Cats in the Tarot

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 26 Jan 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

scheherazade	26 Jan 2003
I have noticed that in Celtic, British or Irish Tarots, I have never seen a cat used as a symbol. This is a simple question - I'm just wondering why. They have birds, dogs, horses, deer, bats, insects - but no cats. Why? I may be wrong, but I've read somewhere that the Wicca descended from the Celts, and they acknowledge the cat for its connotation with the moon. Where did this come from, if the Celts did not care for cats? Or were there no cats in the region at the time? I really need to do some research, but I'm just asking, nevertheless.

truthsayer	26 Jan 2003
could you tell which decks in particular you are speaking of? i tend to think of the rws as british and the queen of wands has a cat. i have quite a few decks and i don't have time to go thru all of them to satisfy my curiosity! are you talking about all felines or just domestic cats? as a cat fanatic i must know! tarot for cats, tarot of the cat people,the IL menegazzi gatti, and the tarot du chat are all based on cats if you are looking for decks with cats. :)

scheherazade	26 Jan 2003
Well... *smiles sheepishly* I'm only referring to three decks that I own - the Tarot Nova, The Sacred Circle Tarot, and The Fairy Oracle. The Tarot Nova has a cat or two, but not in the right, places, in my opinion. I'm talking of all types of felines, domestic, wild, mystical, etc. I'm a cat fanatic, as well - but I'm not specifically looking for a cat deck; I'm just wondering why there weren't any cats in the decks where I expected to see them.

HudsonGray	26 Jan 2003
I know England/British Isles have a native wildcat (looks like a tabby with a stubby tail and short legs). My Beasts Of Albion set has a wildcat in it.

scheherazade	26 Jan 2003
*sigh* Beautiful decks are lacking when they don't feature felines...

truthsayer	26 Jan 2003
try a rider waite smith, universal waite or hanson roberts deck. i feel fairly certain there is at least one cat in each of these decks. the strength card usually has a lion. the queen of wands has a cat. that's all i remember. the animal-wise tarot has several felines.

Macavity	26 Jan 2003
If the decks are historically accurate, I suppose it might depend on just WHEN cats first arrived in the British Isles and Eire? Cats were probably arriving in Southern Europe from Africa/Egypt from 1000 B.C. onwards. They were recorded in the Pompeii mosaics as early as 96 A.D. and it would seem rather likely that some of them must have stowed away with the Roman invaders or with sailors on ships - as pets... or rather rat control? }) Certainly reference is made to cats accompanying early Christian Monk settlers to the British Isles from 400 A.D. and (one+) cat(s) certainly made it into the book of Kells and (thus) to Eire from 800 A.D.? Cat carvings are found at the base of one Celtic Cross from that period... but this is perhaps rather rare? And I suppose the relationship between cats and humans has always been a little "patchy" with their sometime occult associations? Or perhaps it is simply because they were not considered all THAT important? :( Fortunately cats are known to be very persistant! I think in one early Marseille style Tarot decks the Fool is actually being "attacked" by a CAT rather than by a dog. :D Macavity

jmd	26 Jan 2003
The animal depicted on the Fool card in the Marseilles deck is rather ambiguous: most claim it's a dog, others a cat. It certainly looks like neither if one expects a depiction of verisimilitude!

HudsonGray	27 Jan 2003
I don't know about the Roman soldiers bringing cats to the British Isles at first, they used ferrets for rabbit hunting when on the march. But once they set up homes (about 70AD) I figure some of them at least would have brought more than just dogs along as pets.

Kiama	27 Jan 2003
The Celts themselves did not really pay any attention to cats. We have plenty of mentions of bulls, dogs, pigs, eagles, boars and what-have-you in all Celtic (Irish, Welsh, Scottish, Breton) myths, legends, and accounts, but nothing of cats. The Celts had not by that time tamed cats, dogs and horses yes, but not cats. The reverence moder day Wicca has for cats may come from the Egyptian paganism. Cats were revered as sacred to the Goddess Bast, hte divine feminine principle, and there is lots in Wicca today that stems from Egyptian worship, though you are correct, a bit does come from hte Celts, though not the cat bit. Kiama PS- For further reading on hte animals which were important to the Celts, you could skim read the Mabinogion, Tain bo Cuailgne, or any of the Celtic source texts.

WolfSpirit	27 Jan 2003
The druid animal oracle has a beautiful cat (a wild cat) in it. According tp the book: the cat, whether wild or domestic, is sacred to the Goddess in Druid tradition, appearing in Irish, Welsh and Breton folklore, but it is in Scotland that we find a particularly powerful connection. A number of Scottish clans held the cat as their totem animal (there's lots more on it, very interesting) As for cats in tarot: the legend arthurian has some cats in it, i remember even a cat being on a ship accompanying a queen ( i think the queen of wands)

magpie9	27 Jan 2003
Thank you, Wolfspirit for that info--I was beginning to think I alone in that Celtic Information memory. Cats in Tarot--the Halloween Tarot Deck has a cat on every card. Altogether delightful deck. Magpie9...m\\>^..^

patter	28 Jan 2003
If you want cats, there is the 'cat people' tarot , of course http://www.astroamerica.com/t-cat.html

Kiama	28 Jan 2003
Quote: Originally posted by WolfSpirit The druid animal oracle has a beautiful cat (a wild cat) in it. According tp the book: the cat, whether wild or domestic, is sacred to the Goddess in Druid tradition, appearing in Irish, Welsh and Breton folklore, but it is in Scotland that we find a particularly powerful connection. A number of Scottish clans held the cat as their totem animal (there's lots more on it, very interesting) That's odd: I've read nearly all the original Celtic texts, and haven't found much at stuff in there at all. I think I have the Druid Animal Oracle somwhere... Shall have to check their sources. Kiama

scheherazade	28 Jan 2003
Yes, that's what I'd begun this thread about... because I'd thought that if cats were important to the Celtic tradition, they'd most likely be in the Sacred Circle Tarot.

Kyrielle	28 Jan 2003
The Fool in Tarot Nova is riding on a cat. -- Kyrielle

Jewel	28 Jan 2003
The Wirth deck also has a cat with the Fool (instead of a dog) ... then again, at the time that deck was done everything Egyptian was the rage in European esoterism ... which goes back to what Kiama said.

Macavity	29 Jan 2003
Quote: Originally posted by jmd The animal depicted on the Fool card in the Marseilles deck is rather ambiguous: most claim it's a dog, others a cat. It certainly looks like neither if one expects a depiction of verisimilitude! I notice, in retrospect, that the image to which I was referring came (apparently!) from Court de Gebelin's "Le Monde Primitif". And... it's "definitely" a CAT :D But seriously, I guess (now) that CDG was more of a commentator on Tarot (or originator of divination?) rather than someone defining the images. I'll have to read more on this anyway... Macavity

Eowyn	04 Feb 2003
I dont know if the Arthurian period interests you, but in the Legend deck, the queens have a cat going around in the scene. ANd the kings has different pets, dogs mostly.

The Cats in the Tarot thread was originally posted on 26 Jan 2003 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.