The Symbolism of the Witch’s Familiar

The idea of the witch’s familiar came from the witch trials in Scotland and England in the 1500’s and 1600’s.  The presence of an animal in the person’s world was construed to be an alliance with the devil, who gave the familiar as a gift to the witch for following him.  This familiar was often thought to be a demon itself, at least as dangerous as the witch he allied with.

This historical period was a time of ignorance and fear.  When bad things happened, people looked for explanations.  Finding no rational reasons, and lacking scientific medical knowledge, they turned to mystical reasons for the occurrences.  Women were accused of being witches and causing a great variety of maladies and misfortunes.  Sometimes the accuser used them as excuses to cover up for sins they themselves had committed.  As time went by, the idea of an assistant to the witches, a familiar, developed.

Very often this familiar was thought to be a cat.  Cats were very common because they were needed to keep the rat population in check, so they were also most likely to be considered familiars.  Very often black cats were targeted, black being a symbol for evil. This gave rise to the idea that a black cat crossing your path was an omen of bad luck to come.

But the familiar need not be a cat.  Dogs, toads, owls, spiders, and even humanoid forms were thought to be other manifestations the devil could take in its partnership with witches.  The humanoid forms were sometimes normal in appearance but sometimes had an oddity in shape or facial features.

The familiar held powers, according to those persecuting the witches.  Because of their relatively harmless-looking appearance, familiars could spy on and even wreak havoc in the lives of those who claimed persecution by witches.  

Familiars could urge witches on to greater evildoing and report back to the devil on the witch’s activities.  At the time of the witch trials it was thought that the familiars drank blood.  Sometimes the witch could even take the shape of the familiar to sneak away to dark meetings undetected.  For these reasons they were feared by many in early days.

The idea of the familiar caught the imagination, which to some degrees live even today.  It is not too large a stretch to think that the animals that accompanied Ron, Hermione and Harry Potter to Hogwarts have the same magical quality, though not the evil implications.  But the evil done in olden times came not so much from the familiars as from the terrified ignorant people who tortured and killed old ladies just for having a beloved cat.