Cats: Keepers of the Spirit World

by John A. Rush

Explores our intertwined spiritual history with cats

• Examines spiritual and occult beliefs connected to cats from Mayan, Aztec, and Native American mythology as well as from ancient India, Samaria, Babylon, Japan, and Egypt

• Looks at spiritual behaviors attributed to cats as well as modern biological research into cat behavior and their highly sophisticated sensory systems

• Reveals the similarities between cat and human emotions and the deep connection between cats and meditation

We have been connected to cats for more than 30 million years. To our prehistoricancestors cats were deadly predators of the night, and because of this ancient memory etched onto our DNA, cats epitomize our fear of the dark. Yet in addition to their connection to the dark and the shadows, their intelligence, sophisticated physical abilities, and finely tuned senses also led many cultures to view cats as connected to the spirit world.

Exploring the spiritual nature of cats, John A. Rush looks at humanity’s fascination and fear of cats through the ages. He examines spiritual and occult beliefs connected to cats from Mayan, Aztec, and Native American mythology as well as from ancient India, Samaria, Babylon, Japan, and Egypt, including how ancient Egyptians used cats to send messages to the gods. He reveals why the Catholic Church demonized cats and how cats are symbols of both Good and Evil. Examining cat evolution, the author looks at spiritual behaviors attributed to cats as well as modern biological research into cat behavior and their highly sophisticated sensory systems, which, unlike most other animals, have changed very little over millions of years. He explores their “psychic” ability to sense what humans cannot and the origins of their glowing eyes, which has connected cats, through myth, to both the Underworld and the World of Light. He also explores similarities between cat and human emotions, cat communications with us, and the deep connection between cats and meditation.

Revealing the spiritual journey of the cat from fearsome predator to occult symbol to household companion, the author shows how, in many ways, cats are mirrors of us, reflecting our conflicting dual nature that is at once loving yet distant, magical yet vengeful, and, above all, deeply connected to the spirit world.

273 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 3, 2023

Reviews

[no.stache.nietzsche · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well that was a pretty interesting book! Pleasantly surprised by Rush's outlining of epigenetics and non-Darwinian evolution, tying in a discussion of endocellular selection and such to feline evolution; its not the central part of the book, but an excellent way to setup the book and really made this a worthwhile scientific text- more than simply some musings about cats and their place in popular culture, which is kind of what the later portion of the book is. The overview of the place cats hold in various cultures and religions was interesting though, and the discussion of cat behaviours was thorough and reasonable. We were worried this might end up being a bit of a cash grab and mostly fluffy truism, but it was not! We hadn't heard of John A. Rush before, but upon looking into him, he has some other interesting books out about both evolution through other means than Darwinian "natural selection", as well as some texts about the psychedelic origins of early Christianity taking off from John Allegro's work that we plan to look into in the future!

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't understand how someone could write a book like this. The material is highly opinionated and not based in fact. To the Author: you are not smarter than historians, anthropologists, or scholars that are actually versed in these topics.
Any author that references themselves in their own book for source material is an egotistical fool. I mean come on... the book starts with slamming Darwinism. We know the guy wasn't a genius. So to start with these pages was kinda like 21st century ranting about curing syphilis with mercury way back in the day. Like... goes without saying my guy. You should just stop writing. I also truly hope that you endeavor to find better friends to associate with because if you had real friends they wouldn't have let you publish this book. I don't dare look into your other ones. Zero stars. I would rate with negative stars if at all possible. Actually no...you owe stars to society for publishing this. I've read the Holy Bible and this was a worse read that that.

[Jenalee Paige · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has a range of information about cats. I appreciate that it comes to you in waves; meaning, it cycles back between what we can physically see and notice with our cats and then what that means on a higher realm. History is weaved throughout about the role of cats in different civilizations, and why that may have been their role. It addresses superstitions and folklore about them too. I also connected with the personal stories about the author’s own cats. Very fun, fast-paced, and easy to read & enjoy! Great and highly recommend for any cat owner!

[Mitchell Stern · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s some interesting information in this book-but two big things undercut it. First it feels very disorganized. A lot of the book feels very stream of consciousness and lacks a clear focus (going from place to place and from domesticated cats to big cats). That alone would make it 4 stars but the author takes a lot of random, superfluous potshots at things like the Abrahamic faiths (Islam in particular) and Marxism in ways that felt inaccurate, superficial and not relevant to the rest of the book.