The Naming of Cats

Meet Sebastian.

I'd expected to find inspiration for his name in literature--my 7-year-old girl kitty's namesake is poet Sylvia Plath--but nope, in the end, I came back to the moniker I've always loved most: Bastet. Also known as Bast. Hence, Sebastian.

Bastet was the Egyptian cat goddess of the sun and moon, a venerated figure in that culture's mythology. I'm not sure where I first learned about Bastet, but about 15 years ago I bought a painting on parchment of her that I've hung in my every home since. Somewhere along the way, too, I ordered a glass-encased Bastet figurine from the Franklin Mint that's long since broken. And I scour eBay from time to time looking for Bastet-themed jewelry and statuary. My affection for her is deep, you could say, and my fascination, endless.

For my 16th birthday my mom and aunt took me to see "Cats" on Broadway--the show was based on T.S. Eliot's set of whimsical poems called "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats." "The Naming of Cats" might be his most famous poem of the bunch. My aunt, as big a cat lover as I am and sharing my love of all things literary, took her four cats' names from Eliot: Jellylorum, Shimbleshanks, Coricopat and Bustopher O. Jones. And you know what? The names fit.

Here's hoping that Sebastian's does, too.