Animals, Beliefs About Animals

?Irish Cures, Mystics Charms & Superstitions? by Lady Wilde

Beliefs About Animals

There are no traces in Irish legend of animal worship, but many concerning the influence of animals upon human life, and of their interference with human affairs.

The peasants believe that the domestic animals know all about us, especially the dog and the cat. They listen to everything that is said; they watch the expression of the face, and can even read the thoughts. The Irish say it is not safe to ask a question of a dog, for he may answer, and should he do so the questioner will surely die.

The position of the animal race in the life scheme is certainly full of mystery. Gifted with extraordinary intelligence, yet with dumb souls vainly struggling for utterance, they seem like prisoned spirits in bondage, suffering the punishment, perhaps, for sin in some former human life, and now waiting the completion of the cycle of expiation that will advance them again to the human state.

Advance to the human state???!!!????

Give me the life of a house dog any day; feed all the time, stroked on demand, sleep all day if I want to, and chase anything I feel like chasing!

If you read the christian bible it is said, maybe not in these words exactly,:

"...Blessed be the beasts of the field..."

"...does my father not take care of the least of these..."

How dare we think ourselves superior to the creatures of the world, we are but one of them!

It is believed in some of the religions of the east that reincarnation is a fact, but coming back as a beast does not make you a lesser spirit, only teaches you a lesson that you did not learn before reaching the ultimate spirit.

Shadows,

All I am doing is quoting the author.

My thinking however it that the dog population is much smarter than us humans. They seem to know what we are talking about while we as humans don't even have a clue what we are talking about amongst ourselves, let alone any other creature here on this Earth.

To me, we are the dumbest.

Only commenting , not attacking

Don't worry Shadows, I didn't think you were.

?Irish Cures, Mystics Charms & Superstitions? by Lady Wilde

Concerning Dogs

Some very weird superstitions exist in Ireland concerning the howlings of dogs. If a dog is heard to howl near the house of a sick person, all hope of his recovery is given up, and the patient himself sinks into despair, knowing that his doom is sealed. But the Irish are not alone in holding this superstition. The Egyptians, Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans all looked on the howling of the dog as ominous.

The howling of the dog was considered by these nations as the first note of the funeral dirge and the signal that the coming of death was near.

But the origin of the superstition may be traced back to Egypt, where dogs and dog faced gods were objects of worship; probably because Sirius, the Dog Star, appeared precisely before the rising of the Nile, and thereby gave the people a mystic and supernatural warning to prepare for the overflow.

This strange superstition concerning the howling of dogs, when, as is supposed, they are conscious of the approach of the Spirit of Death, and see him though he is shrouded and invisible to human eyes, may be found pervading the legends of all nations from the earliest period down to the present time; for it still exists in full force amongst all classes, the educated, as well as the unlettered peasantry; and to this day the howling of a dog where a sick person is lying is regarded in Ireland in all grades of society with pale dismay as a certain sign of approaching death.

I've heard all my life if you hear a dog howling it's a sign of death. Now I know where the relatives got this from. Also if a bird gets in your house or flys up against your window and dies, death is sure to come and not only to the bird. Also black cats are a big no-no. You have to make 3 x's to get rid of the bad luck. Never walk under a ladder and never break a mirror, that'll get you 7 years of bad luck.

Everyone have a good day and watch out for the black cats!

maggiemahone1

I knew, growing up, that if a bird was in the house was a bad thing, but no one ever said why.

Hey, having been the only one who could round up the little feathered friends and usher them back into the wild outdoors, I'll tell you why its a bad thing - the wee beasties can fly up into your face and scare the socks off ya!

Richard, I wanted to address your comment:
"The position of the animal race in the life scheme is certainly full of mystery. Gifted with extraordinary intelligence, yet with dumb souls vainly struggling for utterance, they seem like prisoned spirits in bondage, suffering the punishment, perhaps, for sin in some former human life..."

I appreciate your sensitivity towards animals - its great! Personally I really enjoy cats, and have had one or more in the family since I was 7 years old ... Right now we have three, a black & white 'tuxedo' kitten plus two grown tabbies. Their beauty, grace, lovely eyes, and soothing purr makes cats my favorite animal of all. They do seem like prisoned spirits sometimes to me too, but I believe that they are suffering not for a sin in a former life but suffering as all creation does in the fallen state the whole world exists in right now... they are victims of cruelty and neglect (as all creation is), but the glimpses we have of intelligence & affection in their little personalities is a glimpse of what will some day exist when there is a 'new heaven and a new earth'. No pain, no suffering, no cruelty or neglect - just joy & fellowship the way it was intended to be in the first place! I look forward to the day when the lion really does lay down with the lamb!

?Irish Cures, Mystics Charms & Superstitions? by Lady Wilde

Concerning Dogs

It is strange and noteworthy that although the dog is so faithful to man, yet it is never mentioned in the Bible without an expression of contempt; and Moses in his code of laws makes the dog an unclean animal, probably to deter the Israelites from the Egyptian worship of this animal. It was the lowest tem of offence??Is the servant a dog?? False teachers, persecutors, Gentiles, unholy men, and others sunk in sin and vileness were called dogs; while at the same time the strange prophetic power of these animals was universally acknowledged and recognized.

Romans sacrificed a dog at the Lupercalia in February. And to meet a dog with her whelps was considered in the highest degree unlucky. Of all living creatures the name of ?dog? applied to any one expressed the lowest form of insult, contempt, and reproach. Yet of all animals, the dog has the noblest qualities, the highest intelligence, and the most enduring affection for man.

?Irish Cures, Mystics Charms & Superstitions? by Lady Wilde

Concerning Dogs

The word hound entered into many combinations as a name for various animals. Thus the rabbit was called, ?the hound of the brake?; the hare was the ?brown hound?;; the moth was called ?the hound of fur,? owing to the voracity with which it devoured raiment. And the otter is still called by the Irish Madradh Uisgue (the dog of the water)

The names of most creatures of the animal kingdom where primitive, the result evidently of observation. Thus the hedgehog was named ?the ugly little fellow.? The ant was the ?slender one.? The trout, Breac, or ?the spotted,? from the skin. And the wren was called ?the Druid bird,? because if anyone understood the chirrup, they would have a knowledge of coming events as foretold by the bird.

If when we died we came back as animals I'd like to come back as my last Chiwawa (sp) That dog had it great. I use to cut up it's food for it. Such a slave to that animal...I miss him now....can't have another one.
New Carpet!

A

If you are worried about it shedding, get a hairless.

?Irish Cures, Mystics Charms & Superstitions? by Lady Wilde

Concerning Cats

The Irish have always looked on cats as evil and mysteriously connected with some demoniacal influence. On entering a house the usual salutation is, ?God save all here, except the cat.? Even the cake on the griddle may be blessed, but no one says, ?God bless the cat.?

It is believed that the devil often assumes the form of these animals. The familiar of a witch is always a black cat; and it is supposed that black cats have powers and faculties quite different from all other of the feline tribe. They are endowed with reason, can understand conversations, and are quite able to talk if the considered it advisable and judicious to join in the conversation. Their temperament is exceedingly unamiable, they are artful, malignant, and skilled in deception, and people should be very cautious in caressing them, for they have the venomous heart and the evil eye, and are ever ready to do an injury. Yet the liver of a black cat has the singular power to excite love when properly administered. If ground to powder and infused into potion, the recipient is fated to love passionately the person who offers it and has worked the charm.

Yet it is singular that the blood of the black cat is esteemed of wonderful power when mixed with herbs, for chars; and also of great efficacy in potions for the cure of disease; but three drops of the blood are sufficient, and it is generally obtained by nipping off a small piece of the tail.

Great. Two of my four cats are all black (Banshee and Finn MacCool). I am doomed.

Eamon