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 honor 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.
Compiled info from various emails, with no sources listed. I present it for information purposes only - I can not lay claim to writing it, or to the veracity of the articles.
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.
Cats are traditionally associated with witches, and it is generally assumed today that witches' familiars were and 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. 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.
In Britain and Australia black cats are considered lucky, and in some places white cats are correspondingly unlucky. In many parts of Europe and in the United States, however, it is the black cat who is ill-omened. In Britain tortoiseshell cats will bring their owners luck, and blue cats bring luck in Russia. An old saying about black cats is that 'Whenever the cat of the house is black, the lasses of lovers shall have no lack'. It was said that if the household cat sneezed near a bride on her wedding day, she would have a happy married life.
To meet a black cat is usually fortunate, especially if it crosses one's path. In some districts the luck is only considered released if the cat is politely greeted, or stroked three times. Sometimes it is considered unlucky if the cat runs away from the person, or turns back on its own tracks. To meet a white cat is bad luck, except in those countries where white cats are the luck-bringers. If a black cat comes into a house or onto a ship, it is considered a very lucky sign, and the cat should never be chased away in case it takes the luck of the house with it.
Seamen avoid the word 'cat' while at sea, but to have a cat on board is lucky, especially if it is a completely black cat with no white hairs. To throw the cat overboard raises an immediate violent storm; no sailor would do such a thing to the ship's cat, and in fact cats are rarely left on an abandoned ship but are generally rescued with the sailors. In
Yorkshire, if a sailor's wife kept a black cat, her husband would always return safely from the sea; this sometimes led to black cats being stolen.
Cat hair and bones were often ingredients of charms and spells, and even now a few hairs from a cat are supposed to increase the power of a spell, although this now appears more common in England than in America where the hair of a wolf appears to have taken over. In previous centuries the tail of a black cat was believed to cure a sty if stroked over the afflicted eye, and a tortoiseshell cat's tail was considered to remove warts. If a person in the house was very ill, it was thought that throwing the water in which the patient had been washed over a cat, and then driving the poor creature away, would transfer the illness to the cat and drive it out of the household.
It was said that every cat should be given two names; a country rhyme states 'One for a secret, one for a riddle, name puss twice and befuddle the devil'. This saying was based on the belief that one person could gain power and ascendancy over another simply by knowing his or her real name; by giving the household cat two names, once for common use and one secret and never revealed to outsiders, the pet which had the run of the household could be protected from becoming a tool of evil or of outside infiltration.
*Cat Weather Lore*
A sneezing cat means rain on the way, and three sneezes in a row portends a cold for the cat's owner!
A cat running wildly about darting here and there and clawing everything in sight means wind or a storm on the way; when the cat quiets down, the storm will soon blow itself out.
Cats washing over their ears has long been held to foretell rain; the old rhyme goes 'When Kitty washes behind her ears, we'll soon be tasting heaven's tears'.
A cat which rolls over and over in the grass, claws the ground and behaves in a skittish manner, is indicating that a brief rain-shower is on the way.
When the cat is restless and moves from place to place without settling, it is foretelling hard winds.
A cat who sits with its back to the fire is said to be a portent of frost.
When a cat spends the night outdoors and caterwauls loudly, it may be foretelling a period of several days' bad weather.
*Cat Dream Interpretations*
To dream of a black cat is lucky.
To dream of a tortoiseshell cat means luck in love.
To dream of a ginger cat means luck in money and business.
To dream of a white cat means luck in creativity, spiritual matters, divination and spellcraft.
To dream of a black-and-white cat means luck with children; may also mean the birth of a child.
To dream of a tabby cat means luck for the home and all who live there.
To dream of a grey cat means to be guided by your dreams.
To dream of a calico or multi-colored cat means luck with new friends and old ones.
A dream of two cats fighting means illness or a quarrel.
*Cat Spells and Charms*
If a black cat crosses your path, greet the animal politely and stroke it three times if possible, while reciting this charm:
'Black cat, cross my path,
Good fortune bring to home and hearth,
When I am away from home
Bring me luck wherever I roam'.
Then leave the cat and go on your way. If you abuse, insult or ignore the cat, no good luck will follow.
MORE LORE:
Arensnuphis (Ari-hes-nefer, Arsnuphis , Harensnuphis)
A benign god of Egyptian Nubia.
He had a temple at Philae, where he was referred to as the companion of Isis, the chief local deity. He is depicted in the form of a lion, or as a man wearing a plumed crown. Bast The Egyptian Goddess of the moon, cats, and sexuality, she is depicted as either a cat-headed woman or a cat.
Egyptian Cat Goddesses
Bast is the Egyptian Goddess with the body of a beautiful young woman and the head of a cat. She held many, sometimes contradictory, roles. These beliefs were not all necessarily held at the same time, or in the same place. Beliefs shifted over several millennia, and over vast geographical distances.
Bast is the Goddess of cats, the rising sun, the moon, truth, enlightenment, lesbians, sexuality, physical pleasures, fertility, bounty, birth, plenty, the household and protector of the home, civilization, creation, music, dance, the arts, hemp, and battler of serpents which attack the sun god. Bast also represents the Maiden aspect of the Triple Goddess. She was viewed as the beneficent side of the lioness-goddess Sekhmet. See also Sekhmet.
Name Variations: Bast, Bastet (usually when in full cat form), Pasch,Pasht, Ubasti, Ba en Aset. Sometimes considered to be the Egyptian version of the Greek Artemis and Roman Diana.
Bast was the daughter of Isis and Osiris, the twin sister of Horus, and possessor of his "eye" the sacred and magickal "utchat". As time went on, the utchat became more associated with cats. It was often depicted as cat shaped in later art. It is probable that many of modern Indo-European names for the cat are derived from the word utchat: cat, chat, cattus, gatus, gatous, gato, katt, katte, kitte, kitty, etc. From "Pasht" we get the remaining Indo-European names for the cat: pasht, past, pushd, pusst, puss, pussy, as well as the word "passion". Bast was also married to of Ptah and mother of the lion god Mihos.
Her worship was centered in delta city of Bubastis.
Sekhmet
Sekhmet (AKA Sekhmet, Sakhmet, or Sekhmet the Destroyer) is the Goddess of sunset, destruction, death, rebirth and wisdom. She is also sometimes defined as a warrior or huntress goddess. The cycle of life and death was created when the primeval Goddess Sekhmet-Bast divided into two sisters, Sekhmet and Bast.
Another legend regarding her origins is that she was created by Ra from the fire of his eyes as a creature of vengeance to punish mankind for his sins. Later, she became a peaceful protectress of the righteous, closely linked with the benevolent Bast. The lioness-goddess, worship was centered in Memphis.
Sekhmet is typically shown as a black skinned woman with the head of a lioness.
Her eyes and hair are often orange or red. Sekhmet represents the Crone aspect of the Triple Goddess.
Halloween in Egypt was celebrated as the Feast of Sekhmet and Bast.
Dedun (Dedwen)
The Egyptian/Nubian god of wealth and incense. He is associated with the southern lands. Dedun (Dedwen) is usually depicted in human form but also as a lion.
Freya (or Freija)
Freya, Norse Goddess of Love and Beauty, had a chariot drawn by two huge gray cats. She is often depicted with rollicking cats.
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Grimalkin
Gray cat of celtic lore with magical powers. Used in various fiction as a farmiliar to witches.
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Mafdet
An Egyptian goddess in feline form, possibly that of a panther. She was noted principally as a destroyer of snakes and scorpions.
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Mahes
The Egyptian personification of the summer heat, called 'Lord of the massacre'. He is represented as a lion or a man with a lion's head. He was principally worshipped in the area of the Nile Delta.
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Malaysia
Malaysians venerated the cat as a godlike creature who eased their afterlife journey from Hell to Paradise. Anyone who killed a cat was required to carry and stack as many coconut tree trunks as the cat had hairs
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Menhit (Menchit)
An ancient Egyptian lion-goddess, and a goddess of war. She is the wife of the god Chnum, and her son is the god Hike. The three of them were worshipped as a triad in Latopolis (the current Esna) in Upper Egypt. Her name means "she who slaughters".
Narasinha
The man-lion, fourth incarnation of Vishnu.
Para
Ancient Finnish household spirits who appear in the shape of a cat, snake, hare, or frog. They enlarge to amount of food and money with what they stole elsewhere.
Ra
The Egyptian Sun God, Ra, changed himself into a cat to do battle with the serpent-like darkness.
Raiju
A Japanese demon whose name means "thunder animal". It is a demon of lightning in the shape of a cat, badger or weasel. During thunderstorms it becomes extremely agitated and leaps from tree to tree. If a tree shows the marks of lightning, people say that Raiju's claws have scratched it open. Sakhmet, Sekhmet Egyptian lion-headed Goddess of war.See Egyptian page.
Siam
Siamese god-kings employed a cat for their souls to pass into upon death. It was believed that the soul rested for the cat's natural life span before entering Paradise.
Singa
A mythical dragon of the Indonesian Batak people who live in the mountains in northern Sumatra. Singa appears in the shape of a lion and shows many similarities with the beneficent Hindu Nagas.
Tjilpa
The ancestral totemic cat-men of Aboriginal Australia.
Tsun-Kyanske
This Burmese Goddess of the Transmutation of Souls, was attended by priests and their cats, animals were believed to communicate directly with the goddess.
