little bit

of wiccans

  and Their Cats

 

Cats have been associated with deities, witches and magick for centuries. Here are some snippets of cat-related folklore.

Cats have been sacred to more than one religion, and at different times and places have been considered both good and bad luck-bringers. The Egyptian goddess Bast was both lion-headed and cat-headed and attended by cats and therefore cats were sacred and revered in Egypt, killing one was a heinous crime, and when a household cat died mourning rites were performed for it.

Cats were often found in temples and were ritually fed; stray cats were treated with honour and fed, and the household cat was allowed to share the family's food. Cat amulets were produced and elaborate cat-sized sarcophagi crafted for cats who had died, who were often embalmed as humans were.

Followers of the goddess Diana also considered the cat sacred because she once assumed the form of a cat, and cats were under her special protection.

In Scandanavia, Freya's chariot was drawn by cats.

The Celtic goddess Ceridwen was also attended by white cats, who carried out her orders on earth.

<o:p>Cats are traditionally associated with witches, and it is generally assumed today that witches' familiars were (and are) always cats. However, during the Burning Times any small animal that was kept in the house was suspect, and records show that accused witches were forced to confess having familiar spirits in the form of cats, rats, mice, dogs, weasels and toads. It was also firmly believed that witches could take the shape of cats, and accusers sometimes claimed that they were followed or tormented by witches in the shape of cats.</o:p>

<o:p></o:p><o:p>In 1718 William Montgomery of Caithness alleged that hordes of cats gathered outside his house nightly and talked in human language; he claimed to have killed two of them and wounded another one night and awoken the next morning to hear that two old women had been found dead in their beds and another badly injured.</o:p>

<o:p></o:p><o:p>InBritain and Australia black cats are considered lucky, and in some places white cats are correspondingly unlucky.</o:p>

<o:p></o:p><o:p>In many parts ofEurope and in the United States,however, it is the black cat who is ill-omened.</o:p>

<o:p></o:p><o:p>In Britain tortoiseshell cats will bring their owners luck, and blue cats bring luck in Russia.</o:p>

<o:p></o:p><o:p>An old saying about black cats is that 'Whenever the cat of the house is black, the lasses of lovers shall have no lack'.</o:p>

<o:p></o:p><o:p>It was said that if the household cat sneezed near a bride on her wedding day, she would have a happy married life.</o:p>

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