Writing on Cat Folk
Clouded leopard can be rather playful, but I relate more to the other side of the coin: gender-neutral, balanced, deep, quiet, thoughtful, shy and reclusive. It is a watcher and an hermit (the Hermit, even); for the Rukai people, the clouded leopard was a guide to their land, and this makes sense to me as well. Clouded leopard is serious, proud and very territorial. I associate cloudypards with rainforests and jungles - Amazonia (despite the fact they're from south-east Asia) because that's the jungle archetype to me; and deep emerald green like trees. Then, knowledge and wisdom, water with earth, pragmatism, climbing/arboreal lifestyle, integrity, honesty and blunt words. Felines I associate clouded leopard the most with are jaguars, snow leopards, leopards and extinct cats. In fact, I put clouded leopard between those in terms of energies, although it is something on its own. It can be distant like snowpard, but it also is incredibly intense like jaguar. Its body might ressemble the snowpard's, with a long thick tail, but it has more similarities with the jaguar's lifestyle and stocky front limbs, with ties the jungle and a strong chtonian aspect. However clouded leopard is the most humble big cat to me, maybe because it's the smallest; it's at times considered as a big or small cat, as well as in-between the living and extinct cats, being called the modern-day sabertooth. I'm very curious about other clouded leopard people, alas they're really rare.
I do not know a lot of caracal people either. Caracal is very ambiguous and trickstery, probably more than any other cat. I think it is the fox or coyote equivalent for felines. It is good with words. Despite folklore presenting it as some kind of a coward, caracal is not so, to me. It is more like a trickster or survival thing. Caracal is always-curious and alive. It is quick, cunning, a fast learner with an agile mind, sometimes harsh, prouder and braver than its size would let think. It is self-confident. Less social than I used to think years ago, but more than it seems. Androgynous. I associate caracal with: ochre, deserts, savanah, birds, jackals, coyotes and fennecs, especially from an archetypal and symbolical point of view; sharp things, dust, sand, storms, mediterranea, tricksters, youth, messenger, nomads, running, wind, electricity and fire. Serval seems very close to caracal, but it sounds less blunt and more pretentious. They are very alike in terms of feel/vibes. I also associate caracal with the other small felines, and lion, which is often refered as caracal's uncle in folklore.
Snow leopard is shy and reclusive, but it has elegance and grace. It is intelligence and arrogance, though not wisdom, and it can be quite vain. Obviously I respect snow leopards a lot, but I'm not sure I would like to be one. I relate snowpard with (duh) snow, ice, cold and wind a lot, of course. And silver and cream in term of colours, sharp things, sharp words, Himalaya, buddhism and spirituality in a general way, feminine or female, writing (especially handwritings) and writers, elusiveness, traditional music, dancing, black and white together, rain, eloquence, pretence. Snowpards are the bards of cats with a more sacred dimension and minus the extravert aspect. They can be very distant, and I associate them with clouded leopards, the andean moutain cat, and possibly the cheetah.
I feel leopard and clouded leopard are alike, but it's different than with jaguar. Leopard, to me, often appears as something on its own between jaguar and clouded leopard, sharing a lot in common while still being very unique. Leopard is very much on the same level as cloudypard, whereas I tend to idealize snowpards and jaguars. Leopard is blunt, very nervous and shy, proud, less honest or straightforward than cloudypard, very efficient, is louder, more impulsive, more impressive, smart, the most territorial feline with jaguar. I don't feel that aura around so-called "black panther" though, because I can only relate fluffiness to it unless I'm proved otherwise. I relate leopards to savanah, acacia trees, antelopes, cloudypards and jaguars (a lot), almost only Africa, black or brown with yellow, bluntness, what I would call the masculine end of gender-neutral, bushes and hiding, pacing, fire, hissing, baring teeth, being fierce, collecting things, the seeker archetype, and hunter to a lesser degree.
Jaguar is somewhat special to me because one of my totems is a Jaguar, and it also is the closest to clouded leopard; thus is has an almost god-like aura. Jaguar is clearly male - in a simple way - blunt but not as honest or sincere, quiet, ancient, associated with stones, the warrior archetype, hunters, black and rich yellow, water, rain, jungles, Nahualt language, Mexica/Aztec things, mythology, earth in a very chtonian way, fire, blood, deep red, gold, words-like-stones, and runes. Jaguar is arrogant; sometimes this pride sounds justified, sometimes not so. I relate it mostly to pards and cloudypards, as I've mentionned before. Jaguar is the most shark-like cat and can be hard to understand or even "reach". Along with lion and after clouded leopard, I relate it well to extinct cats.
Lions appear to be friendly, caring and honest individuals with an interesting character. Or perhaps it is a lioness thing, because I've seen more lionesses than lions. Lions and lionesses are, to me, the only felines who are not so tense. Even tigers are. I respect lions a lot but they do not impress me too much because although they are big and powerful, they appear as calm. It's like the whale shark of the sharks, even though lions are as predatory as other cats. Big and peaceful is what I get when I think of lions, most of time. Lion of course has its angry moments and those can be very impressive, but most of time lion has a relaxed and positive outlook on life, to me at least. They feel "earthy". I do not associate them too strongly with tigers, but more with caracals and ancient felines - Old Cats.
All the tiger people I know tend to be very different from each other, but I can say that tiger is mainly down to earth and practical, proud with a tendency to be pompeous, authoritative, impatient and with quite a temper. Tiger is both fire and earth. It's male. They're 100% no-bullshit people when looking at the world, but are much more partial towards themselves, perhaps because they have too much attitude sometimes. They can also be extremely social people, which I find odd for cat folk. Much like black panthers, I have no respect whatsoever for white and golden tigers until they prove themselves to be serious. I never know what to expect with tigers, because they tend to be very multifacetted people who doesn't open up truely, and getting to trust them isn't easy when those so-called tiger people are so popular and so full of shit. I would have expected tiger people to embodize big cats' felinity the most, but that's not the case.
There are a few others cats I could mention, lynxes and cheetahs most especially. Cheetahs are very dog-like, while lynxes are very wolf-like. Cheetah feels strange to me, a bit like tigers in the sense that they do not sound like most of other felines. Lynxes appear as more feline-like but still feel foreign, even from a caracal perspective (caracal are called "desert lynx" and share the ear-tufts and the short tail with lynxes, albeit slighty longer). Cheetah is the Fool - cheetahs are like the clowns of the cats to me. They're a mixture of awkward and graceful. Obviously I associate them with speed, and wind and yellow and other clichés. I do not know of any cheetah personally so it's the feeling I get. Lynxes are spiritual and thoughtful, but very much wolf-like in their way to deal with other people, according more importance to what sound like social fluff for most cats. They are two-facetted, and not just because of the feline/canine aspect. I've only heard and seen very few puma people, and I don't really have much of an opinions about them. Concerning the real small cats, I generally have much respect for them, if not more than for big cats. I knew an asian golden cat person who reminded me very much of jaguar/pard and who was very fierce. I wish there were more small cats around, because I believe big cats have a lot to learn from them.
~Akhila
June 2006