Thursday, March 30, 2023
Thursday, March 16, 2023
Wednesday, March 15, 2023
The Coven of the Cat: "The Haunted" Documentary
The following is a post which was originally published on my former cat blog, "The Cat Cottage" dated October 29, 2011.
Rob Viars never took more than a passing interest in the history of his home until several frightening events forced him to take a closer look. After he and his wife see strange shadows and hear disembodied voices and their pets begin reacting to unseen entities, Rob calls in a paranormal investigation team to help them understand what was happening. When the team records the nightmarish wail of a ghostly cat, Rob's search for answers lead him to uncover the truth behind a cat-themed group and the rituals they performed in his formerly safe home.
This afternoon while watching The Animal Planet series on television called, "The Haunted," I saw an episode that really struck me and I just felt as if I had to write a post about it.
First of all, I watch this show all of the time and usually the stories revolve around families and their pets who have experienced some very "abnormal" paranormal activity ~ voices when there is no one else in the house, pets who are either affected directly or indirectly by something or someone, etc. Second, these families most often than not choose to bring in a Catholic Priest along with a Paranormal Team of sorts to cleanse their homes in order to get rid of these "unwanted" or, for lack of a better word, "evil" spirits be they human or animal. I was torn between posting this one on my Wiccan blog, "The Wiccan Life" or here. (I had finally decided that it would have slightly more relevance on this blog rather than my Wiccan blog).
A Pennsylvania resident, Rob Viars, and his family moved into such a house. Their cat, in particular, was terrified by this strange spirit. In short, the house was once owned by a man named Dr. Frederick LaMotte Santee who was the town doctor and the leader of a Wiccan coven called, "The Coven of the Catta." This coven worshipped the Egyptian cat goddess, Bastet. Of course, there had been a lot of rumors and half-truths going around about people practicing witchcraft and performing seances, etc. for years.
Around the time The Viars family was getting, "haunted" one of the descendants of Dr. Santee's coven, Lord Shawnus, had come across this story on the Animal Planet website about the house where the doctor had lived. He had decided to come forward to help this family and to set the record straight about both the house and witchcraft. Turns out that the doctor's neighbors were so paranoid about these rumors of speculation, that someone actually tried to burn down the guest house where the coven's sacred cat, Bastet, was living. The house was saved and everyone managed to make it out alive except for the cat. It was believed that this was the same cat's voice screaming which the PAA (Pennsylvania Paranormal Association) picked up on their EVP's.
The Viars family asked Wiccan High Priest Lord Shawnus and his High Priestess to cleanse their house of Bastet's spirit and send her toward the light.
First of all, I watch this show all of the time and usually the stories revolve around families and their pets who have experienced some very "abnormal" paranormal activity ~ voices when there is no one else in the house, pets who are either affected directly or indirectly by something or someone, etc. Second, these families most often than not choose to bring in a Catholic Priest along with a Paranormal Team of sorts to cleanse their homes in order to get rid of these "unwanted" or, for lack of a better word, "evil" spirits be they human or animal. I was torn between posting this one on my Wiccan blog, "The Wiccan Life" or here. (I had finally decided that it would have slightly more relevance on this blog rather than my Wiccan blog).
A Pennsylvania resident, Rob Viars, and his family moved into such a house. Their cat, in particular, was terrified by this strange spirit. In short, the house was once owned by a man named Dr. Frederick LaMotte Santee who was the town doctor and the leader of a Wiccan coven called, "The Coven of the Catta." This coven worshipped the Egyptian cat goddess, Bastet. Of course, there had been a lot of rumors and half-truths going around about people practicing witchcraft and performing seances, etc. for years.
Around the time The Viars family was getting, "haunted" one of the descendants of Dr. Santee's coven, Lord Shawnus, had come across this story on the Animal Planet website about the house where the doctor had lived. He had decided to come forward to help this family and to set the record straight about both the house and witchcraft. Turns out that the doctor's neighbors were so paranoid about these rumors of speculation, that someone actually tried to burn down the guest house where the coven's sacred cat, Bastet, was living. The house was saved and everyone managed to make it out alive except for the cat. It was believed that this was the same cat's voice screaming which the PAA (Pennsylvania Paranormal Association) picked up on their EVP's.
The Viars family asked Wiccan High Priest Lord Shawnus and his High Priestess to cleanse their house of Bastet's spirit and send her toward the light.
Guatemalan Worry Cats
There is a story among the indigenous Mayan people of Guatemala that when a person's soul goes to the next astral level, cats await them to help them overcome any obstacles or negative energy that they might encounter.
Like the traditional worry people of Guatemala, when these "worry cats" are placed beneath your pillow they will help remove obstacles and promote positive energy.
Tuesday, March 14, 2023
"Cat Daddy" by Jackson Galaxy: Book Review
I laughed. I cried. I related. Jackson Galaxy's new book, "Cat Daddy: What the World's Most Incorrigible Cat Taught Me About Life, Love, and Coming Clean," is a heart-warming biography about his early life of drug, alcohol and food addiction, career in working and caring for animals, and his first foster cat named Benny whom he took in while working at an animal shelter in Boulder, Colorado. While working late one night, Benny's heartless owner dropped him off with a shattered pelvis after he was hit by a car. What started out as a foster care situation turned into a lifetime of trials and tribulations.
Jackson takes you on an amazing journey through his fascinating life working with cats. A Cat Behaviorist, he has devoted his entire life to their service ~ dedicated to saving them while educating the humans who inhabit their world.
I found it extremely easy to put myself in Jackson's shoes as he tells his true and sometimes heart-breaking story. Although this book is primarily about his life with Benny, it also has a lot of very helpful hints about living with and taking care of your best friend.
Jackson with his beloved cat, "Benny".
This is an excellent book and I would definitely recommend it to anyone! Let's just say that I loved it so much that I managed to read the entire thing in only two days.
Monday, March 13, 2023
Sunday, March 12, 2023
A Different Perspective
For the past couple of years, I have been donating money whenever possible to certain organizations. One of those organizations is a no-kill animal shelter called, "Animals In Distress." (A.I.D.)
Their facilities are the best I have ever seen. However, I never stopped to wonder just "how" places like this could afford such a great shelter for all their unwanted animals, whom by the way, they do work extremely hard to get good homes for.
I am ashamed to admit that, after reading Jackson Galaxy's new book "Cat Daddy," I found out how most no-kill shelters can "afford" to do such awesome work. Jackson used to work at an animal shelter in Boulder, Co. and had to do and see many terrible things ~ including putting down perfectly healthy animals who deserved loving homes. You see, no-kill shelters, as he explained, "pick and choose" the animals they take in. Even though some no-kill organizations such as Animals In Distress actually do take in injured animals who are in very bad shape and spend the money to get them healthy, give them physical therapy, or whatever they need, many others do not. And; therefore, organizations such as The Humane Society and The Animal Rescue League tend to get those unwanted animals which are turned down by most no-kill shelters. I, myself, made the mistake of thinking that, even though ALL animal shelters are in dire need of donations for unwanted or abandoned animals, that the no-kill shelters need it more because they refuse to euthanize any of the animals in their care. Needless to say, I was wrong to have that mind set.
That being said, I have decided to not only continue to donate to Animals In Distress, but I will also make more donations whenever possible to The Humane Society, The ASPCA, and other non no-kill shelters as well.
I realize that even though I can't save the world, these animals deserve a chance at having a good life and I need to do whatever I can ~ as do we all.
Their facilities are the best I have ever seen. However, I never stopped to wonder just "how" places like this could afford such a great shelter for all their unwanted animals, whom by the way, they do work extremely hard to get good homes for.
I am ashamed to admit that, after reading Jackson Galaxy's new book "Cat Daddy," I found out how most no-kill shelters can "afford" to do such awesome work. Jackson used to work at an animal shelter in Boulder, Co. and had to do and see many terrible things ~ including putting down perfectly healthy animals who deserved loving homes. You see, no-kill shelters, as he explained, "pick and choose" the animals they take in. Even though some no-kill organizations such as Animals In Distress actually do take in injured animals who are in very bad shape and spend the money to get them healthy, give them physical therapy, or whatever they need, many others do not. And; therefore, organizations such as The Humane Society and The Animal Rescue League tend to get those unwanted animals which are turned down by most no-kill shelters. I, myself, made the mistake of thinking that, even though ALL animal shelters are in dire need of donations for unwanted or abandoned animals, that the no-kill shelters need it more because they refuse to euthanize any of the animals in their care. Needless to say, I was wrong to have that mind set.
That being said, I have decided to not only continue to donate to Animals In Distress, but I will also make more donations whenever possible to The Humane Society, The ASPCA, and other non no-kill shelters as well.
I realize that even though I can't save the world, these animals deserve a chance at having a good life and I need to do whatever I can ~ as do we all.
Monday, March 6, 2023
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