Cats (Not the Musical)

Basically cats have been as mistreated as women.

Cats have always been coded as feminine in history, much like the way a dog is a man’s best friend. Perhaps it’s the cunning or the elegance but as the owner of three I can’t seem to complain.

Thinking historically of course one must mention Egypt, the cat like eyeliner, for some reason Cleopatra springs to mind. Their god Bastet, daughter of Re the sun god was worshipped in the form of a lioness, ferocious until 1500 BCE when cats were ‘domesticated’. Even the saying ‘old cat lady’, it seems the animal is not ‘man’s best friend’, rather a woman’s companion.

An Egyptian Bronze Cat Head, Dynasty XXVI-XXX, Circe 6th- 4th century BCE

This bit of research seems a bit silly compared to the other topics I have covered, but there is something undeniable about my own family’s connection with the animal. My grandmother has always had a brass statue of Bastes that sits proud in her living room. When she used to breed cats, their affix was Artemis after the Goddess of the Hunt. I used to get told of the time she came down from Olympus in the form of a cat, prowling the wilderness.

I will probably have a post on Artemis in the near future as she is a figure with some very interesting history. Anyway, black cats and witches have been associated since the middle ages, in the 14th century they were often associated with death. Many were killed during the plague as they were believed to act as reapers. Which now seems almost ironic as the cats would have helped control the rat and therefore the flea population, slowing the spread of the disease.

The word for witchcraft itself derives for an old English word for wise (wicca, whose woman). While the old witches were known for healing, they were also accused of brewing potions and performing magic which was clearly against the church. In these accusations was the belief that witches could turn themselves into cats (Celts believed cats were humans who had done bad deeds and were made to come back as a cat) and sneak into people’s houses to harm them.

This promoted the cat from a pet to a familiar.

Black cats today are often seen in Halloween decorations and those weird wind compasses, maybe even on top of an ‘alternative’ shop sign. Superstition about crossing a black cat’s path is not common but still circulates as an omen of bad luck.

As someone with three cats I can't really fathom the fear surrounding cats although the fact that they were never truly domesticated could be a factor. Mini tigers can be scary when they randomly appear in your home.

References

]Barnard, E., 2015. Why are cats associated with witches? | Animal Friends Pet Insurance. [online] Animal Friends Pet Insurance. Available at: <https://www.animalfriends.co.uk/blog/why-are-cats-associated-with-witches/> [Accessed 2 April 2021]