In the early modern British Isles common belief held that the devil would gift a witch a familiar, such as a black cat, with all manner of magical powers. Photograph by CBS, Getty Images.

It was 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. Witches were on trial — but so were the town’s dogs.

Dogs appeared several times during testimonies, typically because an accused witch was believed to have had a dog who would do her bidding, or because the devil appeared in the form of a dog.

A familiar, in case you weren’t familiar (sorry), in Western demonology, is: “a witch’s attendant, given to her by the devil or inherited from another witch.The familiar was a low-ranking ...

The witches meet together in conclave on a set day. And the devil appears to them in the assumed body of a man. And he says to them, "Look, if you have sex with me, ladies, I will give you long life." ...

“The devil, for all I know,” Tituba rejoined before she began describing him, to a hushed room. ... diabolical books and witches’ meetings, flights and familiars were everywhere.

Gaskill’s The Ruin of All Witches: Life and Death in the New World tells the story of Hugh and Mary Parsons, and how they came to be accused of witchcraft in Springfield in June of 1651. Gaskill ...

If you grew up in the 90′s and loved Sabrina the Teenage Witch, there’s no doubt that in your mind, Salem was an icon. Salem Saberhagen was a warlock trapped in the body of a cat and ...