Cats in 22 Major Arcana by Evelyne Nicod

Introduction by Pina Andronico Tosonotti

The cat is certainly one of the most fascinating and mysterious animals that has ever been. In the past. he has heen worshipped and venerated until finally he was persecuted and at last treated with cruelty.

The Egyptian Goddess Bastet, femmine body and feline face, was for the Egyptians his representative. Half a woman, half a cat, she was the protector of sexuality and fecondity. When a cat died, he was embalmed with great honours and buried in a precious sarcophagus.

In the Zen discipline, the cat is a symbol of superior level of conscience. In our days he is still well known for his magic power of giving good or bad luck.

Yet in the Middie Ages he was ferociousiy persecuted, he was Satan the Devil personified, with all his evil influences, and it was believed that by throwing a black cat into a burning fire the flames would be extinguished. He has often been buried alive in the walls of the basements of Gothic cathedralls, signifing by this a repression of the evil to save the faith. In this period he was always the chosen victim for the stake,being believed, to be possessed by witches. Many famous artists, painters, writers, poets, were devoted to their little feline. Baudelaire dedicated to him a beautiful poem. Beloved by wizards, astrologists, sensiti ves, he is, it is said, the owner of a very deep extra sensorial perception. His magnetism is well known, he represents magic in all its aspects. Through his deep impenetrabue look, one can imagine a universe unknown to the human being, in which he is the absolute king; uneasy, darkiy ambiguous, agile, provocative, he needs no common language. The modulations of his voice come from an inner occult message not to be understood by many. His personality is manifold like that of the idols whom he represented in the past. As a combination of the mysterious cat and the esotheric symbois of the 22 Major Arcana, the painter Evelyne Nicod has maliciousiy tried to follow, lightly, with an accurate graphic sign, the way through the ages of this little divinity. The story of the 22 Arcana goes further than the mystery of the theme, confining with poetry, eliminating the dra matic feeling of fatality that usually occurs between the Consultant and the Arcana, fixing static images and a world of fairy tale which are a great part of the dream world of childhood.

Pina Andronico Tosonotti