Ireland's OWN: Celtic Symbols

The Cat
—by Míchealín Daugherty

Cats were thought to guard the gates to the Otherworld.
The tenth island in the legend of The Voyage of Maelduin is The Island of the Cat, upon which resides a 'wondrous cat' who turned a thief to ashes with the stroke of his fiery paw.
Cats were also considered to be shapeshifters.
Later, the cat become symbolic as the familiar of witches.
The ancient Egyptian cat goddess, Bastet, represented the Moon Goddess.
In China, cats were thought to banish evil spirits.

Sources include: Personal knowledge, Celtic Magic by DJ Conway, The Secret Language of Symbols by David Fontana, The Celtic Book of the Dead by Caitlin Matthews, Celtic Wisdom by Caitlin and John Matthews, Celtic Cross Stitch by Anne Orr and Lesley Clark and Celtic Myth and Magick by Edain McCoy.