Paracelsus Cat Series

Each painting is meant to show some aspect of Paracelsus' laboratory and/or Alchemical work and process.

But always present is what I imagine to be Paracelsus' cat. A black cat that he perhaps had in his laboratory, which reminds him of the directness of consciousness that can more readily perceive the correct sequences of the process and the overall revelations of the work. 

In this series, the cat is often approaching one of the symbols of the outcome of the Alchemical process, Gold. And the alchemists were known to say "Our God is not common Gold". "Aurum Nostrum Non Est Aurum Vulgi." So what was it? The cat is drawn to this enigma. They seem to have this mystical sensibility about them. And of course, curiosity. 

His cat is the perfect symbol of this honest direct perception. Something like the "familiar" of witches which are often portrayed as cats. Also like the Egyptian Cat Goddess Bastet. She became known as Goddess of the moon, and was thought to be both the eye of the moon and the eye of Ra. Many Egyptians saw her feline attributes as all-powerful, with the ability to protect their homes from evil spirits and disease, much in the way cats could ward off vermin.

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Carlo