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Cat his name is Frankie.
So besides cat fur all over me, and learning to listen to what he was saying I also wanted to learn some more about CAT energies.
Manx Cats are a breed that have developed and evolved on a small island off the English Coast - The Isle of Man
Origin
(NO this is not Frankie, pretty close however)...image from https://www.pictures-of-cats.org/manx-cats.html
Manx cats are tailless Although there are myths describing how this came about, this is caused by a dominant genetic mutation. The mutated gene has a high degree of penetration¹. This accounts for the Founder Effect² and the establishment of this breed from a small number of original cats. Several breeds have been created through spontaneous genetic mutation (e.g. American Curl, Munchkin, Sphynx - so this is not unusual. What is unusual is that the genetic mutation happened several centuries ago. Although this may simply be a question of when the cat demonstrating the mutation was discovered and when people became interested in the cat. The other mutations are fairly recent or at least have been noted/discovered fairly recently.
The history of the cat is bound up with the Isle of Man. The mutation happened on a small island and the breed has developed on that island with limited interaction with other breeds. It could be argued that this is a natural cat as they have had limited opportunities to intermingle with any other breed. However, the origins are not altogether clear. Although, the Isle of Man is small (33 miles by 13 miles, pop. 80,000), it was a center for smuggling and in the late 1700s it was described as a place to store contraband from various countries on Continental Europe (as it is now).
Perhaps then Manx cats were brought in on ships from the Continent?
History/Myths
There is documentary evidence of the existence of tailless cats in Cornwall and Dorset in 1837. In 1909 the evidence suggests that this cat was called a Manx cat.
Much like the Japanese Bobtail, there are numerous legends surrounding the Manx cat.
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Myths about losing tail in Noah's Ark door! and importation on ships from Japan (Japanese Bobtail - wrong different gene mutation)
1588
First Rumpy came in off a ship wrecked of Spanish Head at the time of the Spanish Armada
1730
Research on the Manx language indicated the mutation occurred around this time
1750
The tailless cat called "Stubbin" an English word. The Manx language was used until 1750 indicating the cat arrived after 1750 1845
A writer describes the Manx as a cross between a rabbit and a cat having some of the characteristics of a rabbit late 1800s?
Belief that amputation of a tail either naturally or purposefully (docking) can result in the cat who has had her tail docked having tailless offspring
Quick look at the symbolic meanings of the cat:
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Astute
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Clever
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Secretive
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Mysterious
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Supernatural
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Watchfulness
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Transformation
As an ancient symbolic Celtic animal, the cat represents the guardian of the Otherworld (or Underworld, depending which texts you read from various regions). Stoic, silent and mysterious, cats fit the bill of Otherworld guardians quite well. They keep the secrets of the Otherworld eternally to themselves, as they gaze with guile upon a world that does not see or understand the depth of their knowledge. However, black cats in Celtic lore were considered evil, and were sacrificed.
In Western tradition, black cats are associated with witchcraft. This is due to black being associated with supposed perils of the night, and the cat is associated with transformation just as the veil of night shifts our perception of reality.
However, in Ancient Rome the cat was sacred to Diana, the moon goddess. Here the cat was also considered a guardian of homes and a symbol of domestic goodness.
In Muslim lore, the cat is honored for saving Mohammad from an attack by a fierce snake. Here it is believed the “M†marking on the forehead of many tabby cats is the mark of the prophet (â€M†for Mohammad).
In Norse legend the cat is depicted drawing the chariot of their fertility goddess, Freyja, and therefore the cat is thought of as a blessing upon newborns and a good omen for those increasing their family ranks.
In ancient Egypt cats were sacred and were even depicted on the head of their lunar goddess, Bastet which was worshipped by the ancient Egyptians. In her honor, cats were even mummified along with mice for them to eat.
Cats themselves are quite resourceful and tend to give us messages of change, flexibility of adaptability. Often, when a cat makes an uncommon appearance in our lives it is a message for us to shake up our habitual routines and make some fresh changes in our lives, as well as be more flexible in our thinking.
Cats can also be quite aloof, and this too is often a message for us to distance ourselves from people or situations. Sometimes the best cure for a problem is to step away from it - the cat inherently realizes this, and we would be wise to recognize this need as well.
Lastly, the cat is full of mystery. Unfortunately, its unpredictability has given the cat a bad name in some areas of folk lore, specifically witchcraft. When, in actuality, this is an asset that can be harnessed by us humans.
Sometimes displaying very strange behavior and antics, you can never really pin a cat down. Simply put, the cat has been deemed a symbol of creativity and psychic power because of its sometimes unorthodox & “mysterious†behavior. This is also reflected in the Tarot deck as we see the cat in the Queen of Wands card.
The good news is, this mystery is a message to us that we have the power over illusion. The cat reminds us to not fall prey to false beliefs, to not be a fool out of ignorance and derive understanding from our own internal wisdom. The cat beckons us to realize that when we turn within to our own hearts, minds and souls, and trust in ourselves we will always be shown the truth of matters.
https://symbolic-meanings.com/category/celtic/
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