Familiars in Witchcraft - History of Familiar Spirits

Familiars are commonly associated with witchcraft and witches. A familiar is a spirit that aids a witch. Familiars are also called imps. Literature is littered with stories of familiars. There are several mentions of familiars in the Bible. Who can forget the three animal familiars from Macbeth? Even the modern Harry Potter series of books contains animal familiars.

Familiars were thought to be gifts from Satan or were inherited from other witches. Familiars would carry messages, go on errands, and assist in black magic rituals. Sometimes the witches would take on the form of their familiar so that they could travel about freely.

Belief in witchcraft and familiars was very common in Europe during the Middle Ages, especially in Scotland and England. There were several witchcraft trials in Europe way before the famous Salem witch trials in the American colonies.

England passed the Witchcraft Act of 1604. This act made it a felony for anyone to associate with, hire, be friends with, feed, or reward any evil spirit for any reason. A person accused of witchcraft could be doomed if a spider, bee, or something similar made an appearance during a trial. It was common practice to identify it as a familiar, which "proved" the person's guilt.

During the Salem witch trials in 1692 in Massachusetts, two dogs were tried, convicted and hanged for being a witch or a witch's familiar.

Familiars usually took the form of animals, but not always. The most common types of familiars were cats, dogs, owls, and toads. But familiars also came in the forms of spiders, mice, chickens, owls, bats, wolves, even flies. Basically, familiars could take on the form of any animal, insect or bug.

Although familiars could take shape in many forms, the cat was by far the animal most often suspected to be a familiar. In particular, the black cat was considered to be a familiar. To this day, black cats are associated with witches, Halloween, and bad luck.