Familiar spirit
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please discuss this issue on the talk page or replace this tag with a more specific message. This article has been tagged since March 2007. |
- For the Linux distribution, see Familiar Linux.
In early modern English witchcraft or Superstition, a familiar spirit, commonly called familiar (from Middle English familiar, related to family) or imp is a spirit who obeys a witch, conjurer, or other users of the supernatural, and serves and helps that person. Although they may not be as intelligent as their masters, they are often as intelligent as the average human. Familiars often perform domestic duties and help in farming, but also aid the person in bewitching people. If they look like ordinary animals, they can be used to spy on their masters' enemies. These spirits are also said to be able to inspire artists and writers (compare with muses). Some reclusive wizards rely on familiars as their closest friends.
Familiars are considered an identifying characteristic of early modern English witchcraft, and serve as one feature setting it apart from continental or New World witchcrafts.
Contents |
[edit] Familiars in European and British Mythology
Familiars are most common in western European mythology, with some scholars arguing that familiars were only present in traditions of England, Great Britain, Scottland and France. In these areas three categories of familiars were believed to exist. The first is a human familiar, found throughout Western Europe. Second are divinatory animals, found in Great Britain and France. Third are maleficent animals, found strictly in England.[1],
[edit] Types of familiar spirit
The most common species identified as familiars are cats, particularly black cats, owls, dogs, and sometimes frogs or toads. In later cases, familiars moved to more ethereal forms, often taking the shape of a "black man" thought to be representative of Satan.
Familiars are generally animals. They usually have some magical power, or are simply there to advance the story. Dangerous familiars are in the forms of weasels, puppies and toads.[2], Also familiars were animal or bird sucking witch’s blood. Eastern side of England, in places like Suffolk familiars are said to be more common. Eastern familiars were cats, ferrets, mice, moles, toads and dogs. Familiars sucked blood and were known to eat bread, raw meat and drink milk.
[edit] Witch trials
The most evidence of familiars comes from the English and Scottish period during the 16th century and the 17th century. The court system that tried witches was known as the Essex witchcraft trials. The Essex trial of Agaes Sampson of Nether Keith in 1590 displays proof of a divinatory familiar. This evidence shows Sampson being tried for high treason and the court wants to prosecute Sampson for attempting to use witchcraft on King James VI. The court documents Sampson for stating familiar spirits came when she called it and resolved her doubtful matter. Another evidence of a familiar appearing in an Essex trial is that of Hellen Clark tried in 1645. This court documented Hellen and she stated that the devil appeared as a familiar in the form of a dog.[3],
The English courts reflect a strong relationship between the witch and the familiar.
[edit] Prince Rupert's Dog
During the English Civil War, the Royalist general Prince Rupert was in the habit of taking his large poodle dog, named "Boye", into battle with him. Throughout the war the dog was greatly feared among the soldiers of Parliament and credited with supernatural powers, evidently considered a kind of familiar (see Prince Rupert#Career During the Civil War).
[edit] Familiars in Modern Fantasy
In many modern fantasy stories, a magician's familiar is a magical creature. In many cases the power of the familiar is directly proportional to the power of the magician.
The form taken by the familiar is also influenced by the personality of its master as in the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman, though the comparison is not perfect, the nature of Pullman's dæmons being dissimilar from standard notions of a familiar. The relationships between familiars and their masters vary by story. Some familiars do not have free will and are nothing more than tools of their masters while others are willing servants who can make their own decisions and would leave their masters if mistreated.
[edit] Familiars in Art and Literature
- Familiars were mentioned in Shakespeare's Macbeth, as the witches called their familiars.
- Loiosh, in Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos series
- In the Bartimaeus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud, djinns and other demons are summoned and serve as a passive manifestation of a magician's power as opposed to any true arcane skills used directly.
- Familiars have appeared in several fantasy role playing systems, most notably as the companions of wizards and sorcerers in recent versions of Dungeons & Dragons.
- In vampire fiction (Salem's Lot, Blade, etc.), familiars are humans who were promised immortality by a vampire lord in exchange for services of some kind.
- In The WB television series Charmed, the star characters possessed a familiar for the first half of the series named Kit the Cat, who was a white Siamese with blue eyes.
- In the film Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, Elvira possessed a familiar named Algonquin, or Gonk for short, who took the shape of dogs and mice.
- In the series Sugar Sugar Rune two familiars come as a mouse and frog.
- In the series Sailor Moon, the main characters possess familiars named Luna, Artemis and Diana.
- In the Earthsea books, Ged has a mouse-familiar, an "ottak". There are references to several other familiars, including ravens and boars.
- In the Harry Potter series there are a number of characters possessing beloved pets similar to familiars, though the term is never used.
- The DC Comics character Klarion the Witch Boy has an orange cat familiar named Teekl, as does the character Morgana whose black cat was named Frimost.
- In the Philip Pullman book series His Dark Materials, dæmons are similar to familiars.
- In the animated television ReBoot, the character Hexadecimal had a "verminous" familiar named Scuzzy.
- The Marvel Comics character Satana had a familiar named Exiter who died while trying to save his mistress.
- In the British comedy programme The Mighty Boosh, Bollo, who is the "oldest ape in captivity" is the Shaman Naboo the Enigma's familiar.
- In Riviera: The Promised Land, a Game Boy Advance game, the main character Ein has a familiar named Rose (who looks like an ordinary black house cat).
- The PlayStation game Castlevania: Symphony of the Night features several familiars that can be unlocked to aid the player.
- In another PlayStation game, Azure Dreams, the basis of the gameplay is centred around recovering monster eggs that become the hero's familiar when hatched.
- In the browser-based MMORPG Kingdom of Loathing, familiars are like pets can be obtained to assists a player in various ways, from healing to attacking to increase drop rates.
- In the Karin (anime), Karin's sister Anju control a horde of bat familiars that watch over Karin throughout the day. She is also accompanied by many doll familiars, most notibly "Boogie" whom she often carries around with her.
- In Rob Schrab's "Twigger's Holiday", Twigger has a humanoid familiar named Josh who often barks like a dog. Twigger's girlfriend Michelle also has a humanoid familiar who meows like a cat.
- The plot of the Japanese visual novel Fate/stay night, tells the story of a war between magicians and their "servents", heroic spirits which can be rendered as familiars.
- In the Japanese anime Zero no Tsukaima, all of the 2nd year students must summon their own familiar. The heroine's familiar turned out to be a human.
- In Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Sabrina Spellman had a black cat familiar spirit named Salem. (Although in the live-action television show version, Salem was actually a warlock who had been turned into a cat as a punishment for his crimes.)
- Familiar is the name used for a common, bat-like monster in Ragnarok Online. They can be summoned by the MVP Boss, Dracula.
- In Warhammer 40,000, space marine librarians, chaos sorcerers, and inquisitors can choose familiars as equipment.
- A dog and cat prowl a dark alley, pausing to inspect a corpse, in the opening sequence of the 1986 horror/mystery film Angel Heart, foreshadowing the appearance of the sinister Louis Cyphre and his attorney.
- Masaki Andoh from the Super Robot Wars game series has two cat familiar spirits, a female black cat named Kuro and a male white cat named Shiro. They also help him in combat, piloting Cybuster's Hi-Familiar remote weapons.
- In the book "The Bridge" by Iain M. Banks the familiar lives atop the barbarian's back and helps him in a few ways, ranging from spells to advice.
- The Elf Wizard Vaarsuvius, from the popular webcomic The Order of the Stick, has his/her own familiar, a black raven.
The mythology of the Familiar were also protrayed as antagonist in the TV series Dark Angel, starring Jessica Alba.
