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A witch's familiars. Demons, usually in the form of an animal. Cat, rat, a bird, or a toad; they perform all sorts of useful tasks, as long as they're fed.
— Cotton Mather about Familiars[src]

A Familiar is a demonic entity in the shape of an animal employed as a witch's domestic companion, servant, and spy.[1]

Description

A Familiar is a demon that the Devil places in the service of the witch as a magical aid in their magic practices. They take on the appearance of an animal, usually tracing the witch's personality but can shape-shift if the need arises.[2] According to Tituba, the Familiar chooses their master, not the other way around.[3] The familiar appears to the witch at the moment the Pact with the Devil is sealed. For some witches, this happens the moment they sign the front page of their Book of Shadows as happened with cradle witch Anne Hale. [4] As servants, they are also an inexhaustible source of sacrificial blood since as shown with Mary Sibley's toad or Anne Hale's rat, they resurrect after each kill. [5] Should the Devil rescind the contract with a witch, the familiar is nailed down and destroyed during a ritual known as Reckoning.[6]

Cunning Ones are known, among other things, for their ability to bring stuffed animals back to life. Unlike familiars obtained by the Devil, these servants differ in the fact that they have no inherent supernatural abilities, but are regular stuffed animals imbued with magic by the Cunning Ones to fulfill their bidding.[7] These animals are mostly employed as spies; their eyelids are sewn with red thread and the breath of life is blown on them during a ritual to restore life in their limbs.[8]

The feeding of a Familiar

Main article: Devil's Mark
Tituba: Careful, mistress. Your tears may sour the milk.

Mary Sibley: There was a time that I might have suckled something other than a toad.

— about the nourishment of the familiar
Feeding toad with Witch nipple

Mary feeding her toad familiar from a supernatural nipple

In return for its services, the familiar is fed by the witch through a supernumerary nipples located in an intimate area on the witch's body; Mary Sibley had it on her inner right thigh, Anne Hale on her pubis and Tituba on the nape of her neck, hidden by her hair. This nipple is known as Devil's Mark. The feed was referred to as either breast milk or blood, without further elaboration. However, Countess Von Marburg – whose familiar was never disclosed – explained to Anne that the feeding is the price for doing all a witch's bidding.[9]

Powers and Abilities

Witches spell

a familiar turns from toad to an owl

The main function of this creature is to serve their mistress or master in every way possible. This involves, primarily, being an incessant reserve of blood. The familiar can be butchered to empower a spell without dying permanently. They can also act as spies for their witch. Through the implement of spell casting, a familiar can shape-shift to obtain a desired effect. They can crawl into the throat of a man as a snake or fly over the skies in the form of predatory birds. They may also be the perpetrators of a curse, as when Tituba's tarantula created a gold web in George Sibley's mouth by orders of Mercy Lewis.[3]

Slip the rat in Cotton throat

Anne taking control over Cotton.

The evilest task used by the witches of Salem through their familiars is to take control over people. The dark task is accomplished by letting the familiar creep inside the victim through the mouth, inducing almost total paralysis. Although the victim is conscious, they will be incapacitated in movement and speech putting them at the mercy of the witch who bewitched them.

Notable Familiars

Mary Sibley's Familiars

Mary holding a snake S1

Mary with her serpent familiar

Mary Sibley's primary familiar is a demon in the guise of a toad although for the particular task of tracking down the fugitive Mr. Sibley, it was temporarily transformed into an owl through a spell Mary cast with Tituba.[2] The demonic toad is primarily employed to control George Sibley, but has also been employed in a failed resurrection spell and as a spy. It was destroyed when the Devil stripped Mary of her magical powers.[1]

However, it should be noted that Mary Sibley employed a pair of snakes to subdue the local minister's daughter, Mercy Lewis so that she would be nurturing her specter and tormented by witches. One of these snakes was expurgated from Mercy's body following an exorcism performed by Reverend Lewis.[10]

Tituba's Familiars

Salem-Promo-Still-S1E09-40-Tituba Spider Familiar

Tituba with her spider familiar

Tituba's familiar is a tarantula that she feeds from a witch's nipple on the back of her neck. Following her mistake of instructing Mercy Lewis in familiar demons lore, the young witch used Tituba's familiar against her. First to shut George Sibley's mouth with a golden web. Then she confessed before the mob led by Increase Mather that she had seen Tituba feeding a spider. This prompted Tituba's arrest. The familiar spider fate is unknown.[3]

Following the acquisition of seersight, Tituba was inspired by Petrus in using stuffed animals to see. Tituba restored life to a black cat named Greymalkin in exchange for cat eyes with which to see despite her blindness.[8] Mary Sibley eventually snapped the cat's neck, breaking the bond with her mistress.[11]

Petrus' Familiars

Petrus is known for his large collection of stuffed animals that act as eyes and ears of the witches in the woods. Generally, these animals have eyes sewn with red thread that is cut to pour the blood from the eyes into a bowl of water. These animals are stored in his shack in the woods and include boars, wolves, foxes, various predatory birds including owls and crows and an iguana amongst others.[7] Petrus was particularly fond of a pair of cockroaches that crushed by Tituba as punishment for disobeying the Hive.[12]

Mercy Lewis's Familiar

Main article: Mercy's henchmen
Salem-Promo-Still-S2E01-12-Mercy Subduing Victim

Mercy subduing a drunk smith to her will

In spite of her erratic learning in witchcraft, Mercy Lewis was able to subdue a mob through the use of birds of prey. With the help of her acolytes such as Dollie Trask, Mercy castrated the men the girls lured into the woods at night and replaced their manhoods with demonic ravens. The familiars had a counterpart kept in a golden cage, which Mercy explained were representative of her henchmen's manhood. The spell would be broken by releasing the birds from the cage.

Anne Hale's Familiar

Main article: Brown Jenkins
Brown Jenkins on table

Brown Jenkins, Anne Hale's familiar

A little mouse that manifested itself to Anne Hale when she signed with blood the first page of her Book of Shadows, affectionately called Brown Jenkins. [4] As Anne descended into the corruption of dark magic and the familiar was used for evil deeds, it morphed from a mouse to a large rat with bright red eyes. It reached its peak when Anne forced Brown Jenkins down Cotton Mather's throat with the aim of subduing him and preventing him from leaving her or denouncing her as a witch. [13] Probably due to Anne's inexperience, Cotton's paralysis was not as severe as George Sibley's and he was able to brew a "Familiar-killing Concoction," and free himself from the spell. Cotton bludgeoned Brown Jenkins to death with a stone, but it is unknown if that was enough to permanently kill the weakened familiar.[6]

Mrs. Stoughton's Familiar

The familiar of Mrs Stoughton, a Bostonian witch was a poodle named Little Lady. She claimed that she could talk with the poodle and understanding its barks. The familiar was immolated by Cotton Mather in a fireplace to create a distraction and escape from the Stougthon witches who wanted to kill him and cook him as an offering to the Dark Lord.

Memorable Quotes

Cotton Mather: "She was forced to feed their familiars. She must be searched for the marks, teats where she suckled them."
The Vow

Tituba: "My familiar. A gift from the Devil to do my bidding, my spiritual companion. This is how she feeds."
Mercy Lewis: "Will I get a familiar?"
Tituba: "In time."
Mercy: "How do I choose?"
Tituba: "You don't. It chooses you."
Children, Be Afraid

Countess Von Marburg: "He simply wants to suckle and be fed by his mistress. It is the price for doing all your bidding."
The Beckoning Fair One

Gallery

Videos

Trivia

  • In Book of Shadows, Mary Sibley reveals to Anne Hale that her familiar will show up once she has sealed her own book of shadows with blood.
  • Brown Jenkins is named after an alleged familiar mentions during the real Salem Witch Trials. "Brown" was certainly not described as a cute little mouse, but a rat with a human face. This familiar also made an appearance in H.P. Lovecraft's story titled Dreams in the Witch House, and derivative Lovecraftian works.
  • Janet Montgomery ("Mary Sibley") revealed that the scenes of feeding the familiar were among her least favorite. For the close-up scenes they used a real toad that always peed on her probably as a defense mechanism.
  • For Valenine's Day, on February 12, 2015, production released "Valentine's familiars" cards on the show official social media. On Facebook, they were posted with the following caption, "No one deserves to be alone on Valentine’s Day. Heathens, choose a familiar to stir the blood of a special friend."

See Also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Brannon Braga & Adam Simon (writer) & Richard Shepard (director). April 20, 2014. "The Vow". Salem. Season 1. Episode 1. WGN.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Jon Harmon Feldman (writer) & Alex Zakrzewski (director). June 8, 2014. "Departures". Salem. Season 1. Episode 8. WGN.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Elizabeth Sarnoff & Tricia Small (writer) & David Grossman (director). June 15, 2014. "Children, Be Afraid". Salem. Season 1. Episode 9. WGN.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Joe Menosky & Adam Simon (writer) & Allan Kroeker (director). July 13, 2014. "Book of Shadows". Salem. Season 2. Episode 4. WGN.
  5. Turi Meyer & Al Septien (writer) & Peter Weller (director). July 13, 2014. "The Wine Dark Sea". Salem. Season 2. Episode 5. WGN.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Kelly Souders & Brian Peterson (writer) & Wayne Yip (director). November 16, 2016. "The Reckoning". Salem. Season 3. Episode 3. WGN.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Elizabeth Sarnoff, Tricia Small (writer) & Alex Zakrzewski (director). May 4, 2014, 2014. "In Vain". Salem. Season 1. Episode 3. WGN.
  8. 8.0 8.1 Brannon Braga & Adam Simon (writer) & Joe Dante (director). November 30, 2016. "Night's Black Agents". Salem. Season 3. Episode 4. WGN.
  9. Donna Thorland & Adam Simon (writer) & Joe Dante (director). July 13, 2014. "The Beckoning Fair One". Salem. Season 2. Episode 7. WGN.
  10. Jon Harmon Feldman (writer) & David Von Ancken (director). May 11, 2014. "Survivors". Salem. Season 1. Episode 4. WGN.
  11. Adam Simon (writer) & Brannon Braga (director). January 25, 2017. "Black Sunday". Salem. Season 3. Episode 10. WGN.
  12. Joe Menosky & Adam Simon (writer) & P.J. Pesce (director). May 25, 2014. "The Red Rose and the Briar". Salem. Season 1. Episode 6. WGN.
  13. Adam Simon (writer) & Brannon Braga (director). July 13, 2014. "The Witching Hour". Salem. Season 2. Episode 13. WGN.
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