Valentine’s Issue, 2022
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The Journal of Matters Relating to Felines is a society producing a magazine, affiliated with the University of Aberdeen. It is composed by students from different degrees, with diverse interests and opinions. Cats are the ribbon tying it all together. It features written pieces of various genres. From professional articles to short stories, our writers have the freedom to express themselves through any shape or form
Table of Content Page 1- Introductory Page Page 2-4 -“J’ai deux amours”: The Love of a Nation by Deborah Lazreug: A Charleston dancer and her cheetah land in Paris…A portrait of Joséphine Baker. Page 4-5 -Cat Got Your Tongue by Fi Hennicken: A short horror story including weird neighbours and, of course, a cat. Page 6-8 -Poppy Flowers and Empty Towns by Luke Litvinov: An exploration of the poppy flower, its history and effects on humanity Pages 9-10 -Collection of poems by Blair Center: ‘Bush’ is a reflection upon the writer’s cat’s favourite bush, ‘The Little Box of Wood’ is a reflection upon the loss of a pet and the experience of receiving their ashes after cremation and ‘The Tabby in the Abbey’ is a humorous poem describing the antics of Jericho, a clergyman’s cat. Page 10-12 -So this is Love by Willow Daymond: A look into the current trend of fairytale retellings in Literature. Paired with an Original retelling of the ‘King of Cats’. Pages 13-14 -Holier-than-Meow by Cecile Fardoux: A reflection on felines and their representation in mythology as an explanation for our cat companions’ sense of superiority. Pages 15-16 -She loves you (Meow, Meow, Meow) by Rosie Guy: A love letter to the recent Beatles documentary ‘Get Back’, mixed with very serious (!) scientific research into whether cats enjoy music just like we do. Page 16-17 -Imago by Deborah Lazreug: the Latin word for ‘image’, a recurrent column analysing paintings, photographs, sculptures or movie stills depicting cats. In latin, the word ‘imago’ was used for anything frozen in representation, from artistic representations to ghosts and memories of one’s head. For this Valentine’s issue, we will first look at the opening scene of the ‘Godfather’ which includes one of our feline companions. Then, we will look at a perfectly in theme pink coloured Impressionist painting by Auguste Renoir. Page 18 -Conclusion
“J’ai deux amours”: The Love of a
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Nation On Tuesday, the 30th of November 2021, Joséphine Baker entered the French Panthéon. The Panthéon is a former church in the Latin Quarter of Paris, which was transformed into a Republican mausoleum after the French Revolution. Since then, the tombs of the greatest figures of the French nation have been resting under the Panthéon’s dome, such as Voltaire, Victor Hugo, Marie Curie, Simone Veil or Alexandre Dumas, as a sign of respect and thankfulness from the people. One might know Joséphine Baker for her wonderful and modern dance moves and her pet cheetah, Chiquita, whom she first collaborated with for a dance show before affectionate adoption.
Baker’s maternal grand-parents were former slaves of African and NativeAmerican descent. In her hometown, St Louis, Missouri, throughout her childhood, she experienced harsh precarity and witnessed racial violence. She dropped out of school at age 12 and was on her own from this point onward, working as a waitress or earning money by making of the streets her very first scene as a dancer. She had been married two times already by the age of 15 and finally broke free a first time when she followed a dance troupe to New York City. It is in 1925 that Joséphine Baker sailed for Paris and broke free a second time. She later said: ‘No, I didn't get my first break on Broadway. I was only in the chorus in 'Shuffle Along' and 'Chocolate Dandies'. I became famous first in France in the twenties. I just couldn't stand America and I was one of the first coloured Americans to move to Paris.’
Throughout the 20th century, many Americans fled segregation and racism to find shelter in Paris, the state-of-the-art, modern city of the era. The American writer James Baldwin is another example of this phenomenon. In his The Negro in Paris, Baldwin talks about the incompatibility between Black Americans and black African Parisians, the latter having never known the extreme racism one could experience in the U.S.
In Paris, at age 19, Joséphine Baker became sensational: her first show was at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, as part of the La Revue Nègre musical show. In French, the word ‘nègre’ firstly, simply refers to the colour black – I prefer to make this precise, as I have seen a lot of American or Americanised people trying to denounce the non-existent racism of the musical show by mis-translating the term and Americanising it. The musical celebrates jazz music – which arrived in Paris through the American soldiers of World War I - and Black culture, and it was artistically the most interesting spectacle of Paris at the time. The exciting modernity of the show resided in its jazz-bands, its Burlesque choreographies,
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its scenography of moving sets, and its dances which included nude bodies without any hint of vulgarity. Baker really was the rising star of the show and very quickly, she became the most famous American entertainer in France with Parisian artists such as Ernest Hemingway or Picasso expressing their fascination for Joséphine.
Baker toured Europe before returning to Paris where she installed her shows at the Folies Bergères theatre. There, she perfected her most famous choreography called the Danse Sauvage or ‘wild dance’ which included the participation of her cheetah Chiquita, who often escaped into the orchestra pit where she terrorised musicians, heightening the public’s excitement. Moving forward, Baker starred in silent and sound films such as Siren of the Tropics (1927), Zouzou (1934) or Princess Tam Tam (1935) and took the lead of a revival of Jacques Offenbach’s opera La Créole (1934). In 1931, Joséphine Baker released her most famous song, ‘J’ai deux amours’, in which she sings ‘I have two loves; my country and Paris’. If the song enabled her to express her love for Paris, it also confirmed the reciprocity of such love, with French people welcoming the song with popular enthusiasm.
In 1936, Baker attempted a return to her native country with a Broadway performance for the musical show Ziegfeld Follies but did not find success. The Time magazine violently referred to her as a ‘N* wench…whose dancing and singing might be topped anywhere outside Paris’. Joséphine returned to France heartbroken but convinced to give up her American citizenship to officially become a French citizen.
The artistry is essential to the icon that became Joséphine Baker, but her character goes further. Indeed, during World War II, and the German Occupation of France, Baker was a résistante.
In 1939, she was recruited by the French military
intelligence. Baker socialised with the Germans, Japanese officials and Italian bureaucrats in cafés, nightclubs, embassies, and ministries, gathering information, unsuspected. Joséphine also offered her domicile, the Château des Milandes in Dordogne, to house the people willing to help the Free French lead by Charles de Gaulles from London and supply them with visas. Recognised as a star entertainer in the whole of Europe, Joséphine Baker was able to move around the continent, carrying information in neutral territories like the Portugal for transmission to England about warcraft and German troop concentration in the West of France. Essential information was written in invisible ink on Baker’s music sheets. ‘After the war, Baker was awarded the Resistance Medal by the French Committee of National Libération, the Croix de Guerre by the French military, and was named a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur by Général Charles de Gaulle.’
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Moreover, in the 50s, Joséphine Baker supported the Civil Rights movement and worked with the NAACP. Arrived in New York, Baker and her husband were refused to stay in 36 hotels because of racial discrimination. She was revolted and wrote numerous articles and gave numerous speeches in universities on what she called ‘France, North Africa and the Equality of the Races in France.’ In 1963, the star joined rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in his March on Washington and was the only official female speaker. Dressed in her Free French uniform and with her medal of the Légion d’honneur, Baker said:
‘I have walked into the palaces of kings and queens and into the houses of presidents. And much more. But I could not walk into a hotel in America and get a cup of coffee, and that made me mad. And when I get mad, you know that I open my big mouth. And then look out, 'cause when Josephine opens her mouth, they hear it all over the world …’
On Tuesday, the 30th of November 2021, the icon who entered the Panthéon was not only a star artist of the Roaring Twenties culture of Paris, but a fighter. The smartest kind of fighters; subtle, discreet but also solar and brilliant. Joséphine Baker found love in France: the love of an adopting nation which welcomed her with open arms when her mother-nation was rejecting her. The French public always sent her back their love and a couple of months ago, this love was officialised and sacralised like marriage does By Déborah Lazreug
Cat Got Your Tongue “You're not supposed to call them Mormons anymore,
It's true that there's something… off about them. It's not
they want to be called members of the church of Jesus
that there's so many of them that you wonder how they
Christ of Latter-day saints." I said sitting next to my
all fit into the small house, facing ours on the other side
mum as she steered her corporate car out of our
of the road. It's not that all the women wear long skirts
driveway. She thinks our neighbours are part of some
all the time, or that sometimes they get visitors so
cult or are strictly religious. Same difference if you ask
plentiful they arrive in three different vans. There's just
me.
something slightly weird in their behaviour that makes you wonder what on earth is going on. For example,
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glass of my window trying to peek in. I do not move. Any movement would alarm them to my being awake and aware of their presence, so I wait. I do not hear them
once I heard them have a flute concert in the middle of
leave but I can wait no longer. Sprinting like I used to
the night. Once, one of them brought a package over that
when I was a child – when a game of tag was still
he'd taken in for us, and when he saw our black cat,
sufficient to make you run as if your life depended on it
snuggling around my legs, he suddenly moved away
- I go to my mother's room and shake her, waking her
from the door, afraid. Once, we were watching a show
up. Only when she drowsily opens her eyes, I remember
and there was singing in the background, and I know, I
she likes to sleep with an open window, look up and see
just know it came from outside, from their house, but
a small face stare into the room. I run up, slam the
whenever I paused, the singing would stop.
window shut and let the shutters fall heavily.
We get back from our late-night run to the shops and
"Did you close all the doors?!" I scream at my mum but
soon my mum says, "I'm sorry darling, I'm so tired, we
do not wait for a reply.
have to finish this episode tomorrow," regretfully taking her leave to bed.
There are three doors between our living room and the outside. One wooden, leading to the bathroom, and
I try to sleep but I cannot. The inflatable mattress
another leading to a boiler room. The last one, iron,
squeaks with every move and the mirror in the corner
leads into the darkness of the night. I run through the
looks like the shadow man my friend told me about only
first and get to the second in time for the rattling outside
days ago. The street facing my room never seems to
to start. The sound is as if it has come straight from my
quiet down. So, I squeeze my eyes shut and wait.
nightmares, in which I run and lock every door I pass,
Sometimes I hear music, clear as if coming from a radio,
and the monsters tear them all out of their hinges. They
right before I fall asleep. This is not that. This is real.
start their singing again. Chanting ominous, threatening
There are people lined up right in front of my window,
words in a low timbre. Blood rushing in my ears, I hear
singing. I do not have shutters, only curtains, so I can
the rattling of the last door stop in time with my
see their shadows if I slightly tilt my head back. Yet, I
locking the second. I go still as a rock, straining to
can’t understand what they’re saying. They’re chanting
listen for the faintest noise. I hear a tiny meow, a
is so asynchronous, so enraptured. I can almost feel the
scratching on the door. Our cat pleading to be let
vibrations through my mattress.
in.
Finally, finally they stop and the only words I can
And then… silence.
understand are, "Save her soul. Amen." By Fi Hennicken "Amen" repeats a childish voice and I hear, I hear, someone press their nose against the
Poppy Flowers and Empty Towns
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As most owners and friends of the common household cat will come to know, they can be quite strange. Their unique role in nature as both predator and prey has led to the evolution of behaviours that express characteristics of both types of animal. One of these is that cats will instinctively hide their pain as a survival mechanism. In an environment in which you are either a predator or another predator’s meal, the ability to show no outward signs of weakness can be crucial. Their pain management is thus much better compared to smaller dogs, for example. This might not surprise you if you have ever seen a cat jump from an unbelievable height only to walk off as if nothing happened. Perhaps this is also why almost every animal, including humans, alligators and even larger felines have come to, at times, fear the sharp claws of the household cat. However, this can also make it exceptionally difficult to know when a cat is in pain, especially if it is long term rather than acute. Pain can be characterized as an unpleasant sensory or emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage. The nervous system of the cat functions similarly to that of humans and so it is safe to assume that although they feel the pain, for the cat, the trick is “not minding that it hurts” as Lawrence of Arabia says (1962). Pain is ultimately subjective and quite hard to measure as it may express itself in many different ways depending on the individual. However, veterinarians have developed methods in order to determine when a cat is in pain. Careful observation of the everyday behaviour of the cat can reveal when pain is present. Instead of nimbly hopping to their favourite resting spot directly, they may take a detour with more steps. They might outright refuse to jump, stretch, or go to certain places in the house. Injured cats will sleep more than usual, or decline being held or picked up. Just like for humans, a veterinarian might prescribe certain medications to manage this pain. Among the most common forms of pain medication for both humans and animals are opiates. The poppy plant is famed for its beautiful and colourful flowers. However, it has also been sought after since ancient times for its analgesic and narcotic properties. The capsules of the opium poppy hold seeds and oil, both of which contain opium. When digested the opium is broken down into medical alkaloids such as morphine and codeine. Due to its sedative and pain numbing effects, as well as its wide distribution around the world, the plant has made it into many different cultures and civilizations. In ancient times it was used to treat a variety of ailments but has also historically been popular for recreational use. The flower itself has come to be known as a symbol for sleep, peace, and death. In Greek and Roman myth, the poppy flower was a common offering to the dead. It also makes an appearance in the famous children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in which a magical field of poppy flowers threatens to put the young Dorothy to sleep forever. When used recreationally, the substance is known to produce a sense of euphoria and relaxation, in higher doses it induces a loss of consciousness, what is called ‘nodding’, as well as hallucinations, ‘opium dreams’. When overdosed, death is quite common, either because of heart failure, seizure or choking. A person that becomes addicted to the substance slowly ceases to care for any other form of intoxication or amusement. Soon, the only thing that matters to them is the drug and the feelings associated with it. Friends, family, ambitions, and goals all float away, together with one’s troubles, down the white river of the poppy flower. Whether it is smoked, eaten, or injected into the arm, the drug is well known to send its user into a sense of pure bliss and happiness and is equally known for its deadly effect on those that dare take it too far.
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While the plant and its properties have certainly served humanity well it has also caused a number of issues. One time, it nearly caused the collapse of one of the oldest and most powerful civilizations on Earth by making the population addicted to the substance. The Opium Wars, fought between the Qing Dynasty of China and the Western forces of Britain and France threw the nation into a century of strife and oppression, ultimately culminating in the rise of the Chinese Communist regime. In later years however, the drug has again come under focus, this time in another of the most powerful nations on Earth, the United States. The opioid epidemic, or the opioid crisis, refers to the ongoing and extensive overuse of prescription and illegal opiates. According to the CDC the crisis began in the 90’s when opioids began to be increasingly prescribed for pain relief and resulted in a rise in overall use of the substances in the following years. From 1999 until 2020, nearly 841,000 people died
of
drug
overdose
in
the
United
States,
500,000
of
which
were
linked
to
opioid
use
(https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/epidemic/index.html Accessed 10/2/22). The most commonly used opiates for recreational purposes include oxycodone, hydrocodone and fentanyl alongside pure morphine and codeine. Aside from being a common drug of choice for many modern mainstream rap artists, their use has caused significant problems in rural areas. In places where social and economic variables, health behaviours and poor accessibility to health care resources all coincide, addiction to opiates has caused whole towns to run empty of people. The home state of my alma mater, West Virginia University, was struck particularly hard by the crisis. In 2016, the drugs were killing over 40 people per 100,000. The Mountain State is now dotted with ghost towns and hollers hidden among its green hills. These are a common site for those that drive their way up through the winding roads that run through the valleys. Post offices, country stores, bars, schools, old coal and steel mills, structures of wood and brick, houses and huts are all abandoned. Emptied of people, yet eerily alive as if echoing the life that was once there. As if the people that lived there left in a hurry, only taking their most prized possessions. If one stops and looks around, they might see someone peering at them from behind the white curtains of a run-down shack. Perhaps they would see a lonely drifter, ambling to and fro with no real sense of direction or goal. The town's last inhabitants, living in squalor and poverty, waiting for the inevitable day when the addiction takes them too and the memory of the place is finally wiped out. West Virginia leads the nation in overdose deaths per capita. In a state where most people work in manual labour, injuries and chronic pain is quite common. It is perhaps no surprise that many of those addicted started with a prescription for the substance that would later take their life. The state has filed numerous lawsuits seeking to declare drug distribution companies a public nuisance and seeking reparations for the damages caused by the epidemic. On May 3, 2021, the city of Huntington, WV, filed a lawsuit against three major drug manufacturers accusing them of their role in stoking the flames of the crisis. Similar lawsuits have been filed all over the country implicating a number of large medicine companies. The company that is most often blamed for starting the crisis is Purdue Pharmaceuticals. Following a brief letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine titled Addiction Rare in Patients Treated with Narcotics, published
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in 1980, the general attitude towards opiates changed. Having been considered highly addictive and dangerous prior to this, Purdue Pharma now hosted over forty promotional conferences in support for use of these drugs. They were marketed as safe, effective, and almost necessary for modern medicine. In the Partners Against Pain campaign Purdue Pharma trained their sales force to convey the message that the risk for addiction was under one percent. Ultimately this convinced many of the attending medical professionals and led to the over-prescribing of these substances. Among those implicated in some of these lawsuits are our old friends Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. In Oklahoma, J&J has been accused of holding a central role behind the crisis in that state which led to the deaths of thousands and the creation of a generation of addicted people. Among other things, it seems as if J&J was responsible for the creation of a mutant strain of poppy in 1994, allowing for the mass production of and distribution of opioids. Pfizer meanwhile was knocked hard by the Department of Justice in 2009 for various marketing infractions for a range of drugs, resulting in a then-record $1.3 billion in criminal penalties. In 2016 they reached a settlement of $486 million in damages as a result of withholding the cardiovascular dangers of their painkilling drugs Bextra and Celebrex. What lesson should be drawn from this tale? Pfizer as well as Johnson & Johnson are, of course, quite well known these days for their ‘miraculous’ and ‘heroic’ effort of producing the vaccine against the COVID-19 virus in under a year. As we have seen however, public health does not seem to be particularly high on their list of priorities. Many have argued that one reason why these companies would never betray the trust of the people that the vaccine is distributed to, is because they would face numerous lawsuits in case it would lead to adverse effects. But to be honest, they do not seem to care much at all about these lawsuits or the loss of revenue that came with them, in fact, this is only the tip of the lawsuit-iceberg when it comes to these companies. So perhaps the lesson is ‘never trust big pharma’. But another one might be ‘if something seems too good to be true, it probably is’. Whether that applies to a drug or anything else in life, we ought to be cautious when weighing our options. Something might seem beautiful and effective and desirable, like the flower of the poppies that can be grown in any backyard. But once it has you it leaves nothing behind, just towns void of people and shells of people lost to the flower. By Luke Litvinov
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The Bush In our garden, a large bush can be seen. In the late year, slowly, away it turns, baring bony brown branches, shedding green as leaves turn orange as summer’s wick burns. Though, in the long, warm, bright days, it is grand; each year, it seems to bring new growth along as leaves return. One may feel small to stand beneath its bright hue and its broad size strong. Pollinators adore it — and the birds — so, half of the year the bush seems to sing, full of chirps and bumblebees’ mumbling words. Though, my cat’s purr in this choir is missing. For years, in the shade she would sleep and play; in autumn’s quiet peace, she slipped away.
The Little Box of Wood She came home to us in a little box, beautiful in its simplicity plain. The weight was in the wood. No latch nor locks enclosed the light ash which whispered like rain when lifted to the ear, softly hissing. I saw neither departure nor return but between I felt her presence missing, that hollow eeriness one comes to learn when one’s lost one is neither here nor there and all that is left behind are old toys, wee pawprints and the odd carpet-stuck hair in the meantime. Now, to bring back those joys, with a simple nameplate my old friend stands; a well-loved cat held again in my hands.
The Tabby in the Abbey
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The tabby in the abbey, Jericho, clambers over and claws at each old pew. He gurns at each lovely stained-glass window because through them he cannot get a view. He races round and round the great altar and claws at The Very Reverend’s feet. His paw sends each prayer book and psalter to the floor with each organ music sheet. To birdcalls outside he sits listening, acting so sweet for each new newlywed, and innocent during each christening. Sunday service makes him slink off to bed; calm ceremonies make him act lowly, and on the Sabbath he sleeps it holy!
Poems by Blair Center
So this is Love We all know Disney fairy tales, Cinderella, Beauty and
Anderson’s fairy tales. These versions have higher
the Beast, The Little Mermaid and so on. In Cinderella,
stakes and darker themes. There is no automatic happily
the prince stumbles upon the glass slipper, finds
ever after for the heroes. In Grimm’s Cinderella the
Cinderella and they go off into the sunset together. In
stepmother cuts off parts of the stepsister's feet so that
The Little Mermaid, Ariel saves Prince Eric, and they
they can fit into the glass slipper. Cinderella sends her
go to his kingdom together and live happily ever after.
birds to peck out her stepsister's eyes. In Hans Christian
Not all viewers will realise, however, that these stories
Anderson’s, The Little Mermaid, Ariel is told she must
are retellings of Grimm’s and Hans Christian
stab a dagger into the heart of the prince to save herself.
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If you have not read these texts, I cannot recommend them enough. They are captivating, mysterious and do
O’ Cat Queen
not end in the way you would typically assume a fairy tale would.
There has been a trend in the media in recent years to go back to these classic tales and retell them for modern audiences, particularly in literature. Presenting them to a new audience and returning them to their original dark themes. One such author is Soman Chainani with his
texts Beasts and Beauty. A collection of twelve retold fairy tales, these retellings are beautiful, capturing the whimsy, mystery, and darkness of the originals. Though there are new themes added that modern audiences would enjoy, Chainani takes it a step further, with some
of his adaptations having higher stakes than their original counter parts and destroying the original endings. For example, I must recommend his retelling of Beauty and the Beast the ending is jaw dropping (but I will not spoil it for you!)
Neil Gaiman is another author who has turned their pen
Once Upon a Time in a place quite like our own, a women called Lilith sauntered home on a blissfully hot summer’s eve. It had been a busy day; she was exhausted. There had been a strange occurrence, however, on her walk home, but she tried to push it out of her mind. “Home soon,” she muttered, “hopefully there will be something delicious for dinner tonight.”
to fairy tales. His works ‘Snow, Glass, Apples’ and ‘The
Even though she tried with all her might, she could not
Sleeper and the Spindle’ are stories covered in shadows.
help but fixate on how strange the encounter was, on her
Gaiman harnesses the depths of morality to create unforgettable fairy tales.
Since fairy tale retelling are on the rise, I thought I would turn my hand to this trend and rewrite the fairy tale ‘The King of Cats’:
way home. Eventually, she concluded that she must have imagined it. Lilith lived with her wife Eve, and Eve’s incredibly large, fluffy cat, Madam Joana. A strange name for a cat, Lilith always thought. She was pretty sure Joana
didn't like her, she always hissed when she came near, but to be fair she didn't much care for Joana either. This evening when she arrived home, she found Eve sitting in the bay window with Joana curled up in her lap: a usual evening site.
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“Good evening, my dear” she said.
“Mwhahahaha!” Eve let out a chortling laugh - she thought it was a joke.
“Hello, my Lilith” Eve replied. “Say ‘hello’ to Joana as well!”
Suddenly, Joana sat up, letting out the largest screech of
Lilith grunted her reply. Joana barely lifted an eyelid
a meow Lilith had ever heard.
while letting out a long low hiss as acknowledgment.
“If she is truly dead, then I am the Queen!” Joana
“Even you would not believe what happened on my
screamed, jumping down from Eve's lap and leaving
journey home today.” Lilith said, not waiting for Eve’s
long raw scratches on Eve in her wake. Lilith stared at
reply before tumbling into telling her story:
her completely dumbfounded, and thought, ‘I must be hallucinating - Joana can’t be speaking!’
“I marched down the path. I was weary, but the thought of you, Eve, at home, quickened my step. I was so
“I'm the queen, I'm the queen, I'm the queen!” Joana
caught up in my own world that I didn’t see a group of
sang, dancing around in a circle. “I can finally leave this
cats on the path in front of me. Tripping over my own
hellhole!” she hissed at Lilith. Eve looked on in pain and
feet as I tried not to collide with them, I landed in a heap
horror.
on the ground. Luckily, I didn’t hurt myself as I fell but
“Now that I'm the Queen, I can make you both pay for
it was as I stood up, straightening myself out, that I
all the pain and suffering I went through. I am not a pet.”
realised that the cats were speaking. Muttering and
Joana leapt up and lunged at Lilith, claws extended.
mumbling and occasionally crying out to each other in a mix of pain and anger.
“But I thought you loved me; I love you,” Eve wept.
“She's dead. She's really dead, but I just won't believe
Joana made no acknowledgement of her and drew back
it,” one of them muttered.
to lunge at Lilith again while she dove out the way to
“What does that mean for the kingdom, who will rule us
dodge her attack. Eve began to try and sooth Joana,
now?!” and “our beloved Eden,” the others cried out in
getting down to her level and reaching out her arms to
reply.
take her up and cuddle her like normal. Lilith cried,
The cats continued like this for a few minutes,
pleading for her to stop but it was too late - it all
completely oblivious to the fact that I was now standing
happened so fast.
and staring at them. I coughed, letting them know I was there. They suddenly stopped what they were doing,
There was a flash from Joana’s claws, a yelp of pain
hesitantly turned their heads to look at me, yelped and
from Eve, and a smear of red appeared on the carpet as
bolted down the path!”
Joana flew as fast as she could out the door. Turning in fear to look at her beloved wife, Lilith saw her sitting
Coming to end of her story, Lilith looked at her wife,
deflated on the floor, her hand clutching her eye,
gauging her reaction; she looked as confused as Lilith
dripping with blood.
felt.
By Willow Daymond
Holier-than-Meow
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Humorously, cats are often depicted as having a mind
The lion is a feline that is encountered numerous times,
of their own. With a certain disdain in the way they view
in both Greek mythology and ancient Egyptian religion.
their owners, they act like rulers of the world that we,
The sphinx is a perfect example of this. The Great Spinx
humans, happen to live in. If we look back to Greek and
of Giza shows how the mythical creature is built of a
Egyptian mythology, we can see that cats and other
human head, the body of a lion and with the wings of a
types of felines are seen as important figures, almighty
falcon.
or to be feared. Thus, in this article, we will see the different representations of felines in mythology and why they were represented in that manner. In ancient Egyptian religion, Bastet, or Bast, was a goddess that was admired and respected. She is represented with the head of a cat. She was worshipped in Lower Egypt as she was considered as their protector. She is the daughter of Ra and Isis and was the goddess of pregnancy and childbirth as well as the goddess of protection against contagious diseases and evil spirits. 28 Marble statue of a Sphinx, c.570-550 BC, National
These attributes attached to the goddess can also be
Archaeological Museum, Athens
found in cats, as they are perceived as highly fertile but are also perceived highly by the population for combating vermin like mice and rats. Cats owned by
In Egypt, the sphinx is depicted as a man with ferocious
royal family members were often dressed with gold
strength used to guard the entrances of temples. In
jewellery and allowed to eat at the table of their owners.
ancient Greek tradition, the sphinx has the face of a woman; she is illustrated as a merciless creature who will eat those who cannot answer her riddle. When
Bastet
looking at the etymology of the name “sphinx”, we can
represented
see that it comes from “sphingo” which means “to
with a Lion head,
squeeze” or “to tighten up” referring to the way lions
but it was changed
kill their prey, strangulating them by attacking their
to a cat as it was
throats. The etymology of the name linked to the myth
perceived to be a
of the Greek Sphinx explains the use of the lion in the
gentler creature.
making of the creature.
Statue of Bastet, c.664-
The lion is recurring in Greek mythology, and often
Originally, was
610 BC, Musée du
parts of its body make up many creatures used in myths.
Louvre, Paris
One of them is the Chimera. It is represented as a lion, with the head of a goat coming out of his back and a tail
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with a snake’s head at its end. In the myths, the chimera is a monstrous creature that breathes fire. Homer, Hesiod and Apollodorus give descriptions of the chimera as a divine creature; not belonging to the world of men. Nowadays, the term chimera is often used to describe any mythical or fictional creature built of various animal parts, or any creature perceived as incredibly imaginative and uncanny.
These attributes are in complete accordance with the vision we have of the King of the Jungle. In ancient Greece, the lion also symbolises loyalty and strength but it also a creature that must be fought to prove one’s valour: gladiators would fight lions in games, for example, and in myths like Hercules, he is the only one mighty enough to fight the terrible ‘Nemean Lion’ whose fur steals women from Nemea to keep them in his lair. Likewise, the cat has been a companion of humans since around 8000 B.C. Cats have been part of mythology for centuries and are often associated with magic as they are nocturnal beings. Cats started to become domesticated in the Fertile Crescent, an area Egypt is a part of. They were seen as protectors as they chased small animals which destroyed crops. As previously stated, cats were revered in Ancient Egypt - they were seen as omens of
good luck to a household, so much so that some skeletal Chimera, c.350-340 BC, Musée du Louvre, Paris
remains of many cat companions were found in the tombs of pharaohs and other nobles, to accompany their owners in the afterlife. Maybe they thought that the
Now we can wonder, why are felines repeatedly used
nocturnal animal could bring peace to the obscurity of
in mythology?
death. In ancient Greece, domesticated cats were not the
Felines have been a part of mythologies and rituals for
norm. Indeed, there is no appearance of cats in early
centuries. Indeed, men during the Upper Palaeolithic
Greek myths, but historians surmise that the Greek
Period were the progenitors of mythology with lion-
goddess Artemis was inspired by the Egyptian goddess
shaped sculptures playing a prominent role in their
Bastest, depicted with a cat face. Therefore, Artemis is
spiritual beliefs. In ancient Egypt, the lion was
sometimes depicted with our feline friend.
associated with power through its association with the
On top of being adored all over the world, in real life
goddess Sekhmet, the Egyptian Nubian god Maahes,
and through billions of shared videos on the internet,
and the god Dedun. All associated with the lion, their
cats have a lot of history that justify their slight tendency
attributes include power, protection, luxury, and wealth.
to think that they are the rulers of the universe. By Cecile Fardoux
She Loves You
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(Meow, Meow, Meow) We’ve all seen those classic videos of cats strutting and
he was going to compile the lost and forgotten
sprawling across piano keys, but do cats enjoy music
videotapes of The Beatles’ studio recordings of the
like we do? Unfortunately, most research suggests that
album ‘Let It Be’ into one, long documentary, my dad
cats are indifferent to whether we play heavy metal or
and I couldn’t wait to see it. Of course, its cinema
smooth jazz in their presence – their ears and whiskers
screening booked for September 2020 didn’t happen
are instead tuned to bird song! However, due to the high
because of the pandemic, but that only meant that even
sensitivity of cats’ whiskers enabling them to pick up
more lost footage was discovered in time for the
the sound of mice rustling in the grass and birds
documentary’s real release in late November 2021.
frolicking in the trees, there is also evidence to suggest
Win-win?
that cats do appreciate music, to an extent. Depending on the tempo or beat of the song, cats have been seen enjoy the soothing tones of music. Even one of our own writers, Blair, had a cat named Keeko who relaxed and napped to Fleetwood Mac!
When the Christmas holidays finally arrived after a long semester, most people were glad to have a break from studying, see their family and open their long-awaited presents… I was longing to watch over 8 hours of footage of middle-aged men frolicking around in a studio. Within the first week of arriving at my dad’s, we
An animal behaviour study found that it is not that cats do not enjoy music altogether, they just prefer what is
fixated on the TV screen for three days straight, absorbing this new and exciting Beatles material.
called ‘species-appropriate’ music, rather than our own
The three-episode docu-series, or ‘rockumentary’,
favourite albums playing on repeat. Some scientists
follows the band’s creation of their album ‘Let It Be’
even composed this ‘species-appropriate’ music for
and their rehearsals of the songs both for recording and
cats, based on how they communicate and survive in
for the famous rooftop performance on 30th January
real-life – think purring on a backdrop of scratching and
1969 – their last live performance as a band. Not only is
birds tweeting, with a little classical violin to make it
the series impressive musically (watching Paul
even creepier (for humans, anyway).
McCartney compose ‘Get Back’ seemingly out of thin
Listening to this cat-tailored music (you can find some on YouTube if you’d also like to be slightly weirdedout) reminds me of one of my favourite bands during their slightly psychedelic phase – The Beatles. Just like millions of others, the Fab Four hold a special place in my heart, and this recognition of their brilliance has
air is something noted by many) but the unique insight into the band’s dynamics and relationships are equally fascinating. This also debunks a lot of myths surrounding why The Beatles broke up a year later, such as that John Lennon and Paul McCartney despised each other at this point – the series shows this to be false.
only been increased by the recent docu-series ‘The
Instead, it’s as if their bond extends beyond human
Beatles: Get Back’, released late last year. Since the
ability, with Paul playing a riff on his bass and John
director, Peter Jackson, announced in January 2019 that
being able to mirror it with perfectly-fitting melody and
lyrics almost instantly. John is always trying to make Paul laugh, and they constantly joke around in the studio as well as create masterpieces. Their friendship did, at one point, lead to conflict within the band due to their dominance over it. At the end of the first series, George Harrison
temporarily
left
the
band,
feeling
overshadowed and ignored by John and Paul – something previously unknown to fans.
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much quarrelling over where, and if, they were going to perform their work live once again, they chose the rooftops of Apple Studios. To the dismay of the police and the pleasure of the public, the band played their songs loud and proud, alongside the immensely talented Billy Preston on piano. It was amazing seeing the collaboration and joy they expressed playing live for
As well as serving as a key insight into the fabrics of the
one last time, and Paul’s ecstatic face as he saw
band itself, the series also introduces you to everyone
policemen arriving on the roof shows their fearlessness
who worked with The Beatles behind the scenes. I
and nerve as a band.
formed a great appreciation for how much time and effort it takes to record music from everyone involved, whether that’s the role as producer to making cups of tea and sandwiches. It takes more than four people to create and refine masterpieces, to make every beat, lyric, and chord flow together perfectly.
The series shone a light on the band’s struggles, as well as their humanity and love for each other until the very end. Even if you’re not a Beatles fan, the series is a fascinating insight into human connection, friendships, family, and music production and performance. Why not see if The Beatles’ music is not only ‘species-
As the series continues, the band record most of their
appropriate’ for humans, but also for cats?
album in the famous Apple Studios in London, and after
By Rosie Guy
IMAGO
Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather, 1972 Francis Ford Coppola’s classic, The Godfather, features a cat. It mostly features the Italian-American mafia and explicit violent scenes that cinema had not yet dared to show, inspiring later directors such as Quentin Tarantino. The brief appearance of a cat in Don Vito Corleone’s (Marlon Brando) arms and lap in the opening scene might have gone unnoticed to a lot of minds, but it is nonetheless, particularly meaningful.
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The cat was not scripted for the movie’s scene; Coppola had found a stray cat “on the Paramount movie lot during filming.” He decided to add the cat to the opening scene to help show the Godfather’s, Don Vito Corleone’s, soft side. In the office of his house, while his entire family and friends are celebrating his daughter’s wedding in the garden, Vito Corleone discusses, with various partners, who should live and who should die – whilst stroking a very enthusiastic, purring, and cuddly cat. In the same manner as another scene in the movie, in which Vito Corleone plays with his grandson in his sunny garden, the opening scene indeed can show the softer side of the Godfather. However, this first scene is, I would argue, a bit more subtle. It is the viewer’s first encounter with the mafia boss. There is an anxiety, resulting from the threatening content of the dialogue, said in such a cold tone. This anxiety, heightened by the darkness of the image, is precisely due to an immediate understanding of all the power Vito Corleone possesses. Therefore, Corleone’s hands around the cat seem all-powerful, dangerous, strong, and the cat seems so soft and fragile. The contrasted image of the Godfather cuddling a cat, holding in his hands another life, illustrates Corleone’s power over other people’s lives.On the other hand, Marlon Brando was a cat lover, who used to say: “I live in my cat’s house.” The legendary actor’s servitude to his own pet funnily contradicts his character, who was serving no one but himself and his family
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Child with Cat, oil on canvas, 1887 Julie Manet was the daughter of the painter Berthe Morisot and Eugène Manet, another painter, whose brother, Edouard Manet, is known for paintings such as the scandalous Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe, or Un bar aux Folies Bergères. Pierre-Auguste Renoir, a close friend of their parents, was asked to paint the portrait of the little girl. There are three reasons why I chose this artwork for our Valentine’s issue. Firstly, the painting is the testament to the existence of the Parisian Impressionist circle and here, we can imagine them as a circle of friends inviting each other, entrusting each other with their children. Secondly, its pink tones, on the wall designs and textiles, but also on the girl’s skin, echo, in our collective imagery, the day of Cupid. Finally, this painting screams the love between this little girl and her cat. Look at Julie Manet’s loving, protecting hands and, of course, the cat’s face of pure happiness! By Deborah Lazreug
The Journal of Matters Relating to Felines… …Thanks everyone that made the publication of this issue possible and thank you to our dedicated readers.
Committee
Editors
Cecile Fardoux, President
Rosie Guy
Déborah Lazreug, Secretary
Cecile Fardoux
Thomas Meiehofer, Treasurer
Writers Luke Litvinov, Philosophy student Rosie Guy, English Literature student Blair Center, English Literature student Déborah Lazreug, English Literature and Art History student Cecile Fardoux, English Literature with Creative Writing student Willow Daymomd, English Literature student Fi Hennicken, English and Philosophy student
Where to find us and get involved… journalofmattersrelatingtofelines@outlook.com or felines@ausa.org.uk
Journal of Matters Relating to Felines
@journalofmatters
@journalofmatter
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