Cloven Foot

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Cloven Foot

There is an old belief, buttressed by countless tales of apparitions, that the devil always appears with a cloven foot as a sort of distinguishing mark. It has been suggested that the Evil One, having fallen lower than any man, is not permitted to take the perfect human form but must have some sort of deformity (i.e., the cloven foot). It is also hypothesized that medieval Christian imagery of the Devil merged with that of the pagan goat-footed god Pan. The goat, of course, has a variety of occult associations, including its inclusion in astrology in the sign of Capricorn and the manifestation of incubi and succubi in the form of a goat.

Sources:

Cavendish, Richard. The Black Arts. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1967.

Russell, Jeffrey Burton. Witchcraft in the Middle Ages. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1972.