Here's Wishing Everyone a Very Happy & Healthy New Year!!!

Ah yes, and about that New Year's resolution ...

Our visit from Santa Paws ...

Hey everyone, it's just Kim's cats ~ Midnight, Haley 'n' Kiki. We slipped her some of our strongest catnip in her hot tea in order to hijack her computer to write this post ~ tee hee!  We gotta tell you, our mommy and daddy really love us ~ even though they did leave us alone the entire day on Christmas! Silly humans ... no matter, atleast Santa Paws remembered us! He gave us some cool toys and our favorite snack, "Greenies" treats.  Gee, we must have been really good kitties this year ~ (ha, have we ever got him fooled, eh)!

Of course, after mom and dad came home from their travels, they adorned us with more cat treats and toys! Guess that was their way of trying to make up for being gone all day and "yes" it worked!

New addition to the Yule Tree

Yesterday afternoon, my hubby and I decided we wanted to get out of the house for a bit. So we drove down to one of our local Flea Market/Auction House's in our area, "Zern's." There we found all kinds of neat treasures. Among them was a pretty cool little decoration which, being the crafty and imaginative little witch that I usually am, immediately made me think of Yule and how nice I thought it would look hanging on our tree this year. To me, it looks festively Pagan/Wiccan ...

Of course, it had to meet the cats approval. After all, it is "their" Yule Tree ~ LOL!!

I wish everyone a Very Blessed Yuletide and a

Very Merry Christmas from us to all of you!!!

The Yule Cat

The oldest written sources on the Yule Cat are from the Nineteenth Century. These refer to the fact that those who do not get a new item of clothing for Yule are destined to become offerings for the Yule Cat. It may sound strange that the deprived ones will also become the sacrifices, but this tradition is based on the fact that every effort was made to finish all work with the Autumn wool before Yule. The reward for those who took part in the work was a new piece of clothing. Those who were lazy received nothing. Thus the Yule Cat was used as an incentive to get people to work harder.

A woman describes a scene from her youth in the last century thus: "We were lazy doing this chore. Then we were reminded of the Yule Cat. We thought that was some terrible beast and the last thing we wanted was to be one of his offers".

One of Iceland's most beloved poets in this century, Jóhannes úr Kötlum, wrote a lay about the Yule Cat. It follows in the translation of Vignir Jónsson, who says: "You'll have to forgive me but I didn't make it rhyme - I'm not much of a poet."

You all know the Yule Cat And that Cat was huge indeed.  People didn't know where he came from  Or where he went. 
He opened his glaring eyes wide,  The two of them glowing bright. It took a really brave man  To look straight into them.
His whiskers, sharp as bristles,  His back arched up high.  And the claws of his hairy paws Were a terrible sight.
He gave a wave of his strong tail,  He jumped and he clawed and he hissed. Sometimes up in the valley,  Sometimes down by the shore.
He roamed at large, hungry and evil In the freezing Yule snow.  In every home People shuddered at his name.
If one heard a pitiful "meow" Something evil would happen soon Everybody knew he hunted men But didn't care for mice.
He picked on the very poor  That no new garments got For Yule - who toiled And lived in dire need.
From them he took in one fell swoop Their whole Yule dinner Always eating it himself  If he possibly could.
Hence it was that the women  At their spinning wheels sat  Spinning a colorful thread  For a frock or a little sock.
Because you mustn't let the Cat  Get hold of the little children.  They had to get something new to wear  From the grownups each year.
And when the lights came on, on Yule Eve  And the Cat peered in,  The little children stood rosy and proud  All dressed up in their new clothes.
Some had gotten an apron  And some had gotten shoes  Or something that was needed - That was all it took.
For all who got something new to wear  Stayed out of that pussy-cat's grasp  He then gave an awful hiss But went on his way.
Whether he still exists I do not know.  But his visit would be in vain If next time everybody  Got something new to wear.
Now you might be thinking of helping  Where help is needed most.   Perhaps you'll find some children  That have nothing at all.
Perhaps searching for those  That live in a lightless world  Will give you a happy day And a Merry, Merry Yule.!
(source)

Shhhh, don't tell the cats what they are getting from Santa ...

About a month ago, my hubby and I took one of our yearly road trips to New Hope, PA. For those of you who are not familiar with the village of New Hope, it is a quaint little non-commercial town in Bucks County, PA and a "hop, skip and a jump" from New Jersey.

The Shoppes at New Hope range from the traditional to the new age. They offer all kinds of really awesome things such as beautiful Indian clothing, body piercing, nostalgia/collectibles, and various antique and craft stores, and Pagan/Wiccan shoppes to name a few.

On our last trip, we discovered a wonderful little shoppe called, "Jake & Elwood's House of Chews." There, they sell all kinds of cool paraphernalia for both dogs and cats. It just so happened that they were having a great "After Halloween Sale" so naturally I just couldn't resist! Yep, you guessed it! I bought a couple of cute little cat costumes for next year...

"Little Wizard" (Midnight)

"Mermaid" as modeled by Miss Haley

They look so thrilled, don't they? What really good sports my kitties are. Of course, they are getting them for Yule/Christmas ~ LOL!!

The Legend of the Christmas Spider ~ by Francis Morlan

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There are many miracles of Christmas. From Germany comes the folk tale of the Christmas Spider ~ a miracle that took place due to the simple house keeping chores associated with the season.

As the story was told, a family living in a small home worked together one Christmas Eve day to clean the house. They cleaned it from top to bottom. All the spiders living in the various parts of the house escaped to the attic as the cleaning took place. Later that evening, after all had gone to bed, they were delighted to see that at least one place in the home remained that would be suitable for a spider -- the Christmas tree!

Having nowhere else to go to spin their webs, they dashed up the trunk of the tree and leaped from branch to branch, spinning their webs and making for them selves a new place in which to live. When Santa Claus arrived he encountered the web-covered tree and somewhat of a difficult dilemma: did he keep the tree wrapped in spider webs and disappoint the family? Or should he remove the webs and destroy the spiders' new home (and ruin their Christmas in the process)?

Santa fixed everything. He turned the spider webs into shimmering silver strands that turned the tree into a brilliant decoration. His action thrilled the family - and saved the spiders. That is why today many people decorate their tree with tinsel -- in honor of the Christmas Spider.



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!