Monster or Guardian?
The year is 2004, I’m only 5 years old. Even though I was very young, this memory is one of the clearest I have, if not the clearest. I was afraid. All kids are afraid, but I wonder if we’re afraid of the same thing, of the same monsters. My monster was clearly not under my bed…
My father and my mother just got separated, and I stayed back home with my mother. I would sleep with her cause it felt safer, and honestly, the house was small anyways I did not have my own bedroom. The year is 2004, I used to sleep with my mother at that time. I don’t sleep much, and I never did, I would wake up at night when it’s pitch-black, probably around 3 am. They say, witches, wizards, and spirits go out around that time, they say if you wake up around that time start praying, pray as hard as you can, pray for your soul cause you might run into the devil himself. They say you might be in danger, and I’m pretty sure I was, I’m pretty sure I still am. So, I would wake up in the middle of the night, and I would see him… a dark figure standing in the doorframe, humanlike but with cat features, bright yellow eyes, cat ears, and a long tail. For several years, I would see him every single night, and every single night I would freeze. Unable to scream, and too scared to wake my mom up, I would close my eyes and force myself to go back to sleep. That is where my interest in the mystical world, folklore, and mythology started, I was looking for answers and I still am. Now that I am older, I know that it was a werecat. It is said that they are insanely strong shapeshifting creatures, able to transform into a cat, a human, or a werecat. They are descendants of the Egyptian goddess Bastet, goddess of protection, goddess of protection against contagious diseases and evil spirits, cats, perfume, fertility, pregnancy, children, music, arts, and warfare…
I’m wondering if I was being protected, I’m wondering if I was in danger, I’m wondering if she was the one who gifted me to my parents, she is the goddess, the goddess of pregnancy and children right? And I know my parents prayed to have me, as a matter of fact, they even called me “God answered their prayers”. Even though I feared what I saw every night, I was still drawn to cats, and they were also drawn to me. Bastet, or Ailuros for the Greeks, goddess of protection… hum.
My mother and I have always been lucky, twice my mother’s car was hit by a truck, she was in the car both times and not one scratch. Both times I insisted on coming with her, which is usually the other way around, and both times she surprisingly refused. The backseat, where I used to sit, cause I was only a child, was completely crushed both times. If I was there those times, I would have never survived, I would have died for sure. I’ve always been quite lucky, always sick but never too sick, always sick but healing mysteriously. Carelessly being a daredevil, but always alright. Countless times, my mother and I have been in the wildest situations, and countless times they mysteriously solved themselves. A lot of people crossed and betrayed my mother, she never went out for revenge, but they all ended up paying for what they did. My mother prays a lot, not to Bastet, but she is constantly praying, I’ve heard her pray in her sleep, could be what saved us, could be what is still protecting us.
Anyway, I’m still convinced that Bastet could still have something to do with it. See, we have a history of generational curses and having to fight for the freedom of our soul. Our ancestors sold the women of our family (mother side) to a giant snake who hides in the mountains or the forest. All the women, the ones who were already born, and the ones who were not even conceived yet. He is known for destroying families, especially since our beliefs have changed and we don’t sacrifice anything to him anymore. And trust me, their lives are a mess if they get to live. I’ve lost half of my cousins to wells. They would fall in it, in the middle of the day, with no logical explanation or they would die from a headache. I feel quite safe regarding that matter, I have my father’s family name, but still, there is also a story on that side. There is a kind of fish, the women of my father’s village are not supposed to eat, and I don’t know which one it is, and I love eating fish, so I probably already ate it, funny eh? Back to the reptile, the snake. Bastet is often depicted fighting evil, fighting Apep, the deity who embodies chaos, the giant snake. So, I guess, maybe she was protecting us from, that giant snake in question, maybe she was keeping me from being claimed, the way he claimed my cousins… Anyway. I’m still alive, I’m living a decent life. Not sure who I should be thanking for that, not even sure if there is someone to thank, but if there is… I sure am grateful.
And you, what do you think it was? Did anything similar ever happen to you? Any creatures?Mysteries? curses?