Afraid of cats?

[Dark Espeon]

Cat Animal Totem

Perhaps no animal inspires such devotion and dedication-or such
animosity and abhorrence as the cat.

To the ancient Egyptians, the cat was accorded a place of reverence
in both the home and the temple. A cemetery containing the mummies
of thousands of black cats was unearthed in Egypt.

The popular folk belief that the cat possesses nine lives goes back to
the Egyptian worship of Bast, the Cat-Mother goddess, who had nine
incarnations, including that of the benevolent aspect of Hathor, the Lioness.
The Egyptian word for cat was Mati, which is at once an imitation of the
cat's call and the nearly universal human cry for Mama, mother. Cats came
to be worshiped with such intensity in those ancient cities along the Nile
that the wanton killing of a cat was punishable by death.

Bubastis, a city in Lower Egypt, dedicated itself to the worship of the cat.
Each May some 700,000 pilgrims journeyed to the city to participate in a
cat festival.

Because the old Egyptians had a great fear of the dark, they observed
with awe that the cat, a nocturnal creature, walked the shad-owed streets
with the greatest of confidence. The ancient Egyptian sages made so much
of the cat's midnight forays they declared that the cat alone was responsible
for preventing the world from falling into eternal darkness.

On the other hand, in the old European tradition, the cat was accused of
plotting to bring the world into the dark clutches of Satan. The cat, especially a black one, was regarded as the favorite familiar of the practitioners of dark and evil witchcraft. The Grand Inquisitors condemned nearly as many cats to the stake as witches. It is because of this baseless, old ecclesiastical judgment that the sighting of a black cat is said to be an omen of fast approaching misfortune.

Whether people in the Middle Ages truly believed that the unwavering stare
of a cat could cause demonic torments and even their deaths, an
unreasoning fearful response to cats is known today as ailurphobia. The
very sight of a cat would set Adolf Hitler trembling. Napoleon Bonaparte
conquered nearly all of Europe, but if he should sight a cat in his palace,
he shouted for help. Henry III of England would faint at the very
appearance of a cat.

In ancient India, the cat was held sacred. A numher of Sanskrit texts make
many favorable references to the influence of the cat on humankind.

In Scandinavian countries, brides used to try their best to be mar ned on
Friday, the day of the goddess Freya. If a young woman mar-ried on a sunny
Friday, it was certain that Freya, the cat-goddess of the Nordic people, would bless the union.

The domestic cat was, of course, unknown to the Native Americans until the
advent of the European settler. Because of the creature's fondness for roaming at night, the Pueblos associated the cat with witchcraft, though this may also have been a result of the Spanish influence on their community.

...

...WTF?

Do you think that stuff is true? (the stuff in bold) How is that possible? How can anybody be afraid of a cat?! O_O

On a brighter side, it's cool that Hitler was afraid of me :-D. yes I was a cat back then. I'm also a cat by night, FYI :-D.

I can understand fear of bugs, snakes, etc. But of a cat? Ack!

*sees a black kitty* Ah lookie here, the most precious creature ever :kawaii: :-D.

Please do not tell me you is afraid of cats >>...

 

[FabuVinny]

I can see why people would be afraid of cats, (there are much stranger phobias,) and cats can be associated with witches. In Ypres in the Middle Ages, they used to throw cats off the steeple. Yet the people listed is hard to believe. If only we had known, we could have won WWII six years earlier. ^^

 

[Unregistered]

Indeed. lol I'd have brought my cat if that was true :-D.

 

[Orochi-Breakwing]

Yep. ALl they had to do was fill Hitlers place with cats, and hed shoot himself.

Yano...earlier.