of total paranoia —they developed the classic model for
that particular pathology which has, as its logical consequence, genocide. Their methods of dealing with the witch menace were developed empirically— they had a
great respect for what worked. For instance, when they
suspected a woman of witchcraft, they would lock her
in an empty room for several days or weeks and if any
living creature, any insect or spider, entered that room,
that creature was identified as the woman's familiar,
and she was proved guilty of witchcraft. Naturally,
given the fact that bugs are everywhere, particularly
in the woodwork, this test of guilt always worked.
Cats were particularly associated with witches. That
association is based on the ancient totemic significance
of the cat:
It is well known that to the Egyptians cats were
sacred. They were regarded as incarnations of Isis
and there was also a cat deity.. . . Through Osiris
(Ra) they were associated with the sun; the rays of the
“solar cat, ” who was portrayed as killing the “serpent
of darkness” at each dawn, were believed to produce
fecundity in Nature, and thus cats were figures of
fertility.. . . Cats were also associated with Hathor,
a cow-headed goddess, and hence with crops and
rain.. . .
Still stronger, however, was the association of the
cat with the moon, and thus she was a virgin goddess —
a virgin-mother incarnation. In her character as moon-
goddess she was inviolate and self-renewing. . . the
circle she forms in a curled-up position [is seen as] the
symbol for eternity, an unending re-creation. 29
Gynocide: The Witches
147
T h e Christians not only converted the horned god into
Satan, but also the sacred cat into a demonic incarnation. T h e witches, in accepting familiars and particularly in their special feeling for cats, only participated in an
ancient tradition which had as its substance love and
respect for the natural world.
It was also believed that the witch could transform
herself into a cat or other animal. This notion, called
lycanthropy, is twofold:
. . . either the belief that a witch or devil-ridden person
temporarily assumes an animal form, to ravage or
destroy; or, that they create an animal “double” in
which, leaving the lifeless human body at home, he or
she can wander, terrorize, or batten on mankind. 30
T h e origins o f the belief in lycanthropy can be traced
to group rituals in which celebrants, costumed as animals, recreated animal movements, sounds, even hunting patterns. As group ritual, those celebrations would be prehistorical. The witches themselves, through the
