CULT OF THE CAT, THE (ART AND IMAGINATION)

Cats belong to a supernatural world of potency and prowess. They are the survivors, the creatures most at home in their environment, the fastest and most successful predators on earth. Since Alexander, kings have hunted them; Heracles and David conquered them and wore their skins. The Egyptians worshipped them as goddesses; the shamans and sorcerers of Central Africa and South America took on their shapes to gain entry to the spirit realm. Tamed, they remain free, our link with the superhuman in the wild. Between the feline and the human worlds has developed a mysterious rapport expressed in magic, in folk belief, and in the continuing presence of countless millions of pet cats as the objects of everyday worship.