Fabulous Folklore: The Witch’s Familiar

In the medieval period, familiars were believed to be supernatural entities that appeared as animals; or in humanoid or human form. They assisted cunning folk in their magick.

Whether they were “good” or “bad” depended on who they served, and of course this depended on the perception of others.

Familiar spirits who attended cunning folk and healers were seen as benevolent. They were thought of as benign and kindly faeries who would protect the cunning man or woman in their healing work.

Familiar spirits that assisted “witches” were known to be malevolent. They could be a bird, toad, cat or an amalgamation of several creatures. They could be seen as imps, demons or even the devil himself. It was believed they were given to the witch by another witch or by the devil; and their job was to aid the witch in their malevolent deeds. They could be servants, messengers or spies, and they had magickal abilities of their own. Familiars were fed by the witch, usually suckled by a teat.

In my county, and the Cambridgeshire Fens where my mum lives, there was a strong belief in Witchcraft, with the locals believing strongly that all witches had familiars. They were given names such as Pyewacket, Elimanzer, Tibb, Vinegar Tom and Grizzel Greedigut.

The French poet Charles Baudelaire, who was known to be a “cat fancier” believed in familiar spirits and said:

𝐂'𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐥'𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐮; 𝐈𝐥 𝐣𝐮𝐠𝐞, 𝐢𝐥 𝐩𝐫é𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞, 𝐢𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞 

𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞; 𝐩𝐞𝐮𝐭-ê𝐭𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐬𝐭-𝐢𝐥 𝐟é𝐞, 𝐞𝐬𝐭-𝐢𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐮?

𝐀 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐇𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬, 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐬, 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞; 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐲, 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐝?

Today, some magickal practitioners believe in familiar spirits.

Do you? Do you work with one?