First, since we’ve reached the halfway mark of July, let’s see where we are:
Today’s topic was a substitute for the original, which was “my Patronus.” I choose not to engage with Rowling’s work anymore out of a) outrage and b) love of my trans friends, so, I needed a new term – and “spirit animal” is a Native American phrase I’m not comfortable stealing either, so I remembered once a friend called a particular cat their “soul kitty,” and thought, that’s what I want to use.
Now there are two ways to go with that – an individual animal that was precious to me, or an animal out in the world that I love and perhaps identify with.
For the first I would reach into my still-grieving heart and tell you about Owen, my panda cat, who died two years ago after a long illness I didn’t identify until it was too late. He was a huge cat, not just fat but huge. He was grouchy and snuggly and I could pick him up and do anything I wanted with him; he was just an absolute love, and just typing this is making my eyes burn. I adored that cat for eleven years, from the day someone gave him to me (covered in fleas, lol) to that last moment in the vet’s office that completely shattered me. I still cry almost every time I see his picture, which is why I’m not posting one here. My sweet chonk. I love Darcy, our latest kitty, to a ridiculous degree, and I’ve loved other cats like my Stella and Cosmo, but if I had to call one my soul animal, it would be my Boogerfish.
For the second, much less sadly, I would 100% say pigs! I love pigs! They were one of the reasons I went vegan, learning about not only their torture and horrifying deaths in animal agriculture, but also learning that they’re smart (they can play video games, and are said to be smarter than dogs or toddlers), have complex emotional lives, and, like fat women, have been maligned as lazy and sloppy and gross when they are none of those things, just based on what they look like. One of my online usernames is Piggy Stardust. And, knowing how much I love them, one of my bestest good friends brought me back a pig ornament from England that I used in a spell to help me stick confidently to my vegan practice.