Who Sings Now?: a poetic discussion of Creature Teachers (Cats in General)

Member Name: QuinnElaine

Product:	Cats in General
Date:	24/07/08 (95 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: serenity, confidence, mysteries revealed

Disadvantages: aloof, haughty, and self-interested

The Moon's brightly slitted eye sees all
as we listen to the song of this Teacher's call...
"In silence I stalk my prey,
bringing home gifts of
magic,
mystery,
divine messages,
and tiny details oft overlooked...
All brought home like so many strays.
Nine times I return,
sometimes to play,
other times to wander,
and lastly to share my life with yours.
Humming with content,
invoking laughter with my whimsy,
with agility and balance
I wipe away fears
banish stress
ease heartache.
Sleek and satisfied
I slumber in the warm Sun
dreaming of the days when I was
worshiped
adored
cosseted as divine.
Remember, you too are divine
and worthy of praise.
Live clean..
Pick delicately at the bones of wisdom...
Meet life on your own terms
and be mirrored in my luminous gaze!"
who sings now?
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"A cat has nine lives. For three he plays, for three he strays, and for the last three he stays." ~English Proverb

"It began in mystery, and it will end in mystery, but what a savage and beautiful country lies in between." ~Diane Ackerman

"In the Hour before time began, Meerclar Allmother came out of the darkness to the cold earth. She was black, and as furry as all the world come together to be fur. Meerclar banished the eternal night, and brought forth the Two... Goldeneye and Skydancer bore many children and raised them in the forest that covered the world at the beginnings of the Elder Days. Climbfast, Wolf-friend, Treesinger, and Brightnail, their young, were strong of tooth, sharp of eye, light of foot and straight and brave to their tail-ends." ~Tad Williams, "Tailchaser's Song"

Domestic cats, Felis silvestris catus, are primarily carnivorous members of the family Felidae which includes: a number of small cats, leopards, lynxes, cheetahs, cougars, jaguars, lions and tigers. As always, which specific Cat Teacher is calling to you will have different lessons depending on breed, color, size, etc. Each cat should be examined along with any balancing energies (most often prey or predator of the given Creature Teachers) that will also vary widely. Despite the tale of tiny Mouse saving the mighty Lion, Mouse is more likely to be a balancing energy for a domestic Cat than the King of Cats who feasts on larger game like gazelle, zebra, and wildebeest for example. Here, we will discuss the domestic cat.

"Uncertainty and mystery are energies of life. Don't let them scare you unduly, for they keep boredom at bay and spark creativity." ~R.I. Fitzhenry

"In ancient times cats were worshiped as gods; they have not forgotten this." ~Terry Pratchett

If you ask how many breeds of cat there are in the world today, the answer will vary depending on who you ask. The International Progressive Cat Breeders Alliance recognizes 73 breeds while the Cat Fanciers' Association only accepts about 41 breeds. Those bred from "wild stock" like the Bengal or the Savannah are often not acknowledged as a true cat breed. An adult domestic cat is about 8 to 10 inches high, 18 to 20 inches long from tip of nose to tail base and the tail is about 10-15 inches. Females usually weigh from 6 to 10 pounds, and males from 10 to 15 pounds depending on skeletal size, health, living conditions, and genetics.

Cats have keen hearing and the internal mechanize of their ears is also what gives them such a keen sense of balance. While dogs are renowned for detecting high-pitched whistles beyond that of human hearing, cats can hear even higher frequencies than canines and are almost as good at hearing in the lower end of the scale. A cat up to 3 feet away from the origin of a sound can pinpoint its location to within a few inches in a mere six one-hundredths of a second, and can tell by differences of as little as one-tenth of a tone the type and size the potential prey.

"As every cat owner knows, nobody owns a cat." ~Ellen Perry Berkeley

"Cats can work out mathematically the exact place to sit that will cause most inconvenience." ~Pam Brown

"A cat is a puzzle for which there is no solution." ~Hazel Nicholson

The cat also comes closer than does any other animal, except owls and apes, to having binocular vision similar to that of humans. In bright light a cat's pupils contract to narrow vertical slits, but in darkness these slits enlarge to round openings that will admit a maximum amount of light.

Much can be told about a cat's mood or health simply by looking at it's eyes. A frightened or excited cat will have wide open eyes with enlarged pupils while an angry cat will have narrowed pupils. If their inner third eyelid, the nictating membrane, is partially lowered, it could indicate sleepiness, but if they are exhibiting other unusual signs you might want to take them to the vet as this is also an indication that they are not feeling well.

They are subject to many of the same ailments as humans when it comes to their eyes, like pinkeye! Their night vision is superior to ours although we can see better than they can during daylight hours. Cats are primarily nocturnal with greater activity at the dawn and dusk hours. We do them a great disservice as pets expecting them to operate on our time schedule, but mankind has relied on domestic felines for ages to keep rodents and other pests out of the fields, granaries, barns and larders.

A cat's sense of smell is 14 times more efficient than a human's, and even the domestic cat relies on this sense to bring down prey more often than human's rely on their sense of smell for anything at all. A cat's whiskers (vibrissae) are delicate sensory tools of touch. Four rows of stiff whiskers grow on the upper lip on either side of the nose. Small groups of whiskers are also situated on other parts of the body including above each eye, both cheeks, and on the backs of the forepaws. Cutting off these whiskers not only detracts from the animal's appearance but also seriously impairs their balance and ability to feel its way about. Cat's use these sensitive feelers to judge spatial relations and will determine whether or not they can fit within a narrow space safely by testing the opening of the space with their whiskers.

"Purring would seem to be, in her case, an automatic safety valve device for dealing with happiness overflow." ~Monica Edwards

"If purring could be encapsulated, it'd be the most powerful anti-depressant on the pharmaceutical market." ~Alexis F. Hope

"A meow massages the heart." ~Stuart McMillan

"If I tried to tell you how much I love my cats, you wouldn't believe me - unless your heart is also meow-shaped and covered in stray fur. " ~Lexie Saige

All cats, domestic or wild, can and do purr. Kittens begin purring after just a few days, and purring may be loud or so soft that it escapes our notice. Like any other vocal noise, the sound come from vibrations of the vocal cords although science still does not understand quite how a cat produces this sound, what they use it for, nor why other animals do not purr. From my experience, cats use their purrs to express contentment, well-being, and affection.

For all the loving loyalty of dogs, there is a special thrill when the confident and independent cat rubs it's head in your palm with an affectionate purr. Cats have often been painted as aloof, stubborn, willful, impossible to train, or even stupid and uncaring because of their self-confidence and Independence. Nothing could be further from the truth! Cats recognize that not everyone is worthy of trust, and they value themselves enough to give their affections and loyalties only to those who earn them.

As a child, cats played a more vital role in my life than they do at this time. Strays turned up on my porch even when we had dogs, and I will never forget the day my mother took me to the local animal shelter in search of a pet I could choose for myself. We toured the large shelter meeting and greeting animals from guinea pigs to horses.

I entered a room full of cats who began meowing as soon as the door opened. A wall full of cat kennels seethed with meowing ruffling fur and in all that commotion one tiny calico face sat serenely gazing at me, knowing that we would belong to each other even before I laid eyes on her.

Gingersnap was a long-haired calico whose black and gold face was divided by a triangle of white that stretched up from her throat to wrap around her black and pink nose. When looking at the significance of color, white represents purity and blessings. In color therapy it is used for cleansing and new beginnings. Gold represents illumination, wisdom, wealth, and in color therapy this color not only represents an alchemy of consciousness, but is also the strongest color for healings of all sorts. So strong in fact, that most people cannot tolerate it and have to condition themselves to it over a period of time!

Black, like other colors, can represent many things depending on the culture you draw from, but black is often associated with negative or destructive concepts or conditions which makes it excellent for aiding in removing such qualities from our lives when applying color therapy. Black can represent fear as well as the conquering of our fear; Life, Death, and the transcendence of both. It is a color of power and authority. In some traditions it represents wisdom and knowledge brought from across the Void, as well as the Void itself.

Ginger brought me comfort, laughter, joy and confidence in a crucial time of my life when I needed these things more than words could possibly express. Her purring weight upon my pillow banished nightmares, and her balanced ways encouraged me to find the serenity locked within me when all else was falling to pieces around me. Though she disappeared from my life many years ago, I have never forgotten her and am grateful for the time spent with this special friend.

"Meow is like aloha - it can mean anything." ~Hank Ketchum

"The cat is the only animal which accepts the comforts but rejects the bondage of domesticity." ~Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon

"I had been told that the training procedure with cats was difficult. It's not. Mine had me trained in two days." ~Bill Dana

There is no greater compliment one can receive than the love, trust, and friendship of an animal however long they choose to be with us, whatever form they take. Cats teach us to be content in the now, to shed our fears and negativity with a purring peace that will reveal all that is magical in life, to use agility of mind and body in harmony to overcome challenges, they help us to find clear perspective in the darkest nights of our lives, to treat our fears like prey instead of predator, the importance of a good nap or playful moments.

They remind us that all of us are sacred beings worthy of respect and love no matter how troubled or humble our origins. They teach us confidence in self, relying on oneself to find true freedom, to turn the mysterious in our lives into creative expression and to be sensitive to the world around us in a good way. Cats, like their larger cousins, teach us to conserve our strength for when we will need to rely upon it in crucial moments of our lives.

"No cat out of its first fur can be deceived by appearances...Because I be, what I be. I would tell you what you want to know if I could, mum, but I be a cat. And no cat anywhere, ever gave anyone a straight answer." ~ the Cat from Peter S. Beagle's "The Last Unicorn"

"Most people leave their bodies to medical science. I'm leaving mine to the Louvre, baby!" ~Cat, Red Dwarf

Cat people of all kinds tend to be direct once their opinion is given, although it may take awhile to actually get that opinion out of them. So, be sure you want the truth when you ask something of these people! Domestic cats are particular susceptible to poisoning as their liver cannot process many toxins. Cat people should also beware the many toxins found in life; physical, spiritual, metaphorical, emotional, etc. Cat people enjoy silent moments in the sunlight or moonlight, mysteries, arcane lore, and a wide variety of pampering activities. Well balanced Cat people will lean toward the better end of curiousity, cleanliness, independence, flexibility and cleverness.

Unbalanced Cats will display all the negative associations with the various cats; disassociation, sneakiness, deceit, self-interest, gossip, fickleness and unpredictability. Cats have been worshipped as gods and linked with the deities: Bast, Freya, Cybele (lion), Sekhmet (lion), Dionysus (panther), Henwen, Chin Mu, Aker, Apedemak, Asthartet, Bes, Hathor, Mafdet, Mut, Nefertum, and Tefnut. They have been linked with the Moon for their nocturnal habits and ability to see in darkness and with the Sun and solar energy for their love of sunny spots in which to soak up this blessing. Protective, courageous, and able to see that which is invisible to all others... How does the Cat appear in your life?

"If cats could talk, they wouldn't." ~Nan Porter

"Respect means listening until everyone has been heard and understood, only then is there a possibility of "Balance and Harmony" the goal of Indian Spirituality." ~ Dave Chief, Grandfather of Red Dog

"I want to be a lion. Everybody wants to pass as cats."~ Counting Crows

Summary: Another amazing Creature Teacher