CATS & ANCIENT CULTURES.
In Ancient Babylon, the cat was believed to be a host for certain holy human souls after death. The soul stayed in the cat as long as the cat lived & only in this way could the soul gain entry to Paradise.
Buddhists, Burmese & Siamese cultures had similar beliefs. In ancient Japan, certain cats were believed to hold the soul of an ancestor & were considered priceless.
Ancient Egyptians believed that the cat brought prosperity & health, long life & beautiful old age.
Sacred cats kept in a sanctuary in ancient Egypt were carefully tended by priests who watched them day and night. The priests interpreted the cat's movements - twitch of a whisker, yawn or stretch - into a prediction of an event that would happen in the future.
Gnostic belief held that the cat sat in the Garden of Eden and guarded a certain tree with it's life, perhaps the tree known by Christians as the tree of life. This tree, known as the Persea tree, is also mentioned in an Egyptian papyrus, with the Egyptian Sun-God Ra proclaiming that : 'I am the Great Cat which fought hard by the Persea tree.' The depiction in the Bible of Satan as a snake suggests that the cat may have been guarding the tree from the serpent - a role that is reflected in Egyptian mythology. The cat was said to have knowledge of both good and evil without representing either. In this way, the cat represents balance and wisdom. The cats role as protector is a repeated motif in many myths and legends.
The cat was thought of by the ancient Egyptians as a protection against snakes, which were feared because of their poison. The cat goddess Mafdet, was thought to protect the Pharoh against serpents in the royal palace. In the Egyptian Book of the Dead, Ra (known as Mau) is depicted as a cat slaying a huge python, Apep, which represnts darkness. In this way, the cat and serpent represented the struggle between light and darkness, with the Sun-God Ra being victorious with the slaying of the serpent.
Although the cat and snake are often seen as adversaries in Egytptian mythology, both cat and serpent were seen to work together to carry out Ra's bidding and create balance, thus good and evil, light and darkness, the physical and spiritual aspects of the whole - coming toether in a state of balance and perfection. Both cat and snake also symbolise eternity, echoed in the cats curl and the snake holding it's tail in its mouth (as in Midgardsorm, the World Serpent of Norse legend), both describing a circle without end.
Bast, Bastet or Pasht was the Egyptian cat-headed goddess whose cult lasted for thousands of years. Her city was Bubastis and housed statutes and a sacred shrine admist a grove of trees. Worshippers came from afar to attend her annual festival in the city, during which time her image was transported upon a barge towards the city, accompanied by dancing, singing and drinking - ending in sacrifices being made when the destination was reached. Bast was the daughter of Isis and Ra, her colours were silver and purple and she represents the moon, fire, fertility, music and nurturing of children.
The cats link to witchcraft is evident in Classical Greece and its association to the goddess Hecate, guardian of the Underworld. Her symbol was the black cat and her followers left offerings at crossroads, which were thought to be guarded by black cats, in the hope that she would bestow good fortune upon them.
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Some interesting information I just found.
From personal experience, I have been told of my friends cat wigging out whilst they were bemushroomed, the cat acting faar stranger than normal.
