Cats Is All About

Cats as deities are most closely associated with ancient Egypt. The ancient

Egyptians had several feline gods and goddesses. Lions were said to guard the great god

Ra during his nightly journey through the underworld. The Egyptians had a fascination

with lions. They created their sphinx with the body of a lion and the head of Pharaoh.

Three lion goddesses existed in ancient Egypt. Sekhmet was a fierce and powerful

goddess. She was a war goddess who was sent by her father Ra to earth to destroy his

enemies. She is usually depicted as a woman with the head of a lion. Another lion headed

goddess was Tefnut whose name means moisture. She represented a primeval force of

nature. The third lion goddess was Mafdet who was the goddess of protection.

Among her fierce sisters, gentle Bast may seem a bit out of place. Often shown as

a graceful cat wearing bracelets a broad collar and earrings, Bast was the protectress of

domestic cats and those who cared for them. Her principle gifts to the world were joy and

pleasure. She was a much beloved household deity. Her principle temple was at Bubastis

and was said to be one of the most beautiful and popular in all of Egypt. She had a

secondary seat in Memphis as well. There is some evidence to believe that the ancient

Egyptians believed that Bast and Sekhmet were actually two faces of the same divine

force. Sekhmet representing the violent aspect of the divine, and Bast, the gentler

qualities.

Egyptian children were often consecrated to Bastand placed under her protection.

Bast was considered a divine mother and was sometimes depicted with kittens. When a

woman in ancient Egypt wanted to have children, she would often wear a bracelet or a

necklace depicting the goddess Bast with kittens. The number of kittens shown with the

goddess represented the number of children desired by the woman. Ancient Egyptians

seemed to consider cats to be the height of beauty. The styles of makeup they used,

especially around the eyes, tended to give them a feline look.

Cats were so highly regarded by the ancient Egyptians that the penalty for killing

one was death. When a family cat died of accident or old age, its' human family would

go into mourning. They would shave their eyebrows off to show their grief. Cats were

often mummified. One royal cat was buried in a marble coffin. The hieroglyphs on her

coffin referred to her as "Lady Cat".

Bast was said to be the wife of the god Ptah. Ptah was the creator god of the

universe. Ptah and Bast were said to have had a son, the fierce lion god Maahes. Maahes

originated as a Nubian god. During the New Kingdom, his worship moved northward

where he was incorporated into the Egyptian pantheon as the son of Bast and Ptah. On

becoming a divine mother, Bast became associated with the protectress of Lower Egypt,

Wadjet. They became linked as Wadjet-Bast. A similar association was created in the

Upper Kingdom By the combination of Sekhmet and the Upper Kingdom protectress

Nekhbet.

The constantly changing nature of Egyptian religion can be rather confusing.

They had an inclusive attitude towards other gods and religions. The ancient Egyptians

freely adapted and adopted these others into their own cosmology. This attitude makes it

difficult for modern readers to understand. Most of us have been raised in religions

whose nature is highly exclusive. With an exclusive religion, outside influences are

rejected or even actively repelled. The Egyptians, as demonstrated by the story of Bast

and Maahes, had a very different way at looking at religion.

Cats as familiars have a long and dark history in western mythology. These cats

often found their way into literature. One of the most famous was Grimalkin, the witches'

cat from Shakespeare's MacBeth. Cats as witch's companions are still a part of the

popular symbology associated with the modern holiday of Halloween.

What is a familiar? In western mythology a familiar was an animal companion

given by the devil to a witch in order to help her with her evil magic. These familiars

would have names just like any other pet. In the middle ages, if you were caught talking

to your pet (like a lot of people do) you were considered to be consorting with the devil in

speaking to w obviously your familiar. The Middle Ages were a very dark and violent

period in Europe. Their alternative name "Dark Ages" should come as no surprise.

Learning was confined to clergy and nobility. The general population was therefore quite

ignorant and prone to superstition.

A familiar could be any type of animal such as a toad, dog or cat. Black cats

became the traditionally cited companion and hence cats became particularly reviled. In

1233 Pope Gregory IX wrote in his Papal Bull "Vox in Rama" actually denounced black

cats as satanic. The Popes' proclamation began the persecution of cats all over Europe.

Thousands and thousands of cats were burned alive in the attempt to drive out the evil

Satan. Wild tales of these cats shape shifting into other creatures were common among

the populace and justified these terrible acts in their minds. When the power of the

Knights Templar was broken, some of the knights were said to have confessed to

worshipping cats. As these so-called confessions were given under extreme torture, they

would seem to speak more to the attitudes of their inquisitors than to anything the

Templars themselves had actually done.

Why were black cats in particular singled out? There are a couple of legends that

might explain this singular revulsion. In the first legend, so the story goes, is that cats

who were born at the end of blackberry season were called blackberry cats. According to

this legend, the end of blackberry season coincides with the expulsion of Satan from

heaven. When he fell he landed on a blackberry bush which he defiled with his urine and

spit. Thus, blackberry cats, especially black ones are associated with the devil in this tale.

The second tale comes from Italy. The Italian witches, called streghe, tell a legend about

Diana who is goddess of the moon and also called "Queen of the Witches". Her brother

who was known in ancient times as Apollo, is renamed Lucifer (Light Bearer) in this tale.

Supposedly, Diana wanted to have a son by Lucifer, so she attempted to trick him by

taking the shape of a black cat.

As you can see, these stories were pretty wild, and yet the people of those dark

times took them as the gospel truth. The irony of this superstitious hysteria against cats

was that by destroying the cats the Europeans nearly destroyed themselves. Cats had been

used for centuries to keep down the population of vermin, especially mice and rats. When

their predators were destroyed, the vermin population exploded. They ate large amounts

of grain that had been meant for human consumption resulting in widespread hunger

among the people. Even worse than the hunger was that the enormous numbers of rats

became disease carriers. The worst of these diseases was the bubonic plague, otherwise

known as the Black Death. The Plagues of the Middle Ages are terrible instance of the

repercussions that can befall humans due to misplaced zeal.