Fertility Associations

The domestic cat became associated with the Egyptian goddess Bastet about the Twenty-second Dynasty (945-715 BC).

But it was not until the Ptolemaic period (332-30 BC) that the cat-headed Bastet's popularity reached its peak, when she was worshipped at a huge annual festival of revelry and sacrifice for bestowing the gifts of life and fertility.

Centuries later, in many parts of the world, cats were either buried beneath newly sown crops or beaten to death as a symbol of threshing and smoothing of the grain. This was to encourage a stronger crop next spring, and is perhaps testament to Bastet's fecundity.

With the advent of Christianity the cat lost its position as a deity. Instead, cats were often persecuted in the name of religion, which may be why the Church perpetuated ritual cat sacrifices.

Based on the original Egyptian superstition that fire symbolized purity and fertility, cat sacrifices by fire became a part of the Halloween and Easter festivals. These feast days are still important to the Christian Church but luckily for the cat, sacrifices are not.