February Totems: Cat

In our tradition we divide the year not only by eight solar and agricultural holidays, but also by the Kalends. We celebrate twelve months of the year by the common calendar, plus a special thirteenth month for Samhain.  These month cycles are associated with different totemic spirits. Each month is assigned an animal, a bird (or other flying creature), and a tree. February's totems are Cat, Willow, and Owl.

The totemic associations are as follows:

Cat – (Cath) mystery, magic, secrecy, independence, sensuality
Willow – (Saille) divination, lunar magic, healing, night
Owl – (Comhachag) wisdom, magic, night, inner visions, change

Cat

The Cat is an animal of mystery and magic, largely because she is more active and communicative at night. She is capable of observing multiple worlds (physical and non-physical) at one time without making decision or passing judgment. She is very independent, accepting affection on her own terms and warning of caution and respect. The Cat is also a symbol of guardianship, attachment and sensuality.

The Cat is shown in folk tales from around the world. In ancient Egypt, the Cat had special privilege. Bast was shown as a Cat or as having a Cat’s head. In Scandinavia, the Cat was associated with Freya (Goddess of fertility). Her chariot was pulled by the cats Bygul and Trjegul (Beegold/Honey & Treegold/Amber). Shasti (Hindu childbirth Goddess) was shown riding a Cat.

In Celtic world, warriors carried the skin of a wild Cat. The Cat’s qualities of curiosity, 9 lives, independence, cleverness, unpredictability and healing would have been helpful to a warrior.

Because Cat can see and work in spirit world (which lead to the Church torturing and killing thousands of cats in Britain and France) it was believed that witches could take form of Cats. This lead to the belief that a witch’s pet Cat was her familiar (spirit in the form of a Cat).

The Cat is associated with the Goddess and the feminine. Brighid had a cat as a companion. Cerridwen (as the great sow Henwen) gives birth to a wolf-cub, eagle, bee and kitten. The kitten grows into the Palug Cat – one of the 3 Plagues of Anglesey.

The Cat is a fierce guardian (guardian of Otherworldly treasure) in the immrama of Maelduin. And the Celts have many sightings of Cath Sith (Faery Cats), which are Big Cats.

February Totems: Willow

In our tradition we divide the year not only by eight solar and agricultural holidays, but also by the Kalends. We celebrate twelve months of the year by the common calendar, plus a special thirteenth month for Samhain.  These month cycles are associated with different totemic spirits. Each month is assigned an animal, a bird (or other flying creature), and a tree. February's totems are Cat, Willow, and Owl.

The totemic associations are as follows:

Cat – (Cath) mystery, magic, secrecy, independence, sensuality
Willow – (Saille) divination, lunar magic, healing, night
Owl – (Comhachag) wisdom, magic, night, inner visions, change

Willow

    The willow has very feminine overtones. It is strongly lunar in its energy pattern. Willows are found at the edges of streams and lakes, giving them the elemental powers of both earth and water. The willow is a water-loving tree and responds to the lunar cycle.

The Anglo-Saxon welig (willow) means pliancy, and withy branches (or osiers) are cut from the willow to weave baskets, mend fences, and form frames for coracles. A coracle is a small keeless boat fashioned from a basket of willow withies and made waterproof by the addition of a tightly stretched hide.  No nails are used in the construction of a coracle, rather the entire boat is bound by weaving and plaiting.

    The willow is thought to have healing properties over diseases of a damp nature. It is considered as a symbol of fertility and the female cycle. A chemical called salicin is extracted from the bark of the willow and used for the treatment of pain and fever. It is similar in chemical construct to asprin.

    The willow can bring an awareness of your feminine side and is often associated with the Goddess Brighid because her festival of Imbolc falls within the influence of the willow tree.  In our tradition the willow, also known by its folk name "the tree of enchantment", is sacred to the Black Goddess.

As trees of enchantment, willow groves were used by poets, artists, musicians, priest and priestesses as places on meditation and inspiration.

Wands cut from willow are known as "willie wains" and are said to contain the powers of water and the moon.

To make a wish, tie a loose knot in a willow branch on a living tree, and state your wish, charging the knot.  When your wish comes true return to the willow, untie the knot, and make an offering of thanks for its aid.

Witches brooms are bound with willow, usually with birch twigs serving as the brush, and ash as the stave.  These three trees are the trees sacred to and surrounding the month of March, sacred to Hulda, mistress of the broom.

Magic mists are raised in folk tales by aid of the willow, and many stories tell of willows that uproot themselves at night to stalk unwary travellers.

February Totems: Owl

In our tradition we divide the year not only by eight solar and agricultural holidays, but also by the Kalends. We celebrate twelve months of the year by the common calendar, plus a special thirteenth month for Samhain.  These month cycles are associated with different totemic spirits. Each month is assigned an animal, a bird (or other flying creature), and a tree. February's totems are Cat, Willow, and Owl.

The totemic associations are as follows:

Cat – (Cath) mystery, magic, secrecy, independence, sensuality
Willow – (Saille) divination, lunar magic, healing, night
Owl – (Comhachag) wisdom, magic, night, inner visions, change

Owl

In the western tradition owl is inextricably associated with the quality of wisdom.  This is due in part to its ancient associations with the Goddess Athena, and also with its large forward-facing eyes.  In Welsh tradition, the owl is among the most ancient of animals, second only to the eagle and the salmon of knowledge.  It was the third animal that Culhwch asks regarding the whereabouts of Mabon.  Also in Scotland we find this rhyme:

I am coeval with the ancient oak
Whose roots spread wide in yonder moss,
 Many a race has passed before me,
And still I am the lonely owl of Srona.

Whereas the salmon of knowledge offers a general kind of wisdom, the owl is symbolic of a more circumspect wisdom.  It is objective and detached from the mundane.  Owl watches and waits, in ruined castles, church towers, barns, and hollow trees.  The owl is symbolic of esoteric wisdom and secrecy.

In folklore the owl is associated with death, night, and silence.  The owl is much noted for its unique feather and wing structure which allows it to fly silently.  The old magazine Puck records a folk rhyme that links the owl with slience:

A wise old owl lived in an oak
The more he saw the less he spoke
The less he spoke the more he heard.
Why can't we all be like that wise old bird?

Owls have acute hearing, and use a kind of echo-location to hunt their prey.  The owl can be a symbol of both silence and the ability to hear those things that others might miss.  An owl totem can be a sign that one would benefit from listening more.

One of the Celtic names for owl is "Cailleach-oidchce" (crone of the night), linking the owl with the Black Goddess as the Cailleach.  The Black Goddess is the Lady of life-in-death and the call of the owl is seen as an omen of both the birth of a girl or the death of a man.  This ability to foretell the future links the owl with clairvoyance and astral travel.

The owl is a bird set apart.  She hunts at night, and is mobbed by other birds -- notably crows -- during the day.  The Welsh point to the story of Math, Son of Mathonwy for the reason behind this.  Blodeuwedd, the flower-bride of Lleu Llaw Gyffes, was transformed into an owl as punishment for betraying her husband.

"And because of the dishonor thou hast done to Lleu Llaw Gyffes thou art never to dare show thy face in the light of day, and that through fear of all birds; and that there be enmity between thee and all birds, and that it be their nature to mob and molest thee wherever they may find thee; and that thou shalt not lose thy name but that thou be forever called Blodeuwedd."

Another Goddess figure who was also transformed into an owl as punishment for betraying her husband is the Sumerian-Jewish Lilith.  Lilith is also associated with wisdom, as folklore tradition makes her the serpent in the Garden of Eden who offered forth the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge to Eve.

To the Ojibwa tribe of North America the owl is a symbol of evil and death.  To the Pueblo, it represented Skeleton Man, Lord of death and fertility. To the Pawnee the owl was a powerful symbol of protection.  Owls are sometimes nailed, wings spread, over the doors of barns to protect livestock from evil spirits, both in North American and in European tradition.

In ancient Rome it was believed that placing an owl feather on the body of a sleeping person would allow you to discover all of their secrets.

Faces of the Black Goddess

Names
Kolyo, Cailleach Bheur, The Morrigan, (Morrigan, Badb, Macha, Nemain), Beira, Clíodhna, Nyx, Noctiluca, Bean nighe, Cleena, Mongfind, Hel, Hecate, Kali, Fata, Nicnevin, Gyre-Carling, Beira, The Moirae (Klotho, Lachesis, & Atropos), The Norns (Urdr, Verdandi, Skuld)

Station of the Wheel
North, Imbolc, February, Gate of Air, Storm Moon

Totems
Cat, Willow, Owl

Tools
Spear, Staff, Wand, Athame (Black Handled Knife), Scourge

Kolyo (meaning the "coverer" and "hidden") is Great Mother of All - Ubiquitous, Omnipresent, Immortal and Eternal. In Indo-European Paganism, it is She who drives the Divine Drama and gives birth to the Gods and Goddesses. The Supreme Spinning Goddess, She is the First Timeless Source who regenerates All. A Being and Power older than Time itself, Kolyo spins the threads of Fate.

The word cailleach (in modern Irish and Scottish Gaelic, 'old woman') comes from the Old Irish caillech ('veiled one'), from Old Irish caille ('veil'), most likely an early loan from Latin pallium ('cloak'). The word is found as a component in terms like the Gaelic cailleach-dhubh ('nun') and cailleach-oidhche ('owl'), as well as the Irish cailleach feasa ('wise woman', 'fortune-teller') and cailleach phiseogach ('sorceress', 'charm-worker'). Related words include the Gaelic caileag ('young woman', 'girl') and the Lowland Scots carline/carlin ('old woman', 'witch'). A more obscure word that is sometimes interpreted as 'hag' is the Irish síle, which has led some to speculate on a connection between the Cailleach and the stonecarvings of Sheela na Gigs.

The name may also be related to the Hindu goddess, Kali, who shares many similar characteristics

The Morrígan ("phantom queen") or Mórrígan ("great queen") (also known as Morrígu, Morríghan, Mor-Ríoghain, sometimes given in the plural as Morrígna) is a figure from Irish mythology who appears to have once been a goddess, although she is not explicitly referred to as such in the texts.

The Morrigan is a goddess of battle, strife, and fertility . She sometimes appears in the form of a crow, flying above the warriors, and in the Ulster cycle she also takes the form of an eel, a wolf, and a cow. She is generally considered a war deity comparable with the Germanic Valkyries, although her association with cattle also suggests a role connected with fertility, wealth, and the land. She is often depicted as a triple goddess, but also as a goddess with five or nine aspects. The most common combination of three is the Badb, Macha and Nemain, but other accounts name Fea, Anann, and others.

Clíodhna (Clídna, Clíodna, Clíona, but sometimes Cleena in English) is a Queen of the Banshees of the Tuatha Dé Danann. In Irish literature, Cleena of Carrigcleena is the potent banshee that rules as queen over the sheoques (fairy women of the hills) of South Munster, or Desmond. She is the principal goddess of this country. It is said the wails of the banshee can be heard echoing the valleys and glens at night, scaring those who hear as the wail of a banshee is potent and instills fear in good people.

In Irish mythology, Nemain (or Nemhain, Nemon or Neman) is the fairy spirit of the frenzied havoc of war, and possibly an aspect of the Morrígan.