Fairy Cats, Here to Steal Your Soul?

The Wonkette Kitty Fairy brings you the gift of Tabs

Today’s header gif features your friend the Wonkette kitty in an enchanted forest as designed by Stable Diffusion. The Wonkitty is of course a benign spirit and means you no harm.

Fairy cats, as well as appearing on your Tabs page, also appear in Celtic Scottish folklore. These “cat-sìth,” as they are known, are black with a white spot on their chest. Cat-sìths had a fondness for souls of the unburied dead, but could be distracted from their mission with riddles or catnip. Because these spirit cats craved warmth, Scottish families would keep their departed in cold rooms until burial could take place and would keep constant vigil during the wake so that they could guard against the cat-sìth passing over the body to steal the soul. It seems that cat-sìths were not super-devoted to their task, since they could also be diverted into watching amusing games such as wrestling and leaping, or by playing loud music which the cats would want to sing. My own cats will tell you that loud music is definitely a turn-off for all felines, corporeal and fairy alike.

Cat-sìths were not all about soul-stealing, though. They could predict the future and bring good luck to those that fed them saucers of milk. If you stared into a cat-sìth’s eyes, you could see into your soul and discover your heart’s desire. As well as providing self-discovery-through-staring, a cat-sìth might also let you see a glimpse of the fairy world.

Although less frequently mentioned, Irish Celtic mythology also have fairy cats, known as “cat si.” In the Irish version, the cats were really transformed witches. However, witches were limited to eight transformations or would permanently stay in cat form. This myth is likely the origin of the current popular lore that cats have nine lives.

To read more about Celtic fairy cats, click the links below:

History Daily: The Fairy Cats of Celtic Mythology

Pawsitive Purfection: Irish Lore "Fairy Cat"

Wikipedia: Cat-sith