Cat of the Animal Wisdom Tarot
There has barely been an entire year’s time in my life that I have not lived with cats. As a child, my family had at least two cats and regularly had a batch of kittens climbing all over the place. As many of you know, my life has been filled with and full because of animals, and I have often felt that I would always at least need to have a cat around.
Because of the ubiquitousness of cats in my life, I am used to getting messages from them. However, in the last month or so cats have come up in conversations and encounters with others. In one conversation, the local coffee shop owner showed me a picture she had taken of a glass that seemed to have the ghostly image of a cat on it, as if watching over her from another realm. (She had only seen this image in the photograph.)
Cats seem to have a knowing and wisdom of what is hidden to us humans. Physiologically they can see very well in darkness and often seem to be looking at and watching things invisible to our eyes. I was reminded of this when I looked through one of my new Tarot decks: The Animal Wisdom Tarot. The Cat, Knower of Secrets, card is equivalent to the High Priestess, the keeper of occult knowledge, the one who sees what is hidden, what is mysterious and mystical, and what is deep within our psyches. The High Priestess and the cat are quite comfortable being active at night and in the darkness.
The cat is also connected to goddesses, from the protective mother and war goddess Bastet of Ancient Egypt to the two cats who drove Freyja’s chariot, the Norse goddess of fertility, war, the afterlife, and sorcery, or occult knowledge. Bastet, who was also the wife of Anubis, god of embalming and the dead, is also connected to the afterlife and spirit realm.
The cat’s connection to the night and the ethereal realm also connects them to the dream world. This reminded me of one of my dream series about cats. Most of the dreams in this series occurred over the course of several years, but had ended about two years ago, before I moved back to the family home. In this dream series most of the dreams had this common theme: I was in the family home, often in the basement or garage, and cats, but mostly kittens, start to crawl out of the walls.
As usual, at the time, I was puzzled by these dreams. Now, having experienced the last few years, I understand that there was much hidden deep in my psyche (house) concerning my childhood and family that needed to be brought to the surface (basement/garage) to be healed and freed (kittens coming out of walls).
My kitty, Zoe, the wise Shri Swami Sattvapurrrrrananda (click pic for her yoga book!)
A couple months ago, however, I had a new cat dream: I was downstairs coming out of what was the old bathroom and saw a small kitten under the couch/table. My dogs were there too. I went to get the kitten (tiger-striped) and then saw another. It went under my sister’s (old) bedroom door. I went in knowing she did not live here anymore. Inside was a Siamese mother cat and at least a dozen baby kittens. She was hungry because she was stuck in the room. I planned to set up water and food for her and the babies and wondered if there was a birthing mess. I took mama cat upstairs to the office to tell my mom, dad, and brother. My dogs came too.
And as usual so many layers of meaning for me with this dream! Here are just a few: A little more cleaning up of the deep psyche (downstairs/basement of house), but much birthing, freshness, freedom (kittens) and a need for good self-nurturing. There is also a message of being able to fully present my Self (as mama cat and kittens) to my family.
The Cat symbolizes:
- Independence and Freedom
- Protection and Watchfulness
- Nurturing, Mothering, and Love
- Intuition, Mystery, and Seeing the Unseen/Hidden
- Occult Knowledge, Secrets, and Wisdom
- The Spirit Realm and Afterlife
Through the Peacock's Eyes 
Reblogged this on Cherokee Billie Spiritual Advisor.
Thank you Billie! ❤
❤ this article ❤
meow 🙂
A lovely post Julianne ..the last dream I had of a cat was of Simba whom we lost to being shot..we waited a year and still could not come to terms with living in our house anymore in that street..the week we found the house we live in now..i had a dream..Simba was here at the new house..running around ..he even had his full tail..which he had lost to a rabbit trap many years earlier..he was darting all over the property..i knew when I woke we had found the right house and we bought it..knowing he was already waiting for us there..i like to think he had left our old house and found us this one..loves Bev xx
A beautiful dream and spirit guide! I’m sure Simba is prancing around and watching over you all the time! ❤
Hi Julie,
I also used to see cats in my dreams. I always thought it was such an awful thing though that I was/am allergic to them since the age of 3, or earlier. I was playing with the sweetest white kitten in the basement of my parent’s house when I had my first asthma attack. Cats and dogs and all kinds of lovely spirits that I wish I could have frolicked and communicated with them more! I have enjoyed some outdoor cats, and got quite attached to two in particular that disappeared. 😦
You are very blessed, indeed! It’s amazing because I always have had some kind of pre-cog about knowing whether or not a friend who just invited me over has a cat or not – especially if there is more than one! Once the cutest, I mean cuttiest!, littlest, orange kitty helped me to produce a whole mountain full of tissues. How could it?! The things we go through just to play with the other cats! I always thought maybe it’s because I’ve got my sun in Leo, and maybe I actually WAS a cat. One way or another, cats have definitely left their mark on my life! I appreciate their sense of self-sufficiency and how a sometimes very aloof character can turn into a very attached and closely bonded purrrrr! I probably miss having a poofy tail…
Love, Ka
As a Leo you are a kitty! 🙂 Sorry you are allergic though, but that does not mean you can’t connect to them in spirit! 😀
Yes! 🙂 I like to look at it that way, too! Much appreciated.
I suspect you might have seen the recent research study that proved that cats actually do see significantly more wave lengths than humans and are, in fact, looking at things we cannot see. I often say mine are seeing all the celestial visitors who hang out at my house!
Oooh, no I had not seen the recent research, but very cool! Thanks!
Do you have a link? It would be fun to read more …
Let me see if I can find it and post to you.
Thank you 😀
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/19/cats-dogs-see-in-ultraviolet_n_4814708.html
How thoughtful you are. Thank you. 🙂
This is interesting … thanks again. ⭐
Reblogged this on hocuspocus13 and commented:
jinxx 🍀 xoxo
Thanks! 🙂
I have always found the mystery in cats together with their independence. Very smart animals with beauty abound.
love this! I had a lot of cat dreams when my first cat was alive and after she passed. Now they are less frequent. But I do relate with the symbology you describe. Funny, right after I posted my deer blog, I saw yours in my reader. The creatures are communing wildly today ❤
Wow! Perfect timing for your post! Thank you for writing such a detailed blog on the mysteries of cat and, in particular, in dreams. Every so often I dream of cats and kittens, and last night I was in an old house where there were lots of cats and kittens! My day has been busy (my son is home sick), so I had not thought too much about the dream yet. But, now I am seeing how perfect it was. Today I was accepted into a Mysteries School, and another leg of my journey into the unseen begins!
Congratulations! Thank you and I hope your son feels better soon! ❤
So lovely, Julianne Victoria. Cats are among my favorites, and like you, have always been a part of my life … so fortunate! Even so, they often accompany me in my dream time voyages as well.There’s also a quirky tarot deck called The Cat People Tarot! Feline blessings, Jamie
Meow, meow! 🙂
And, for me, the confident feminine.