Eight familiars. A story to keep close.

My Witch’s Bag

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Salem black cat brass medallion, Gunmetal Finish Gunmetal Finish
Salem — black-cat medallion with antique-gold frame and black cord
Antique Gold-Tone Finish
Salem gunmetal cat medallion in a burgundy gift box with black interior on a forest rock.
Salem – Black Cat Medallion Necklace
Salem – Black Cat Medallion Necklace
Salem – Black Cat Medallion Necklace
Salem – Black Cat Medallion Necklace

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fire / Black Cat · The free spirit

Salem

Independence · Instinct · Mystery

For the part of you that knows its own way. Salem pairs the black cat’s watchful presence with celestial detail and a sculpted brass frame: a personal emblem of intuition, independence and quiet mystery.

The included black braided waxed cord keeps the focus on your familiar. Choose Salem for yourself, to mark a new beginning, or as a meaningful gift for someone whose spirit has always been their own.

Make room for a familiar
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The Coven’s Choice
Total when bought separately: —Save 20%—
Total when bought separately: —Save 30%—

Each medallion includes a preassembled black braided waxed cord and a black velvet pouch. Choose your finish: Gunmetal or Antique Gold-Tone. Optional chains are available in your bag.

Your story together is only beginning

Choose a familiar and, if you subscribe to our emails, receive eight thoughtful letters over four months: symbolism, a useful question and a small practice to make your own. If you choose several familiars, we begin with the first familiar in your order, one story at a time.

Materials & Care

Materials: Brass medallion in an antique gold-tone or gunmetal finish, with a printed illustration sealed under a domed glass cabochon. Comes on a black braided waxed cord. Optional chain in 18K gold PVD or black PVD stainless steel, 45 cm + 5 cm extender.

Care: Keep away from water, perfume and lotions, and store in its velvet pouch to preserve the finish and the artwork.

A black velvet pouch is included.

Delivery

Prepared within one business day. Estimated delivery after dispatch: 5–8 business days, depending on your destination. Eight Shadows covers import duties and customs charges. Standard shipping is $4.99; free shipping on orders of $50 or more after discounts.

The story

The black cat keeps its own counsel. It crosses the threshold, pauses in the dark and chooses its next step without asking the room to understand. In the Eight Shadows circle, it is an emblem of self-possession: the quiet decision to belong to yourself.

A flame of your own. A small light in a dark window can feel like a promise of welcome. For Salem, that light belongs to the self: the interests you protect, the choices you make quietly and the life that takes shape when you listen to your own wishes. In our circle of Fire, the black cat invites you to give those wishes room to grow.

Explore the symbolism

A familiar. An ally. Your circle.

Trust your spark. See where it leads.

Salem carries Fire: independence, instinct and the courage to remain yourself. His Air allies bring a questioning mind and quiet discernment — a circle for choosing your own path with both conviction and clarity.

Fire + Air · Self-trust, guided by insight

Your first ally · Air

Diaval · Raven

Trust your instinct. Widen your view.

Diaval is our first ally for Salem. The raven’s searching curiosity gives the cat’s self-direction a wider perspective: confidence to choose your own path, with the openness to see what others might miss.

Meet Diaval

Complete your circle · Air

Jareth · Owl

Know your mind. Choose your moment.

Jareth completes the circle with patient discernment. Beside Salem’s courage and Diaval’s curiosity, the owl represents the pause that turns a strong impulse into a deliberate choice.

Meet Jareth

Your pair: Salem + Diaval · Save 20%

Your circle of three: Salem + Diaval + Jareth · Save 30%

These allies are chosen with purpose: each brings a strength that complements your familiar. Begin with the circle we have drawn for you. Should another presence call more deeply, the final bond is yours to make.

The meaning behind these pairings

Our circle favours Fire with Air, and Water with Earth: affinities through which we explore intention, insight, feeling and grounding. Western esoteric tarot offers a historical framework for considering elemental relationships. Liber LXXVIII, Of the Dignities describes Fire–Water and Air–Earth as contrary and same-element cards as strengthening one another.

The animals’ elemental assignments and the particular circles recommended here belong to Eight Shadows. Each ally has a distinct symbolic role; historical and literary sources for the animals themselves are explored on their individual pages.

Meet the meaning behind Salem

A familiar for the part of you that follows its own path.

Intuition. Independence. A connection that feels like yours. Discover the stories behind Salem, and the meaning you might choose to carry.

A black cat with amber eyes standing on a carved desk in a moonlit library.
Instinct, given a watchful form.

01 / Trust the quiet knowing

Your instinct has a voice.

You notice the change in a room before anyone names it. You are drawn to a particular place, a person, a possibility, and sometimes you need a little quiet to understand why. The watchful cat gives that private attention a shape. In Eight Shadows’s world, Salem is a symbol of listening to yourself: curious, observant, and willing to take a path that feels like your own.

Within our circle of familiars, Salem belongs to Fire. We read that element as the spark of self-direction: the desire to make something, begin something, or finally say what you mean. Choose this familiar for a new chapter, a creative ambition, or the everyday pleasure of wearing a piece that reflects your independent spirit.

For the part of you that already knows its own way.

A black cat seated on a stone threshold beside an open wooden door and a dark ivy garden.
A threshold, a welcome, a world of your own.

02 / Keep a little space for yourself

A gentle presence. A quiet strength.

The cat’s place in sacred imagery reaches far beyond modern witch stories. In ancient Egypt, Bastet came to be depicted as a domestic cat, expressing a gentler form of a powerful feline goddess. Her imagery brings care and vigilance together: a useful reminder that tenderness and strength can share the same presence.

For Salem, we draw a personal meaning from that contrast. The soft parts of your life deserve attention: the home you make, the people you welcome, the hours you keep for yourself. Worn as a symbolic keepsake, this familiar can mark a boundary or a promise to make room for what nourishes you. Its quiet gaze is an invitation to be kind without losing your sense of self.

You can be gentle and still keep your own door.

Explore Salem’s offers
A woman in a deep wine velvet dress sharing a quiet moment with a black cat on her lap in a moonlit conservatory.
Companionship, freely chosen.

03 / The familiar bond

Some companions feel like recognition.

The cat beside the witch is one of folklore’s most enduring pairings. Cats appear among the animal familiars described in early modern English witch-trial accounts. Those records tell us about the beliefs and accusations of their time. In later storytelling, the image also makes room for something intimate: a companion who seems to understand a world others cannot quite see.

That is the feeling at the heart of Salem. Perhaps a black cat has already left its pawprint on your life. Perhaps you recognize yourself in its reserve, curiosity, or affection freely given. This medallion can hold that connection. Choose it for yourself, or for the person whose particular kind of magic you have always understood: the friend who feels like home, the sister who follows her own course, the cat lover who would know exactly why you chose it.

A familiar bond. A meaning only you need to understand.

The antique gold-tone Salem cat medallion and black braided waxed cord on deep wine velvet beside an antique mirror and leather book.
Salem’s illustrated design, styled as a personal keepsake.

04 / Make the symbol yours

A little night. To carry into your day.

Black cats have also been carried as emblems of good fortune. The Science Museum preserves a small black-cat amulet said to have been worn by a British soldier during the First World War. It is a tangible example of people giving an object a personal, hopeful meaning. Salem belongs to our own telling of that idea: a piece you choose for the thought it holds.

Its illustrated black cat, celestial details and sculpted brass frame make a striking focal point. The included black braided waxed cord keeps the silhouette simple against an open collar, a soft dark knit or a favorite dress. Wear it as a private reminder, let someone ask about its story, or give it to someone whose independent spirit you love.

Begin with Salem alone, add another familiar for a different side of yourself, or choose a circle of three. A second or third medallion can also become a meaningful gift. The offers above show the complete prices and savings, so you can choose the circle that feels right.

Your familiar. Your story. Worn your way.

Choose your circle

Does Salem feel familiar?

Follow the feeling. Choose your familiar.

Keep Salem close as a symbol of your own independent spirit, or choose it for someone you know by heart. One familiar, a pair, or a circle of three: start with the one whose story stays with you.

Explore Salem’s offers
Symbolism & sourcesExplore the stories behind your familiar

The cat in sacred imagery. Egyptologist Eva Lange-Athinodorou explores Bastet’s feline forms and protective character in this article for the American Research Center in Egypt. This is a distinct historical tradition, not a claim that European familiar beliefs descend directly from it.

Witches and familiars. The Museum of Witchcraft and Magic discusses cats in early modern English witch-trial accounts and the enduring image of the feline familiar. These accounts document historical beliefs and accusations.

A keepsake of good fortune. The Science Museum Group’s black-cat amulet, dated 1914–1918, is a historical example of a cat-shaped object carried for luck and protection.

A flame of your own. A small light in a dark window can feel like a promise of welcome. For Salem, that light belongs to the self: the interests you protect, the choices you make quietly and the life that takes shape when you listen to your own wishes. In our circle of Fire, the black cat invites you to give those wishes room to grow.