The Ailurophiliac's Corner

AILUROPHILE - a person who is strongly attracted to or devoted to cats

A Bit o' Feline History:

Cats and Gods (who else would they hang out with?)

The Egyptian Goddess Bast was often represented by a cat and worshipped in a vast cult in Egypt from 1780 B.C. until A.D. 392. One version of her name, "Pasht," might have given rise to the English term "Puss."

Ra, the Egyptian Sun God, supposedly changed himself into a cat to do battle with the serpent-like darkness.

Diana, Greek Goddess of Wisdom, was represented by the moon, a potent cat symbol throughout the ages.

In Norse mythology, two gray cats drew the chariot of Freya, Scandinavian Goddess of Love and Beauty. The kitties also played around her ankles as a symbol of her domesticity.

Tsun-Kyanske, the Burmese Goddess of the Transmutation of Souls, was attended by priests and their cats, animals supposedly able to communicate directly with the goddess.

Siamese Kings, believed godlike, required a cat for their souls to pass into upon death, so that the soul could rest for the cat's natural life span before entering Paradise.

Malaysians venerated the cat as a godlike creature who eased their afterlife journey from Hell to Paradise. Anyone who killed a cat was required to carry and stack as many coconut tree trunks as the cat had hairs.