Cat {Domestic}

Myths about cats are present in many cultures. My experiences with cats is minimal. I think it’s interesting that cats always land on the their feet when they fall. Cats have soft fur on their head and I have nicknamed a friend Kitty because of this trait. I have learned that black cats are unlucky. They are an omen for bad luck like broken mirrors and walking under ladders. I don’t believe in that superstition. Once I followed a black cat and cornered it on accident and it hissed at me. Personal space is very important to cats. If you don’t give it to them they will let you know.

In some areas of the world cats are villainized, other times they are worshiped. Cats are seen on both sides of the spectrum as good or bad depending on where you live. Cats have shaped human imagination for ages. As a guardian of the underworld in Celtic cultures, the cat is silent and mysterious. The black cat was feared for many reasons. Because black cats were feared in Celtic lore, they were sacrificed. To people in the Western hemisphere black cats were associated with witchcraft. Black cats got this reputation from nightly pitfalls and were associated with transformation similar to the veil of night shifting our perception of reality.

Cats are unpredictable and have a very secretive wary nature. In European lore, cats were unsettling to some people. A superstition about cats begins and the relationship between two ideas. Once something is established and it spreads, a large population will take in the meaning. It is the same with felines. First the cat is seen as heinous, which causes other people to buy into the superstition. Since they are both misunderstood, this makes witches and cats go together well.

There are also many places in human history that worship the cat. In ancient Rome the cat was considered sacred to the goddess of the moon, Diana. Here the cat was considered a guardian of the homes and symbolized domestic goodness. In muslim lore, the cat is honored for saving Mohammed from a snake attack. It is believed the M marking on the forehead of many tabby cats is a mark that symbolizes the M for Mohammed. In Norse legend cats are associated with Freyja, the goddess of fertility, and thus the cat is thought of as a blessing to newborns. Cats were sacred to ancient Egyptians and were mummified along with mice for the cats to consume in the afterlife.

Symbolic meanings of the cat include: Astute, Clever, Selective, Secretive, Mysterious, Intuitive, Intelligent, Independent, Supernatural, Watchfulness.