Book meme is booky.
Book meme, snagged from bexxa:
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 4-7 sentences on your LJ along with these instructions.
5. Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest (unless it's too troublesome to reach and is really heavy. Then go back to step 1).
THE SPREAD OF THE CAT CULT
In ancient religions, lions had been associated with earth-mothers and licentious goddesses, like Babylonian Ishtar. Gradually the cat supplanted the lion, and passed into European religions as the animals themselves spread; but as they moved further from their Egyptian roots, the cats were demoted from living representations of goddesses to symbolic companions. Bast was equated with the Greek goddess of the hunt, Artemis; her Roman counterpart, Diana, had a chariot drawn by cats, as did the Norse fertility goddess Freya. The Roman goddess of love, Venus, was also often depicted with a cat.
In Asia, cats were not deities, but were regarded as valuable creatures worthy of respect in the Hindu and Parsee religions, although Buddhism originally looked down on them because a cat was said not to have wept at the funeral of the Buddha, but engaged in hunting rats instead. Cats were, however, always welcome in temples as quiet companions that protected scrolls from mice, and so they acquired a sort of second-hand spirituality.
from Encyclopedia of Cats by Candida Frith-Macdonald
Yay, kitties.
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 4-7 sentences on your LJ along with these instructions.
5. Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest (unless it's too troublesome to reach and is really heavy. Then go back to step 1).
THE SPREAD OF THE CAT CULT
In ancient religions, lions had been associated with earth-mothers and licentious goddesses, like Babylonian Ishtar. Gradually the cat supplanted the lion, and passed into European religions as the animals themselves spread; but as they moved further from their Egyptian roots, the cats were demoted from living representations of goddesses to symbolic companions. Bast was equated with the Greek goddess of the hunt, Artemis; her Roman counterpart, Diana, had a chariot drawn by cats, as did the Norse fertility goddess Freya. The Roman goddess of love, Venus, was also often depicted with a cat.
In Asia, cats were not deities, but were regarded as valuable creatures worthy of respect in the Hindu and Parsee religions, although Buddhism originally looked down on them because a cat was said not to have wept at the funeral of the Buddha, but engaged in hunting rats instead. Cats were, however, always welcome in temples as quiet companions that protected scrolls from mice, and so they acquired a sort of second-hand spirituality.
from Encyclopedia of Cats by Candida Frith-Macdonald
Yay, kitties.