Cat Its eyes being variable, the cat symbolizes the varying power of the sun and the waxing and wani

Cat

Its eyes being variable, the cat symbolizes the varying power of the sun and the waxing and waning of the moon and the splendour of the night; it also denotes stealth; desire; liberty.

As black it is lunar, evil and death; it is only in modern times that a black cat has been taken to signify good luck.

Amerindian: The wild cat portrays stealth.

Celtic: Chthonic powers; funerary.

Chinese: A yin animal as nocturnal; powers of evil; powers of transformation. A strange cat is unfavourable change; a black cat, misfortune, illness.

Christian: Satan; darkness; lust; laziness.

Egyptian: Lunar, sacred to Set as darkness; as lunar the cat can also be an attribute of Isis and of Bast, the moon; it represents pregnant women as the moon makes the seed grow in the womb.

Graeco-Roman: Attribute of the lunar Diana. The goddess of liberty has a cat at her feet.

Japanese: Powers of transformation; peaceful repose.

Scandanavian: Attribute of Freyja, whose chariot is drawn by cats.

Witchcraft: A familiar and disguise of witches; the black cat as the witches’ familiar is evil and ill luck. Cats and dogs as witches’ familiars are rain-makers.

[Source: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols by J.C. Cooper]