Many modern witches have animal familiars, usually cats, which are their magical helpers. Some also have dogs, birds, snakes or toads. Witches do not believe the familiars are “demons” or spirits in animal form but simply animals whose psychic attunement makes them ideal partners in magic. Some Witches say it is possible to endow pets […]

In folklore, low-ranking demons in constant attention to witches for the purpose of carrying out spells and bewitchments. Familiars usually assumed animal forms—cats, toads, owls, mice, and dogs were the most common—though virtually any animal or insect could be suspected. In witchcraft trials, if so much as a fly buzzed in the window while a […]