Cat
1. The Greek legend of Galenthias has her being turned into a cat and becoming a priestess of Hecate, the goddess of the darkness and its terrors.
2. Ancient Rome considered the cat as a symbol of liberty, and any representation of the goddess of Liberty usually had a cat reposing at her feet. (No animal is so opposed to restraint as a cat, hence "liberty".)
3. Ancient Egypt held the cat as sacred. The goddess Bast (Bastet) was depicted as having the head of a cat. Killing a cat at that time (even by accident) was punishable by death.
4. In Celtic tales the hero fought Monster Cats (They took the place of dragons!).
5. In Scandinavian myth cats pulled the chariot of Freyja.
6. The wildcat was a hunter god in some Amerindian myths, and was considered the younger brother of Coyote.
7. The wildcat is the totem of one Australian Aboriginal tribe.
8. The Hindu goddess of birth, Shosti, rides astride a cat.
9. In China and Japan the cat is looked upon as a shape-shifter, and is associated with witchery.
10.The cat (along with a snake) is under a curse in Buddhism, as they were the only two creatures who did not weep at the death of Buddha.
Jaguar
1. The jaguar was the Master of Animals in Central American mythology. It was the chief figure in Mayan rites and sacrifices were made to the Jaguar God.
2. The Aztec warrior god Tezcatlipoca is depicted as a jaguar.
Leopard
so called because it was thought to be a cross between a lion (leo) and a pard (a black panther with no white spots on it).
1. In Egypt it was an attribute of Osiris.
2. In Greece it was the traditional mount of Dionysus, and powered his chariot.
3. In China it represents all that is warlike and fearless.
4. In Africa it is a cult and totem animal, and an attribute of the storm god. It is sacred to the royal family in Dahomey, and among the Ibo it is revered/associated with fertility.
5. In Hinduism, Shiva is sometimes pictured wearing a leopard skin, supposedly sent to him by jealous rivals who hoped it would destroy him.
6. Tutankhamun's tomb has a scene depicted where Ay, wearing the magical leopard skin of the priests of Osiris, is opening the king's mouth so the soul could pass to the underworld.
Lion
1. Cybele, mother goddess of Phrygia, rides a chariot drawn by lions.
2. Cybele changed Hippomenes and Atalanta (lovers in Greek myth) into lions.
