Cat mythology has always played an important role in the folklore of ancient Egypt. There were several feline gods and goddesses in the Egyptian pantheon. The Sun God, Ra, was protected by lions as he journeyed through the underworld every night. Bast was the feline goddess of Ancient Egyptian religion and worshipped at least since the Second Dynasty.
Lions held a special fascination for the Egyptians but cats were revered. Bast came to be represented as a woman with the head of a cat and she ultimately emerged as the Egyptian cat-goddess. The sphinx, however, has the head of Pharaoh and the body of a lion.
Cat Mythology – Who Was Bast
Bast was the wife of Ptah, the creator of the universe. Ptah and Bast’s son, Maahes, was a fierce lion god. Maahes was first worshiped in Nubia, and his influence moved north during the New Kingdom. As the divine mother, Bast became associated with Wadjet, Mother-protector of the upper Nile, while in northern Egypt there arose the goddess Nekhbet.
Cat Mythology – Bast The Goddess
Bast, or Bastet, was quite gentle and graceful in comparison to her fierce lion sisters. Cat mythology has Bast protecting domestic cats, and she was often seen as a graceful cat wearing bracelets, earrings, and a broad collar. In some instances, cats belonging to royalty wore golden jewelry and ate from their owner’s plate. Bast brought joy and pleasure as gifts to the world. Her name became associated with the lavish jars in which Egyptians stored their perfume. She gradually became regarded as the goddess of perfumes, earning the title, perfumed protector. Her main temple at Bubastis was one of the most beautiful and popular in Egypt. There was another temple to her in Memphis. Some scholars feel that Bast and the warrior goddess Sekhmet were different manifestations of the same divine force; Sekhmet representing the violent side and Bast the gentler.
Cat Mythology – Bast as a Protector
It was not uncommon for Egyptian children to be consecrated to Bast and placed under her protection. As a divine mother Bast is often seen with kittens. Women would frequently wear a necklace or bracelet depicting Bast with kittens as a fertility charm. The number of kittens would represent the number of children the woman was hoping to have.
Egyptian eye makeup often gave the face a feline quality, reemphasizing the fact that cats were thought to be the model of grace and beauty.
As a sign of the high regard with which cats were held, the penalty for killing one was death in ancient Egypt. If a family cat died from an accident or old age, the family would go into mourning. Usually family members would shave their eybrows as a sign of grief. Wealthy families would often have their cats mummified. There were over 300,000 mummified cats discovered when Bast’s temple at Per-Bast was excavated. There is more on cat mythology and the domestication of the cat.
The religious beliefs of the ancient Egyptians is confusing not only because there are so many gods, but because those gods changed so much over time. The is a result of the Egyptians being highly inclusive in their cosmology. Whereas most modern religions are exclusive, often rejecting influences from outside, the Egyptians enbraced outside influence as demonstrated by the story of Bast ands Maahes. Cat mythology is only one part of the fascinating ancient Egyptian myths.
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There is a long tradition of black cats being known as familiars in western folklore and mythology. Grimalkin, who was the witches’ cat in William Shakespeare’s “MacBeth” is just one example from literature. The symbology of the witches’ black cat is an important part of the Halloween celebration.
According to mythology, a familiar is an animal companion that the devil gives to a witch to aid her in her magic spells. A familiar would have a name, the same as other pets; during the middle ages if anyone was seen talking to a pet or animal you were likely to be accused of consorting or ‘playing’ with the devil himself! The Dark or Middle Ages was a violent and somewhat backward time in Europe. Formal education was only available to the nobility and the clergy, so the large majority of the population was mired in ignorance and superstition. And living conditions at that time meant that usually only farmers or the wealthy had cats and for the farmer, these were not pets, they were working animals. Of course there were cats roaming the cities but these were usually the feral population and the black cat was feared.
Black Cats As Familiars
Any animal could be a familiar, but most likely were toads, dogs, and cats. The pure black cat was a readily identifiable symbol; Pope Gregory IX in 1233 declared black cats were satanic. Cats, especially the black cat, began to be persecuted all over Europe as a result of the papal declaration. Cats were said to be able to shift shapes into other creatures in order to fool people. This was used to justify terribly inhumane acts like the burning alive of many thousands of poor cats to drive away demons. During the inquisition of the Knights Templar, some confessed to worshipping cats. (Remembering that these confessions came after extreme torture, it can be assumed that they say more about the inquisitors than the knights.)
Why The Black Cat Was Feared
How did the black cat manage to be singled out for such prejudice? One tale says that cats “born at the end of blackberry season” would be referred to as “blackberry cats”. And how did blackberries get their dark color? When Satan was cast down from Heaven he unfortunately landed on the spines of a blackberry bush, and fouled the bush with his spit and urine. So blackberry cats, and more especially the black cat, became synonomous with the devil. Another tale goes back to the moon goddess Diana, whom the Christians renamed “Queen of the Witches”. Diana decided to have a son with her brother Apollo, usually renamed Lucifer for this legend, and took on the shape of a black cat in order to trick him.
As far out as these stories can be, the superstitious populace accepted them as being gospel truths. These superstitions would nearly destroy Europe. Cats are efficient predators who can operate in close proximity to people; for centuries they helped to keep the numbers of mice and rats in check. When the cats population was cut back, the vermin population exploded. The mice and rats invaded the grain storage that was meant for the human population, and starvation became common. Even more tragic, the vermin carried and spread disease, most notable “the Black Death”, bubonic plague. These Plagues of the Middle Ages may just be the ultimate revenge of the black cats. A short cat history gives more insight into cats through the ages.
The Black Cat Today
Today thankfully, we treat our cats with more love and respect. A black cat can be a beautiful animal to behold and share a home with. But cats don’t have to be black these days, there are so many colors and different pattern markings that we are spoiled for choice.
Continue reading about Black Cat Mythology: The Familiar Familiar
