Welcome! We are a small farm in Ocala.
08/17/2023
*Repost but interesting
Cat Nights 🐈⬛
August 17
In August, the Dog Star Sirius is no longer visible in the predawn sky, bringing to an end the Dog Days of Summer and then Cat Nights begin mid-month. Today, not many people are familiar with “Cat Nights.” It is pretty old, going back to the days of Witches. Cat Nights are also tied to pre-Christian harvest rites. Like many ancient festivals, the church adopted the earlier harvest festival and, in many parts of Europe, it is still known as the Feast of Our Lady of the Harvest.
The origin of Cat Nights is thought to spring from a little know Irish legend. The Celtic people created a lot of intriguing folklore. In trying to track down the origin of Cat Nights, my interest was piqued when I read several folk tails about a cat creature known as the Cait Sidhe in Ireland and the Cait Sith in Scotland. Both are pronounced “caught shee” and literally translate as “cat of the mound.” The mound refers to neolithic burial mounds found throughout the British Isles. In folk lore they were considered to be fairy mounds and residences. In England the Cait Sidhe, are commonly called fairy cats.
The Cait Sidhe took the form of large black cats, with a spot of white on their chests. For the most part, the Cait Sidhe were seen as fearsome, but they were also capable of bringing blessings.
Irish legend also tells how witches could turn themselves into a cat eight times. They could choose to transform themselves a ninth time, but then they were unable to change back to human form. This legend is the origin of the phrase “a cat has nine lives.” Many legends are based on elements of truth. Legends of the Cait Sidhe may be rooted in the Scottish Wildcat known as the Kellas Cat. The Scottish Wildcat looks like a very large house cat and is believed to be the result of a wild cat and domestic cat mating.
But besides the old Celtic folklore, August is traditionally considered a yowly time for cats. This may be what prompted the belief that witches were on the prowl in mid-August in the first place.
But what does the old legend have to do with Cat Nights? Well, August’s summer nights are getting both longer and cooler. Even as we humans notice the seasonal change, animals are much more sensitive to these changes. Those of us who share our lives with cats and dogs cannot help but notice how they are a bit more lively now.
Cats, in particular, are active at dusk and dawn, with the possible exception of Jax, our retired barn cat who prefers to sleep the night away and the day, too, for that matter.
Many cats, Jax excepted, are nocturnal hunters. Cats can see eight times better in the dark than we can. Cats can see some colors, too. They can see yellows, blues and violets. And their eyes are much more sensitive to movements than our eyes are. Longer nights are coming and the nights belong to them.
So enjoy the lengthening nights and if you’re out on a stroll over the next few evenings, make sure it’s a cat that you see and not a lurking witch out to bewitch you.
