So, for the past few months, General, the alley cat who’s been living on our back porch has made it very clear that’s he’d like to come inside, and recently has also shown some rather unprecedented signs that he actually has the temperament to be a house cat.
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Keep in mind, he’s been living outside as a feral cat for for well over two years now, and though we’ve been feeding him since before he even brought his kittens around last year, in the beginning he never even let us get close to him… let alone pet him without getting a swat or bite.
But… over the years we’ve been working with him (though admittedly Jenny has made most of the biggest strides with ultimately befriending him). He’d become super-friendly and the only times he’d swat us now is if we went back inside without giving him enough pets. She’d even discovered recently that he is friendly enough now that he’ll even allow himself to be picked up, and is content to sit in your lap and get his head scratched.
We would have brought him in much earlier than now, as we know Isis and Osiris (despite what the internet reported) definitely remembered him even after a long separation, and Crowley is fearless, but we were worried about Bast and especially Grimmy (who still thinks he’s the Alpha) as he’s fifteen now, and though he’s still very healthy, he’s definitely no match for a young, battle-hardened bad ass like General. We knew General had a real tough side (I though of him as our dragon guarding our lands in exchange for daily tribute) and he bears scars from dozens of fights with other neighborhood animals. His ears and neck are all scarred and nicked, and his left eye is now blind. Jenny ended up treating that particular injury when he came back with it many months ago. We were afraid he was going to lose the eye altogether, but the ointment she used may have helped that somewhat. Or the gods…
But, to our delight, and with much gratitude to Bast (the goddess), we brought General inside today and he slipped right into the pride like he always belonged. The kittens couldn’t have been happier (they were all headbutts and licks all around) and Crowley thought General was the coolest cat he’d ever seen. After eating and playing together, Crowley tried what I’d been mostly afraid of, and challenged General to play-wrestle…
I was afraid General wouldn’t hold back and get all “street” on Crowley (who’s been an indoor cat since we got him when he was just 10 weeks old) but General’s exercise of martial strength was downright zen. He won the fight in seconds, and for just a moment Crowley got to feel the terror and helplessness that he regularly subjects the other cats too, but General just humbled Crowley by knocking him down, and when Crowley had other ideas… reminding him to stay down. After showing him his belly, Crowley then just followed General everywhere, and even was a literal copy-cat, lying down behind him and even in the same position.
So then later, General got a shampooing and enough brushings that we could have made another cat out of all the loose hair we got off him.
I think he was in heaven…
Later, General tried to play with Grimmy, but when Grimmy didn’t want any part of it, General just let him leave and went back to the kittens. Even Bast is just like “meh… another boy… whatever”, but even the two of them have their friendly moments.
And… Jenny and I both agree (for real this time, we promise) that six cats is definitely enough. Still, I didn’t think the house could have been more in sync than it was when we took in the kittens, but it’s clear now… that energetic loop is finally complete, as in our home all is right with the world.
On solid earth we do now stand and there is peace throughout the land.
But, the distractions of a new cat aside, I did try to get a little more work done on the icon for William Blake. I included a shot of the reference I lifted from that heraldry I found.
Sketch for new logo design for William Blake Lodge O.T.O.
But, I’m not making the progress I’d originally envisioned… I’m going to be hard pressed to get this done this week (and still be something I’ll be proud of anyway…).
And, while at this point I’m not prepared to open Schrödinger’s Box just yet, today I saw some more very clear evidence of success from the recent ritual performance, particularly in the realms of my wife’s family and finances. Nothing is settled yet, but if things continue in direction they’ve revealed themselves, I honestly couldn’t have asked for better resolutions.
That’s going to have to stay vague for now. Sorry about that.
Wednesday 6/29/16-
Sun: Gemini-
Moon: Aries-
For my disclosure on this or any of my post or pages… please visit my Disclosure page.