When we think of a witch and her pet, I’m guessing most of us go straight to a black cat. This stereotype comes from a way more interesting history that combined the animal kingdom and the magical world of witches. Witches were said to have a whole range of animals they kept and spoke to. It wasn’t just cats. These magical animals even had some pretty spectacular powers – much better than owls that deliver messages – so trumping anything you’ve seen in Harry Potter.
In the time of Shakespeare, witches were thought to have kept magical creatures that were called familiars. Familiars however were so much more than just a pet. They were spirit guides that were thought to feed off the blood of their witch. The word familiar comes from the Latin famulus which translates to servant or slave. They weren’t the servants of their witch though, they were known to be servants of the devil himself. Familiars taught their witches magic, whispered evil advice in their ear and could act as shapeshifting, flying magical spies. Some mad stuff. However, some of the details of the relationships between witches and familiars is even more crazy.
Familiars were often said to feed on the blood of the witch that kept them. Witches were said to have a ‘witch’s mark’ or ‘witch’s teat’. This was a lump on the body where the familiar suckled on the blood of the witch in a freaky midnight feast. Any woman with a raised lumpy wart, birthmark, mole or skin-tag could come under suspicion of being a witch. It was this ‘mark’ that the devil himself might suckle on at night before he slept with the witch in return for her service on earth. Suspected witches were stripped by witch hunters to see if they could find the mark and if not would be tortured with hot pins to see if they were just hiding it. Diaries from the time show the violent torture methods against women in this period was truly shocking. James I, the king who Shakespeare wrote Macbeth for, ordered many of these tortures against women to find their mark.
The relationship between witch and familiar was at best equal, with many suspecting the familiars were in fact the ones in control. The first woman executed for witchcraft in England, Agnes Waterhouse, had a familiar in the form of a cat. He was called Satan (not subtle Agnes) and she bought him from her sister with a cake. Agnes used Satan to kill her neighbour’s sheep and cows. She kept him in a wool pot, but wanted to use the wool for something else so turned Satan into a toad. Some say Satan had all the power here and turned actually himself into a toad. Who really knows, but Satan certainly still got himself into some trouble. Mrs Brown was Agnes’ neighbour and said that Satan then turned himself into a black dog and rocked up at her house. The dog demanded butter from Mrs Brown but she refused, at which point he took it anyway. Mrs Brown’s daughter later claimed the Satan (still a dog but this time with a face of an ape) came back with a knife and threatened them. Mrs Brown asked the dog who was his master and he happily wagged his tale in the direction of Agnes Waterhouse. Agnes was executed.
In Macbeth, Shakespeare gives the three witches familiars. Two of the three witches reveal their familiars in the opening scene of Macbeth when they talk to “Graymalkin” and “Paddock”. The witches are called by them and have to leave, suggesting these were powerful familiars that had control over the witch. Graymalkin was a grey cat and the second witch had the much less strokable Paddock, a slimy little toad (though later seems to have transformed into a hedgehog!). The third witch has a Harpier which we find out about later in the play. Shakespeare saves the best until last with this one, but there is debate about what this is. It could be a harpy. A beast from ancient Greece, where mythology there said was supposed to be part eagle part woman – pretty awesome. Another suggestion is that it is a raven as had the nickname ‘harpy’ for Elizabethans and symbolised death. We also have Lady Macbeth’s reference to a raven when she stands on the battlements waiting for Duncan. Alternatively, the Harpier could be an owl. It’s only words in the play are “‘tis time, ‘tis time” which make it sound a bit owl like I guess. Less awesome but it does mean the three familiars of the three witches would be a cat, a toad and an owl; the three pets J.K Rowling said you could take to Hogwarts. Did she rob this idea from Macbeth?
Comments