Is it true that cats have nine lives? Do you have faith in it?
We all adore our felines. They could be grumpy creatures, knocking things over in the house, nestling and curling up on our laps when we were down, and even when we were busy! We like to think that because they have nine lives, they will always be there for us. Unfortunately, this is not the case. As much as we wish our feline companions had nine lives, it is a myth. We understand how upsetting it is. This raises the question of where this myth originated. Let’s break it down and see if we can find comfort in the facts.
The cat legend of nine lives
Nobody knows who started the myth of the nine lives of cats, and there are no historical records of when or where it first appeared. This is the issue with oral history. What is known is that the cat’s nine lives were first mentioned in an English proverb: “A cat has nine lives. He plays for three, strays for three, and stays for the last three.” Although the origins of the proverb are unknown, we do have an estimated timeline. “Good king of cats, nothing but one of your nine lives,” William Shakespeare wrote in one of his most famous plays Romeo and Juliet. The tragedy was written in the 16th century by the bard, so the myth of a cat’s nine lives predates the 1500s.
What is the significance of cats having nine lives?
Our feline companions are well-known for their agility; they are fiercely independent and intelligent creatures. They can fall from great heights and land on their feet. There is even a documented case in New York of a cat falling from a 32-story building and surviving with only minor injuries. This is possibly where the concept of cats having nine lives originated. Of course, this is due to the cat’s incredible anatomy. Cats, like the majority of feline species, evolved from living in trees. Years of evolution prior to domestication ensured that they adapted to the height at which their species began living. Cats have a “righting reflex,” which allows them to twist their bodies as they fall, ensuring that they land safely on their feet. The force of the fall is reduced due to their large body surface area. At the same time, the impressive flexibility of their ligaments and bones allows them to sustain as little impact injury as possible. So, a cat’s nine lives are the result of millions of years of evolution.
Why are there only nine lives?
We’ve always wondered why and how cats have nine lives, but have you ever considered why an odd number like nine? Let us investigate. According to numerology, the number nine is very significant due to its composition of three groups of three. The number nine is symbolic and mystical in religious cultures such as Islam, Greek, and Roman Catholic. For example, the significance of the number nine in Islam is similar to that of Sanatana Dharma in Indian thought, which states, “nine openings for man as well as the nine months of gestation period of birth.” In Greece, the number nine is known as the trinity of trinities, which is similar to numerology’s composition. What’s more fascinating is that the myth of the cat’s nine lives varies by culture, specifically in terms of the number of lives. Cats have seven lives in some parts of Spain, while cats have six lives in other Arabic and Turkish legends. This fascination with cats’ dates back approximately 12,000 years. The ancient Egyptians considered these animals to be sacred and divine beings endowed with supernatural abilities. As offerings, people would frequently dedicate mummified cats to the sanctuary of the cat goddess Bastet.
To summarize, no, cats do not have nine lives, no matter how much we wish they did. Our feline neighbors tend to avoid death, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take extra care of them, no matter how snobbish they can be at times. They could also be godlike creatures worshiped throughout history, which explains why they like to lord themselves around our house as if they own it!
