Caìt Sìth in Folklore | The Faeries and Folklore Podcast

Episode 22: Power Players of Faerie: Caìt Sìth

The folklore of Caìt Sìth in a nutshell, how I reimagined it for my writing, and this faery translated into Afrikaans.

Written and narrated by Ronel Janse van Vuuren.

Copyright 2021 Ronel Janse van Vuuren — All rights reserved.

Learn more about caìt sìth here.

Get the transcript here.

Music: Secrets by David Fesliyan (FesliyanStudios.com) and Dramatic Heartbeat by FesliyanStudios.com

Transcript

You’re listening to the Faeries and Folklore podcast by Ronel.

I’m dark fantasy author Ronel Janse van Vuuren. With nearly a decade of digging around in dusty folklore books, researching creatures of imagination that ignited my curiosity, I’m here to share the folklore in a nutshell and how I reimagined it for my writing in an origin of the fae.

This is the Faeries and Folklore podcast.

Hi, I’m your host Ronel Janse van Vuuren. You can just call me Ronel. In today’s episode, we’re continuing our exploration of the fae realm.

We’re continuing our exploration of small every day fae.

Today’s faery: Caìt Sìth

Folklore in a nutshell by Ronel

Cats figure in the history and folklore of many nations and are a favourite with artists and writers. Everyone knows that cats have nine lives – and this lore comes from their apparent durability as they survive falls that would be fatal to others, their nonchalant attitude that can be perceived as lack of any instinct for self-preservation, and the way they seem to stare right through you.

Black cats seem to chop off at every corner: since medieval times they’re seen as either witches in disguise or as familiars who work with witches and thus harbingers of black magic, seeing one from behind is a bad omen, if it walks away from you it’s bad luck, if it crosses your path it’s bad luck, and it is even blamed for putting its nose to that of a new-born baby and sucking the life out of it.

Except in the UK: there black cats are held as being good luck and white cats (apparently the colour of ghosts) are held to be unlucky.

In Ancient Egypt, Bast is the goddess of cats. She is portrayed with the head of a cat and as the protector of cats. And she’s usually depicted as a beautiful black cat.

In Norse mythology, Freyja has two black cats who pull her chariot.

Seems not everyone equates black cats with death and darkness…

In Ireland, though, a black cat with a white patch of fur on its chest is known as the King of the Cats, Caìt Sìth or Grimalkin. This cat is indeed a faery. The only way to keep this mischievous cat happy is to leave out a saucer of cream. Even Shakespeare has Gimalkin in one of his plays: Macbeth, Act I, the first witch says “I come, Graymalkin” when her feline familiar calls.

Whether you believe them magical or not, if you stare too deeply into a cat’s eyes, you’ll see visions of a faery world which spies on you through those self-same eyes… or maybe that’s just the pain of getting scratched after challenging the cat!

And now for my interpretation of the fae in an Origin of the Fae: Caìt Sìth

Faery Cat in Scottish Mythology that usually presents as a black cat with gem colour eyes.

They have no true allegiance, though rarely they do form a strong bond with another Faery.

They use Mindspeak to communicate and are usually cheeky. They speak as they wish.

Normally they bring misfortune on all humans who see them. They are mischievous in nature. Some do have ill-will towards humans.

They can make themselves invisible at will – even to other Fae.

The only known alliance between the Cù Sìth and the Caìt Sìth is that of the Cù Sìth Saphira and the Caìt Sìth Jade.

As a little bonus, let’s look at the translation of Caìt Sìth/Faery Cat into Afrikaans: Feetjie Kat

I hope that you’ve enjoyed this episode of the faeries and folklore podcast and that you’ve learned something new about faeries.

Remember that you can get a transcript of this episode in the description. If you’re new to the podcast, why not go and grab your free copy of Unseen, the second book in the Faery Tales series, on my website ronelthemythmaker.com? Loads of folklore, magic and danger await! Take care!

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