In honor of the upcoming cooler, darker nights and the spectral beauty of nocturnal hours, we’ve gathered together an edit of our most seductive oils and balms, protective charms and talisman jewelry, and extra-special, limited-edition perfume oils to mark the shift. The “dog days” of summer mark the stretch of sweltering heat and heavy air when the sun rises and sets with Sirius, the dog star — a time the Romans called diēs caniculārēs, or “days of the dog star.” Now, that fiery season has almost passed and will give way to one of our favorite seasonal shifts of the year, the “cat nights.” Rooted in a little-known Irish legend, the term “cat nights” refers to a witch’s secret: that she may transform herself into a cat and back again eight times, but on the ninth, she is bound to feline form forever— a legend that gives rise to the old saying, a cat has nine lives. The myth may have taken shape specifically in August because cats are particularly yowly and the shadows of evening grow longer, deeper, and more mysterious.