The
Wisdom
of Cats
The idea for this little cat book leapt onto my desk one day and simply would not budge. Surprised and slightly annoyed, I treated it the same way I would as if one of my own cats had jumped in the center of my writing desk: I firmly but gently picked up the idea and set it aside. Then, taking a deep breath, I told myself to focus and get back to the project at hand.
Being a Virgo, I’m usually good at organizing things, making lists, and sticking to my plans. After all, my next book project was outlined and there were a few chapters finished. I had even gone so far as to send in the outline to my editor to see if she liked it. The deadline for several annual articles was coming up soon, so I had plenty to keep me occupied. I should just ignore this feline nudge and get busy on my other writing projects. Pleased with my own plan, I worked diligently on my various articles and then found myself inspired to include spells featuring cats. How curious.
Thinking that this would ease the itch, so to speak, I sat down, said a little prayer to the Goddess, and asked her to help me focus. I cleaned off my desk, sent in the articles, and prepared to get back to business.
Then an interesting thing happened. While I was putting my office to rights, my sixteen-year-old daughter walked into the room and asked to read one of the articles I had written. I handed it to her and, while she read, made out a list of reference books that I wanted to track down at the local library. She gave back the article and told me that she especially liked the ritual that featured working with your pet cat.
“Mom?” she asked me.
“Hmmm?” I answered, distracted as I made my list.
“I wish you would write a book about cats and magick.”
I set down my pen and goggled at her. “Actually, I was sort of thinking about it . . .” I admitted, with a surprised laugh. Then I reminded her about my current book project, to which her response was classic teenage girl. She rolled her eyes and sighed at me loudly. (Nobody does a roll-their-eyes-and-sigh-disgustedly better than a teenager.)
“Yes, it would be a lot of fun to write,” I agreed with her. Sensing my weakness, she started an impassioned speech. I sat and listened to her, only to be interrupted by my tabby cat, who decided she wanted attention by jumping on the desk and then sitting right in the middle of my notebook. I nudged her aside, picked up my ink pen, and laughingly ordered both cat and daughter out of my office.
Neither of them budged. I looked at my daughter, who was standing there with arms crossed and one eyebrow raised. It’s a fairly impressive pose—she learned it from me, after all.
“I’ll think about it,” I promised my daughter, and then I gave the cat a nudge and told her to get off the desk. I picked up the pen to finish my list of reference books, which only seemed to encourage the cat to playfully try and bite at the end of the ink pen. “Samantha, cut it out,” I grumbled and then ordered the cat firmly off the desk.
Both of our cats know that my writing desk is off-limits. If I’m working they are typically content to sleep under the desk by my feet or to take a nap on the loveseat in the office. Not only did Samantha refuse to get off the desk, she started purring loudly and rubbing against the monitor.
“I think she wants you to write about magickal cats too.” My daughter laughed and then scooped Samantha off the desk herself. “Mom, it would be cool, you should do it,” she urged me.
“We’ll see,” I said to my daughter as she left the room with the tabby in her arms.
Back to my reference book list I went, only to have our other cat, Jasmine, dive-bomb me next. Feeling very harassed, I nudged her toward the nearby windowsill and off the desk. She settled on the sill and flipped her sleek tail in lazy circles. As I reached for a folder with my outline in it, Jasmine decided to start making her opinion known. Meeoow, she cried plaintively. This is unusual for Jasmine, as she chirps but rarely does the classic kitty meow sound.
“What?” I asked her. I gave her ears a scratch and picked up the folder, only to have her bat it away and out of my hand. “I’ll run you out of here too, if you keep this up,” I warned her as I reached down to get the fallen file off the floor. Right on cue, Samantha ran back into the room and sat smack on top of the fallen folder. Good grief.
“What’s up with you two?” I asked them. Samantha just started meowing and Jasmine climbed out of the windowsill and padded over the top of my desk. She got up in my face, putting her nose against mine. So, face to face with my witchy black cat I sat, my green eyes staring into her golden ones.
Signpost up ahead. Play Twilight Zone music here, I thought with a smile.
“But I didn’t plan to write about cat magick,” I tried to explain to the cats with a chuckle. Jasmine just playfully batted my cheek with her paw and looked wise. Samantha half-climbed on my lap and started to purr. Well, I thought to myself, I had asked the Goddess to help me focus. Maybe she was sending in the troops.
Then I remembered that the last time I asked the Goddess for help with a manuscript, I had ended up writing something entirely different. Hmmm . . . today was the full moon, after all, and I suddenly realized with a jolt there was a second full moon later this month as well, a blue moon. According to tradition, a blue moon is the classic time for all sorts of mysterious, magickal, and out-of-the-ordinary events to occur.
I sat and let the ideas roll around in my head for a few moments. The cats jumped off the desk and my lap, respectively, and settled on the loveseat. I turned a sheet in my notebook and started a new page. Was there anything here to sink my claws into, so to speak? Promising myself that I would only work on this for a day or so—just to get it out of my system, mind you—I began to research the topic of the mysterious, captivating, and magickal cat.
Obviously, my daughter and our cats got their wish.
What Makes Cats So Captivating:
Their Untamed Spirit
You are my Cat and I am your Human.
Hillaire Belloc
The domestic cat, Felis catus, is wild, unpredictable, and independently confident. The cat began their relationship with humans at least 3,000 years ago. What makes cats so captivating and fascinating is that many of the ancestral traits of the European and African wildcats have only become a little tempered in the domestic cats of today. There is so much about the modern cat that heralds back to the wild: their hunting skills, their spirits, and their body language, for example. Every feline pose is ancient, and their hunting habits are deeply ingrained. The feline is a predator and that natural beauty is written all over a cat’s face whether they are country cats hunting mice in a barn or urban cats stalking a piece of yarn dragged by their human’s hand across the living room floor.
At some point, each and every day, the cat is hunting something. Cats definitely have an “inner beast”—even when they pop up at the dinner table, perch on an empty chair, and hope to snatch a green bean from an unsuspecting plate.
Cats have a real knack for slinking into our lives and endearing themselves to us. They snag our attention without even trying. It’s hard to resist getting to know a cat as their faces, eyes, and entire bodies are used to communicate. The domestic cat is a bit of a contradiction. It freely accepts human friendship while never allowing even the most contented life to dim its sense of who it is and what it is capable of.
Cats are amused by life and by their humans. As anyone who shares a home with a cat knows, you don’t own a cat, they actually own you. Yes, cats are very self-reliant, but they do seem to enjoy the companionship of humans—when the mood strikes them. When a cat strolls up for a nudge and then allows a scratch under the chin, behind the ears, or encourages you to run a hand down its back, you’ve been given quite the compliment. And once a cat seems interested in your spellwork, you have a amazing opportunity to expand your magickal repertoire and to learn something new.
The Witch’s Cat
Our perfect companions never have fewer than four feet.
Colette
The cat’s mythic role is that of the familiar: a magickal companion and helper for the wise woman, cunning man, and, of course, the Witch. The links between the mystical powers of magicians and cats have been well established throughout time. Whether you realize it or not, a cat can serve as a cool, calm, and collected guide who helps us to find and concentrate on our own creative magick. They can and will assist us as we bring our magick into reality by watching over us as a companion and a partner, lending their aura of wisdom and approving calm.
A classic image of the Witch’s cat is one who cozily perches on the hearth, keeping a eye on the goings-on. Why the hearth? Well, in olden times the hearth was the center of the home. Meals were cooked here, and herbs were prepared for cooking, for medicines, and for magick. Spells were cast by the light of that fire, all under the attentive gaze of the family cat, who would lend their own psychic and magickal energy to their beloved human friends as they saw fit.
With cats in our lives, we have the opportunity to take some quiet and private time to discover our own courage and nurture our spirit. From cats we learn the value of grace and silence. We learn to look within.
At home in the company of cats, we begin to appreciate our own inner magick by observing their intuitive and captivating qualities. No matter what your magickal tradition, whether you are male or female, young or old, we all need to have a sense of the divine spark within ourselves. In that quiet place where visions are born, our imagination flourishes and magick begins. By taking the time to focus our attention inward and learning to work with a feline companion, wisdom and witchery may be achieved.
So curl up in a comfy chair and spend some time with me. Call your pet cat, or cats, to your side and get ready to discover a time-honored form of spellwork with a modern twist, for both you and your feline companion. May this book help you deepen the love and strengthen the spiritual connection that you have with your magickal pet.
The Enchanted Cat
Silky black cats and Witches’ hats, cauldrons and calicos,
A magickal cat holds more wisdom than you really know.
Why is the cat wrapped within a feline mystique?
In this book you will find the answers that you seek.
No matter what their color, cats bring a magick to your day,
Tortoiseshell, solid white, tabby striped, ginger, or smoky gray;
This fascinating feline always keeps you coming back.
So now sit a spell and read about the enchanted cat.