This is another excerpt from my unpublished (as yet) book about cats for young and general readers
In Vietnamese astrology, the cat is one of the twelve animals of the zodiac, but in the Chinese version it is replaced by the rabbit. The story goes that the Jade Emperor beckoned all the animals to his palace for inclusion in the zodiac, but the rat either omitted to tell his friend the cat or pushed the cat into the water along the way so he would not arrive in time. The cat, who came 13th and missed its place, vowed to be the rat’s enemy from that day forward. In other versions of the story, the animals were summonsed to the Buddha’s death bed but the cat either didn’t turn up because he was napping, or did turn up but disgraced himself by eating the mouse.
In the Vietnamese tradition, people born in the Year of the Cat (roughly 1903, 1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999 and 2011) are “smooth talkers, talented and ambitious and will succeed in studies” . They are, unsurprisingly, not compatible with people born under the sign of the rat (every 12th year from 1900).
Throughout Asia, cats are still used as symbols of good luck. In Japan, especially, many people own talisman cats with one paw raised. The legend of the “Beckoning Cat”, which is believed to ward-off bad luck and protect from pain and ill-health, concerns the poverty-stricken monks at the Gotoku-ji temple who shared what little food they had with a pet cat. One day when a group of wealthy samurai were passing by during a heavy storm, the cat “beckoned” them into the temple, where they passed their time learning the principles of Buddhism. In one variant of the story, lightning hits the spot where the samurai had been standing, so the cat has saved their lives. In any case, the samurai bestowed great gifts on the monks, and a small cat shrine exists to this day.
Almost ubiquitous in South East Asia, and now in the western world, is Hello Kitty. This cute white feline with a pink bow and no mouth owes more to the gods of marketing than to any religious order. Created in 1974 by the Sanrio company in Japan, this cool cat has created a billion-dollar empire, and is seen on merchandise ranging from clothes to mobile phones and credit cards. She even has her own theme park called Harmonyland.
Cats also played an important part in Norse mythology, with two of them pulling the chariot that carried Freya, the goddess of married love, the hearth and death. Also in Scandanavian folklore, there is a mythical “butter cat” known as Para or Smieragatto that is a bringer of gifts, particularly butter and milk. To this day, practitioners of Wicca (witchcraft) believe cats are especially tuned into the spirit world and can sense evil.
References: Roni Jay, The Kingdom of the Cat, op cit; Barbara Cohen and Huu Ngoc, The Vietnamese Zodiac, ThingsAsian.com; Desmond Morris, Cat World: A Feline Encyclopedia, Ebury Press, 1996; Official Hello Kitty website: www.sanrio.com; The Hutchison Encyclopedia of Ideas, 2003
