The Divinity of Cats

In the Modern world, We often use the saying, "Cats were once worshiped as gods and they have never forgotten it."

I myself have known, of the ancient Egyptian Goddess Bast was a Lioness Deity . As many of you may already know this, Yet Bast is not the only Cat Deity. ( Later in this article you can learn how this goddess became the Deity of the domestic cat / house cat )

Through out all cultures The Cat Deities all share very similar attributes. Fertility, Protectors, healers, Warrior's, which come from the Big cats as they were generally personifications of power, warfare and often the protector of Rulers. Yet the domestic cat was also seen as a Protector of hearth and home and also of fertility

In the Norse Panthoen the Goddess Freyja, though not a Cat deity herself is the goddess of war, battle, death, magic, prophecy, wealth, and fertility and was closely associated with cats as she rode in a chariot pulled by two giant cats which are called, Gib-cats in the Prose Edda, and are thought to be either the Eurasian lynx found throughout northern Europe, or the Norwegian Forest Cat. WHich has a very thick coat, which is double layered and its tail is very bushy, the other notable thing about this cat is that its hind legs are longer than its forelegs, as well as it's outer coat being corse, making it water proof.

In South America the ancient Maya culture, Had the Goddess Ixchel, the aged jaguar goddess of midwifery and medicine.

In India the fourth Incarnation of Lord Vishnu was that of the Avatar or Avatara of Narasimha, who is discribed as having a human-like torso and a lower body, but with a lion-like face and claws.Lord Vishnu in this form hunted down the demon Hiranyakashipu, who  could not be killed by human, god or animal. As Narasimha is not any of these, but is all of these at once, he was able to kill the demon.

Though Ancient egypt is not the sole ancient civilization to hold cats as Deities. It is from the Ancient Egyptians the legacy of worship of the feline has been brought down to us via the Greco-Roman era. In Ancient Egypt the first Cat Deity to be worshiped was knowen as Aker (also spelt Akar) and was the deification of the Horizon.Since the horizon was where night became day, and as such Aker was said to guard the entrance and exit to the underworld, opening them for the sun to pass through during the night. As the guard, it was said that the dead had to request Aker to open the underworld's gates, so that they might enter. Also, as all who had died had to pass Aker, it was said that Aker annulled the causes of death, such as extracting the poison from any snakes that had bitten the deceased, or from any scorpions that had stung them.No knowen Temples were built for this Deity as it was a deity of the natural primal world. It became quite a common practice to have  twin statues of lions at the doors of  palaces and tombs. This was to guard the households and tombs from evil spirits and other malevolent beings. This practice was adopted by the Greeks and Romans, and is still unknowingly followed by some today. Unlike most of the other Egyptian deities, the worship of Aker remained popular well into the Greco-Roman era. It is in this earliest form of the Divine cat we begin to see the attributes that would later be associated with other cat Deities, such as Protection and of healing, and specifically healing poison which  would be also attributed to later Cat Deities.

The Lioness Goddess of Lower Egypt ( Lower Egypt is in the delta region in the north) was known as Bast. Bast was said to be the wife of the god Ptah. Ptah was the creator god of the universe. It was her temple which is the most famed and claimed as the most beautiful temple in all Egypt, having two canals one hundred feet wide carved in and around her main temple from the Nile. The Goddess Bast, like her Upper Egypt counter part. Was a Lioness Goddess, Having the Body of a woman and the head of a Lioness. She was viewed as the protector goddess of Lower Egypt, and consequently depicted as a fierce lioness. Indeed, her name means (female) devourer. As protector, she was seen as defender of the pharaoh, and consequently of the later chief male deity, Ra, who was a solar deity also, gaining her the titles Lady of Flame and Eye of Ra. She was sometimes depicted holding a ceremonial sistrum in one hand symbolizing her role as a goddess of dance, joy, and festivity.and an aegis in the other – the aegis can be a small draw sting bag. A Sistrum is a muscial instrument, its close modern equivalent, is the tambourine. However by the time of the Middle Kingdom she came to be regarded as a domestic cat rather than a lioness Bastet also became known as a fertility Goddess due tot he fact female cats are known for their abitly to have a number of litters in any given year and closely after having just had a previous litter. Consequently, a woman who wanted children sometimes wore an amulet showing the goddess with kittens, the number of which indicated her own desired number of children. Due to the threat to the food supply that could be caused by simple vermin such as mice and rats, and their ability to fight and kill snakes, especially cobras, cats in Egypt were revered highly, sometimes being given golden jewellery to wear and were allowed to eat from the same plates as their owners. Consequently, later as the main cat (rather than lioness) deity, Bastet was strongly revered as the patron of cats.

Sekhmet (also spelled Sachmet, Sakhet, Sekmet, Sakhmet and Sekhet; ) Was the Lioness Goddess of Upper Egypt. Like Bast Sekhmet was a Solor Goddess and the fiercest hunter known to the Egyptians. It was said that her breath created the desert. She was seen as the protector of the pharaohs and led them in warfare. It was believed Sekhmet protected the pharaoh in battle, stalking the land, and destroying the pharaoh's enemies with arrows of fire.

When Upper Egypt conquered Lower egypt it was Sekhmet who was seen as the Stronger of the two Lioness Goddess of war. Consequently, it was Sekhmet who was seen as the Avenger of Wrongs, and the Scarlet Lady, a reference to blood, as the one with bloodlust. She also was seen as a special goddess for women, ruling over menstruation. Unable to eliminate the cult and worship Bast completly, She became a lesser deity and even was marginalized as Bastet by the priests of Amun. Who added a second female ending to her name, By this means Bastet as she had become known , was seen as the deity and Protector of House and Hearth, and thus was then often depicted as a woman with the head of a domestic cat,/ house cat sometimes holding the mask of a lioness. Or was depicted in statues as a domestic cat.

Sekhmet largly took over the Role that was held by Bast in lower egypt. And was attributed with al the fierce war like attributes of both the Lioness Goddess'. Sekhmet also was seen as a bringer of disease as well as the provider of cures to such ills.It was said that her statues were protected from theft or vandalism by coating them with anthrax. Bacillus anthracis can form dormant spores that are able to survive in harsh conditions for extremely long periods of time.

Anthrax belongs to the family of Bacillus, Wild and domesticated herbivorous, mammals can ingest or inhale the spores while browsing.

Festivals were celebrated at the end of battle, so that the destruction would come to an end, and thus pacify the Blood thirsty Goddess Sekhmet. There was also a festival held at the beginning of the year when during the inundation at the beginning of each year , when the Nile ran blood-red with the silt from upstream . Which also may relate to Skehment also being the Goddess that ruled over woman's menstruation. The festival held at the beginning of the year was a festival of intoxication, the Egyptians danced and played music to soothe the wildness of the goddess and drank great quantities of beer ritually to imitate the extreme drunkenness that stopped the wrath of the goddess. this came about from the Legend of Re and Hathor. Skhmet's temper was uncontrollable. In the legend of Re and Hathor, Sekhmet's anger became so great, she would have destroyed all of mankind if Re had not taken pity on us and made her drunk.

The worship of the Goddess Bast continues today through Khemetic reconstructionalist religions, there are several 'Bast Cults' some of which may be found online and as such, technically, predates most Religions.

Maahes (also spelled Mihos, Miysis, Mios, Maihes, and Mahes)

was considered the son of the Godess Bast and then later as the son of the Goddess Sekhmet.  Maahes was seen as a lion prince. and like his Goddess Mother held very similar attributes, and was known as protector of the innocent and devourer of the guilty. He did not first appear until the New Kingdom and is often depicted as a man with the head of a male lion, occasionally holding a knife and wearing the double crown of Egypt, or the atef crown.Maahes was a deity associated with war and weather, and was considered the protector of matrilineality and of the high priests of Amun. The term Maahes was used to describe the caste of high-priests of Amun, these were high ranking hereditary chiefs. However there is some evidence that Maahes may have been an introduced deity and that he was infact the lion-god Apedemak worshipped in Nubia and Egypt's Western Desert.from Nubia

Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia

The Dictionary of Mythology by J.A.Coleman

 Sarah Hartwell author of messybeast.com