Familiars

Definition
Latin: famulus

A familiar, or an imp, is an attendant subordinate demon in the form of an animal. Such creatures drew nourishment by suckling from devil’s marks, a witch's breasts, or insensitive parts on a witch. Familiars behaved in ways that no natural pet was believed to. They ran errands, brought messages, and aided in devil worship.

The following are some of the creatures believed to have been used by witches as familiars: cats,  dogs,  toads,  wolves,  bees,  bats, blackbirds, owls, spiders,  flies,  chickens.


 
   
 Toads

Cats

Ravens


 

 

Cats
At various times, and in different cultures, the cat has been regarded as holy or as a diabolical beast, as a bringer of good fortune or as an omen of evil. The witchcraft of the Middle Ages turned the black cat into a creature that changed shape and helped perform rituals and spells for the witch.  If a black cat walks towards you, it brings good fortune, but if it walks away, it takes the good luck with it. Mothers should always keep cats away from babies because they "suck the breath" of the child.







Toads
Among all living animals, toads were the most popular of all familiars. They were said to be the prefered animal shape of Satan and his demons. They were used to prepare magic potions and are present in most of the witch rituals including sabbaths.

Toads as demons
Sometimes the devil would appear to witches as a toad. In these instances, witches would kiss the toad's mouth in an act of homage.  A toad was recognizable as a demon if he carried two tiny horns borne on his forehead.

Many witches baptized their toads, dressed them in black velvet, put little bells on their paws, and made them dance.

"Jeannette d'Abadie, a witch of the Basses-Pyrénées...declared that she saw brought to the Sabbat a number of toads dressed some in black, some in scarlet velvet, with little bells attached to their coats.”

An accused Cathar, a woman named Bilia, "admitted to having a familiar toad to which she fed meat, bread, and cheese, and out of whose feces, together with human body hair, whe made a powder from which she confected the potions drunk at the synagogues".



Toads in Potions and Spellcraft
The breath of a toad was believed to infect a person wherever it touched. Another common superstition existed stating those whom a toad regarded fixedly would be sized by spasms, palpitations, swoons, and convulsions.

In addition, toads were integral in some forms of experimental divination. Toad excrement was said to be used as an ingredient in flying potions by Basque witches. A lotion of sow-thistle sap and toads spittle was believed to make a witch invisible, and brandy embued with burned toad ashes was believed to be an effective cure for drunkenness. If a toad was baptized with an enemy's name then tortured to death, the victim supposedly suffered the same fate.

In 1610 Juan de Echalear, a sorcerer of Navarre, confessed at his trial before the Alcantarine inquisitor Don Alonso Becerra Holguin that he and his coven collected toads for the Sabbat, and when they presented these animals to the Devil he blessed them with his left hand, after which they were killed and cooked in a stewpot with human bones and pieces of corpses rifled from new-made graves. From this filthy hotch-potch were brewed poisons and unguents that the Devil distributed to all present with directions how to use them. By sprinkling corn with the liquid it was supposed they could blight a standing field, and also destroy flowers and fruit. A few drops let fall upon a person's garments was believed to insure death, and a smear upon the shed or sty effectually diseased cattle

Toads secrete a thick, white, hallucinogenic substance from skin glands when they are injured, scared or provoked. This toxin (C24H34O5) is called bufagin, bufotenin, or more colloquially, toads' milk. The secretion acts like digitalis in biological action, and was believed to have been used by witches for various nefarious purposes. It is also a pagan custom in the South of France to “lick the toad”, young paysants were used to get high in the first days of spring by drinking this underground milk.


Toads were also believed to have a precious stone in their heads. This stone was considered both a talisman for obtaining  happiness and a means to detect poison. If the stone became hot, poison was nearby.