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AILUROPHILE...One who loves cats...ETYMOLOGY: Greek ailouros, cat + –phile. The
term comes from Herodotus, the Greek historian who called the cats that he
found in Egypt "ailuroi" - tail wavers. |
CATS are over 30 million years old. Most domestic cats of today are thought to have descended from the African wild cat. |
Cat domestication began about 3,000 BC in Egypt when cats were enlisted to protect grain silos from rodents. These felines became so valuable that they were regarded as gods. The basic domestic cat was descendant from this Egyptian stock.
The cat was sacred to the Egyptian goddess Bast. Cemeteries containing the bodies of mummified sacred cats have been discovered with bronze statues of cats, is dated around 600 B.C. Cats are known to have been a part of Egyptian households by 1600 B.C. although they were not deified until much later.
The first true cats were found at the beginning of the Pliocene Period, which was about 12 million years ago. The evolutionary processes led to three main types of cats: The Forest Cat, the African Wild Cat and The Asiatic Desert Cat.
Ancestors resembling modern cats first appeared about 10 million
years ago, but they were completely wild and did not associate with
humans. As humans learned to farm, their grain crops attracted mice and
birds, and these, in turn, attracted cats.
Gradually, around 8,000 years ago, cats and humans learned that
they could form a mutually beneficial relationship --the humans
protected and sheltered cats who, in return, protected their human's
grain supplies.
Superstitions
Scottish immigrants believed a cat that entered a room where a
body was awaiting burial had to be killed at once. If she were
not, the next person the cat touched would be struck blind! The fear of the cat was so great that it was believed evil would strike down anyone who harmed a cat. A person who kicked a cat was certainly to develop rheumatism in that leg! A farmer who killed a cat could expect a mysterious illness to kill off his cattle. Cat
superstitions persist to this day. For the most part, Americans believe
white cats are lucky and black cats are unlucky. In Great Britain the
reverse is thought to be true. In some parts of the old world, the cat was placed in an empty and waiting cradle of a newlywed, the couple in the belief she would quickly grant their wish for children. The Pennsylvania Dutch continue that time-honored custom today Legend of the Pussy Willow
From
Poland comes the story of the pussy willow, a plant that has been named for
the cat the world over. Long ago, a mother cat cried inconsolably on the
banks of a river in which her kittens were drowning. To help her, the
willows swept their long branches into the water as lifelines for the little
kittens. Every spring since, buds with the soft feel of a kittens silky fur
open at the tips of willow branches. Source: Pet Care Report/
Cats and their History - Ralston Purina Co.
Religious
Persecution
Cats and Witches
A very
early record of the linking together of witches and cats concerns the
ceremony of Cat Wednesday which took place in the city of Metz in Northern
France. This involved hundreds of cats being burned alive in the belief
that they were witches in disguise. Persecution in the 13th century
The Celts
The
Celts believed that cats had once been human and had been changed into
felines as punishment for their wicked ways. Cats were sometimes tied up
with silver ropes because it was believed that these creatures had the
ability to protect hallowed treasures. Later, Catholic culture mixed
with Celtic beliefs and the cat became thought to be the witch's
familiar.
In the 16th and
17th centuries
A 17th century
English woman, Joan Flower, along with her two daughters, were hung for
practicing witchcraft. Joan and her daughters were employed by the
Earl of Rutland and were accused of cursing his family. His sons had
died, and his wife had become barren, and someone had to take the
blame for it. It was said that the daughters had stolen some of the
Earl's possessions and given them to their mother who rubbed them on
the fur of her cat uttering curses. Nothing is recorded about the fate
of the cat, but it is unlikely that it escaped with its life.
Witches and cats have had
a long association with Halloween. Because cats are nocturnal
creatures and do their roaming at night, they were seen as the
servants of witches and out to harm those that the witches had cursed.
It was also believed by some that witches had the supernatural power
to change into cats and so more easily carry out their wicked deeds
and escape detection. Mythical stories recount great gatherings of
witches when the seasons changed, on the eve of May Day and on the eve
of October 31 Halloween.
see also BLACK CATS pdf
In
1348, the Black Death or bubonic plague swept across Europe in
successive epidemics with an overwhelming loss of life. In England,
more than half the people died; in some parts of France, only
one-tenth of the population survived. By bringing the rodent
population under control, cats heroically saved the humans from
complete extinction.
Cats in Asia
Cats were honored and protected in Asia because the humans there
recognized the value of our services in protecting food crops and the
silk worm industry from destruction by rodents.
Cats in Thailand Cats have
guarded temples in Thailand and other parts of Asia for centuries. One
Thai legend says that hightly spiritual people reicarnate as cats as
their last stage on the way to heaven. Another explains the dark patches
on the shoulders of some Siamese cats as "temple marks" left by Buddha's
fingers when he touched them in blessing. Cats and Hindu
A
South African tribe told of a cat who served as the "external soul"
for an entire family whose lives depended on her existence.
The Greeks
and Their cats
The Greeks credited their goddess Artemis with creating the cat and
ascending to the moon in feline form.
In South America,
some people worshipped a puma god and thought medicine men turned
into jaguars when they died. Cats and the Romans
The Romans gave Venus, their goddess of love, many of the
attributes of Bastet and often depicted the goddess with a cat.
Some historians believe importing cats to England was the
Romans' greatest contribution toward civilizing the British. The Norse
For transportation, the Norse fertility goddess Freya used a
cat-drawn chariot.
Finnish people thought the souls of the dead were collected by
cats drawing a sled.
In Java
When people in Java wanted to make it rain, they would bathe two
cats, a male and female, then carry them in a procession with
music.
The TABBY Cat
In America
and other Christian countries, the tabby cat has a legend of its
own. As the Christ child lay in the manger, no animal - not even
the gentle donkey or the faithful shepherd dog - could soothe
Him to sleep. But when a little tabby jumped lightly into the
manger and began to purr a lullaby, the Babe fell asleep at
last. Ever since, all tabbies' foreheads have borne an M in
token for the Madonna's gratitude.
Mythology and Folklore of the Manx When filling the ark and the rains
came down, Noah closed the door and caught the tail of a
cat Cats from ships wrecked on the
coasts around the Isle of Man came ashore and made the
Island their home Mother cats bit off the tails of
their kittens to keep them from being snatched by the
invading Scandinavians, who cut off the tiles and used
them for decorating their helmets The Manx is a breed of domestic cat originating
on the Isle of Man, with a naturally occurring mutation that
shortens the tail. Their sweet disposition make them excellent
family pets. |
DARLING QUENTIN: When we shifted camp we came down here and found a funny little wooden shanty, put up by some people who now and then come out here and sleep in it when they fish or shoot. The only living thing around it was a pussy-cat. She was most friendly and pleasant, and we found that she had been living here for two years. When people were in the neighborhood, she would take what scraps she could get, but the rest of the time she would catch her own game for herself. She was pretty thin when we came, and has already fattened visibly. She was not in the least disconcerted by the appearance of the hounds, and none of them paid the slightest attention to her when she wandered about among them. We are camped on the edge of a lake. This morning before breakfast I had a good swim in it, the water being warmer than the air, and this evening I rowed on it in the moonlight. Every night we hear the great owls hoot and laugh in uncanny fashion.
Plutarch and his Cat Theories
The Greek author, Plutarch, had a hair-brained theory about cats.
When she reached that magic number, he believed that she ceased bearing kittens.
His theory was based upon the connection, at that time, with cats and the moon -
since there are 28 days in the lunar moon. He also linked cats with cleanliness, noting that unnatural odors
could make them mad. |
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