Toy Mouse and Dragon Magick

Those of you who live with velvet footed brothers and sisters know without a doubt that cats possess a hefty pouch of their own magick. So do other things in our daily life, but how often do we think about it? At least, I did not realized how strange that must sometimes seem to people who have never even remotely had that thought pass through their heads. Living in a magickal household might have something to do with the subtle changes of increased awareness in my companions, but I was forced to realize my cats are able to, shall we say, pull off stunts other cats would not dream of, without seemingly moving a whisker. Which, along with other occurrences in my home, can throw some of my guests for the loop of their lifetime.

Picture this: I was having a (non-magical inclined male) dinner guest , and while I buzzed around the kitchen, I suddenly became aware of a dead silence coming from my living room area. That is not something that strikes me as likely in my house, and so I thought I'd better go check. There was this poor man, sitting on the couch and staring into space. He looked up at me helplessly and obviously at a loss for words. Concerned, I inquired sotto voce: "Hey, what's wrong?" Whereupon I was rewarded with a look of utter misery. After some more probing, and the initial "I could not possibly tell you, you wouldn't believe me", he whispered something about needing to see a doctor "cause I just saw a toy mouse move and not a toy mouse moved by a cat but a toy mouse which moved out of it's own accord and no, I did not have anything to drink at all in DAYS thank you all the same".

The problem he so apparently had did not register with me right away. I get that way sometimes. Maybe I forgot that the first few times I saw the mouse moving out of the corner of my eye I was equally mystified. So I just said: "Oh, that’s all right, don't worry about it, it does it all the times because the kittens like it so much that way" and go back to my stove. It took me a while to get this 'click' sensation. You know, when the light comes on? But when it did hit me it hit me like a ton of bricks, all at once. I put the meal on the backburner and went back to sit down quietly beside him. He was still staring. Only, now he was gazing in disbelieve at my altar. Which, since I adore dragons, sports the four I made as guardians. The one who symbols fire is a tiny baby dragon peeping over the edge and is the culprit who further troubled my friend. After a while he said with an indignant voice: "And your dragon is glaring at me". I pasted on something I hoped would pass for a reassuring smile and began to explain: "Well, yes. See, he's brand-new at the job of being a quarter, and still feels a little intimidated because the others are so much bigger than he is. So he looks a bit grim sometimes, but he takes his responsibility very serious. It's okay, he does not mean anything by it............” and it is right about now that I realize that I am going about it the wrong way. I automatically assumed my friend would be able to understand what I'm talking about, and boy, was I mistaken. I probably would have rambled on had he not interrupted me rather loudly: "But it's a CLAY dragon for chrissakes, and whaddaya mean you ‘know’?? And how can that dang mouse move ANYWAYS"? He was so righteous in his distress, and had such huge kids eyes, I just couldn't help it. I swear, I usually am a very good hostess, but at this point I was bursting into laughter so hard, I had tears in my eyes. And I'm sorry to admit that the cats were not any better at hiding their grins (even though they had the heart to curl up close and purr for him). Poor man. For his honor I’d say he accepted my careful explanations rather graciously after a while.

It made me realize how odd we must seem to ‘the other people’ at times. Like the day I went to the nursery to pick out my guardian tree and this little lilac sapling jumped at me. How can you explain sitting smack on your butt, in the middle of a mud puddle, and hugging a tree? Or like holding entire discussions with the cats when we are lounging in the garden, and forgetting that the neighbors on the other side of the huge hedge can hear us, and wonder how it is that they never leave the property, and always come running when I call them – or at least speak back why they absolutely cannot at this very second (we have this agreement that I open the cans and they won’t make me look like a fool in front of strangers).

It is little things like these which make me realize how rich our lives are, and how much we are blessed with events almost normal to us, experiences that so many others never even know exist. How many people are missing out by not ‘hearing’? Not ‘feeling’? Not living?

What is a reputation of missing a few marbles now and then compared to the feeling of coming home to a tree whose branches reach for me? One thing I know, my cats recognized the tree as one of us. Just as they recognized me……

The holidays are over, and many christmas presents will be sitting in the animal shelters. If they were lucky. Others are still wandering the wintery roads trying to understand where the loving child and the warm milk went. If you can, open your home and your heart. Momma will provide one of them with a road map to find you. You can bet your tuna on it.

Blessings, and always a full bowl of cream on thy table

© Sorceress SummerWind, May 1998