One night the farmer’s wife was at home sitting near the fireplace with her black cat. Suddenly, the farmer came in slamming the door hard. He was pale, could hardly breathe, and looked like he was about to pass out. His wife got up, and she asked him: “What’s the matter, are you not feeling well?” The farmer caught his breath, tried to calm down, and replied, “I have to tell you something. On my way here after working in the fields, I saw some strange lights near the road. I was curious, and when I got closer, I saw that the lights came from a tree that had a huge hole that simulated a door. I carefully looked inside the tree and was surprised to see that it was much larger than it seemed on the outside; that place looked like a temple. Later I saw that a funeral procession was approaching along a corridor where nine cats were carrying a coffin that was covered with a black cloth. Behind the coffin was a large number of cats that were carrying lighted torches, and at the same time they said: “The King of the Cats is dead!” When one of them saw me, he approached me and said: “Run and tell Tomas that Tim has died.” At that moment, the family cat got up and began to grow and grow to three times its normal size. Then he stood up on his two hind legs, slowly approached the farmer, and said, “Did you say that old Tim is dead?” “Then, now I am the king!” and saying this he disappeared up the chimney, and the farmer and his wife never saw him again.
For thousands of years, cats have been part of the folklore of different countries. Some legends present them as kind or bringers of good luck, while in others they symbolize evil and negative forces, like the Sith Cat.
The Sith Cat is a fairy or evil spirit that belongs to Scottish and Irish mythology. People who have seen it describe it as a black cat with a white patch on its chest, almost the size of a dog, and with its back arched. When near humans this spectral cat walks on its four legs, but some have seen it in remote places walking on its two hind legs and singing devilishly. In addition, it is said that he cannot be trusted as he is malicious and very cunning.
The Scottish stories of these fairy cats say that this creature stole the soul of the deceased before the Gods could take it away, so the people who were present at the funeral rite did everything possible to keep the cat busy so that he would not jump on top of the coffin or the body before it is buried. To achieve this, people stood guard day and night in front of the corpse to prevent the cat from approaching it. Another way they used to distract him was that they lit the fireplace so that the creature would lie down near the fire to warm up and get away from his prey, they sang lament songs that the cat enjoyed, and they played games to get involved and forget about the soul he came to take away. All this was done until dawn to be able to bury the body safely and with its soul intact.
The Sith Cat always appeared on Halloween, so people left a saucer of milk outside their houses so that the cat would bless their home and so that next year the harvest would be bountiful, but if they forgot to do it, he cursed them so that their crops would dry up and their cattle would die. Some people suggested that this cat was not a fairy, but a witch who had taken the form of a cat to hide in the shadows and cast a spell on people. However, witches with this ability could only transform into a cat eight times, and by the ninth time, they could never return to human form again, being trapped inside the cat’s body forever. For this reason, there is a belief that cats have nine lives.
There is a theory that the legend of the Sith Cat was inspired by the Kellas cats found in Scotland, which are hybrids between the wildcat and the domestic cat. These cats are primarily nocturnal, but sometimes also come out during the day to hunt small mammals and birds. In addition, they are more aggressive than domestic cats and much larger.
Whether this cat is a fairy, a soul stealer, a witch, or a wildcat, be careful because you can find it anywhere hidden in the dark.
