The idea that a pet is the same as a familiar came from the centuries when poor women who had only a pet for company were often accused of being Witches.. It has continued in modern times because of the crop of poorly researched books on the market these days. But the fact of the matter is that our beloved pets and a Witch's familiar are very, very different things.
A Witch's familiar is an animal spirit or a magical construct created by the Witch or the Magician as an adjunct to their magical workings, as a repository for power, and if needed as a defense against magical attack from another magic user. A Witch or a magician can draw upon the energies of the familiar when they need an extra boost of energy in a magical working. Conceivably if the spell is important enough, the Witch could completely drain the familiar of energy causing it to "die" or cease to exist. And in the case of a magical attack, the attack could be diverted to the familiar so that it would be the familiar which is destroyed rather than the magic user. None of these are things that I think any of us would want to do with our pets.
There is an excellent article on familars here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Familiar_spirit
Animals are very sensitive to the energies around them and they may be drawn to us when we are working magic because they can sense the energy. They also want to be around their people, which again will make them want to be where we are..and that may be where we are doing magic. Neither of these things makes the animal a familiar or inherently magical in and of itself.
With this in mind I would also say that a human being would also not be a familiar as they are neither a spirit nor an energy form created by the magic user.
It is my observation that non-corporeal Familiars tend to 'project' their image to their partner so that we have an easier time focusing and communicating. A "meet you half-way" sort of arrangement. They are on the other side of the spiritual veil after all.
I think they choose how they present themselves given their partner's comfort levels. If the personality of the familiar is complex I could see how it would tend to shift back and forth through human and animal forms.
Those are just my observations though. I have a human Familiar whom likes to shift clothes on a whim. Maybe not all Familiars are the same though...
Familiar: a demon/spirit supposedly attending and obeying a witch, often said to assume the form of an animal.
The standard definition makes it very clear that a familiar is a spirit ally, that may assume an animal likeness.
So no, a human wouldn't be considered to be a familiar.
I would strongly disagree with that notion Brysling.
There is some wonderful academic works and fantastic thesis on familiar spirits in Europe, particularly by Emma Wilby (Cunning Folk & Familiar Spirits) that make a lot of sense when compared to indigenous cultures that practice shamanism and have animistic worldviews.
Basically, the helping spirits (fairies or wights) are traces of animistic and shamanic belief that cunning folk and witches in the early modern period used, which strongly parallel that of indigenous shamans and their spirit-allies. These encounters often rely on the cunningman/witch/shaman giving something up and becoming an outsider of sorts, and these spirits if angered, can work to the detriment of the worker.
As for physical animals for familiars, that one likely had little basis outside of fantasy, a witch hunters fantasy. And a convenient one at that, as in Britain alone there were typically an average of five cats per household in the period I'm referring to.
Brysing is actually very accurate with his statement. Brooms were also mistaken with a tool of witch, saying that witches "flew" to their sabbats on them. But In reality, they were considered a domestic thing for a woman to have. Every household had them. Familiars and brooms alike, they were mistaken for something magickal by the church.
Again, historians(historical/anthropological analysis of witch trial testimonies and contemporary documents pertaining to the subject) are largely considering the familiar spirit a remnant of animism and shamanism, as we see similar beliefs and practices in other still living cultures matching the description of certain confessions, shamanistic spiritual practices ranging from Native American, Inuit, and Erwin shamans.
It can be almost positively stated that there was an underlying shamanistic practice in premodern and early modern Europe and the peasant fairy beliefs was a hold over or remnant of animism, were the common folk were illiterate, even in the Christian orthodoxy (none could read the bible, much less could afford to own one, and lived in the countryside).
