Snails and Witchcraft
Disclaimer
This is NOT a page about Wiccans or neo-pagans, and I do not advocate the belief that Wiccans are Satan-worshippers and/or baby-killers. I am well aware that they are not. This is a starting point for historical research into the great witch craze of 1100-1700 AD. And please, don't ask me for spells.
Snails as Familiars
A victim of Matthew Hopkins and John Stearne, John Bysack confessed to having six familiars in the form of snails. These imps sustained themselves by sucking Bysack's blood. "Each snail was an assassin with a particular assignment: Atleward killed cows, Jeffry pigs, Peter sheep, Pyman fowls, Sacar horses and Sydrake Christians" (Guiley 1989 44).
Lost?
![[Familiars]](fambut.gif){kind=small}
![[The Witching Hours]](../witchbut.gif){kind=small}
Snails and Witchcraft copyright 1997-1998 to Shantell Powell.