the earth. They are the fae, the fairy folk, who live in the in-between liminal spaces in the earthly and lower realms.

Plant familiars are plant spirits that assist with spellwork and protection for the witch who loves to hedge ride. While many people think hedge witches are hedge riders (and they are), green witches do a lot of hedge riding and dream work too.

For now, let’s focus and hone in on working with the energy and essence of animals. I recommend developing relationships with animals first.

If you have a pet or are thinking of pet adoption, that’s wonderful! Not only does it help an animal find a safe home, but it’s another way to connect with creatures and make new animal friends.

While most people gravitate toward adopting dogs, cats, birds, and sometimes horses, I have always gone for exotic pets. My next pet will most likely be a hedgehog, as the hedgehog animal familiar is my guide.

In the past, I’ve had a bearded dragon, a pet stingray, a saltwater aquarium filled with exotic fish, and more recently, we had a baby bunny living in the garden in our backyard. Animal familiars have always been a huge part of my life, even before I understood the concept.

Another way to connect with animal spirits is by taking long walks in nature. In nature, you are bound to run across snakes, owls, bunnies, and deer. Safety is important here, especially with wild animals!

You might find yourself understanding animals telepathically and speaking their language. You might begin to understand when an animal is injured or in need of help, such as in the case of my backyard bunny.

I have come to unravel shaman healing abilities when it comes to animal familiars. I’ve done everything from assisting a toad crossover to giving proper burial and respect to animals I’ve found dead in my backyard.

With time, I’ve begun to see animals as omens and signs of premonition. Recently, I found a dead crow in my backyard which can signify death, rebirth, and transformation. It coincided with a death in the family.

When working with animal witchery, you might discover some hidden talents and abilities when it comes to your spiritual gifts. Animals, much like the intuitive witch, are very intuitive creatures with an understanding of the meaning of life and death.

When you start working with animals, you’ll begin to see signs, omens, and symbolism everywhere you go! Animals might show up in your dreams or while hedge riding or astral traveling. They might show up on your nature walks to show you something.

Animal Magic Spell Uses

Animals have many magical uses and can make or break a spell, depending on how respectful you are. To incorporate animal magic into spellwork, you’ll want to begin with research first!

Look up the animals you’d like to work with and their spiritual meanings. You can also learn about the physical animals while brushing up on your homework.

You can find hidden familiars here on Plants By Laurali. I’m adding the spiritual meaning of animals for people to bridge a connection with the animal totem or spirit, depending on their belief system.

In addition to that, you might like to start with the energy and essence of the animal you’d like to work with. This is the first way to build a connection with an animal spirit.

Once you can feel the animal spirit’s energy, you can then begin to use it in spellwork. For some people, it may be as simple as doing research or seeing them in a photograph or at a local zoo or park.

For others, we might need a physical item to connect with the animal spirit. This can be anything from finding animal bones for bone magic to animal fur and bodies.

In my green witchcraft practice, I keep things as harm-free as possible for the animals I work with. This means never harming an animal and only using its body unless it has already reached the death state.

I keep bees, dead wasps, wasp nests, beehives, bones, bunny fur, dried lizards and frogs, and feathers that can be used in my green magic! I find these items in my household, backyard, potted plants, and while taking walks in the forest.

I never harm any animal in the process to achieve my goals. I don’t condone or believe in that. I’m a green peace-loving vegetarian so harming animals and hunting doesn’t align with my belief system.

Whatever your belief system, I recommend being respectful to animals and helping them when you feel called to do so. If you gain their trust, you can begin to use them in your magical spell workings!

Animal Familiars and Green Witchery

Most green witches have an animal familiar. If they don’t yet, they soon will. Again, animal magic is a big part of the Green Witch grimoire.

Animal familiars act as guides for magical workings. They help us in our craft. They protect us from dark energies and spirits that mean to do us harm, especially while doing hedge work.

To meet your animal familiar, you might try meditation or astral traveling. Sometimes, we end up with an animal familiar that doesn’t make sense to us or that we find undesirable.

Trust me, there’s a reason that a particular animal has manifested as your animal familiar. It could be to help you through a dark and challenging time in your life. It could be a temporary friend to have.

For others, your animal familiar will make perfect sense. For me, finding out my familiar is a hedgehog matched my personality and my attraction to hedgehogs.

Really, at the end of the day, you can work with the energetic blueprint of any animal familiar! You just have to bridge the connection and foster a friendship that’s one for the ages.

Work with the energy and essence of the animal. The energetic blueprint, if you will. Work with animal bones, fur, teeth, wings, feathers, and more to touch the familiar on a physical plane of existence.

Animal familiars make great friends to have! It’s a magical connection that brings you healing, shielding, and protection in your herbal craft.

To start working with animal magic, start with animals you feel drawn to and already love. You can branch out from there. You might even go beyond animal spirits and work with plants and faery folk in your craft.

Thanks for reading! xo ~ Laurali