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Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Fierce and furry: Protective feline demons – Demon Things – Ancient Egyptian Demonology Project


http://www.demonthings.com/fierce-furry-protective-feline/
On 05/09/18 04:09, Dr. Kasia Szpakowska wrote:
Fierce and furry: Protective feline demons

Part of a series of posts by the 2017-18 students taking the course CLE343: Supernatural Beings and Demons of Ancient Egypt / CL-M79 Ancient Egyptian Demons led by Dr. Kasia Szpakowska at Swansea University


Post written and designed by Amber Bhatty 

I remember reading a funny but apt quote about the difference between dogs and cats, and that if you give food and affection to dogs, they will think you're god; but if you give food and affection to cats, they come to the conclusion that THEY are god. 

This is a pretty close comparison to the kind of cats I'll be talking about. These fluffy balls of joy are waiting for you to scratch just a little too long, or stroke that irresistible velvet-smooth no-touching-zone (aka the tummy), to slaughter you with butcher knives- wait, what?
Let me explain.
'Feline liminal entities'- a bit of a tongue-twister so let's just call them 'feline demons'- are found carved onto ivory wands (what is an ivory wand?) alongside other creepy little hybrid beings who all work together to act as guardian protectors for the vulnerable. The end of the wand would be used to mark a perimeter in the ground surrounding a woman in labour or possibly around the mother and child as they sleep.  
Birthing ritual- the ivory wand is used to draw the perimeter around the woman and child.
Demons were not deemed inherently 'evil' to the ancient Egyptians as they are to us now. They were never completely gods, or humans, or animals- there was something always off about them. If depicted as humanoid, they could have an animal's head. If depicted as an animal, for example a feline in our case, they could be walking on their back two legs, they could carry knives- things that animals do not and SHOULD not be doing.
If your cat does this…please seek help.
Feline demons will usually be a hybrid of a cheetah/ leopard (one of the spotty ones) and a lion (shown from its mane); this combined all their strengths to create an ultra- powerful, ultra- fast protective guardian for the person in need of it.
 
Feline found on an ivory wand (MMA 30.8.218)- drawing from Ancient Egyptian Demonology Project 2K, Swansea University

They can be shown stood up on their back two legs, sat on their haunches, or on all four paws; nothing too out of the ordinary other than the fact that they are holding butchers knives. 
 
Yes. You heard that right.
Not huge swords, not a bow and arrow, you know, the usual weaponry- but butchers knives! These felines were such ferocious killing machines that they didn't even see their enemies as worthy opponents. 
 
This wasn't a battle. This was a massacre!
 
 
Two feline demons are circled. The one on the left is stood up holding a knife and leaning against the 'sA' which symbolises the protective function of these beings on the wands.
These felines are animal demons; however, we find this imagery in the ancient Egyptian funerary texts. In the Book of the Dead (Spell 17- Part A, section 15), the sun-god ra (pronounced Ra) could manifest as the Great Cat which is known for its nightly battle against its arch-nemesis, Apep, the Giant Snake (Battles with Ra). 
ra as the Great Cat is shown having decapitated Apep and holding a bloodied butchers knife. This guy is Harry's Voldemort; one cannot live while the other survives etcetera etcetera, and so each night, ra begins his journey through the underworld where he battles Apep. He is victorious as he makes his way to the eastern horizon where he rises every morning, only to set in the evening to start his journey all over again.
 
This is some disturbing PG-15 imagery!
Scene from the House of Eternity of Inherkau, [TT359] Ra as the Great Cat decapitating Apep with a butcher knife.
Ending on a lighter note, as gruesome as these feline demons appear to be, do not fear them, fur they will purr-tect and guard you fiercely


--   Sent from my Linux system.

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