Mystery Big Cats - 10 Years On

Over at Mysterious Universe, there are a couple of new articles from me. The first is a look back at a 10-year-old book, Mystery Big Cats from Merrily Harpur. Here's the link, and here's how the article begins:

Now and again, I’ll write an “anniversary”-themed article for Mysterious Universe. And that’s exactly what I have done today. The subject: a certain, important book which has been overlooked or dismissed by many. And that’s very much to their cost. The book under the microscope is Merrily Harpur’s Mystery Big Cats. As its title suggests, it’s a full length study of the so-called “ABCs,” or “Alien Big Cats” which are reported every year throughout the UK, and in the hundreds, no less. What are they? Where do they come from? These, and many more, are the questions that Merrily asked back in 2006. They are questions that are still being asked a decade later. And those questions are just as valid, too.

Mystery Big Cats is a book which is all things: informative, insightful, thought-provoking, and written by someone who has a keen appreciation, awareness and knowledge of her subject matter. Merrily also has a fine understanding of British folklore, history, mythology, and the complex mysteries inherent in the conundrum that has come to be known as the British Big Cat. Mystery Big Cats is essential reading for anyone wanting to develop a good understanding of the subject, and what may very possibly lay at its heart.

Sacrifice in Scotland

"Now and again, I’m asked for my views on the so-called Alien Big Cats - or ABCs as they are also known – of the UK. Britain, of course, is not home to any sort of indigenous cat of the exotic and large kind. Yet, people report seeing such creatures all the time, and usually of the black or tan-colored variety. I’m convinced that some of these beasts are flesh and blood in nature. Others, however, I’m not quite so sure about, since I have more than a few reports on record of ABCs vanishing in the blink of an eye, or even seen in association with strange lights in the sky.

"So, what might these other ABC’s be, if not wholly flesh and blood? For a possible answer, we have to turn to an old and sinister tradition known as the Taigheirm. Merrily Harpur, a British big cat researcher and the author of Mystery Big Cats, said of the Taigheirm: 'This was an infernal magical sacrifice of cats in rites dedicated to the subterranean gods of pagan times, from whom particular gifts and benefits were solicited. They were called in the Highlands and the Western Isles of Scotland, the Black-Cat Spirits.'"

That's how my latest Mysterious Universe article begins, and which continues right here...