Why Do Cats Have Nine Lives? The Origin of the Myth
The phrase is far older than the cartoons. Its roots run through Egyptian theology, English proverb, and simple observation of what cats survive.
The Egyptian thread
The sun god Atum-Ra was said to take cat form and to have birthed eight other gods — nine divine beings in one, and cats were their earthly echo.
The number itself
Nine is a trinity of trinities, considered a number of completeness in several ancient traditions — a natural fit for an animal that seems to cheat death.
Why anyone believed it
Cats right themselves mid-fall, absorb impact with flexible spines, and walk away from things that would break other animals. Observation did most of the work.
How many lives elsewhere
Not universal: Arabic and Turkish traditions often say six; Spanish-speaking countries commonly say seven.
In the game
BAST: Nine Lives takes this history literally: you play the black cat of the temple, racing three Heralds to the anchor-shrines while the serpent Apep — the same chaos-serpent the great cat kills in the Book of the Dead — strains at his chains beneath the sand.
Keep Reading
You've read the codex. Now live it.
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