Gerina Dunwich - 27 Nov

Gerina Dunwich

A Citadel Press Book
Published by Kensington Publishing Corp.

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Copyright 2000 Gerina Dunwich

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ISBN 13: 978-0-8065-3984-3

ISBN 10: 0-8065-3984-4

eISBN 13: 978-0-8065-3968-3

eISBN 10: 0-8065-3968-2

First printing 2000

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Dunwich, Gerina.

Your magickal cat : feline magick, lore, and worship / Gerina Dunwich.

p. cm.

A Citadel Press book.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-8065-2094-9 (pbk.)

1. Magic. 2. CatsMiscellanea. I. Title.

BF1623.A55D86 1999

I have been a cat-lover for as long as I can remember, even when I was a child and terribly allergic to them. Luckily, I overcame the sneezing, itchy eyes, and runny nose symptoms of my cat allergy by the time I reached my teen years and have shared my life with felines ever since.

Dogs have an uncanny way of sensing that I am a cat person and not a dog person. Most of them usually growl at me as though they can tell that when Im old and senile I will probably end up being one of those weird witchy women in a rocking chair with hundreds of cats running amuck throughout the house.

With all of that said, when my editor phoned and asked me if I would be interested in writing a book about catswith a magickal slant, of courseI was understandably quite delighted! It was a project that I couldnt wait to begin working on, and one that turned out to be immensely enjoyable.

After doing research for Your Magickal Cat for a little over a year, the manuscript was completed in the fall of 1998 and ready to be submitted to my editor at Citadel Press.

I was returning home from the local post office after putting the manuscript in the mail, and although I was excited about the book being finished, I could not help but feel a bit melancholy. I had just moved back to California from upstate New York, where I had to leave behind my thirteen cat-familiars: Merlin, Salem, Isadora, Endora, Serena, Ian, Onya, Spooky-Spirit, Esmerelda, Delilah, Beltania, Aleister, and Quicksilver (who, sadly, had been diagnosed with feline leukemia). They had been a part of my life when I first began working on the book, but now that the book was done and it was time to celebrate, they were three thousand miles away, living in the new homes I had found for them.

My feline friends regularly participated in the many Wiccan rituals and Sabbat bonfires that my coven and I held at my old Victorian house in the country, and I loved each one of them dearly. I thought about how much I missed them and I asked the goddess Bastet (whom I had developed a deep respect and love for while writing this book) to watch over them. I then gave thanks to her for providing me with inspiration and spiritual guidance throughout the entire project; and when I returned home, she had a precious little gift waiting for me.

In my backyard near the swimming pool was a ginger tabby with the most unusual golden-colored eyes. He came right up to me without the slightest bit of fear or hesitation, as though he had known me for a long time. He allowed me to pick him up, and when I did, he filled my ears with the loudest purring I had ever heard coming from a cat.

He appeared to be about five months old, which placed his birthday somewhere between late May and early June, so I named him Gemini after his probable astrological sign. He responded to that name immediately and seemed to understand everything I said to him. I knew from the start that he was not an ordinary cat, especially since he sat on the roof at night to guard my house. He is my new familiar, and whenever I gaze into his mysterious golden eyes, I am reminded of the sun-drenched desert sand of Bastets homeland.

I still miss my country cats back in upstate New York and the wonderful magickal times I spent with them, but my Gemini has managed to bring new love, joy, and cat-magick into this witchs life. I truly believe that he is a gift from the ancient cat-goddessperhaps her way of thanking me for writing this book.