Fabulous Folklore: Toads in Witchcraft

I love this tiny toad with a broomstick. It is found carved in wood on the building of the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic in Boscastle, Cornwall.

Toads have been associated with Witchcraft for many hundreds of years.

During the Renaissance it was widely believed that Satan sent witches familiar spirits to help them with their work. Toads were not liked in Medieval Europe, they were seen as ugly, disgusting creatures that were associated with poison. They were believed to be able to kill people even without being a familiar, which was a common concern. The witch could use the poison of toads to others, so the poor toad became entangled in this idea of harm. Stories of toads joining the Witches Sabbath or being compared to the Devil did not help, and terrified everyday folk, adding to their belief that toads were awful creatures connected to death and filth.

The familiar of the Second Witch in Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a toad known as Paddock. He has the witches throw another toad into their cauldron. It is possible that Shakespeare may have read Discovery of Witchcraft (1584) by Reginald Scot, where the word familiar is first seen in print.

It was thought that toads had a “toadstool” in their heads, a sort of magickal gemstone that acted as an antidote for poison. Amulets containing dried frogs were abundant; and cunningfolk may have used toads in their medicine and remedies, keeping them for this reason, and subsequently bolstering the idea of a witch’s familiar.

Bufagin, a toxin produced from the glands on the top of a toad’s head, may have been linked to flying rituals and ointments, but it is a steroid not an alkaloid, and as such produces an anaesthetic effect rather than a psychoactive one. However butofenin, a toad toxin and alkaloid may be a good ingredient for a flying potion.

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