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A late-16th-century English illustration of a witch feeding her familiars. In European folklore of the medieval and early modern periods, familiars (strictly familiar spirits, as "familiar" also meant just "close friend" or companion, and may be seen in the scientific name for dog, Canis familiaris) were believed to be supernatural entities, interdimensional beings, or spiritual guardians that ...
Articles relating to familiars and their depictions, supernatural entities or spiritual guardians that would protect or assist witches and cunning folk in their practice of magic. Subcategories This category has only the following subcategory.
The first part of Cunning Folk and Familiar Spirits is devoted to a historical examination of the professional cunning folk and accused witches of Early Modern Britain, with a particular focus on the beliefs in familiar spirits that they held to; according to Wilby, this serves the purpose of "illustrat[ing] in some detail, the event-pattern ...
The masculine form was wicca ('male sorcerer'). [33] According to the Oxford English Dictionary, wicce and wicca were probably derived from the Old English verb wiccian, meaning 'to practice witchcraft'. [34] Wiccian has a cognate in Middle Low German wicken (attested from the 13th century). The further etymology of this word is problematic.
Fantasy author Dianne Sylvan’s “Shadow World” series features a Wiccan character, Stella, whose cat is named Pyewacket after the film. Pyewacket is a 2017 horror film. Pyewackett (with two t's) is the name of a folk band who released several albums in the 1980s. In Peter Swanson's Henry Kimball book series, Kimball's cat is named Pyewackett.
A familiar is a supernatural entity believed to assist witches and cunning folk in their practice of magic. Familiar may also refer to: Literature
The terms esoteric and arcane can also be used to describe the occult, [4] [5] in addition to their meanings unrelated to the supernatural. The term occult sciences was used in the 16th century to refer to astrology, alchemy, and natural magic, which today are considered pseudosciences.
Louis Le Breton's illustration of a grimalkin from the Dictionnaire Infernal. A grimalkin, also known as a greymalkin, is an archaic term for a cat. [1] The term stems from "grey" (the colour) plus "malkin", an archaic term with several meanings (a low class woman, a weakling, a mop, or a name) derived from a hypocoristic form of the female name Maud. [2]