ChristStory Bestiary

CAT

Worshiped or Tortured

The cat's fortune has rose and fell throughout the centuries. The household cats of ancient Egypt and Rome were practically gods. In Egypt, cats symbolized the goddess Bastet. Anyone who killed a cat in Egypt was put to death, even if the cat's death was an accident. In Rome, she represented the Goddess of Liberty and Rome's soldiers carried images of the cat on shields and flags.

As Christianity spread, the fortunes of the cat fell. People like Baudouin III, count of Flanders threw out their divine cats along with any other household gods to show that they renounced paganism. Unfortunately, Baudouin threw his cats from the tower of his castle and began an annual tradition of cat torture called the Cat Festival. Luckily for the cats, only stuffed animals are thown today.

During the Middle Ages, cats (esp. black ones) were buried in fields to protect the crops from evil spirits or weeds, and to ensure a good harvest. They were also walled up in new buildings as a good luck charm to keep the walls from falling down. During the witch hunts, cats were considered the embodiment of Satan, and a favorite companion/vehicle of witches. If a pregnant woman experienced pains in her womb, it was because a witch was causing her to "have kittens" which were clawing and scratching to get out. A male cat might make a woman "have kittens" by jumping over the food she later ate.

During this time, in Western Europe, cats were publicly tortured and killed. People used them to represent all sorts of evil including: witchcraft, vampirism, and black magic. They began symbolizing the sins of laziness, lust, backbiting, nosiness, gossip, deceit, and promiscuity. They were an image of the prostitute and were painted with Judas to show the quiet deceit of his heart. Cats were believed to be attracted to the graves of the damned. They hissed in imitation of that old snake - the Devil. Their nine lives, once given to them because nine was a lucky number, were now considered devilish.

The Japanese believed the cat could be salvaged by cutting off its tail which was the source of its evil. In other countries, superstitions abounded about the cat's eyes. The tide, the time of day, and the phases of the moon could be told by the dilation of the cat's pupils. Some African-American slaves believed cats saw ghosts and used their eyes in voodoo ceremonies. Some people thought the eyes glowed at night with light gathered from the sun during the day and so the cat chased away ghosts and evil spirits at night. Others thought their eyes glowed with the fires of hell.

Eventually, cats were again prized as mousers. Their antics are now considered playful and coy instead of evil. They usually represent the luxurious life. Although coming across a black cat in America is still thought to be unlucky, in other countries it is considered lucky. The reverse is true of white cats - lucky in America; unlucky elsewhere. In Japan, statues of cats with their front left paw raised are symbols of good fortune. Although not mentioned in the Bible, there are many legends about Noah and the first cat and the child Jesus is sometimes painted with a kitten.

All scripture quotes are from the NKJV Bible.