Music: The Promise
"HELPED are those who are shown
the existence of the Creator's magic
in the Universe; they shall experience
delight and astonishment without ceasing."
--Alice Walker,"The Gospel According to Shug"
The Temple of my Familiar
Brought By The Storm. . .
by Shakti
Way back in 1980, I was going through an extremely rough personal period.
A messy divorce and other financial problems gave me no choice but to move out of my apartment.
At the time, I had two gray striped tabby cats--male and female--that I was forced to give away.
Try as I did, I could not find a suitable home for them so, while I was at work, a friend of mine
took then to an animal shelter. This incident left me completely heartbroken for many, many years.
It was about two years before I could even walk down the pet food aisle in the grocery store without crying!
On September 7, 1995, Austin, Texas, suffered one of its worst storms ever. There were power lines down,
no electricity, flooding, tree branches everywhere. During that period, I was again experiencing severe
personal trials and tribulations. I was at a friend's home, outside talking to neighbors and surveying
the storm damage. Suddenly, we heard a persistent but weak "meow." We must have spent twenty minutes
searching for that kitten. I wasn't prepared to find a very tiny baby, only about a week old.
Mama cat was no where in sight. I hesitantly picked up this baby and brought it inside. Finding a towel and a box, I made a little nest for it. While trying to decide how to feed this tiny critter, we heard another "meow." A search through shrubs revealed another kitten! We found an eye dropper, heated some milk and tried to feed them.
The next day, I took them to my vet and got the proper equipment to raise them. I now have a couple of 2-year old gray striped tabbies--brother and sister. I named them Thunder and Lightning.
They are the joys of my life. . .and get along fine with my eleven year old mini Dachshund, too!
Coincidence? I don't think so! I truly believe that these babies are the reincarnations of my previous,
precious friends. Just when our lives seem to reach the darkest hour, the Goddess always provides.
Blessed Be!
The Dream Cat
by Starr RavenHeart
We have two cats as our companions, Isis and Bastet. About the time Isis turned a year old,
I began to have some interesting dreams about her.
Isis is a beautiful, all black cat, but for a small white star on her chest. In my dreams she
would transform in many different ways. Once she slowly changed to an all white cat, then returned
to her normal color. Another time, she slowly changed color so that on one side she was her normal self,
and on the other she was the white cat. She then split in half, as an amoeba does, into two cats: our Isis
and the white dream cat.
Somehow, I knew the dream cat was named Bastet.
Shortly afterward, my boyfriend started having the same dreams, seeing the exact same white cat. I felt very
strongly that she was calling out to us, and that we were suppose to find her.
We made a trip to the SPCA, but there were no white cats to be found. We met my sister for an outing at a local
flea market one day, and as soon as I walked through the gate, I could sense her. Bastet was there waiting for
us to take her home.
After going to a couple of pet shops, I was beginning to feel as if my instincts had been wrong. Then, I saw
another store across the way and I knew that was where she was. Going inside, I went directly to the cage holding
the kittens, but there was only a little tabby.
Dejected, I turned to leave. Standing between me and the door was a little girl holding a small, white bundle of fur.
She walked over to me and said, "I was just playing with her, you want to hold her?"
She thrust the kitten at me.
She was such a tiny thing! As I held her, she crawled up to my shoulder, curled up and fell asleep. I called my
boyfriend over and asked him to hold her. The moment he touched her, he said he knew she was our dream cat.
We paid the man the $20 he was asking for and took her home. They claimed she was 10 weeks old, but she was so tiny,
the vet said she was no more than 6 weeks. We also discovered that she had been underfed, and was very underweight as
a result. She had some additional health problems that our wonderful vet helped her overcome.
Bastet has grown to be a loving, silly, beautiful cat. She was the perfect addition to our family, and we are so very
glad she invaded our dreams to call to us.
Raising Osiris
by Starr RavenHeart
Several times this summer I looked out from my balcony and saw a little black kitten merrily frolicking in the field across the parking lot,
or around the parked cars. I never seemed to be downstairs when he was there, I only saw him from a distance.
About two weeks before Samhain my boyfriend came in and said that the kitten had come up to him and was very friendly.
He also said that he looked very much like our Isis, and could be her brother.
One day I was on my way down to the car to drive to work and the little guy met me at the bottom of the stairs. He
walked right up to me, flopped over on his back and asked for tummy scratches. He purred as I petted him,
and I wondered how a stray could be so trusting and bold.
That evening I put out a dish of kitten chow for him, and when I later looked out, he was eating it.
The next night I moved the dish up onto to the front porch, and as I was on my way out, he showed up. When I sat down and patted my leg,
he hurled himself up the stairs and into my lap. I showed him the dish of food, but he wanted to sit in my lap and be loved.
Only when I stood up and started to leave would he eat.
With Halloween approaching, I was very concerned for his safety. A black cat with big yellow eyes who was so trusting would be an
easy target for cruelty. We talked about what to do, and decided that we'd catch him and take him in until we could find a home for him.
The following day, a Friday, we came home and I set out to find him. Once I did, catching him involved calling to him, and then catching him as he flung himself into my arms.
My boyfriend called the vet and asked them not to leave until I got there; they agreed.
I dropped him off and asked them to first test him for the various nasties that a stray is particularly prone to.
I wanted to save him, but not at the expense of my girls. If he tested clean, they were to neuter and vaccinate him.
Early Monday morning they called and said he tested fine and that I could pick him up the next afternoon. The doctor said he was about 7 months old, and in good health.
It disturbed me that no "lost cat" posters ever went up in the neighborhood. How could anyone lose such a sweet kitty and not at least make some effort to find him?
My dad commented that it was their loss, and that he was better off now anyway.
We had two prospective homes lined up for him, but they both fell through. Eventually, his sweetness and big heart won us over and we found the perfect home for him: ours.
Because he so strongly resembled our green-eyed Isis, we named him Osiris. There were some fights and spats at first, but the girls have accepted him, and all is happy.
We didn't want or need a third cat, but as one of my friends pointed out, we don't choose the cats that share our lives, they choose us. Osiris knew where to go to be rescued, and in seeking us out, found a loving home.
Are you interested in Bast? Would you like to share your special stories, memories or dreams
with others who love cats and the Cat Goddess?
Please E-mail us here at the House of Cats, putting BASTPROSE
in your subject line.
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