Do You Believe in Magic or Fate?

A “Money Cat” renewed my faith in the unexplainable

I was reluctant to publish “Endure & Overcome Your Misogynist Boss.”

I considered letting that story sit for a few more days and another round of edits, but I remember feeling anxious to let it go. I could ceremoniously depart from all of the negativity I absorbed over the past year by publishing my writing about the experience. After closing that door, perhaps another would open.

I did not realize how much I bottled up dealing with a narcissistic psycho for a manager at what I thought was my “dream job.” Tears began to roll down my cheeks; I wasn’t expecting to have such an emotional reaction pressing the publish button.

It felt good to send it packing.

The next morning, I was enjoying my morning pot of tea upstairs in our loft-style townhome. The sun was shining through the windows as I peered out the deck at the downtown Seattle skyline.

“… Bel?” Dean’s voice called from two levels below.

“Yes, what is it?” I was slightly irritated, trying to focus on a story I was working on. How many times do I have to tell him not to yell across the house?

“Bel… there’s… a… cat… in the garage!”

“A… What?!?!”

“A CAT … and … I think she had kittens. Get down here!”

Stunned, I jumped up and ran down three flights of stairs to the garage. The car normally stored there had been in the shop for months. We had no reason to go inside the garage for weeks, but Dean happened to look for a bike part that morning. It was dark, boxes and miscellaneous nick-nacks strewn everywhere.

In the back against the wall, I could make out a pair of cat ears perked straight up and two green eyes glowing in the dim lighting, watching me intently.

“It’s okay,” I said softly, trying to sound as reassuring and calm as possible.

My eyes began to adjust, I could see the outlines of kittens nursing. Approaching slowly, I kept my distance. The mother cat returned my gaze with urgency before I turned to leave. The message in her eyes was unmistakable.

“I thought this space was abandoned… I’m sorry, we have nowhere else to go.”

“Here, take this to them, we can’t use it anyway.”

Dean handed me the brand new king sized navy blue Calvin Klein cotton t-shirt soft bed sheet that arrived the day before with mysterious holes in it. Tucking it under my arm while balancing a bowl of canned salmon and a water dish, I made my way back down to the garage.

I set the food down; this was the closest I had gotten to her and the kittens. Her piercing green eye’s perked up, and her nose twitched as she took in the smell of salmon. The mother cat looked at me, inquisitively.

“I brought you something to eat,” I said, gesturing towards the bowls.

She hopped down and peered up at me with wide eyes before accepting my offering. I noticed how gaunt she looked, her fur soiled and matted; she ate ravenously.

For the first time, I was able to see the kittens lined up in a row.

Eye’s tightly shut, little lungs laboring as I watched their chests rise and fall. The jet black kitten was almost too still, and he was smaller than the others. I worried he wasn’t going to make it.

The mother cat gave birth on top of an old suitcase stacked on boxes next to the concrete wall in the back of the garage. I unfolded the blue blanket, swaddling the kittens in a circle to create a nest. Mama startled me, leaping back onto the suitcase abruptly. Our eye’s met inches apart from one another.

Looking into the wells of her dark pupils, it was apparent I was in the presence of a unique and intelligent spirit.

Her green eyes glowed in the dim light. I felt she was looking passed the retinas of my eye, into my being. We turned away from each other and looked down in awe of her creations.

I noticed how unusual her coat was. Mostly black, with wild streaks of a reddish-gold littered throughout. Never in my life had I seen a cat quite like this one before.

Mama looked at the nest with the addition of the blanket and back up at me with gratitude. Encircling her loves before laying down, she shut her eyes tight and exhaled, exhausted.

I reached out hesitantly before gently stroking the top of her head. Her eyes opened again momentarily, she looked up at me clutching her babies in her arms, began to purr, and fell asleep. I looked around, wondering how on earth she was able to break into our garage in the first place?

It was as if she materialized out of thin air.

“You realize she’s a tortie, right?” My friend Nikos stated a few days later after I sent photos.

“A what?”

“A tortoiseshell cat! I have one. They’re rare. Look it up…”

Later that afternoon, I was surprised to read about the history of tortoiseshell cats. A cat lover, I was shocked that I had never heard of this type of cat previously. A “tortoiseshell” cat is also lovingly referred to as a “tortie” and are known for their “tortitude.”

Tortoiseshell is not a breed; it’s a genetic mutation. Tortie’s are almost always female. Only one in 3,000 are born sterile males.

The genetic mutation (the inactivation of an X chromosome at random) results in their unusual markings, black and gold/red (there is a more grey mutated Tortie as well). Tortie’s often have a two-toned face or part of their body. The most striking torties will have one half of their face painted solid black; the other gold/red.

It’s meant to represent their dual nature.

Tortie’s have a long history tied to Japanese and Celtic culture. Tortoiseshell cats are regaled to bring fortune to your home, ward off ghosts, were taken on ships setting of for long journeys in faith of good luck, and are affectionately known as “Money Cats.”

If a stray tortoiseshell cat shows up at your home and chooses you to be their human, you are to defend and care for this cat for their remaining days… or else you are a damned fool (according to the Asian & Celtic culture).

The folklore story about how the tortoiseshell cat acquired such an unusual coat is quite beautiful.

The Sun longed to visit the Earth and convinced the Moon to cover for it for a while. After the Sun descended to Earth, it chose the body of the fastest and most discrete creature it could think of; a black cat.

The Moon grew tired and began to recede from the Sun’s post without warning. In its haste to return to space, the Sun abandoned the body of the black cat, but in such a rush it left behind thousands of rays of light in the mortal host.

“To this day, the cats we call tortoiseshell are the descendants of that black cat that long ago hosted the sun during its visit to Earth. Today we can still see hints of the sun in the patches of red, yellow, and orange that cover their coats. The split face on some of these cats is further evidence of their dual nature; half cat, half heavenly star.

Some folks say that their solar origin grants these special cats magical properties, they are said to bring good luck and attract positive energy. Also, these cats are cherished and appreciated in Oriental countries; it’s common knowledge that whoever possesses one should love and treasure her.” — Yadira ‘Legend of the Tortoiseshell Cat’

I sat back in my chair, thinking about all that I had read about the magical existence of tortoiseshell cats.

It hit me that the kittens were born the day before I discovered them… on May 15th. My best friend delivered a healthy baby girl, Elody, on May 15th. Our youngest son’s birthday happens to be (you guessed it) May 15th.

Quite the coincidence.

I was also overcome with the realization we discovered Mama and the kittens… on May 16th. It just so happened that $7,500 of back pay for months of unemployment I had to go to court to fight for was finally deposited into my account that morning.

“Hmmm… Maybe there was something to Mama in fact being a ‘money cat’ after all.” I pondered and laughed aloud.

The following week, I testified for two-hours regarding a freeway collision that occurred on September 7, 2016.

Exactly four years ago to the day that I am writing this, a man drove the wrong way on the freeway, hit me, knocking me off the road and down a hill into a concrete barrier going 60 MPH. It took a year to recover and resulted in nearly $40,000 in lost income. Not to mention medical bills and the emotional toll.

We were asking $100,000 for damages. The attorney representing the at-fault driver countered with $17,000.

The judge had two weeks to decide; I waited on pins and needles, wondering what the outcome would be. This was the last hurdle I had to clear before I could be free to move on with my life after living with an elevated level of stress worrying about this for four years.

The deadline for the judge’s decision came and went. My attorney cc’d me on an email with the judge apologizing for the delay; he would get it done that coming week… again, I was left to wait.

On June 16th, exactly one month to the day of discovering my “Money Cat,” I was awarded $62,000 by the Judge overseeing my case.

While I was hoping and praying for $82,000 (sounds like a nice round number, right?), $62,000 was very fair, considering they only offered me $17,000 for what I went through. I was thrilled to be vindicated.

Later that night, it occurred to me that the unemployment benefits that I’m eligible to receive amounted to $20,000. I had not counted on that money after initially being denied. Only after appealing the decision and speaking with a judge about the circumstances was it justly rectified.

I happened to publish the story I wrote about that ordeal… on May 15th.

When added to my award from the Judge of $62,000… we arrive at $82,000 and change; the exact amount I focused on for months. How odd is that? I can’t dismiss the numbers adding up to exactly what I had set my intention on as simply being my imagination.

“Are the shared birthdays of our family’s youngest son, my best friend’s daughter, and a tortoiseshell cat breaking into my garage to give birth to her kittens on the same day really just a coincidence?”

My best friend and I were born within 24-hours of each other a few miles apart in Alaska, but never met until after we both moved to the Seattle area. We literally worked across the street from one another for years before running into each other. I remember being drawn to her and finally striking up a conversation while she sat at the bar where I worked; then, we discovered our uncanny Alaska connection.

Maybe, I’m reading too much into it… But when I add up our shared birthday’s and meeting, subsequently, our children’s shared birthdays on May 15th, topped off by a real live tortoiseshell cat just so happening to mysteriously show up to my home to birth her kittens on that day? I can’t ignore that it feels fateful.

The chunk of change manifesting on the day we discovered our “Money Cat” & sizable monetary award precisely one month to the day… Is all of it pure coincidence?

Stories about tortoiseshell cats did not appear out of thin air. People in different cultures across the globe, over at least hundreds, if not thousands of years, have had magical experiences with these animals. Apparently enough of them that our ancestors felt the need to record these stories for future generations.

Is it so preposterous to entertain the idea that maybe there is a bit of magic left in this world?

Which begets the broader question. Have we all become so focused on our physical reality with life here on Earth that we simply miss, overlook or explain away signs from the Ether when they are presented to us? Perhaps we will never know the answer to these questions during our physical existence.

What I do know is that my life has been stranger than fiction, in the best possible way since Mama, the money cat, curiously made her entrance in my life.

~ Jezebel

➡️ Jezebel Feast is the editor of “Jezebel’s Feast,” a personal blog focused on the vast topic of living a sustainable lifestyle. Visit her new home jezebelsfeast.com. Want to keep in touch? Catch Jeze on Instagram 📸 or Pinterest 📌…🔗…🚀