My Cats bring me Heaven

"How far to heaven? Just open your eyes and look. You are in heaven" ~Shankar~

Sometimes we see a glimpse of our future through art and when I saw this picture, I got a little sad and felt comforted at the same time. That could be me in twenty years if I'm blessed enough to live that long. For I have two cats who bring me heaven each time I look at them, even when they're being the most naughty. When I read the above quote (one of the writing prompts from Mama Kat this week) I knew I had to redefine for myself what Heaven is because it's changed throughout my whole life except for the one constant joy and well of soul-love, my cats.

When I'm sitting quietly watching a movie or reading a book, one of my cats, Bella or Sele will softly jump on my lap and settle down as if I'm the safest place in the world to be. I'll be petting them and feel the soft rumble of their purring and know, this is heaven...and I'm their Mother Goddess.

It's one thing to look for an external source to help us through rough times and I often call on the Angels when I'm experiencing a dark night of the soul. There's another element to heaven when I can be the one to bring that comfort, joy and love to another sentient being. My son once gazed at me as if I was the Mother Goddess but now, I'm just "mom" which still means something important to him, but I'm not the all-being nurturer which is as it should be. But for my cats, I'm their refuge.

I was watching a fascinating documentary on where the first domesticated cat originated from. Years of research was put into this. The first domestic cat which I'm sure some of you have guessed was from Egypt. They called their cats "Mau" which meant "all-seeing" because the moon and sun were reflected in their eyes, to them that was a view of heaven.  Bastet one of their major deities was a goddess with the head of a cat and a body of a woman, who blessed all women, the home and family as well as being the goddess of major protector of cats.

The documentary made a point of saying, unlike the dog who needs a pack to live, cats are independent creatures, they can hunt for themselves, often are solitary and really don't need humans for our love. They have chosen through thousands of years to be our companions blessing us with their presence because they want to be with us. And believe me, most cats think that they're doing us a favor by hanging around us, rather than the other way around.

 I have a huge altar dedicated to Bastet and every day as my cats go outside for their twenty minute jaunt, I ask Bast for her blessings and to please protect and watch over my babies at all times. I feel a reverence and peace when I meditate at the altar and I feel heaven then and there. But when my cats are before me, that is when I see heaven the clearest.

 What is your vision of heaven and when do you see it most?

Thought for the Day - Cats

"You will always be lucky

 if you know

 how to make friends with strange cats."

Colonial proverb

A Familiar by any other Name

I've always had at least one cat familiar in my life and vow I will never live without one. Yes, even when I was a little girl and my peers were playing with "Barbie" dolls, I played with my cats, who were my kindred spirits and confidants. I've blogged before about how my mother "introduced" me to magic, not on any formal level, but she was a witch and had an intelligence and love for animals that I inherited from her. Like most other childhoods, I had nightmares, terrors and anxieties, I couldn't trust any adult or other child with my secrets, so I turned to my cats. We always had at least one cat and a few dogs for our family. I loved my dogs and would play with them for hours outside, but it was my cats, I turned to, for my inner-world of thoughts and feelings. In archetypal language, the cat represents the feminine, intuitive, secretive and magical. Before anyone objects that dogs or other animals can't represent the feminine or there aren't cats who are more like dogs, I agree. My son has a cat who is completely opposite of what a "typical" cat is supposed to act like. He likes to hang out with dogs if there are any, he comes up to greet anyone he meets with a loud, demanding voice, and I doubt he'd have any patience for the workings of magic. In my life, cats represent the feminine spirit. I'm not the only one who matches cats with the feminine.

 During the Burning Times, cats, especially black ones, were associated with the witch as her or his counterpart. The black cat could slip through the night unseen, when one looked at it's eyes, you can see the moon and a cat holds secrets that we can only guess about. I can understand why so many fearful, ignorant people who were terrified of the Goddess in her many forms. Notice, I didn't say, that the cats were owned because everyone who owns a cat agrees with the saying, "Dogs have Masters, Cats have Staff," and isn't that true? 

There are of course many different animals besides a cat that can be a witch's familiar. In the play "Macbeth" the Wyrd Sisters had "Paddock" a toad, "Harpier" an owl, and "Grimalkin" a cat. In the book and movies of "Harry Potter" all the students as well as the faculty have familiars, cats, rats, owls, bees, dogs, bees even.The black cat just seems to personify a witch. So don't feel too badly if you don't have a cat familiar. Really any animal "companion" as Mother Moon so beautifully wrote can be your magical partner in crime. However, not every animal is destined to be a familiar. 

I live with two very beloved cats who are sisters, Bella and Sele. Bella looks exactly like Mother Moon's Jimbo, right down to the exact size of the white diamond on the chest. She's elegant, leggy, athletic and extremely moody, like her mother. She would love to venture out under the moonlight if I let her outside, which I don't. She sits in the window communing with the moon and then whispers into my ear mysteries and dreams. Sele is a tuxedo kitty (black and white patches) and is Bella's opposite. All she wants to do is play, eat and sleep. In that order. If I tried to perform any magic with her, she'd run under the bed in fright. I love how Lynelle wrote about her cat "Cici" who can always put a smile on her face, that's Sele!

It's strange how often I wake up from a horrible nightmare choking, gasping for air and burning hot. I have a continual dream about how my cats and I have been burned in my house. Knock on wood, I have never had or never will have that happen to me. I can't watch or read anything about any animal being harmed, especially a cat. That's when the real witch in me comes out as I chant a curse aloud to those perpetrators. Animal familiars were also known as "imps" because they were believed to be one of the devil's minions send to a witch as a messenger.One of the most famous names for a familiar is,  "Pyewackett." This name has been used for cat familiars in fiction throughout the ages and continues to be one. One of my favorite Pyewackett familiars is from the movie, "Bell, Book and Candle." The television series "Bewitched" was based upon this movie. The infamous, witch hunter, Matthew Hunter said that, "Pyewackett, was a name no mortal could invent."


The plagues that happened in the fourteenth century killing over 25 million people, 1/3 of Europe's population was believed to have come from fleas that lived on black rats which then infected everyone. I believe in karma, not as a principle to bring about vengeance or an event to justify the means, but I can't help but think that after all those seven million and plus who were killed as witches along with their animals that a horrible justice was served.
 

I always keep in mind with any type of magic I perform one of the oldest witch's credes, "Three by Three by Three." This means that whatever thought or action either positive or negative projected onto another can come back to you in threefold strength. Please know, I am not saying in any way that what happened to all those victims of the plague was deserved or justifiable. Most of the victims were the youngest children or the oldest citizens. Not the most likely to have been part of the witch hunt. In fact, the greatest population of people who were persecuted as witch's were the elders. Magic is powerful and the responsibility of working with a familiar is not to be taken lightly. They are able to access worlds which most humans can't. They stir the inner-cauldron of an instinctive animal realm which must be used with great consciousness and care. But most of all, our familiars bring out the best in us...Patience, humour, humility and a wisdom that is a sacred gift. I don't know where I would be if it weren't for the familiars I have loved. Blessings upon you and your familiar in whatever form they take.


How to Name Your Familiar 
When the devil brings him, like a Christmas puppy, examine his downy fur and smell his small paws for the scent of sulphur. 
 Is he a child of hell? O clearly those soft brown eyes speak volumes of deviltry.
O surely those small pink teats could suckle witches.  O those floppy ears hear only the devils hissing.
O that small pink tongue will lick at your heart until only Satan may slip in.
A fuzzy white dog? Name him Catch.
A little black kitten? She is Jamara. 
A tiny brown rabbit? Call her Pyewackett. 
Beware, beware-the soft, the innocent, the kingdom of cuddly ones-All these expose you to the jealous tongues of neighbor's flames, all these are the devil's snares!
~Erica Jong~

The Joy of Familiars

-Jimbo-

A familiar, what exactly are they? I thought that I had a fairly good idea yet wanted to double check to make sure. In researching the many definitions of the word I came to the conclusion that it sort of depends on what your belief system is. More precise, what your religion preference may be.

I had always considered a familiar to be an animal that was ones companion. When I say companion I mean much like a friend. They listen, seem to understand one’s moods, and even at times seem to communicate in their own special way. Not all animals are familiars. And I tend to believe that some who are familiars are not realized by the people who tend them. I have been around many a pet who seems to have a watchful eye over their master yet their master is oblivious to this.

-Sweetie-

What a treat these people are missing. Animals can be some of the best friends a person could ever have. From the loyalty of a dog to the in your face truth of a cat, they see so much more than many humans give them credit for. In my life, my companions or familiars have mostly been cats. And in the lore of familiars it is the most common; the black cat being of course the most common. The fear once that all cats were actually witches was one of the main reasons for the cat massacres that happened during medieval time in Europe.

Although the Christian view of a familiar is one of demonic leadership and one that is ultimately fueled by Satan, I myself tend to think differently. I believe they are animals who possess a special psychic attunement which give them the ability to interact more closely with people who are willing to be open minded enough to listen. Although the communication that one may share with an animal whom they believe to be a familiar is quite different than most are used to, if one is attentive they will easily be able to see it.

-Sunny-

Such wisdom is there for us to learn from animals. We boost as humans that we are the only ones with working minds that can reason and make decisions. Yet we continually make the same mistakes over and over. We fill our lives and minds with mundane worthless stuff which many times keep us from seeing the simple morsels of truth that lie in front of us every day. If you have not had the pleasure of experiencing the delight of a familiar I urge you to give it a try.

My Father the Muggle

Bless his heart, my father is a "Muggle." He can't help it and had a very difficult time raising a daughter who was a witch. Oh, you don't know what a Muggle is? You probably haven't either read the "Harry Potter" books  or seen any of the related movies. Well, a Muggle is "a person who lacks any sort of magical ability and was not born into the magical world." <"Muggle." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 18 Feb. 2010>.  Do you see how this might  have lead to a few tears, some frustration and misunderstandings on both of our parts? It's not that we didn't love each other, no, if anything we had such an attachment to each other that we each wanted to be "perfect" in each others eyes, which just can't happen between a parent and a child especially between a Muggle and a witch.

I inherited my mother's penchant for magic and all things mysterious. She wasn't a practicing witch, she gained her incredible knowledge and wisdom from books, other wise women, adult education classes, etc..However, she and I always clashed horribly and I never felt accepted or seen which naturally lead to a great deal sadness and insecurity.

I remember when I was about eight years old I believe and watching on television the 1948 film version about "Joan of Arc" with Ingrid Bergman. I ended up with me sobbing and traumatized with the unjustice and brutality with her being killed as a witch. I ran out to my parents who were sitting in the living room, hungry for comfort and reassurances that Joan couldn't have been possibly killed as she did in real life as she was in the movie. I asked them desperately, "Did she really hear the voices of the Angels? Why didn't somebody rescue her?" My mother replied, "Of course she heard those voices" to which my father immediately shot hack, "Don't tell her that! We don't want her thinking that people can hear "angelic" voices" And so ensued one of their many typical embittered battles. I was left forgotten and felt like a  lost cause, much like Joan of Arc.Life wasn't always that traumatic growing up, but I grew a defensive shell, carefully protecting who I was. I continued to learn more and more about the craft letting everyone know I was a true witch, even though I was just a little girl. Children of my own age, considered me too weird to play with and shunned me. Of course it hurt, but I found consolation in my cats who loved me unconditionally. My father continued to deny that I was a witch or for that matter that any real witch's existed. I knew he was just concerned for me and that out of love  he was trying to protect me from a society ruled by Muggle's.

As I grew older my faith in the  magickal world grew as well.  Everyone whom  I met knew right away what I stood for, who I was and too bad if you didn't like "Wendy the Witch". My situation wasn't "coming out of the broom closet", it was more like I was already out and no one wanted to believe that there was a closet in the first place. I really didn't care what the general population thought, however I did care tremendously that the father I adored still wouldn't acknowledge I was a witch.

The year was  1997, and there was a huge, buzz about a book, called, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone."I had heard the premise of the story and read about the characters of the book, but I myself had no desire to read it. It sounded too trite for me. My father however called me sounding more excited and impassioned than I believed I had ever heard from him. "Wendy, you must read this book! It's exactly how you've described yourself." He went on and on and I sat there listening to him feeling very bemused about it all. who's just this wonderful witch!" He now had my attention.