Cat Jewelry: Freeing the Inner Feline
"Cats are possessed of a shy, retiring nature, cajoling,
haughty, and capricious, difficult to fathom. They reveal
themselves only to certain favored individuals, and are repelled
by the faintest suggestion of insult or even by the most
trifling deception." - Pierre Loti
Ah, where to start? Cats are among the most celebrated creatures
of literature. They're domesticated and at the same time wild,
loved and at the same time hated. They stand for stealth and
mystery, the power of silence and secrets. And cat jewelry is a
testament to that power.
Even before Halle Berry popularized the Catwoman, and before the
sleek, sassy villainess ever graced the pages of DC comics, cats
were being worshipped all over the world. The way the cat moves,
the easy grace and mysterious stillness fuels the imagination
and fires up the senses. Bast, the ancient Egyptian cat-goddess,
was a wild goddess who was generous in good humor, and ferocious
in ill. To kill a cat in ancient Egypt was to call down the
wrath of Bast, and was not only considered an act of evil, but a
crime against the gods.
To compare a person to a cat is to give credit to his/her
capricious, languid, underhanded nature. Cats will only do as
they desire, not as they are told. Loyalty is something they
only bestow, not give out of a sense of obligation. At the same
time they are affectionate to those whom they have chosen, work
with reasons they may not disclose to anyone, and perform
incredible tasks with absolute secrecy. Sending a person --
especially a woman -- cat jewelry as a gift would serve as a
tribute to these special traits. Wearing cat jewelry would aid
in fostering an image of mystery and an instinct for the refined.
The endearing nature of cats has been immortalized not only in
classical literature ("The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe, and
"Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" by Tennessee Williams, to name two of
many) but also in modern literature, like TV shows and comic
strips. We have Garfield and Heathcliff on our Sunday papers,
and Top Cat and the Thundercats in our (all right, kind of
outdated) Saturday morning cartoon lineups. Cats have been
preserved in so many artistic forms -- why can't jewelry be
among them?
Cat jewelry might be popular among children, especially little
girls who love kittens and probably raise cats of their own.
Young women may also appreciate the extraordinary sleekness of
the feline motif, and feel especially sexy wearing something so
in tune with their sensual nature.