About a month before cats became the Trump/Vance campaign theme, I had night after night of dreams with cats of all kinds. Frankly, I couldn’t figure it out. Normally, dreams of cats represent theft (cat burglar) or trickery because cats are prodigious hunters and are able to surprise their prey. I once had a dream of a demented cartoon cat that walked backward. It turned out that the night I had that nightmare, the tour bus that held all our possessions was broken into, and everything was taken. Other times, cats have turned up when trickery was afoot, not when we dream of our own cats but unknown cats. But these dreams were very different and confused me: adorable litters of kittens and random cute cats doing things. It was more like a cat-focused Instagram feed than a dream. I knew it wasn’t about trickery because these were happy, cute cats playing and doing sweet things. I wrote them down and filed them away. Vance went to town on the childless cat lady thing a few weeks later.
Cats have a long history of being associated with women and feminine power. The iconography of the witch with her familiar, a little black cat (black-yin energy), is part of the Western milieu. Spiritually, all cats represent feminine power, intuition, and instinct. All cats are matriarchal, even the great lion, the “king” of the jungle. The “king” is more of a hired stud than anything else. He has a couple of years where he gets to mate with the pride until he gets too old, and the next male fights him for dominance. While he’s king he lays around being fed by his haram, he does nothing except act as a grade A stud.
All cats’ societal structures are organized, with females doing most of the hunting and collaboration while males fight for scraps, mating opportunities, and a place in the colony. Domestic cats will also organize themselves in this way when feral. It’s no coincidence that domesticated female cats are called queens, and the males are called toms.
We all know cats were sacred to the Egyptians and fell out of favor during the Middle Ages when the extremely evil patriarchal Catholic Church was persecuting women (mostly with money, land, and power). Cats were drowned, killed, and hunted because of their association with “witchcraft” (women's power). They suffered along with women because of their strong psychic association with feminine power. Ironically, this practice likely accelerated and amplified the black plague. Experts believe the removal of cats from cities allowed mice and rats to proliferate, helping spread the disease.
Sometimes, people have one bad experience with a nutty cat and dislike all cats because of that, but I’ve noticed most people who hate cats tend to have issues with control and fear or hatred of women. Cats are loyal friends, but they aren’t like dogs who will let you beat and abuse them and still come back for more. Relationships with cats must be cultivated. My cats (and dog) follow me everywhere I go because I respect them. Unlike dogs, cats are highly psychic. You can call them with your mind. Just think about them and imagine them walking to you, and they will come (if you know how to connect with them).
Cats are associated with magic, mystery, feminine power, secrets, psychic ability, independence, matriarchy, feminine self-reliance, and cooperation. It’s no wonder that the two most misogynistic, superstitious, racist, malevolent, patriarchal authoritarians (Trump & Vance) would focus on controlling women’s bodies and cats.
I had a dream once long ago that some guy asked me to do something, can't remember what, but I answered, "I come from the land of women and cats, and I don't have to!"
I love this painting and I love cats, I was just thinking of my first cat, she was a stray, she used to wait for me outside the house to come home from school, such lovely devotion to another species, its no wonder we love them so.