Aspasia the Mabon Cat

A few weeks back I posted that I was going to be getting an emotional support animal. Well, I finally got one.

Autumn Equinox, also known as Mabon, is a Wiccan Holiday marked by celebration of change. As the days turn from hot to cold and from light to dark, Mabon is a holiday dedicated to celebrating the light and dark, good and bad, ever-changing characteristics of life.

This year Mabon fell on September 22. Though not Wiccan myself, I was supposed to attend my friend’s Mabon party. I was in the process of moving and found myself overwhelmed with work, school, and cleaning out my old apartment and found myself too drained to attend. Instead, I spent most of the day cleaning the apartment out with my sister.

Tired, and seeing no end in sight, we decided to take a break to walk down the street to Barns and Nobel for a sweet treat. Sugary rejuvenation in hand, the sun was just beginning to set when we headed back to continue our work. Walking up the drive, however, we saw the little black cat that hung around our neighborhood. I had formed a friendship with this little black cat. She was beautiful with a gleaming coat and yellow eyes. She was skittish, skinny, but very sweet tempered. She had a habit of showing up on the days I was most overwhelmed and in need of comfort, and I had hoped that I would eventually be able to catch and adopt her- and that night, on Autumn Equinox- Mabon, I finally did.

Today she lives with me and my roommates in my new apartment. Aspasia, named after an influential scholar and philosopher, but nicknamed “Spooky”, rules the roost. She is praised for her beauty and her loving disposition to the point of worship.  She loves people and refuses to stay in a room alone, choosing instead to follow people from room to room whenever anyone threatens to leave her. If we are watching TV, she is sitting on the back of the couch. If we are in the kitchen, she is laying in her basket by the counter. If I take a shower, she is waiting outside the door, sticking her paws through the crack. Already, this little black cat has brought so much joy and comfort to my life. She is my Mabon gift and my touch of autumn magic. She is the furry, black ray of light I have to comfort me as the days grow short and cold- and I hope to keep her with me all of her nine lives.

*note: please spay and neuter your pets! Not all cute little puppies and kittens find loving homes. If you love animals, please do your part*