Mythical Creatures: Cat Sidhe

The third Mythical Creature in our alphabetical list from Animal Alphabets is Cat Sidhe. twitter.com/AnimalAlphabets

The Cat Sidhe is an Irish or Scottish creature which is all black except for a white spot on its chest. Names for it vary; as well as Cat Sidhe, there is also Cait Sidhe and Cath Sith. It is a large fairy cat which will try to steal the souls of the dead before they are buried, but in my painting, he seems like he’d look really cute while doing it!

Just as a side note, in case you’re wondering, the Sidhe are Irish fairies, which are divided into the Seelies and the Unseelies.

The cat is meant to haunt the Scottish Highlands and there are many legends about it in Scotland and some in Ireland. He will try to steal the souls of the dead before they are claimed by the gods by walking over the corpse. To prevent this, people held wakes to keep the cat away and used games to distract the cat, such as riddles and wrestling. The riddles were always left unanswered for the cat to ponder, therefore taking his mind off the dead body. They also spread catnip in other rooms to take the cat’s attention and played music, as the cat loved to dance. They also never lit fires in the room where the corpse was as the cat was attracted to the warmth.

The cat may also be a witch who can shape-shift, but she can only become a cat nine times. If she transformed into a cat for the ninth time, she would stay a cat permanently. This is thought to be where the idea of cats having nine lives originated from.

It was believed that on Samhain (Halloween) the cat sidhe would bless the house of those who left a saucer of milk out for him to drink. Those who didn’t would be cursed, their cows failing to produce milk.

There are tales of the cat transforming into human shape, but retaining his cat legs and his tail and feline features. They are also told to be able to perform basic magic.



There are other cats in mythology which you may find interesting too:

In France there are fairies called White Ladies. They wait near bridges after dark and ask a lone man walking past to dance. If he refuses, the White Lady throws him over the bridge or sets her pet owls and cats on him.

Witches had familiars, of course, which were most often cats.

Vampires, as well as being able to turn into bats, dogs and wolves, could also become cats.

In Japan, there was a two-tailed vampire cat who didn’t bite her victims, but strangled them.

Finally, there is a creature called the barguest, which haunts lanes and churchyards at night. It is usually a huge dog, but can become a cat or a goblin.



I hope, if you are interested in this, that my brief summary of mythical beings leads you on to find out more. If you do, beware! It can lead you down a mythical rabbit hole. I’ve been there! So much to read about.

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Information from:

Wikipedia

Fantasy Encyclopedia, A Guide to Fabulous Beasts and Magical Beings by Judy Allen