Pagan Persecution: How the Shift to Christianity Impacted Cats

Have you ever heard someone say “Be careful, you’ll become a crazy old cat lady” as if being an independent boss bitch with pet cats is something to look down on?

Why is that? Why do cats, especially when linked to a single woman, have this negative connotation? I mean yeah, if you die a cat will likely eat you if no one finds you for a few days, but a dog might eat your face off, and a cute little hamster might build a nest from your skin. Yep. Its true, just ask real live Bones aka forensic anthropologist Carolyn Rando.

So, what’s with all the pussy cat prejudice? Well, it wasn’t always so.

Cats have been around us humans for thousands of years, Ancient Egyptians are well known for their feline affinity, Bastet (or Bast) was the goddess of protection, fertility, pleasure and the bringer of good health. In Norse Mythology, one of the most renowned goddesses Freyja rode a chariot drawn by cats, and she was the goddess of love, fertility, battle and death. Cats were depicted in religious art, statues, and often the punishment for harming a cat could be as severe as death. Black cats were especially revered and were also associated with the night and the moon.

Statue of Bastet

Now, you may have noticed that all the examples I have provided have something in common. Polytheism. Yep, that’s right, technically, monotheism killed the cat. No curiosity. Let me explain.

Monotheism Killed the Cat.

During the first century CE (Common Era) Christianity emerged in the Roman Empire. Before that, polytheism, or having a plethora of gods and goddesses was the way to go. People could share a basic religion, and yet worship a different deity, ones that represented and personified that which the individual held dear. Even between different overlying religious beliefs, there was common understanding that each person was different, and had the right to believe in what they wanted. Christianity came along to change all of that. As the first truly monotheistic religion, they worshipped the ‘one true god’ and by extension, those that worshiped others were seen as idolatrous, devoted to deities who were, in fact, demons.

Now, they needed words to create a clear binary between those that saw themselves as Christian and possessing the ‘theological truth’ and all those who ‘lived in error”. Those early Christians would often refer to themselves in the Latin miles Christi meaning, soldier of Christ, and the opposite of that, the opposite of a soldier was a civilian, or, in Latin pagani. (A pagus was a town or village, paganus was an individual who lived in such a place, thus, people of the place, that place… ie… not us). I love language, and this is one of those excellent times when you can see how a word, when taken and used in a new context, can take on a life of its own. Pagani became better know, over hundreds of years, as simply, pagan.

I know this is taking a while, but trust me, I’m getting to the cats. Essential, all that was not monotheistic because know as pagan, and over time, not only discouraged, but actively frowned upon and then demonised. Cats had been held in high regard by many polytheistic religious, as we have seen, and now they were seen as a symbol of that which was wrong with the other religions. The idea of deities being able to change to animal form was blasphemous, as was worshipping a ‘false’ idol. Cats were not the only thing that was taken and twisted either, such as broom sticks…. but that is an entire story in its own right. 

We are now in the Middle Ages, and cats have gone from being worshipped, to actively hunted and slaughtered. They are  associated with witches and some even claim that they are the devil personified. People stopped owning cats in case they were accused of witchcraft. Cats were chosen not only because of their history of being deified, but also because of their attitudes. Apparently, cats and witches had something in common, a healthy disrespect for the patriarchy,  unlike 'mans best friend' the dog, cats will not yield so easily to subjugation. Anyhow, the cat population declined rapidly.

The Pestilence has entered the ring. 

Then the Black Death, or The Great Dying as it was referred to at the time, came along. General consensus is that Black Plague was most likely a bubonic plague that is cause by the bacterium Yersinia pestis and is transmitted by fleas and cycles naturally among wild rodents. There had already been a decimation of the cat population, so those rats, covered in the infected fleas, ran wild and free, and spread this plague at a rate of knots that rivals even what we saw COVID do.

There were those cat lovers who stayed true and continued to own cats, usually women, and SOMEHOW they didn’t get sick. It was almost as if something was killing or deterring the infected flea riddled rats from coming into their houses. Yes, you guessed it, THEY WERE WITCHES. Not really, they just had cats, obviously. Now more cats are killed, as well as their owners, because clearly the only thing protecting you from getting sick must be the devil. People will make up the strangest things when they are afraid and don’t understand what’s happening around them. And I am not just referring to the Middle Ages here.

Nines lives might be an understatement.

Over time the humble cat has survived, and there are places in the world where they are again treated with reverence, which if you asked a cat, is the very least they deserve. Travel to the Aegean Islands in Greece and there is a cat on every corner, they own the place more so than the people do. And there is a good reason for that, besides the fact that they are not actually vessels of the devil.

Studies have shown that people who own cats are happier. Statistically. The frequency of a cats purr, which they do to relax their muscles, can also relax yours. Cat owners will know that when they are not feeling great, their feline friend will come and lay on them and purr, they are trying to make you feel better. Probably because they know you feed them and they would rather not have to eat you after your dead. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control, research has shown that cats not only provide emotional support and improve moods, but they also have other health benefits. Having a cat around can decrease blood pressure, cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and eliminate feelings of loneliness.

Show them the respect they know they deserve.

The humble Felis Catus, subfamily felinae (those that purr not roar) is really a magnificent animal. They walk on their toes, making them silent, and their spinal column is held together by muscles rather than ligaments, which gives them their agility and that uncanny ability to always land on their feet.  Their ears can swivel 180 degrees, and move independently of each other, allowing them to pinpoint sounds, either of a mouse, or more likely, the fridge being opened. They can also hear at frequencies we can't, hence why it was assumed they were seeing things that were not there, ghouls and goblins perhaps. And that ethereal glow in their eyes at night? Not transcendental, rather just a layer of cells behind the retina which allows them to use ambient light.

All of these factors do lead them to appear otherworldly, and their aloof nature might hurt some feelings, but overall, there is really nothing like a cat.  A marvel of evolution, curled up like a croissant on the end of your bed. In the end, whether or not you believe that cats are supernatural, one foot in and one foot out as they say, you have to give them credit for dealing with hundreds of years of oppression, and not only coming out the other side, but coming out with more audacity than a middle-aged white man.