Familiar Spirit
Catweazle's familiar spirit is a small toad called Touchwood. A familiar spirit of a witch or magician is also called a spiritus familiaris or just a familiar. Witches are said to have possessed such assistants, who lent them a helping hand with their magic deeds. It was also believed that these beings were horned and winged imps who could also adopt the form of apparently ordinary animals. It was often insinuated of women accused of witchcraft that their pet (often a cat) was their familiar and a disguised imp up to no good. The following animals were frequently held to be familiars: cat, dog, toad, owl, blackbird, spider, bat, weasel, ferret, mouse, rat, snake, grasshopper… etc.
bron: Catweazle Fanclub