Cats In Folklore: Not Just A Witch's Familiar

There are plenty of tales about cats in folklore, from the tales of ancient Egypt to superstitions around having cats on board ship. As Halloween approaches, let's look at these fascinating superstitions about our feline friends.
Find the images on the blog post here: www.icysedgwick.com/cats-in-fo...
Danny Elfman's short animation, The Yule Cat: indi.com/8xcwq
Join the Fabulous Folklore Family: patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595
Tweet Icy at / icysedgwick

[@cemeterygrove8370]

this was fascinating! it's interesting to learn how it was believed that two cats fighting near a dying person meant an angel and a demon were battling over that person's soul. thank you for putting this together, i really enjoyed this :)

[@FabulousFolklore]

I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

[@saradapagediocletian9707]

In ancient Egypt where cats were revered they were actually sacrificed on mass to be mummified and interred with persons of noble blood. Extrapolating from that historical bit we can deduce that adoring cats and killing them are not mutually exclusive acts in the context of these traditions.

[@Petey_Ouspensky]

Congrats. from B.C. on another fine, stimulating bit of work, and thank you!

[@FabulousFolklore]

My pleasure!

[@Michaelkaydee]

Very interesting... loved it. (Try adding other animations or series of pics as you narrate so that it's not just one image and feels like an audio podcast)

[@FabulousFolklore]

It is a podcast. These are audio-only episodes because a lot of people like listening through KZbin while they do other things.

[@kali4027]

you should look up the story of the witch of Laggan, Scottish folklore, if you don't already know it xx

[@kali4027]

Cat Sidhe/ Cat Sith= Cat Shee, like a Banshee :) x

[@Queen_Pusakatt179]

I dont believe on any of those folklores that looks at Cats as evils. The Egyptian myths is more sensible that tells Cats are protectors of Homes. They have high respect to this creature they even have National law against harming Cats. & based on observation, Cats protect homes from pests & snakes, they kill rats that are preyed by snakes. Maybe those that look at Cats as evils are just Dog persons, they have personal biases so they just dont like Cats. Id rather choose to believe on historical accounts than random accounts of folktales you cant even trace & prove their existence.

[@FabulousFolklore]

Well these folktales have been collected over the years. And there are historical accounts among the witch trial records that detail the negative perception of cats.

[@Queen_Pusakatt179]

@@FabulousFolklore what did the witches cats do? its the witches that are bad, not the Cats. but first, do you believe they are even witches? its people’s imaginations and irrational thinking that resulted in such misery. for all acts of cruelty and widkedness we do, we will all be held accountable in the End.

[@gemmaanderson5605]

Halloween is still known as sow-wien to pagans ....its not just a name of a day, it's a sabbat.

[@FabulousFolklore]

I know 😊 It's one of the eight sabbats.

[@siriusvenus8708]

Thank Goddess and Bastet and all cat loving Gods/Goddesses for modern science so some of these wacky cat-hating myths have been dispelled. The same witch-hunting attitude still remains though.