Spell for the Ancient Magickal Art of Naming

When you have chosen your kitten from the kindle (litter), being sure that this little mite is the one upon whom you wish to bestow your friendship and protection, know that this is a magickal pact, for you are guardian of the spirit of your cat, and he or she in like manner is invested with the occult power to guide and guard your spirit. You must think next of the naming ceremony, which is best done after some little acquaintance with the nature of your new friend.

Choose a pet-name for the cat’s child-spirit, and it is better if this be a folk-name, for these names have been magickally sealed with power and tradition through the ages, and the flavor of the earth is in them, and of the spirits of the earth, and of hearth and home.

Your friend may retain no more than a child-spirit for all his or her life long, but let it be given a secret, occult name also, in any event, for such a name will nurture the mysteries in the cat’s soul. It will protect the creature from malignant forces, will throw the Devil askew, and aid in the unfolding of his or her heart so that in the next life the animal may return with a spirit more gracious, bright and fair.

And if it should be that, after a year’s passing, you discover unto yourself that your cat has indeed already achieved seniority of soul, then it is meet that the animal should be given a grander name, a Name of Distinction, to inspire, foster and encourage the qualities that are beginning to reveal themselves, so that this treasure-hoard may grow and grow, and come to shine with divine brilliance like the stars of the night.

Do not hesitate to give your cat three names, for there is the inspiration of the Holy Trinity in it, and cats especially are animals of the Soul of All Things.

To name a cat three times whispers too of the uniform nature of the moon, for does not the night Goddess appear to us with either a full round face, or waxing with horns towards the east, or yet waning with horns towards the west? And in her pretty crescent or her majestic fullness, do we not see a likeness when we study the cat’s eye, for does not the contraction and dilation of its pupil speak to us of Bride and Artemis, goddesses of the new moon and the full? The cat is ever the creature of the night and goddess of the night.

• For a long list of cat names see this post on Magickal Cat Names

To name your kitty, it is well to choose one of the Egyptian days of our calendar, and to gather valerian to make into a few drops of oil, so that you may anoint him or her just on the tip of the nose and behind the ears.

An old manuscript says:

Three days there are in the year which we call Egyptian days, and this is so because they were days of great divinity and consequence to the astrologers of ancient Egypt. These three days fall on the last Monday in April, the second Monday in August, and the third Monday in December.

All of the Egyptian days are Mondays, that is, days of the moon, and so we may call upon Butis, the Goddess of Night, Diana, the Goddess of the Ascended Moon, Isis, the Goddess of the Moon at her Rising, and Sekhmet, the Lady of Flame, for she is of vital power, a seer by night, and a goddess of might whose inspiration fires the mind and elevates it to acts of heretic magick and wmoan’s wisecraft.

On such an Egyptian night, take your kitten in your arms and stand in some sequestered place, wild and lovely, where you may see the moon as she rides the skies. Have a little vial of Valerian oil ready in your pocket, and scatter a few drops around yourself upon the turf to make a magick circle.

Call upon the four angels, Kokaviel, Ghedoriah, Chokmahiel and Savaniah, for these angels are of Mercury’s messenger spirit, and he is Lord of Naming. Call down the blessing of the goddesses of the night, and imagine yourself to be standing in a pure white temple, framed by magick’s skill.

Anoint the kitten, and tell the baptismal name to the stars, afterwards proclaiming thus:

Your name I set upon your brow
And to four shining angels bow
This mark of grace your guardian be
And make your name a magick key
Goddesses of Moon and Might
Bless my spells this Egypt’s night.

The spell is now worked. After thanking the angels, spirits and goddesses who worked with you, and bowing three times to the moon and the stars, you may homewards wend your way, deservedly satisfied with the night’s enterprise and your weaving of woman’s mysteries.

From: Catspells