Changeling
I've thought of something and I thought I'd just share it with you all. My wife keeps having strange dreams about our cat and the baby, in which the cat takes over various roles that the baby will soon be here to perform. She tells this to her friend, and her friend tells her about dreams that she's had wherein she gave birth to kittens. My wife tells our pastor about this and he tells us that his wife would lactate at the sound of the cat because her maternal instinct had kicked in toward the pet.
Do all women have this?
Now, let's assume that only a significant number of women have this, that part of the maternal instinct kicking in is that it seizes on pets as well as humans, creating dreams, and things like that. This probably means very little to us, given that we don't really think dreams mean much at all, but can you imagine what this must have meant back in the middle ages. Women would have dreams that their babies were replaced by pets, and then the baby would come and the pet, who now doesn't get enough attention, would run away. What does it mean? One day you're having dreams about the pet replacing the baby, and the next day, you have a baby and no pet. Well clearly, the baby has been replaced by the pet because the pet wasn't really an animal at all; the pet was a changeling. Yes, but where did the baby go. Ah yes, the changelings have taken the baby away.
Wouldn't it be weird if that's how the legend actually started!
Do all women have this?
Now, let's assume that only a significant number of women have this, that part of the maternal instinct kicking in is that it seizes on pets as well as humans, creating dreams, and things like that. This probably means very little to us, given that we don't really think dreams mean much at all, but can you imagine what this must have meant back in the middle ages. Women would have dreams that their babies were replaced by pets, and then the baby would come and the pet, who now doesn't get enough attention, would run away. What does it mean? One day you're having dreams about the pet replacing the baby, and the next day, you have a baby and no pet. Well clearly, the baby has been replaced by the pet because the pet wasn't really an animal at all; the pet was a changeling. Yes, but where did the baby go. Ah yes, the changelings have taken the baby away.
Wouldn't it be weird if that's how the legend actually started!
posted by Monstro D. Whale at
9:41 AM
2 Comments:
Let's consider this scientifically. There's the legend of cats "stealing" a baby's breath. So too the legend of cats suffocating small children or babies by sleeping on their faces. Such cases are extremely rare. Yes they exist, but only in the case of extremely dim and inattentive parents. More oftenly an instance of unexplained "crib death" was blamed on an unassuming and blameless family pet.
Now psychologically cats certainly would like to take the place of a new baby, since they have lost some of their usual attention from their humans. We all know cats serve as surrogate children. Essentially they become dependent on us. Many owners feel they act just like two year olds. This is all on the part of the human owners who humanize their animals, but any animal will become used to attention if enough is given. An animal will then miss this attention if it is suddenly lessened or removed. They will react to a changed environment, and will show signs of distress. So we could presume that pets do become "jealous" of a new baby.
This might be considered motive on the part of any given cat or cats to substitute one of their own for a baby. But would they actually do this? Do they have a concious and malevolent need to replace a child with one of their own to be raised as a human surrogate?
Here we must turn to legend and lore of child substitution. The legends tell us that Elves most often tried to pass off one of their own as a newborn. This puckish substitution was their way to get human slaves, or some believed, the only way to get fresh human genetic material into the dying elvish gene pool.
So we must ask if cats can be considered Elvish? Yes they exibit some disdain for mortal concerns and have a somewhat playful, even impish side, but even the feline grace of a cat is marred by their more base nature. Frankly, cats exhibit a more Hobbit nature. They eat constantly throughout the day, take frequent naps, and have a fascination with their own furry feet and others.
Scientifically, cats would not bother to substitute one of their own for a baby. They already had a baby's life: eating whenever they want, pooping at will, attention of their terms, sleeping most of the time, and yowling their head off to tell their human servitors that they want one of the preceeding. Stealing a baby would get in the way of all that.
All good points. But let us consider the indicators that your baby has, indeed, been replaced by a cat.
The primary indicator in this instance is the presence of the phenomenon known as spraying. If your baby suddenly takes to misting your couch, curtains, and doorways with a fine, nearly invisible yellow spray, it may be a cat.
The second indicator would certainly be food. If the child gorges relentlessly on tuna, or any other soft fishy substance, they may be a cat. Note that a diet of mashed corn also falls into this category, as most dry animal foods have some amount of corn in them.
The third indicator would be dependent upon the cleanliness of the hands and feet of the baby. Should the baby have boogers, dry and flaky mashed food, and other unknowable substances caked onto their hands and feet, you can be assured that they have not been replaced by a cat. Of course, if the baby is constantly sticking said hands and feet into its mouth, and drooling all over them, watch the child carefully; they may have been replaced by a cat.
Some indicators that should not be considered absolute:
A tail... human babies can sometimes grow little primordial tails. Don't be alarmed, as this doesn't mean that they've been replaced by a cat.
Fur... some human babies have it, some don't. Again, this is not a solid indicator.
Claws... if they cannot be retracted, then the baby is in good shape.
Fangs... the necessity of every young human, often surrounded by lips that have evolved to form maximum suction. Not a problem. As with all babies, they will eventually suck you dry. Note all the wrinkled old people that are still alive.
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