Tomorrow is the first day of May, and according to superstitions there will be something strange happening throughout the animal kingdom. Researching witchcraft for my
novel, The Shadow Fabric, has taken me down yet another dark route.
Animals born in May are thought to
be troublesome, particularly horses, pigs and cats. May horses are simply said
to be mean, whereas May pigs are suggested to devour their litter!
It is the cat in particular – and not just those born during this month – that holds the most interesting history and superstitions.
It is the cat in particular – and not just those born during this month – that holds the most interesting history and superstitions.
Cats born in May will not kill
mice or rats, instead they bring into the home adders, slow worms and toads,
which is a skill no household wishes of their pet. Such belief led to most
kittens born throughout this month to be unceremoniously drowned – before
they’d even had a chance to prove this superstition wrong.
Of course, this is one among a few superstitions that parallel the lives (all nine?) of the cat.
Of course, this is one among a few superstitions that parallel the lives (all nine?) of the cat.
Cats and Ancient Egypt
Common, as it is known today,
these creatures are associated with supernatural powers, and were first
domesticated in Ancient Egypt where killing a cat – or even accidentally
harming one – was punishable by death. One form of the Egyptian cat-goddess,
daughter of Ra, was Bast (Bastet, or Ubasti), the patron of love, fertility and
sensuality; taking the appearance of a woman with a cat’s head, surrounded by a
litter of kittens – a symbol of her motherly nature.
An entire city, Bubastis ,
was built in Lower Egypt to honour the
goddess, and it is said that some 700,000 pilgrims journeyed there annually in
May. Here they were to enjoy a festival in honour of the animals themselves,
and having the privilege of feeding its feline population.
Throughout this ancient
civilisation cats were regularly mummified for burial, and when the owner died
they would put the body next to the animal’s remains. Over 300,000 cats were
discovered in such a state when Bast's temple was excavated during the 19th
century. According to Herodotus, the Greek historian of the 5th century
BC, when a family cat died, the Egyptians shaved their eyebrows and in ritual
took the body to Bubastis
in order to be embalmed.
It was not only the Egyptians,
however, to view the cat as sacred: in ancient India
they saw the feline as a great animal, and in Scandinavia
the Norse deity Freya was led by a cat-drawn chariot. The Celtic goddess
Ceridwen was attended by white cats, and in Greek mythology there are also links
between Bast and Artemis.
Witchcraft and Familiars
Such acknowledgment of the cat and
its influences brings forth the notion that witches favour these creatures as a
companion; their familiar – a small
domestic animal (possessed by a low-ranking demon) given to them as a gift by
the Devil. Not just a companion, but as helper and advisor, and also used to
perform malicious errands of the black arts. These would include feats such as
conjuring treacherous weather (reflecting the mixed feelings of sailors and fishermen
towards the creatures) and even murder.
The familiar, or imp (as it was
often referred to), is almost exclusive to England and surrounding islands,
and is a strong contribution to the theory of witchcraft.
Historical records indicate that
cats of all colours have been associated with witchcraft; the stereotypical
witch’s cat – these days – is of course entirely black. As such, it is claimed
that if there is as little as one white hair on its body then the creature’s magical
potency is reduced.
With superstition surrounding the
black cat, where one crossing your path brings luck (whereas a white one is
unlucky), and if one should stray into your home, you should embrace it for
this brings good fortune; sadly today in every rescue centre one will see an
abundance of black cats. With common superstitious misconceptions, these cats
are abandoned, believed to simply bring anyone bad luck.
As the most commonly associated
animal companion of the witch, the cat is known to be a favourite disguise of
the Devil. In addition, it is said that witches often took on feline shapes
themselves, although throughout the centuries such familiars were equally as
likely to be a crow, a toad, or any other common – yet small – animal. It was
understood, however, that a witch could take the form of a cat only nine times,
reinforcing the popular belief that a cat has nine lives.
Throughout the witchcraft trials
of the 16th and 17th century there was a common test by
which one could determine whether a cat was indeed a witch in disguise, and
this was to place the animal in a vessel of holy water. If the cat attempted to
escape, undoubtedly it was a witch.
Rarely was it to the creature’s
advantage when it came to witchcraft, and during the month of May when the
spirits of the dead – equally the witches – were considered to be exceptionally
active, any cat born was soon drowned; as it was said that they would be
useless in hunting.
Cat-familiars were known to be of
considerable age, having served numerous witches; inherited by one from
another. In 1566, Elizabeth Francis, one of the Chelmsford Witches, claimed to
have been given Sathan – a white spotted cat – by her grandmother. Following
her ‘ownership’, and having sealed a succession of deals in the black arts
(paying the small animal in blood by pricking her finger for each deed), after 15
years she had then passed it on to another witch.
Ursula Kempe, an accused witch during the trial of the
St.Osyth Witches in 1582, confessed to owning two familiars in the shape of
cats, named Titty and Jack. Both of which she allegedly sent out on evil
errands, and they were rewarded by sucking blood from her left thigh.
Royalty and members of the aristocracies were often targets
of black magic. In 1590 in North Berwick, Scotland , Agnes Sampson admitted to
throwing a black cat into the ocean – after apparently ‘baptising’ it – with
the aim of raising a storm intended to kill future King James I. The King (then
King James VI of Scotland ) was
returning from Denmark
with his fiancée, Anne, and the royal ship nearly sank due to the ferocity of
the waves.
In 1619 during a trial of witchcraft in Lincoln , Margaret Flower confessed to an attempt
at killing the children of the Earl of Rutland where she rubbed personal
possessions against the fur of her cat-familiar, Rutterkin. Similarly, as
precaution against further offspring, she brushed feathers from the Countess’s
bed over the animal’s genitals to make both the Earl and his wife infertile.
Matthew Hopkins, as
Witchfinder-General, reported manifestations of cat-familiars during his investigations,
and swore an oath that he had witnessed such in the cell of Elizabeth Clark. This
one-legged Essex witch, in 1645, became the
first to be accused of the black arts by the Witchfinder-General. After keeping
her awake for four nights, he saw the familiar spirits approach her and as
evidence she was convicted thereafter.
“Each of us has a spirit to wait
upon us, when we please to call upon him,” declared Scottish witch, Isobel
Gowdie in 1662. She claimed, too, that she took the form of the cat by
muttering the following spell:
“I shall go into cat with sorrow and sign;
a little black shot.
And I shall go in the Devil’s name,
aye while I come home again.”
In some rural areas, particularly
in Scotland
and in Continental Europe, nobody dared to converse in family affairs – and
certainly not matters concerning money – in front of a cat, for fear that it
was a witch in disguise… or indeed the Devil himself!
The superstition surrounding the cat
In Hungary , superstition led to the
belief that every cat would transform into a witch between the ages of 7 and 12
years. With this in mind, the only preventative measure was to cut a cross in
the animal’s skin. Soon, other injuries were purposely inflicted on cats
suspected of being witches, and such tales spread throughout many cultures,
leading to witches apparently waking to new found scars, scabs, or actual wounds.
One reported case of 1718, in
Caithness in Scotland ,
a man named William Montgomery, claimed the cats that gathered outside his
house spoke in human voices. Killing two with a hatchet and wounding several
others, the following day two local women were found dead, whilst another failed
to explain a deep cut in her leg.
The French were known to have
trapped cats in baskets and throw them into bonfires, while in England
they were suspended in cages and shot at with arrows. Given this, some cultures
began to show reluctance to kill the animals, in belief that anyone who did
forfeited their soul to the Devil.
During the 19th century in Hastings ,
East Sussex , two mummified cats were discovered
in the chimney of the Stag Inn whilst under restoration. It is alleged that the
cats were the familiars of the local witch from two centuries before. Hannah
Clarke, proving to be ‘friendlier’ than most witches of that time, was seen to
help in keeping the Spanish Armada away from Hastings ; often using her powers for the
town’s protection. Apparently, after she moved on, her familiars remained in
the town until the Great Plague hit. Cats – rather than rats – were commonly
assumed to be plague carriers and having been owned by a witch, this particular
pair of animals were the first to succumb to local accusations. For fear of any
bad omen to befall the people by removing – or indeed killing – the cats, a
decision was made to mummify them and of walling them in at the pub.
When witchcraft mania swept Pennsylvania in the early
20th century, many black cats disappeared. Soon it was discovered
that superstitious locals were boiling them in water, and extracting an
apparently lucky bone with which to protect them against supernatural harm. But
the influence of the cat – indeed, its sacred foundations – goes back many
years.
The cat is, and no doubt always
will be, associated with many superstitions. These already intelligent animals
are supposed to have an amount of extrasensory perception. With this in mind, evident
strange behaviour in them – be it in stature or habit – may possibly be a
reaction to something sensed that is beyond our own perception. One must ask
questions if the cat appears nervous or frightened in a new home, as there may
be paranormal activity! Tread on its tail and there will be bad luck for the
individual; and if the cat should leave home never to be seen again, then bad
luck will befall the entire family.
Portents can be seen in a cat’s general
behaviour, such as weather forecasting: sitting with its back to the fire
foretells a storm is imminent; or, winds are on their way if the animal should
prove to be somewhat larkish; and prepare for rain if it spends an unusual
amount of time cleaning itself.
The Black Cat of Carrefour a Cendre
As for big-cat sightings across
the globe there have been plenty reported, but Jersey – one of the Channel Islands – is alleged to be home to a
shape-shifting cat. Sighted, not precisely as a cat of the flesh (or fur), more
as an apparition. Legend suggests that to take the Black Cat of Carrefour a
Cendre away from its town it grows in size. Return it, and it shrinks. Moreover,
if you get too close it would disappear altogether; presumably if you go too
far it crushes you, and may even swallow you whole. Whether a phantom, a manifestation, or indeed
an urban myth, no doubt it keeps the local mice on their toes.
Unless, that is, this
shape-shifting menace was born in May.
Associated Cat Facts
The mummified remains of the cats
discovered in Bast’s temple were sent to England and sold as fertilizer at
around $20 per ton.
Ursula Kempe had another two
familiars alongside her pair of cats: she had a toad called Pigin and a
lamb called Tyffin.
In 1597, King James (VI of Scotland, and I of England )
wrote and published a book on witchcraft called ‘Daemonologie’,
which also detailed necromancy, spirit possession, demons, werewolves, ghosts
and fairies.
Isobel Gowdie’s descriptions of her meetings led to the
first indication that groups of 13 members were standard in witchcraft, and
also introduced the term ‘coven’ into trial records.
The cats once owned by Hastings
witch, Hannah Clarke, can still be seen in a glass case on the wall of The Stag
Inn.
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| Author photo (c)Christopher Shoebridge |
Mark Cassell lives in a rural part of the UK with his wife and a number of animals. He often dreams of dystopian futures, peculiar creatures, and flitting shadows. Primarily a horror writer, his steampunk, fantasy, and SF stories have featured in several anthologies and ezines.
His debut novel, The Shadow Fabric, is a supernatural story and is available from Amazon.
Twitter: @Mark_Cassell ~ Facebook: www.facebook.com/AuthorMarkCassell
His debut novel, The Shadow Fabric, is a supernatural story and is available from Amazon.
Twitter: @Mark_Cassell ~ Facebook: www.facebook.com/AuthorMarkCassell
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