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Tales of the Tail: A Cat-a-logue of Legends

No other creature, domesticated or untamed, has the aura of mystery of any member of the feline family. With their luminous eyes, secretive manners, and seeming indifference to other species, cats have long been a source of interest, beliefs and, yes, superstition. On padded paws, let us glimpse into the mythology of the cat.

Beginnings: Felines as Gods/Goddesses
From some of the earliest recorded histories of humankind come tales of deities who were, in whole or in part, members of the furry brethren. The ancient world of the Egyptians, Sumerians and other peoples in the North African/Mediterranean region honored the divine nature of the cat clan.

In many cases, these entities combined cat characteristics with those of other creatures. One of the most notable gods was the Sphinx (which also appeared in Greek mythology), which has the body of a lion and the head of a human--a mirror of our desire to merge with the feline family. The Sphinx sets forth a riddle to all who pass it and destroys those who cannot answer.

The Egyptians had other feline deities:

  • Menhit , a lion goddess of war whose name has been translated as 'she who slaughters;'
  • Mahes , the Egyptian God of summer who is a lion or a man with a lion's head, known as 'Lord of the Massacre' (also know in Greece as Miysis);
  • Sakhmet , a powerful war goddess depicted with a woman's body and the head of a lioness, who was summoned to wreak vengeance.
No depiction of the sacred nature of cats is more recognizable than that of Bast (or Bastet). Always shown as a statuesque black feline, Bast was the positive aspect of Sakhmet and protected cats and those who cared for them. She was a goddess of the home and important in Egyptian mythology. Her fur-bearing charges are often shown attacking the serpents who threaten the Sun.

In all likelihood, her image was brought from that region to Europe and Britain by ancient mariners whose travels were dictated by the winds and seas and... mayhaps... by the cats themselves.

The neighboring Sumerians had their own sacred feline beings. Ningirsu was the god of rain and fertility in both ancient Babylon and Sumer. His visage combines the majesty of the eagle with a lion's head. The Sumerian deity who ruled the South Wind, Imdugud, was the messenger of Enki, the water God, and carried the spring rains on its back to the arid lands of its worshippers. It, too, is a blend of the body of a bird (perhaps eagle or hawk) with a lion's head whose mighty roar was the very sound of thunder.

Other cultures honored the feline family: Indian legends identify the fourth incarnation of Vishnu as a lion, while another mythical creature, the Yali, is a curious admixture of lion and elephant. In Bali, Barong is a protective spirit who appears as either a lion or tiger.

In addition to the Sphinx and Miysis, the ancient Greeks also had two other cat hybrids: the Griffin, with the body and hind quarters of a lion and the forelegs and head of an Eagle, who guards a treasure; and the Chimera, with a lion's head, goat's body and the tail of a snake.

Even the ancient Norse knew of the feline's association with the gods and goddesses; Freya's chariot is often shown as being drawn by two gray cats.

The Cat as Legend
From an object of worship to household companion, the cat has always been a source of myths and superstition, often contradictory, but almost universal in across cultures and times. The belief that a black cat crossing your path can lead to bad luck is the best known of these legends; yet, to those who followed the Olde Path, the appearance of a feline of sepian hue was a fortuitous event. It was also believed that the tail of a black cat could cure a stye.

Black cats seem to be the object of most of the cat superstitions. Italians in the 1500s were certain that if a black cat appeared on a sickbed, the occupant would die. The Gaelic peoples believed that seeing a black cat crossing the path by moonlight foretold death by plague (the precursor to the more modern and less dire superstition, no doubt). At funerals, they avoided the 'dark ones' to prevent another family member from perishing.

Yet even white cats do not escape myths: even today English children fear that seeing a white cat while heading to school will lead to trouble.

Throughout Europe the cat's connection to the divine powers was believed to be so strong that to harm a cat would bring evil to the perpetrator. If that person was a farmer, evil would befall his crops and cattle.

Not all cat myths are negative in nature. In Pennsylvania Dutch communities, the old world tradition of placing a cat into an empty cradle to ensure the birth of a child is still followed today. In the hills of Tennessee and Arkansas, a young woman takes three hairs from a cat's tail, puts them into a folded paper and places them under a doorstep to help her decide whether she should accept a marriage proposal. If the hairs form a Y she accepts and if an N appears, the answer should be no.

The cat-deity has been fortune teller, source of fear, source of knowledge, and domestic companion. For all that we know about our furry brethren, their secrets remain their own and are a source of wonder and curiosity for all who would walk in the world of the cat.

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