Maneki Neko the Lucky Beckoning Cat
By CatAnna
@CatAnna (98)
United States
December 18, 2007 10:31am CST
I've always been fascinated by these cats... anyone else? According to ancient legend, this cat stood in the doorway of the Gotoku-ji temple and raised her paw in the traditional Japanese beckoning gesture to a feudal lord who was passing by. The feudal lord followed the cat into the temple and instantly, a lightning bolt struck the place where the lord had been standing. Thus the cat saved his life. From then on, the Maneki Neko has been considered an incarnation of the Goddess of Mercy.
The Gotoku-ji Temple now houses dozens of statues of this Cat, and owners of lost or sick cats stick up prayer boards with the image of the Beckoning Cat in the temple.
In business the Maneki Neko is said to bring success. This is because her raised paw beckons in customers. It also welcomes in personal happiness and harmony. Traditionally, the kitty with her left paw raised brings in business and the kitty with her right paw raised brings in money. I've added both lucky cats to my profile page... if it works for restaurants and shops in Japan, why not for page on the WWW? ;-)
6 people like this
7 responses
@blackbriar (9076)
• United States
18 Dec 07
Visiting your page earlier today is the first time I've ever even heard of Maneki Neko. That is an interesting story, Cat. Thanks for sharing with us. hmmmmmm...maybe I should get one to put by my front door. Maybe it will bring in money to pay all my bills?
2 people like this
@chrislotz (8137)
• Canada
18 Dec 07
That's a beautiful story. How do you know this? I came over to your profile to say hello because one of your friends asked us to say hello in her discussion. I am happy to see you have such a good friend. That's what mylot is about, friends. This is such a nice site that you will enjoy it. Good luck to you and keep these kinds of discussions going and you will do fine. Very good discussion.
2 people like this
@CatAnna (98)
• United States
18 Dec 07
Thanks, Chris and yes this does seem like a very friendly place and my friend Katlady who's been introducing me around for the past two days is a real sweetie! I don't remember the first time I read about Maneki Nekos but it was a few years ago and I'll bet it was online. I belong to an email group (not very active right now) called Cats in Myths and Legends... I might have first read about it there. I'm a bit mad for anything to do with cats :-)
2 people like this
@GloomCookieLex (6073)
• United States
20 Dec 07
I love the Maneki Neko. My fiance is a Japanese major and one time when were at a Japanese restaurant, I asked him what it was. He also has a couple of pillows with them on it and I'm waiting for someplace to put a big one so I can get one lol.
@CatAnna (98)
• United States
20 Dec 07
Ah, then your fiance must be an expert. We just ate at a Japanese restaurant today and they had two big beautiful Maneki Nekos I was lusting after. Mine are much smaller, as is our apartment, heh. I hope you find your perfect Big Beckoning Cat soon :-)
@Phaedra_Scythe (3325)
•
18 Dec 07
That's a lovely story, I always wondered where those cats I see in shops from time to time came from. I'm a huge cat lover myself so I really like this story. Do you know what the literal meaning of "Maneki Neko" is? I'm curious.
I might have to get one of these little cats now to bring luck to my home!
@CatAnna (98)
• United States
18 Dec 07
Hi Phaedra ~ I looked this up once, in Babelfish or somewhere like that. If I remember correctly, neko means "cat" and maneki means "invitation" so I guess the cat is inviting in good fortune. I love these little cats and have a couple of them. One is a a brightly painted bank (very much like the one on my profile page... I'm new here and can't put pictures in discussions... sorry about that) It has the "money paw" up sits on a shelf above my desk at home, another is plain gray and weatherproof with the "business paw" up and sits in our little catnip garden. Whether it brings more cats into the catnip garden I don't know but it looks cute out there :-)
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
20 Dec 07
I have two gold-toned statues of Maneki Neko...the one has it's left paw raised, while the other the right..I also have a teapot and cups with the Maneki Neko kitty on it...I live in an area with a lot of oriental people, and have a large oriental supermarket, but they also sell other items and that's where I got my statues and teapot/cups from.
BTW--I briefly checked your website..I plan to visit more as you sure have a lot of great things on your site there. I love the tribute to your two kitties that are now in Rainbow Bridge. Maybe I should develop my own site to all the kitties I have..actually do with Catster--but would love to develop one like yours..which website host did you use?
@CatAnna (98)
• United States
20 Dec 07
Ooo, I'd love to see you Maneko Neko collection... especially the teapot and cups. I also have two other cat statues that aren't "officially" MNs but they do have raised paws. I found them both at garage sales. One is small with a spout.. I think she's a creamer... and the other is larger, and decorated with floral designs that look vaguely Oriental.
Putting together those tributes to my dearly departed Monday and Honeybear was very theraputic... I was devaasted when I lost them both, and being able to pour some of my feelings into those webpages helped a lot. I'm glad you resonated with those pages... thank you for letting me know. And hey, I'm on Catster... and Petster... too though I haven't been to either site in a while. So many websites, so little time!
@morgandrake (2136)
• United States
18 Dec 07
I have one in my office. I brought it because it was a cat. At the time I brought it, I did not know the story behind it. I also have a couple of Bast statues in the house, go figure. :)
@abbey19 (3106)
• Gold Coast, Australia
19 Dec 07
That's a beautiful story Anna, cats sure are mystical creatures. I hope your two lucky cats on your profile page bring you some luck on the www!
Welcome to MyLot, it's a great place to be, and I'm sure you will make lots of friends here.
@CatAnna (98)
• United States
19 Dec 07
Yes, there are many myterious tales and legends about cats and you can be sure I'll be searching myLot for others and posting more of my own favorites as time goes by. I'm glad you enjoyed this story, and thank you for the welcome and for visiting my page. Purrs from Harmony & Pouncival :-)
