When we hear the word cat, images of a cute, purring, affectionate creature immediately appear in our minds. Meanwhile, the most affectionate domestic cat more than once ran away from her loving owner through an open window from the 5th floor, causing a lot of anxiety and excitement. And then relief... when she returned safe and sound after her triumphant escape. And the thought immediately popped into my head: it’s good that a cat has 9 lives.
Fact or fiction? Read on!
Where did the belief come from?
So why do they say cats have 9 lives? Where did this saying come from? And why exactly 9? History contains many legends and myths about the cat nine. But the origins of this saying go back to Ancient Egypt...
Where do the origins lead?
Ancient Egypt
Anyone who has ever been to Egypt has noticed that in the most ancient temples in the middle of the desert, far from human settlements, multiple images of women with cat heads are painted on the walls. Cats walk in the middle of the street like owners, and in every souvenir shop there is a lazy, sleepy cat. The Egyptians believe that the cat is the reincarnation of the goddess Bast. She was depicted with the head of a cat, and in her hands was a musical instrument. The goddess of fertility died and was resurrected 9 times, which, apparently, laid the basis for the popular expression. According to another version, during the reign of the pharaohs, cats were considered sacred; they were considered messengers of the gods on earth. Each pharaoh had several cats that performed royal service. Subsequently, the sun god Ra gave them nine lives so that they could continue to serve their masters, bestowing them with their feline wisdom.
In royal service.
Norse mythology
Scandinavian mythology gives us another version of where this saying came from. The ancient Scandinavian goddess of love, Freya, whose beauty had no equal, neither among people nor among gods, rode between the nine worlds in a chariot. And instead of horses, the chariot was harnessed to two large red cats. They say that the god Thor gave her these cats so that she could quickly take fallen warriors from earth to heaven. As a reward for faithful service, the goddess of passion, love and fertility gave her faithful cats nine lives each.
And instead of horses, the chariot was harnessed to two large red cats.
Medieval Europe
But during the Middle Ages there was a completely different attitude towards the cat family. Cute cats began to be associated with witches, sorcerers and other dark forces. Cats began to be destroyed en masse, because they thought that witches could turn into black cats in order to quietly enter the houses of religious people and damage them. It was believed that a witch could make such transformations exactly nine times... after which she died. After the mass destruction of cute fluffy creatures, Europe suffered a terrible disaster: the medieval streets were filled with disgusting creatures... Europe was filled with rats, who brought the plague with them.
Cats in the Middle Ages
India
In India, there is another version that explains why cats have 9 lives... It is associated with the god Shiva, who once looked into the temple and saw a sleeping cat there. That cat was very famous, the fame of his mathematical abilities went far beyond India. Then the god Shiva woke him up and asked if it was true that he really knew how to count. And if this is so, he will give the cat as many lives as he can count. The cat was soaked in the sun in a sweet half-asleep, but began to count. Having reached the number nine, the furry scientist fell back into his afternoon nap.
Sleeping cat and god shiva
Then God got angry and said that from now on you will only have nine lives. To which the cat only responded by purring in his sleep.
Mystical interpretations
- Divine protection
. In ancient times, supporters of various religions and beliefs believed that cats were capable of reincarnation. And most often they were credited with precisely nine rebirths in various forms. For example, in the ancient Egyptian pantheon of gods, it was nine of them who patronized the earth, and the cat was considered their alternate incarnation, sent to people to protect them from various troubles and adversities such as famine or epidemics. In reality, cats destroyed rodents in huge numbers, which spoiled crops and were carriers of various diseases. Gradually, the worship of the cat tribe turned its representatives into divine creatures, incarnations of the goddess Bastet (or Bast), whose murder was punishable by death. In the 8th century BC. in Egypt, the entire city of Bubastis was even built - the center of worship of the goddess Bast.Perhaps the myth of the nine lives of a cat originated in the depths of Scandinavian mythology, where Odin’s wife Freya was the ruler of nine worlds, and nine fluffy “horses” accompanied her everywhere and even drove her chariot across the skies.
- The machinations of the devil
. The gloomy Middle Ages were saturated with many terrible superstitions that were born from absolute ignorance among ordinary people and, like an epidemic, spread throughout cities and villages. The Holy Inquisition also added fuel to the fire, inventing more and more new ways to intimidate the people. During the “witch hunt”, incomprehensible and independent creatures with eyes that glowed at night were immediately considered accomplices of the devil, along with witches. It was believed that witches could turn into cats and meet with the demon under the cover of darkness. In this guise they could penetrate with impunity into the homes of pious Christians to carry out their evil deeds. If such a werecat was killed, then the witch returned to her human form. Each sorceress could perform such a metamorphosis no more than nine times in her life. So much for nine cat lives! - Why exactly nine
? People have always associated mysterious cat talents with something magical, and “nine” has always been considered an extraordinary number by different peoples. In Greek culture, various talents are patronized by nine muses; in the Orthodox religion there are nine ranks of angels. The star symbolizing the Holy Spirit has nine rays, and the mysterious Atlantis, according to Plato, disappeared from the face of the Earth nine thousand years ago. The personification of the number “nine” in numerology is considered to be the manifestation of the divine principle, perfection in everything, but at the same time – independence and even some selfishness. These are the traits that are inherent in almost every cat.
Video recipe for the occasion
Mysterious vitality
Surely many of you have heard about cases where cats fell from great heights and remained unharmed. Moreover, sometimes, if you look from the logical side of things, the poor animal had no chance of survival. But, nevertheless, the fact remains a fact. Having fallen from a 10-12-story building, a cat, breaking all the laws of physics, remains alive... and then, frightened, but without any injuries, returns to its loving owner, who at that moment is drinking valerian. It is thanks to their vitality that this expression about furry arose.
Surely many of you have heard about cases where cats fell from great heights and remained unharmed.
Who is guilty?
This is a story about a cat, or rather a cat, who harasses a poor woman. This dirty little guy constantly misbehaves, but always gets away with it, and his owner gets the worst of it. One day this happened: a cat caught a sparrow on the balcony and, in order to enjoy it comfortably, dragged it onto the closet. The bird, not wanting to be eaten, struggled, screamed, and flew down, the cat following it! The owner of the living space and the cat intervened in this nightmare, caught the bird, which immediately, out of fright, “hit” her in the palm of her hand, grabbed the angry hunter and dragged the entire household to the balcony. The cat scratched, struggled, and finally grabbed the woman by the chin. She released the bird and released the animal. The result is this: the sparrow is safe, the predator is offendedly lapping up milk in the kitchen, and the woman is pecked, bitten and scratched, and even the house is a mess!
What kind of pranks cats are capable of! With such animals, life will become more varied and fun! Get a cat, you won't get bored!
Interesting Facts
Scientists in numerous studies have found that a cat's purring is not only pleasant to the ear, but also has a healing effect. It has been proven that people who have these cute pets at home feel much happier and are less depressed than people who do not have them. Recently, development has been carried out on a device that operates at the same frequency as a cat’s purring. In addition, owners of cats and cats have repeatedly noted that their furry charges feel when something hurts, they lie down on this place and with their warmth, energy and purring, as if they take away all the pain and negative energy from them.
Well, who doesn’t know about the independent character of a cat? But, nevertheless, they always found food and warmth, even if they needed to make contact with people for this. Moreover, cats invented their own language in the form of meowing and purring in order to be understood. There is no other animal in the world that would have such grace, charm, peculiar cunning and dexterity. Also, thanks to a perfect vestibular system, cats can coordinate their jumps and land exactly on all four of their furry limbs.
It has been proven that people who have cats at home feel much happier and are less depressed than people who do not have them.
Scientific lifespan of a cat
Modern biologists do not deny that cats, as representatives of the animal world, are very healthy and recover from the most severe injuries. A scientific basis has been found for this. Nature already has a self-healing mechanism inside the cat’s body, which gives rise to various legends around these animals.
Rumbling
Among biologists and felinologists, there is a widespread hypothesis about purring, which they use to explain the endurance and vitality of representatives of the cat world. The ability to produce sounds tuned to a certain range contributes to a beneficial effect on the body. Sound vibrations lead to self-massage and self-soothing. The results are experienced not only by cats, but also by the people around them. It has been scientifically proven that the purring of cats can restore damage to bone tissue, relieve inflammation, and increase resistance to stress. But the workings of the cat's purring mechanism itself remain a mystery.
The purring of cats is sound and ultrasonic waves of a certain frequency that have a healing and calming effect on the human body.
Purring is actually healing and calming. And both the animal itself and the person. My cat broke her leg. I only found out about the fracture at the clinic, when she was given an x-ray. But on the way there the cat purred. The doctor explained to me that she did not do this out of pleasure, as we usually explain these vibrating sounds. In this way the animal relieved its pain. From time to time I suffer from insomnia. The best remedy for it is to drag the cat under the blanket and hold it close to you. I must say, he himself is a fan of sleeping in this position. So, to the sound of his purring you fall asleep very quickly, and even sleep until the alarm goes off without waking up.
Mysterious sense of balance
The cat always lands on all its paws, regardless of the height of the fall, while remaining unharmed or with minimal damage to health. This phenomenon falls under the definition of a miracle. This is possible thanks to the excellent vestibular apparatus, which allows the cat to group itself during a free fall, thereby taking the desired position. Here, the construction of the body plays a big role, allowing you to perform planning, taking a spread-eagled position in the air. The cat's tail acts as a rudder. It is worth noting that the greater the height, the more opportunities the animal has to take the correct position before it collides with the ground.
During the fall, the cat manages to group itself so as to land on its paws
Adaptive abilities
Our furry pets or their yard relatives adapt perfectly to all situations in which they find themselves. Cats are comfortable not only on the couch, but also in the wild. They can always find food and a place to rest. Instincts lead cats to survival, even if a domestic cat suddenly finds itself on the street. Often an animal, left without human protection by the will of fate, does not want to return to care.
Healing ourselves
The most complex cat bone fractures heal within a few weeks. In humans, for example, this process takes many months and even years. Here again the unique ability to purr plays a role. The frequency of sound regenerates cells, which helps speed up the healing process of fractures, heal bruises, and speedy recovery from various infections.
Myths and legends about cats
At all times, cats, looking at their cute faces, have come up with various properties. It was believed that they could move in space at will. Apparently, this was the reason for their sudden appearance when they needed something, and the same sudden departure when they got what they wanted. People also noted the miraculous properties of cat saliva, which they used to lick their own wounds.
It was believed that they could move in space at will.
Nowadays it is almost impossible to meet a person with an indifferent attitude towards cats. Even the most callous and indifferent person has a feeling of pity and tenderness at the sight of a small homeless kitten. Despite their vitality, we should all treat our pets more carefully, pay attention to them, not leave windows and vents wide open, feed street animals and not pass by indifferently at the sight of a meowing cat. It's not their fault that they ended up on the street. It doesn’t matter how, by running away from home or because someone treated them like a toy and, after playing, threw them out into the street. Let's be kinder. And then in return we will receive much more, their devotion, affection, tenderness and cat love.
❤
Let's be kinder.
And then in return we will receive much more, their devotion, affection, tenderness and cat love. Watch an interesting video on this topic
Thief
A funny story was written by one man. He told about his cat, who did not sit at home with his paws folded, but helped his owners replenish supplies. We took our pet with us to the dacha. During the season, when the harvest was already beginning to appear and could be harvested, household members began to find vegetables in the morning at the front door: cucumbers, unripe tomatoes. For a long time they could not understand what virtue was feeding them, because their harvest was in place. One day, a man noticed that a cat, having jumped over the fence into a neighbor’s garden, went straight to the greenhouse. The thief returned back with a small cucumber in his teeth. Of course, the neighbors were not told about this incident, but the grandmother decided to punish the bandit by spanking him with a slipper for hooliganism. The cat did not appreciate such a gesture, and to this day no one can find grandma’s slippers. Only one cat knows where they can be!
Psychics testify
People with a “sixth” sense and superpowers treat cats with no less respect than ancient magicians and sorcerers.
According to the stories of modern sorcerers:
- Cats have the ability to reincarnate on earth, being born in different bodies several times, which is comparable to the options for resuming a computer game. Physically killing a cat is not so difficult, but its spirit can be completely “erased” from the matrix only after the 9th incarnation and the 9th death.
- Cats have powerful bioenergy and are mini power plants that have a real impact on others. Associated with this is the gift of mustachioed stripes for self-medication and healing of their beloved owners. The treatment mode “turns on” during purring, having a beneficial effect on the nervous and cardiovascular systems, as well as promoting tissue regeneration and healing of fractures.
- Cats are the only creatures that can feed on negative energy and feel quite good in geopathogenic zones. They love to sit and even sleep on the “nodes” of the global energy grid, while other creatures feel internal discomfort here.
- The peculiarity of energy explains the appearance of ghost cats and cases of lower otherworldly entities hostile to humans entering a cat’s body.
Also watch the video: Do cats really have 9 lives:
Medieval Europe
As you know, in the Middle Ages cats were not favored: they were considered companions of witches, servants of the devil, they were exterminated and burned.
Cats were blamed for such characteristics that (according to medieval church ministers) were also inherent in the Devil. For example, the ability to see in the dark, glowing eyes, a “heartbreaking” meow, sharp claws. Cats were also accused of silent “gait”, thanks to which they have the ability to appear “out of nowhere” and disappear “unknown where”.
The famous treatise “The Hammer of the Witches” describes in detail the ability of witches to turn into black cats, although only 9 times in their entire lives.
