Familiars
As well as bequeathing the witches power and sometimes wealth on earth, the devil also chucks some trusty helpers into the bargain. Known as familiars, these creatures were demons, sometimes assuming the form of an animal, tasked with doing the witch’s bidding: ‘[the] familiar… always works with her in everything’ (Malleus Part II Question 2 Chapter 14). Like the pact, ascribing the witch’s evil deeds to the familiar, one of the minor demonic legions of hell, robs the perpetrator of all agency. Although the term ‘familiar’ eventually became more popular, Kramer mostly uses ‘Incubus’ and ‘Succubus’ to describe demonic helpmeets.
The witches whose confessions provide illustrative examples in the Malleus often speak of their familiars in terms of friendship: ‘when that man used abusive words to me, I was angry and went home; and my familiar began to ask the reason for my ill humour. I told him, and begged him to avenge me on the man… the devil went away and afflicted the man even beyond my asking’ (Malleus Part II Question 1 Chapter XI). There is a sense of pathos in these words: under duress, the woman draws comfort from fantasising about her imaginary-power over a churlish oppressor.
The idea that these familiars could take on animal-form led to the persecution of many vulnerable men and women who had made the dreadful mistake of owning pets. At the height of the witch panic, anyone seen stroking a beloved pet could be accused of having a familiar, and hence being a witch. Other commonplace animals, such as toads and hares, seen hopping around the vicinity of someone’s home could also result in the inhabitant being accused of witchcraft. Anything unusual about the animal’s appearance, such as colour or size, could then be exaggerated without censure in court testimony.