Did you know...? A familiar (or familiar spirit or familiar animal) is an animal-shaped spirit believed to serve a witch or magician as domestic servant, spy and companion, in addition to helping to bewitch enemies or to divine information. The animal was often believed to possess magic powers, such as the ability to change its shape. They were an identifying characteristic of English witchcraft, and they featured prominently in many British witch trials.
Familiar is from the Latin "familiaris" (meaning a "household servant"). The lore surrounding the familiar spirit suggested that a witch received one following her initiation into her coven.
The traditional vessels for such spirits were the cat, mouse, ferret, rabbit, bat, snake, dog or bird (particularly the raven or owl), by far the most common form being a black cat or a black dog. They often had strange names like Pyewacket or Dandiprat, or semi-descriptives such as Buzz, Digger, Tit, Bonecracker, Little Rat, Thistlepurr or Hop-Moon. As witches and cunning women in the Middle Ages were almost always marginalized and lonely, they would often have small animals as pets and, at one point during the witch hysteria of Early Modern Europe, the mere possession of a black cat (or of an unusual pet like a frog, lizard or rat), was sufficient cause for investigation as a witch.
WHO'S YOUR FAMILIAR?
Happy Halloween Samhain Dia de los Muertos!
~Erika | 
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