Sinister companions of witches. Frog in magic - animal handler

Almost every witch and wizard has familiar- assistant in animal form. They can be very different. Thus, magicians of New Guinea use crocodiles, in Malaya witches are usually accompanied by owls or badgers, in Africa - snakes, lizards, and jackals.

But there are also “common” familiars. Thus, frogs were associated with the forces of the underworld in the folklore of many peoples, and the Mexican Indians generally considered them the ancestors of the human race.

An equally famous companion of witches is the toad. It is believed that even the devil himself takes on the image of a huge frog during the rite of initiation into sorcerers. A person who decides to take this step must go to the bathhouse, renounce God there, promising his soul to Satan.

After this, a small toad supposedly jumps out of the corner and grows until it occupies the entire space of the bathhouse. After the one who chose the “black path” climbs into its gaping mouth (in fact, into the mouth of the devil), he becomes a real sorcerer.

In general, toads and frogs are amazing creatures and contenders for the title of “eternal animal.” For example, in 1910, a resident of Leicestershire, having split a piece of coal, discovered a living young toad in it. But the age of coal is estimated at millions of years. “Walled up” amphibians were also found inside the trunks of cut down trees.

According to legend, witches flew to Sabbaths on bats, and they themselves often turned into these creatures. In the myths of many peoples, the bat is closely associated with evil spirits, black magic and witchcraft, being an integral attribute of the night and the bird of the Devil. The Poles considered her the soul of a sleeping witch and a vampire, the Belarusians - the soul of a dead sorcerer, the Ukrainians - a friend of the devil, and many Russians - a kikimora.

Because of their color, ravens have always been associated with the underworld. So, naturally, sorcerers and witches chose them as assistants. In magical practice, the raven is considered the energetic conductor of its owner into the world of demons. By the way, the supernatural qualities that are attributed to these birds have a basis. Scientists have found that the ratio of the weight of their brain to their total mass is the most impressive among birds.

Of course, we cannot do here without the most famous companions of witches - black cats. In some religions, cats are considered sacred animals, bringing both happiness and misfortune.

The ancient Celts were confident that meeting a cat threatened illness and misfortune. In Christianity, the cat was at one time inextricably linked with Satan, darkness and lust.

In the 13th century in Germany, the Luciferians (a sect of Satan worshipers) considered the cat a symbol of their master the devil. And the Middle Ages turned cats simply into enemies of humanity.

The Catholic Church declared these animals to be the first assistants of witches, who themselves often took the form of a cat. Therefore, they were hanged and burned at the stake. At first, only black cats suffered, and then they didn’t even look at the color.

The tailed ones were the companions of witches; they were possessed by demons who carried out the orders of their mistresses. Elizabeth Frances of England, convicted as a witch in 1556, said that she kept a white, spotted cat named Satan, who, when he did some “useful work” for her, received a drop of her blood as a reward.

But, as legends say, there are much more dangerous varieties of the cat tribe. For example, in the north of England there is a legend that a black cat, the size of a young calf, lives there.

The Irish believed that the cat shi was a mystical animal, and the Scots believed that it was a reincarnated witch who could turn herself into a cat nine times, and after that she would remain a cat forever.

The Scandinavians believed that the witches' assistant was a homemade troll cat made from sticks with burnt ends, spindles wrapped in scraps of wool. After creating such a “blank”, the witch dripped three drops of blood onto it and recited a special spell to breathe life into her creation.

Troll cats took the form of either a cat or a ball similar to a ball of thread. The witches instructed their cat trolls to infiltrate neighboring farms, where they stole milk, sucking it straight from the cows. Then the troll cat returned home to his owner and vomited milk into the trough.

The Scandinavians were sure that if you shoot a troll cat, milk will flow from the wound. At the same time, the witch herself received the same damage as her troll.

And Czechs generally believe that black cats kept by evil magicians are werewolf devils, who after seven years turn into a witch or sorcerer, and until then they help their wicked owners in all their sinful deeds.

But perhaps the most terrible cats are found in Japanese mythology. This is bakeneko - “a ghostly cat that can change its appearance.” At first, as they say, bakeneko are no different from ordinary relatives in the tribe. But after 10-12 years they begin to walk on their hind legs, talk and, sometimes, kill their owners. And having taken the life of a person, bakeneko can turn into him in order to live among people, and also terrorize his family and friends.

Of course, even if we ignore the witchcraft topic, one cannot help but notice that there is a lot of mystery in our pets. Cats are great at sensing people and sensing their mood. As scientists have learned, their energy is the opposite of human energy, so they absorb all the negative energy floating around. The therapeutic effect of cats is based on this: the animal, of its own free will, lies on the diseased organ of the owner and, absorbing the energy of the disease, heals it.

According to bioenergeticists, a cat is something like a portable biogenerator that creates electromagnetic radiation. The frequency and amplitude of the waves emitted by it have a strong impact on a person, protecting him and curing him from many diseases.

That is why cats are actively used in animatherapy - a branch of medicine that has existed since the mid-50s of the last century and is gaining increasing popularity these days.

The fact that cats can not only relieve nervous stress, but also cure, for example, cardiovascular diseases is supported by the fact that almost half of American medical practitioners recommend that their patients get a cat, which helps reduce the risk of a heart attack.

Perhaps this is why in our time many people believe that cats are creatures of extraterrestrial origin. According to this version, cats are higher creatures that are superior to people in everything, but do not strive to come into close contact with them. They're just watching us closely.

People are afraid of the evil eye and damage, ghosts, poltergeists and chupacabra, but for some reason they don’t think about the fact that many equally terrible creatures have been living next to us for a long time. Take a closer look!

Almost every witch and wizard has familiar- assistant in animal form. They can be very different. Thus, magicians of New Guinea use crocodiles, in Malaya witches are usually accompanied by owls or badgers, in Africa - snakes, lizards, and jackals.

But there are also “common” familiars. Thus, frogs were associated with the forces of the underworld in the folklore of many peoples, and the Mexican Indians generally considered them the ancestors of the human race.

An equally famous companion of witches is the toad. It is believed that even the devil himself takes on the image of a huge frog during the rite of initiation into sorcerers. A person who decides to take this step must go to the bathhouse, renounce God there, promising his soul to Satan.

After this, a small toad supposedly jumps out of the corner and grows until it occupies the entire space of the bathhouse. After the one who chose the “black path” climbs into its gaping mouth (in fact, into the mouth of the devil), he becomes a real sorcerer.

In general, toads and frogs are amazing creatures and contenders for the title of “eternal animal.” For example, in 1910, a resident of Leicestershire, having split a piece of coal, discovered a living young toad in it. But the age of coal is estimated at millions of years. “Walled up” amphibians were also found inside the trunks of cut down trees.

According to legend, witches flew to Sabbaths on bats, and they themselves often turned into these creatures. In the myths of many peoples, the bat is closely associated with evil spirits, black magic and witchcraft, being an integral attribute of the night and the bird of the Devil. The Poles considered her the soul of a sleeping witch and a vampire, the Belarusians - the soul of a dead sorcerer, the Ukrainians - a friend of the devil, and many Russians - a kikimora.

Because of their color, ravens have always been associated with the underworld. So, naturally, sorcerers and witches chose them as assistants. In magical practice, the raven is considered the energetic conductor of its owner into the world of demons. By the way, the supernatural qualities that are attributed to these birds have a basis. Scientists have found that the ratio of the weight of their brain to their total mass is the most impressive among birds.

Of course, we cannot do here without the most famous companions of witches - black cats. In some religions, cats are considered sacred animals, bringing both happiness and misfortune.

The ancient Celts were confident that meeting a cat threatened illness and misfortune. In Christianity, the cat was at one time inextricably linked with Satan, darkness and lust.

In the 13th century in Germany, the Luciferians (a sect of Satan worshipers) considered the cat a symbol of their master the devil. And the Middle Ages turned cats simply into enemies of humanity.

The Catholic Church declared these animals to be the first assistants of witches, who themselves often took the form of a cat. Therefore, they were hanged and burned at the stake. At first, only black cats suffered, and then they didn’t even look at the color.

The tailed ones were the companions of witches; they were possessed by demons who carried out the orders of their mistresses. Elizabeth Frances of England, convicted as a witch in 1556, said that she kept a white, spotted cat named Satan, who, when he did some “useful work” for her, received a drop of her blood as a reward.

But, as legends say, there are much more dangerous varieties of the cat tribe. For example, in the north of England there is a legend that a black cat, the size of a young calf, lives there.

The Irish believed that the cat shi was a mystical animal, and the Scots believed that it was a reincarnated witch who could turn herself into a cat nine times, and after that she would remain a cat forever.

The Scandinavians believed that the witches' assistant was a homemade troll cat made from sticks with burnt ends, spindles wrapped in scraps of wool. After creating such a “blank”, the witch dripped three drops of blood onto it and recited a special spell to breathe life into her creation.

Troll cats took the form of either a cat or a ball similar to a ball of thread. The witches instructed their cat trolls to infiltrate neighboring farms, where they stole milk, sucking it straight from the cows. Then the troll cat returned home to his owner and vomited milk into the trough.

The Scandinavians were sure that if you shoot a troll cat, milk will flow from the wound. At the same time, the witch herself received the same damage as her troll.

And Czechs generally believe that black cats kept by evil magicians are werewolf devils, who after seven years turn into a witch or sorcerer, and until then they help their wicked owners in all their sinful deeds.

But perhaps the most terrible cats are found in Japanese mythology. This is bakeneko - “a ghostly cat that can change its appearance.” At first, as they say, bakeneko are no different from ordinary relatives in the tribe. But after 10-12 years they begin to walk on their hind legs, talk and, sometimes, kill their owners. And having taken the life of a person, bakeneko can turn into him in order to live among people, and also terrorize his family and friends.

Of course, even if we ignore the witchcraft topic, one cannot help but notice that there is a lot of mystery in our pets. Cats are great at sensing people and sensing their mood. As scientists have learned, their energy is the opposite of human energy, so they absorb all the negative energy floating around. The therapeutic effect of cats is based on this: the animal, of its own free will, lies on the diseased organ of the owner and, absorbing the energy of the disease, heals it.

According to bioenergeticists, a cat is something like a portable biogenerator that creates electromagnetic radiation. The frequency and amplitude of the waves emitted by it have a strong impact on a person, protecting him and curing him from many diseases.

That is why cats are actively used in animatherapy - a branch of medicine that has existed since the mid-50s of the last century and is gaining increasing popularity these days.

The fact that cats can not only relieve nervous stress, but also cure, for example, cardiovascular diseases is supported by the fact that almost half of American medical practitioners recommend that their patients get a cat, which helps reduce the risk of a heart attack.

Perhaps this is why in our time many people believe that cats are creatures of extraterrestrial origin. According to this version, cats are higher creatures that are superior to people in everything, but do not strive to come into close contact with them. They're just watching us closely.

From the book by Liliya Musikhina “Zveroslov”. Translation from the language of Rus'.

Among the peoples of the Volga region, the frog is still the patroness of housework and women's handicrafts. Perhaps this is where we should look for the roots of the famous fairy tale about the frog princess, who is distinguished by her temporarily exotic appearance and rare talent for needlework, dancing and cooking?

And you say! Toad....

In world mythological symbolism, the frog is depicted as a transition from the element of water to the element of air and vice versa. She is often understood as a creature that is born directly from the earth, and as a “child of the earth” the same traits were attributed to her - fertility, generosity, wealth. The Egyptians associated the frog with the goddess Nephthys, and believed that the croaking of frogs foreshadowed a large harvest, as well as with the goddess Heket and, accordingly, with childbirth. The Indians also turned to frogs to conceive and give birth to children. Buddhist legends tell of the creation of the world by the deity Manjushri, who turned into a giant frog, lay down on his back and created the world on his own stomach. Among the Evenks, the frog carries the earth out of the water and, when killed, turns upside down with its legs and to this day holds the earth on its belly.

In the city of Budaevtsy, Chubinsky recorded a belief: “When you see that a frog is already biting, you need to separate them with a stick, and this stick will bring you profit in everything.” And in Litinsky district they thought that if you cross the thunderclouds with such a stick, they will disperse. This technique is also used by some of the Carpathian molfars to drive away storms and influence the weather.

Frogs were quite widely used in various types of folk magic and medicine. I. Sakharov describes a ritual of love magic performed with frogs. To do this, they looked for two creatures in the process of mating, put them in a holey pot and ran to the nearest anthill. They buried a pot of frogs there, and three days later they dug it up. A “fork” and a “hook” were found among the frog bones. As soon as you touched the girl with the hook, she fell in love with the one who performed the magic. When it was necessary to get rid of the spell, they pushed her away with a “fork” and the love passed.
(From the author of the translation: It is interesting that similar sorcery exists among Turkic-speaking peoples; there are descriptions of similar rituals)

Another peculiarity of the frog is that it is one of the witch’s closest allies and assistants in spells. If a witch wanted to sow discord in a family or bring illness, discord and all sorts of bad things into the house, then she would let a frog under the house, which would bring damage to the person to whom it was addressed. Sometimes these amphibians are sent in this way: suddenly so many frogs climb into the house that there is nowhere to step, and sometimes there is only one frog, which, immediately after everyone falls asleep, climbs onto the chest of the one to whom it was sent and, like a ghoul , sucks out a certain amount of blood, or little by little strangles a person and he dies over time.

But there are many ways to get rid of such a creature. The simplest one is that she should be called queen several times, told about her beauty and politely asked to leave (Verkhovina). Another is to sprinkle holy salt on her, then she will immediately run away and never come again. The latter is the most cruel, but it will help identify the witch who sent her assistant. You need to catch a frog and hang it over the fire or put it in an old pot and bake it little by little over the fire. The witch will suffer severe torment from these actions and will come to ask for the frog to be released and promise not to harm again. Sometimes such an assistant is also beaten with a broom sprinkled with holy salt, which makes her squeal in a human voice.

There are folk stories that after drinking a decoction of frogs, you can burst, because the one who gets drunk bursts to incredible sizes. Healers allegedly use this property of the magical decoction to fatten pigs.

“Once upon a time there was a woman who was a healer. She fattened the pigs so that the fat would be thick; she fattened them for nine days. So that woman cooked some toads (frogs) and put them on the shelf to cool. And her daughter, married not far away, ran to her mother. There is no one in the house, and the yushka (decoction) is standing on the shelf, red and cold. The daughter got drunk on that drink. Here the mother enters the hut. “Mom,” asks the daughter, “what is that sweet thing on your shelf? I got drunk...” The mother beats her chest and shouts: “I’m not talking to you, but to the wild boar!” You’ll only live for nine days, you’ll be torn to pieces!” That daughter began to burst into pain, she became as if she was about to give birth, and she no longer even came in the door. By the tenth day it wouldn’t even fit in the hut. But the doctors gave her something so that she would die, otherwise she would have ruptured.”

The Middle Ages looked for the elixir of immortality and longevity in the frog, but this did not prevent Christianity of that time from considering it the embodiment of sin and lust. They believed that anyone who did not fulfill their vow to God could turn into a frog. To regain human form, such a creature must crawl to the altar.

In addition, the frog symbolized the female womb and was thus involved in childbirth and sexual sins. Sometimes they even depicted the initiation of new members of secret orders through the worship of a frog. Most likely, the frog symbolized in such cases something unclean, low and lustful.

The frog, in the understanding of the Slovenian peoples, is an animal with double semantics. Some legends and fairy tales describe Her as a kind and wise creature, others endow Her with extremely negative qualities.

A number of toponyms are associated with the frog (toad), one of which is Zhabye - the former name of Verkhovyna. There are hypotheses that the frog is one of the totems of the Hutsuls, and they even say that the temple on Mount Written Stone was dedicated specifically to the ritual honoring of the toad.

And it seems that if the frog was a totem, then most likely it was a very long time ago. And, obviously, She could not stand the competition with other, new cults. And it acquired negative semantics, since it is known that “an older symbol, in the struggle with a younger symbol, received the meaning of a dangerous, chthonic (wild, natural) essence, but at the same time more magically effective.”
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From the author of the translation:
And in shamanic cults, frogs represent the forces and juices of the Earth, that is, Earthly Wisdom. It is they who fill the Shamanic Tree, and the roots of the Tree are from Snakes. And this is similar to the transition from the element of Water to the element of Air, which is mentioned above.
http://stihi.ru/2013/01/30/5966

*18713-151113

Note:
It should be understood that a toad and a frog are still different. In the Russian language there are both words, which are almost interchangeable for the uninitiated, but in nature they are different creatures, although they seem to be of the same family.
In addition, there is a slight linguistic confusion. In Ukrainian, a toad is a frog in Russian, and a Russian toad in the language of Rus' is a burr.

It has long been believed that witches have various animals and insects under their command, which help the devil’s servants cast spells on people, and also participate in various witchcraft rituals and spells.

Vinegar Tom and other henchmen

The main assistants or, as they were also called, companions of the witch were usually considered cats, toads, owls, mice, flies and even cockroaches. In medieval criminal trials, if during the investigation or interrogation of a witch a fly began to hit the window, then it was immediately ranked among the witch’s companions.

The devil himself gave the witch companions; they were inherited or bought from other witches. A sorceress could have several companions. They were given names, just like domestic animals, which for the most part they were. In the 16th century, an Essex woman accused of witchcraft admitted that she had three assistants in the form of mice - Baby, Handsome and Dainty.

Another was in charge of five satellites, including those of unearthly origin. They were the cat Holt, the legless dog Yamara, the black rabbit Sack-and-Sugar, the black ferret Nyez and a certain fantastic creature named Vinegar Tom, who could turn into a headless four-year-old child.

“The witches took care of their companions and even, according to the modern researcher of witchcraft rituals Grillo de Givry, baptized their toads, dressed them in black corduroy, hung small bells on their paws and forced them to dance.”

The companions sent diseases to bewitched people or animals and killed them. Upon their return, the owners gave them what they thirsted for - blood. One of the witches once admitted that she regularly slaughtered red roosters to feed them to her cat. Among witches it was also customary to let a companion suck blood from a finger.

The witches' companions could easily transform into various animals and also disappear at will.

An arrested witch was often tied up and left in a cell. The inquisitors secretly watched her to see if any demonic companions would come to the aid of the prisoner. And even if an ant crawled up to the witch, it was inevitably included in the host of helpers.

EVIL INcarnate

One of the main henchmen of the devil is the black cat. He has long been associated with the witch and is her indispensable companion and assistant. The witch sends a cat in her place when she needs to find out or check on something. He also performs other functions - he guards the house in the absence of the mistress, monitors her captives, and helps with the housework.

“In Europe, the black cat did not come to court in the Middle Ages. Having declared him the embodiment of evil, a werewolf and simply an evil spirit, inquisitors for centuries handed down death sentences to poor cats. A cat accused of being a witch’s companion was executed by being burned alive Even if it was used, as they say, in the dark."

For example, in 1325 such a case occurred in France. In one of the suburbs of Paris, dogs began to stop at an intersection and furiously dug the ground. They tried to drive them away, but they returned. Dogs were irresistibly attracted to something buried in the ground.

“Diggers dug up the cursed place and pulled out a box from the ground in which... a black cat was imprisoned! From the box to the surface there was a tube through which air flowed inside.”

The fathers of the Inquisition immediately launched an investigation and, having interrogated all the local carpenters, soon found out which of them made the box, and through him they got to know the customer - the abbot of the Sarcel Monastery. Upon further investigation, it turned out that some time ago the abbot was robbed. Wanting to return the stolen property, he turned to the sorcerer Jean Persan. Well, he already taught the pious abbot the wicked thing with the black cat.

The poor cat had to stay in his underground prison for three days and three nights. After the specified period, he had to be killed, the skin from his body should be torn off and cut into narrow belts, from which they would make a rope and lay it out on the floor in the form of a circle.

A person was supposed to enter the circle, who was supposed to cast a spell, having first put in his mouth... a piece of meat from a killed cat. While conjuring in a circle, a person had to constantly call on the demon of hell Birik, and he, after some time, would appear and answer the questions asked.

There are many witchcraft rituals associated with black cats. And all of them, as a rule, are bloodthirsty in nature. For example, there is such a ritual: a witch must fry forty black cats alive over the course of several days and nights, while not eating anything all this time. As a result, a demon will appear to her in the guise of a huge black cat, with whom the witch can agree on anything. And if, on a full moon, a girl or woman who wants to become a witch comes out to dance naked in a circle of fire at the edge of the forest and shouts a special spell, then the devil will certainly appear in the form of a black cat, who, immediately copulating with the contender for the witchcraft title, will bestow her with his protection .

“As surprising as it may be to hear, the life of the great Italian violinist Niccolo Paganini was also connected with a black cat. The musician eclipsed all his contemporaries with his playing. People committed suicide and went crazy at his concerts. The Church for a long time tried to win Paganini over to its side , but each time the musician refused, hinting that the mysterious black cat that had haunted him all his life did not order him to change his patron."

It is often said that a cat temporarily leaves a house in which there is a deceased person and returns after the funeral. If a cat jumps over a coffin, it is very bad for the soul of the deceased, unless the poor animal is killed immediately. According to another belief, if a cat jumps on a corpse, the deceased becomes a vampire. To prevent this, when someone died, the cat was killed.

Black cats play an important role in the voodoo religion found in the southern United States. Enchantments cast with them, especially with their whiskers, can cause bad luck, illness and death in the victim.

TOAD MAGIC

An equally famous companion of the witch is the toad. The image of a huge toad is taken by the devil during the rite of initiation into sorcerers. A person who decides to become a sorcerer goes to a bathhouse, puts a cross under his heel and renounces God, promising his soul to Satan. After this, a small toad should jump out from under the shelf and grow until it occupies the entire space of the bathhouse. A person must climb into the gaping mouth of this toad and after that he becomes a real sorcerer.

To take revenge on someone, the newly-minted sorcerer takes live snakes and toads, dries them in an oven, grinds them into powder, ties the powder in a canvas and puts them in manure. After some time, offspring are formed from each speck of dust. The sorcerer scatters the barely born creatures into homes, where they multiply. Some people put such powder in the drink of their enemies, and nests of toads and snakes appear in the insides of the unfortunate victims.

If you place a toad in a clay dish under the head of a sleeping person, irreparable harm can be caused to him, even death.

According to legend, whoever kills a toad may have a hand wither or his eyes will hurt. The killer will vomit the milk he drank, or the killed toad will come at night and strangle him.

It is believed that the toad has such a powerful gaze that it can cast the evil eye. They also believe that when a toad looks at a person, it counts his teeth, and as a result they fall out.

Very often, toads are used in love magic. A girl whose lover cheated on her once stuck pins all over the body of a live toad and then buried it in the ground. The young man began to experience excruciating pain throughout his body and eventually returned to it. Another way to bewitch a guy is to go to Communion and hold the Holy Bread in your mouth until the end of the service. Leaving the church, the girl will find a toad waiting for her. She must then spit out the bread, the toad will eat it, and the next time she meets her lover, he will be ready to marry her.

To get the evil eye, the black books recommended the following remedy: you need to catch nine toads over nine nights, then string them on a string and hang them so that they die, and then bury them in the ground. A person’s eye will immediately become evil, and whoever he then looks at with evil intent will begin to waste away along with the toads decomposing in the ground and will eventually die.

“Toad magic could be used not only by witches and sorcerers, but also against them. To counteract the witchcraft power, they took three jars, in each they put the heart of a toad, pierced with thorns, and the liver of a frog, studded with new pins. The jars were carefully corked and sealed with wax, and "Then they buried them at different churches in front of the porch. During this procedure, it was necessary to read the Lord's Prayer backwards - a blasphemous enterprise in itself. But after this, the person became forever invulnerable to any witchcraft."

The bone taken from the toad was used by sorcerers to gain power. The magician had to put the live toad in some special way into a box with holes made in it and bury it in an anthill with black ants. When the insects had eaten all the flesh, the toad's skeleton was to be thrown into a running stream at midnight. The stream was supposed to carry away all the bones except one, which was supposed to float against the current and at the same time emit such terrifying screams that only a very brave person could bear them. After removing the screaming bone from the water, it was necessary to go with it to the stable for three nights in a row, where they waited for the appearance of the devil, who endowed a person with power over people, especially women.

HARNESS OF DEATH

Another companion of the witch - the owl - has always been associated with death and the dark side of life. For the ancient Egyptians, the owl represented night, death and cold. The ancient Romans considered the owl a bad omen and detested the bird. Seeing her in the city during the day, they caught her and burned her, and publicly poured her ashes into the Tiber.

The Aztecs equated owls with evil spirits, which they considered enemies of the human race. In Africa, owls are still feared to this day because they are the living tools of witches. For the Indians of North America, an owl is a bad sign or a harbinger of death. In some places they believe that if you see an owl at night, it can cause facial paralysis. Chippewa sorcerers fill the owl's skin with various substances and throw it towards the victim's house, which causes hunger.

Owls accompany witches on their flights to the Sabbaths and carry out menial tasks for them. Witches themselves use owl feathers to cast spells on people to fall asleep.

In some cultures, the owl has long been revered. In India, a person who ate an owl's eyeball was believed to gain the ability to see in the dark.

In Britain, however, as in much of the rest of Europe, the owl has always been considered an unlucky bird, and many still dislike hearing its hooting at night.

Villagers believe that owls live in churches and drink lamp oil, that they nest in ruins, not because they love ruins, but because these places are inhabited by spirits.

Meeting an owl during the day was often considered a bad omen, and it was also believed that if a person looked into its nest, he would remain in a depressed mood for the rest of his life.

If an owl flies into a house, or circles over it, or sits on the roof, or tries to fly into a chimney, this foreshadows the death of the owner. In this regard, an owl that flew into the house was immediately killed. If an owl lands on the roof of a church, then someone in that parish will soon die.

When an owl hoots for a long time near a dwelling, many people perceive this as a sign of death. In addition, owls can also be associated with the birth of a child. If an owl screeches during childbirth, the child will grow up unhappy. In France, if a pregnant woman hears an owl, she will give birth to a girl. In England, prolonged hooting throughout the village means that some girl will lose her virginity.

In Germany, a way to protect yourself from the terrible consequences of being bitten by a rabid dog is to carry the heart and right paw of this bird under your left armpit.

If the heart of an owl, together with its left paw or at least one claw, is placed on a soundly sleeping person, then in his sleep he will immediately begin to tell what he plans to do in the future, and will reveal all his innermost secrets.

If a drunkard is given an owl's egg to drink, from that moment on he will begin to hate strong drinks with the same intensity with which he previously loved.

In addition, the owl is the keeper of treasures hidden in the forest.

How much do we know about the lives of witches and wizards? But many people have heard that some animals are their constant close friends and helpers.

Which animals are mentioned more often than others when describing the completely unfamiliar, but at the same time, very attractive life of people with supernatural abilities.

Helper animals are constant attributes and companions of wizards; it is believed that witches themselves can transform into animals.

A number of representatives of the animal world are mentioned as the main friends and favorites of witches: black cat, goat, dog, toad, snake, hare, rat, wolf, fox, owl, raven, bat, raven.

It is believed that it was in the guise of a hare that witches moved undetected through forests, fields and human settlements. Hence many prejudices associated with the hare: a fast animal running across the road can definitely bring misfortune; if it rushes down a village street, you need to wait for a fire.

It was also believed that witches fly to their Sabbaths not only on brooms, but also on goats. And the Devil himself, who led the gatherings of evil spirits, was represented in the guise of a goat.

Such a witch’s assistant, like a spider, helps her remain unnoticed in the folds of other people’s clothes and instill her “dark” thoughts in anyone.

Ravens have always been scouts for witches, flying around large spaces on the orders of the mistress. People called crows harbingers of long famine, misfortune and death itself.

Snakes were faithful companions of witches. These frightening-looking animals scared away all the curious from the mistress who was engaged in dirty deeds, and they also gave her their poison to make some kind of miraculous potion.

But the favorites of sorceresses have always been cats, which are credited with possessing many supernatural abilities. Therefore, many superstitions have always been associated with cats.

It was believed that a witch turned into a cat nine times, apparently because this animal has nine lives.

A special place was occupied by black cats or cats - “messengers of Satan”. This is where the signs appeared in which a meeting with a black cat did not bode well for people.

Toads are also friends of witches. There was a time when people even burned these amphibians because they saw the horns of Satan in the horns on the heads of the toads.

Since ancient times, bats have been depicted next to witches. It was believed that witches flew on bats to the Sabbath, or they themselves often turned into these flying animals.

The witches fed their pets in a very unusual way - they gave them their blood. And some animals, according to legend, even sucked the “witch’s breast.”