Revered and Reviled

by L A Vocelle

  Continuing his purge, Charlemagne demolished numerous pagan temples throughout Europe including a temple in Mageleburg, Germany, erected in honor of Freya (figure 4.2), the Norse goddess of love and fertility, who rode in a cat drawn carriage. Freya was also known as the beloved goddess of the good harvest, and many followers put dishes of milk out for her cats in their corn fields to secure an abundant harvest. Christianity, however, deemed this benevolent goddess to whom Odin had bestowed such power as dominion over the ninth world, a malefic and demonic priestess of the devil (Oldfield, 2003, p. 59-60).

  Figure 4.2 Freyja, Cats and Angels, Nils Blommer, 1852, National Museum of Stockholm

  PAGAN RITUALS ARE INCORPORATED INTO CHRISTIANITY

  To make the transition from paganism to Christianity easier and more appealing to the recalcitrant heathens, Christians incorporated pagan festivals and holidays into their religious calendar. The Christians “persuaded themselves that the ignorant rustics would more cheerfully renounce the superstitions of paganism, if they found some resemblance, some compensation in the bosom of Christianity” (Gibbons, 1900, Vol. 5, p. 106).

  The assimilation of pagan and Christian rites would come in the form of Samhain, an ancient Celtic festival and precursor of today’s Halloween, where black cats still play an integral part because of their pagan ties which originated in Ancient Egypt as discussed earlier. Samhain celebrated the end of summer harvest, marking the beginning of the Celtic New Year. Celts thought that the change of seasons brought about a time when the line between life and death was easily crossed. So as not to attract the wrath of the roaming spirits which Saman, the Celtic God of Death, gathered together, people impersonated the dead by wearing masks and costumes. Along with offerings of food, a cat or horse might also be sacrificed to appease unruly spirits. The Romans, after conquering the Celts in AD 43, adapted Samhain into a festival celebrated in late October in honor of Feralia and the goddess Pomona, who was associated with fruit and especially apples. Later, pagan rituals merged into Christian ones, so Feralia became All Saints Day and All Souls Day and eventually Halloween. The Christians believed that souls wandered the earth for 48 hours from October 31 thru November 2. Carrying a turnip lantern, symbolizing the soul in purgatory, devotees went from door to door asking for soul cakes in exchange for prayers for the dead. Celtic Druids, who held fast to their beliefs, were accused of witchcraft and persecuted as witches that led to the murder of many men, women and cats. Thus the festival Samhain, with some Roman influences, is the basis of today’s Halloween, which is associated with witches, cats, bobbing for apples and going from door to door asking for offerings. Other pagan festivals such as Mayday became the Virgin Mary’s day; Midsummer’s Eve became associated with the Christian St. John’s Eve; and festivals for the Roman gods Saturnalia and Bacchanalia became the celebration, Carnival.

  In addition to Ash Wednesday, Shrove Tuesday and Easter, all these occasions were celebrated with cat massacres (Engels, 2001). In 1575, a receipt signed by Lucas Pommoreux states, “…for having supplied for three years all the cats required for the fire on St. John’s Day, as usual” (Champfleury, 2005, p. 34). The barbaric activities were not ended until 1604 when the young Louis XIII forbade their continuance through an edict issued by Henry IV. In Picardy, on the first Sunday of Lent, festival goers celebrated while viewing live cats being dropped from long poles into burning bonfires, their tortured howls louder than the festival goers screams of delight (Reppelier, 1901). On the second Wednesday of Lent, in Ypres, Belgium, the villagers simply dropped the ill-fated animals from a tower (figure 4.3) located in the center of town until 1817 when it was finally officially forbidden.

  Figure 4.3. Ypres Tower-Cloth Hall, Ypres, Belgium, Author’s Photograph

  THE CAT IN EARLY CHRISTIAN BOOKS

  Even though, on the one hand, Christianity sought the total destruction of the old ways and temples, on the other, in their place, it began to erect a handful of churches and monasteries that blossomed into isolated centers of art, writing and education. Art especially benefitted from Christianity, and it was in these first monasteries that monks forever immortalized the cat in illustrations adorning their gospels and psalters. The cat made its first appearance in the margins of the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Book of Kells in the 7th and 8th centuries. The Irish illuminated manuscript of the Lindisfarne Gospels, crafted at the monastery of Lindisfarne in Northumbria, is a mixture of Saxon, Celtic, Roman and Coptic traditions. The gospels, created as a tribute to St. Cuthbert in about AD 710, are intricately decorated pages that reveal the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John interspersed with stylized animals, in particular cats. In one lovely illustration, the long, almost snake-like body of a cat bordering a page from the gospel of Luke has just eaten some cormorants, which are visible within his stomach; seemingly unsatisfied, he greedily eyes more in the bottom border of the manuscript page (figures 4.4, 4.5) ).

  Figure 4.4. Lindisfarne Gospel, British Library, London

  Figure 4.5. Lindesfarne Gospel, Detail of Cat, British Library, London

  In addition to the Lindisfarne Gospels, the Book of Kells (AD 800), offers an exquisite example of insular art based on Celtic Christianity from the post-Roman era on the British Isles. Monks began its creation on the Island of Iona between Scotland and Ireland, but because of Viking raids, fled to Kells forty miles from Dublin where it was unfortunately never completed. Like the Lindisfarne Gospels, the illuminated pages of the Book of Kells contain the first four gospels of the New Testament. With all but two of its 680 pages illustrated, vibrantly colored cats and other zoomorphic designs are woven carefully within and around the intricate manuscript (figure 4.6).

  Figure 4.6. Cat Fighting a Mouse for a Wafer, Book of Kells, AD 800, Trinity College Library, Dublin

  Because Viking raids continued into the 9th century, Irish monks fled the on-going invasions by travelling to far off havens. One such monk exiled in Reichenau on Lake Constance is immortalized for writing a now famous poem in honor of his cat, Pangur Ban†. The cat, not yet completely identified with the devil and demonized, found its way into the heart of this lonely exiled monk (figure 4.7).

  I and Pangur Ban my cat,

  ‘Tis a like task we are at,

  Hunting mice is his delight,

  Hunting words I sit all night

  ‘Tis a merry thing to see,

  At our task how glad are we

  When at home we sit and find,

  Entertainment to our mind.

  ‘Gainst the wall he sets his eye,

  Full and fierce and sharp and sly,

  ‘Gainst the wall of knowledge I,

  All my little wisdom try.

  So in peace our task we ply:

  Pangur Ban my cat and I

  In our arts and in our bliss,

  I have mine and he has his (Rowling, 1979).

  Figure 4.7. Pangur Ban, Reichenauer Schulheft, 1v, 2r., St. Paul’s Abbey, Lavanttal

  LAWS TO PROTECT CATS

  Cats were also a valued commodity in the Welsh kingdom of Hywel Dda or Howell the Good (AD 880-950). After a trip to Rome in AD 928, Hywel became interested in establishing a legal system and decided that Wales needed a set of codified laws. These detailed laws address how animals should be treated as well as the prices that should be asked for them. For example, the king forbid the killing of cats, and anyone caught killing a cat that guarded the royal granary had to pay with the fine of a ewe, its fleece, and a lamb, or a pile of wheat that was as high as the cat’s length from head to tip of tail with the body of the cat suspended with its head touching the floor. According to the laws of Hywel, a kitten before it could see was worth one penny; up to the time it killed a mouse, 2 pence; and if it had proven itself an excellent mouse catcher, 4 pence (Simpson, 1903). The Law states, “Her qualities are to see, to hear, to kill mice, to have her claws whole, and to nurse and not devour her kittens. If she be deficient in any one of these qualities, one third of her price must be returned” (P
robert, 1823, p. 228). The Gwentian Code, another part of the law, also states, “Whoever shall catch a cat mousing in his flax garden, let its owner pay for its damage” (Clutton-Brock, 1994, p. 42-43). Cats, obviously highly prized for their utility, were less important than flax, as it was used to make linen that was very rare during this time.

  THE CAT IN THE BIBLE

  No doubt due to the cat’s association with the devil, evil and paganism, only one obscure reference to the cat appears in the Bible. The Letter from Jeremiah contains one mention of the cat when referring to pagans in the Book of Baruch†. There are yet other references to cats in The Gospel of the Holy Twelve published in 1924 by Reverend G.J. Ouseley. Even though condemned by the church, this gospel, which Ouseley claimed had come to him in dreams, closely coincides with the Essene Gospel of Peace only released from the

  Vatican in 1940. Both depict a much more compassionate, vegetarian Christ. The Gospel of the Holy Twelve includes an account of the birth of Jesus somewhat different from the one recorded in the Bible. In addition to the other animals in the stable, the gospel adds that a cat with her kittens lay beneath the manger (Ouseley & Udny, 1924, 2004, p. 7). The mention of the cat and her kittens was perhaps deleted because of the cat’s association with paganism, but makes perfect sense to be included in the scene since the cat has always been a symbol of fertility and motherhood. Another section of the gospel proves Christ’s compassion for the cat. While he was walking through a village, he noticed a group of boys tormenting a cat. Jesus asked them to stop, but they did not listen. After unsuccessfully trying to persuade them to stop, he drove them away with a whip, saying: “This earth, which my Father-Mother made for joy and gladness, ye have made into the lowest hell with your deeds of violence; and cruelty…” (Ouseley & Udny, 1924, 2004, p. 38-39). Yet another incidence of Jesus’s kindness to cats is recorded, “And as Jesus entered into a certain village he saw a young cat which had none to care for her, and she was hungry and cried unto him; and he took her up, and put her inside his garment and she lay in his bosom. And when he came into a village he set food and drink before the cat, and she ate and drank and showed thanks to him” (Ibid, p. 56-57).

  THE CAT IN THE TALMUD AND HEBREW FOLKLORE

  The Talmud, the Jewish book of law, refers to the cat as having magical powers because it is able to see demons. The Talmud goes on to detail how this ability is gotten from the cat by taking the placenta of a first born black female cat and roasting it in a fire and grinding it to powder. Once a tiny bit of powder is put in the eye, it causes demons to become visible.

  Hebrew legends also mention the cat. When God was deciding how each animal would make its living, he asked the cat, “From where do you wish to receive your daily bread; the shopkeeper, the peasant or the pedlar?” The cat replied, “Give me my daily bread from an absent-minded woman who leaves her kitchen door open!” In another reference to the cat in Hebrew folklore, Lilith, Adam’s first wife, was unruly and refused to obey him. After being expelled from Eden as a punishment, Lilith haunted the night. In Spain, Jews believed that she became a vampire cat called La Broosha who victimized babies by sucking their blood. According to custom, for a period of nine days after a birth, a mother and her new born child should never be left alone. In one story, a nurse unwittingly leaves the mother and baby by themselves. When the nurse returns, the mother tells her she had had a dream of a huge black cat that had come into the room and changed into a jar. Just then the mother could hear a meowing from the street, and the cat who had become a jar returned to being a cat again. At that point, the cat went to the bed and took the baby, and threw it out of the window to another cat. Horrified, the nurse realized that it had not been a dream because she could see from the window the cat carrying the baby in its mouth as it crossed a nearby field.

  THE CAT IN ISLAM

  The story of Noah and the creation of the cat comes to us from the Egyptian naturalist and scholar Ad-Damiri, who began Hayāt al Hayawān, The Life of Animals in the 9th century AD. “When Noah made a couple of each kind of animal enter the Ark, his companions, as well as the members of his family, said to him, ‘What security can there be for us and for the animals so long as the lion shall dwell with us in the same vessel?’ The patriarch betook himself to prayer and entreated the Lord God. Immediately fever came down from heaven and seized upon the King of the beasts, so that tranquility of mind was restored to the inhabitants of the Ark. But there was in the vessel an enemy no less harmful---this was the mouse. The companions of Noah called his attention to the fact that it would be impossible for them to preserve their provisions and their clothes intact. After the patriarch had addressed renewed supplications to the most High, the lion sneezed, and a cat ran out of his nostrils. From that time forth the mouse became timid so that it contracted the habit of hiding itself in holes” (Simpson, 1903, p. 1) (figure 4.8).

  Unlike Christianity, Islam took a much kinder view of the cat primarily due to the Prophet Mohammed’s (PBUH) (AD 570-632) compassion for the enigmatic beast. There are several stories of Mohammed interacting with cats. The first is that his favorite cat, Muezza, fell asleep on his sleeve and rather than awakening her to go to pray, he cut off the sleeve of his robe. Another is again of Muezza, who supposedly bowed to him to thank him for some kindness, and Mohammed by passing his hand over her back three times, gave all Tabby cats stripes on their backs and the ability to always land on their feet (Geyer, 2004, p. 28). Another common legend states that the ‘M’ on a tabby’s forehead stands for the ‘M’ in Mohammed. Even one of Mohammed’s closest friends, Abu Horeirah, “the father of the cat,” was so nicknamed by Mohammed because of his fondness for a particular cat that he always carried around with him. Consequently, after being constantly called by this name, his real name has disappeared from history (Ockley, 1847, p. 376).

  Figure 4.8. Noah and the Flood, 16th Century, Mogul

  There are several Hadith† referring to the cat. And according to Hadith - Bukhari 3:553, narrated by 'Abdullah bin 'Umar, “A woman entered the fire (Hell) because of a cat which she kept and did not give it food or water, nor did she set it free to eat of the vermin of the earth.” Two later translations have it that the woman “was punished because she imprisoned a cat until it died,” or “entered Hell because of a cat she tied up and did not feed.” And in several other Hadith it is expressly stated that Mohammed had a firm respect for all animals. Hadith - Muwatta 2.13 states, “Yahya related to me from Malik from Ishaq ibn Abdullah ibn Abi Talha from Humayda bint Abi Ubayda ibn Farwa that her maternal aunt Kabsha bint Kab ibn Malik, who was the wife of the son of Abu Qatada al-Ansari, told her that once Abu Qatada was visiting her and she poured out some water for him to do wudu ††with. Just then a cat came to drink from it, so he tilted the vessel towards it to let it drink. Kabsha continued, “He saw me looking at him and said, ‘Are you surprised, daughter of my brother?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ He replied that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, cats are not impure. They intermingle with you.’ ” In yet another Hadith narrated by Aisha, Ummul Mu’minin Dawud ibn Salih ibn Dinar at-Tammar quoted his mother as saying that her mistress sent her with some pudding (harisah) to Aisha ( the wife of Mohammed) who was offering prayer. Aisha made a sign for me to place it down. A cat came and ate some of it, but when Aisha finished her prayer, she ate from the place where the cat had eaten. She stated, The Messenger of Allah said, It is not unclean; it is one of those who go round among you. She added, I saw the Messenger of Allah performing ablution from the water left over by the cat (Omisdsalar, 1990).

  In stark contrast, Christians believed that the cat licked the back of toads and drank from where the Christians drank and defiled their water causing long illnesses. If a cat even sneezed or a drop from its eye went into the water, it would cause sickness and death. For Christians, the cat was dirty (Williams, 1967).

  Through a story passed down orally to Ad-Damiri, Muslims’ acceptance and respect for the cat is quite
clear. “The grammarian Ibn Babshad was sitting with his friends on the roof of a mosque in Cairo eating some food. When a cat passed by, they gave her some morsels; she took them and ran away, only to come back time and time again. The scholars followed her and saw her running to an adjacent house on whose roof a blind cat was sitting. The cat carefully placed the morsels in front of her. Babshad was so moved by God’s caring for the blind creature that he gave up all his belongings and lived in poverty, completely trusting in God until he died in 1067” (related orally to 14th century Theologian and zoologist Damiri) (Chittock & Schimmel, 2001, p. 40).

  Ibn Alalaf Al Naharwany, a poet of Bagdad who died around AD 930, wrote about the mischievous adventures of his ill-fated cat. Al Naharwany metes out a much harsher solution to the problem than Agathias did when faced with the death of his own partridge that his cat killed in AD 550. When Al Naharwany’s cat simply tried to kill one of his doves, he coldly shot it dead, and then wrote this poem lamenting her death.

  To A Cat

  Poor puss is gone! Tis fate’s decree----

  Yet I must still her loss deplore,

  For dearer than a child was she,

  And ne’er shall I behold her more.

  With many a sad presaging tear

  This morn I saw her steal away,

  While she went on without a fear