Animal Forms

Demons are theoretically able to assume any shape, but in Africa they often are said to take the shape of crocodiles or leopards or other fierce creatures.

Some popular witches' familiars are the forms of cat and dog, hare and pig, birds (especially black ones such as the raven), etc.

Demons also inhabit the forms of bull and ox, lion and wolf, bats and other nocturnal creatures, and so on.

Borrowing from the satyrs of classical times perhaps, the more recent mythology related the goat to The Devil and in that form he was supposed to preside at the Sabbat.

Unpleasant habits of one animal or another would suggest to the superstitious the possibility of that form for a devil in disguise. Of course such creatures as the Tasmanian Devil are not thought to be supernatural, just nasty.

Evil has also been associated with mythological creatures (often half human and half animal, or composed of parts and therefore qualities of several animals). The dragon (or fiery and flying snakes, as in Russian demonology) appears as the embodiment of evil in many cultures and is The Devil himself in the combat with Saint George or the Archangel Michael, perhaps in Revelation, where a red dragon is mentioned.

Black for evil and red for fire are the basic colors of The Devil and these colors in animal forms suggest evil creatures.

An old superstition says that The Evil One can create nothing perfect, so a devil or demon in animal form may lack a tail or have some other defect. An old woman with a one-eyed black cat was once upon a time easily suspected of being a witch.