Lucky cat

In a Japanese supermarket earlier this month, I purchased a Maneki Neko- a traditional Japanese figurine of lucky cat auspices and symbols, and designed to bless an establishment with good luck. She's sitting up high on a tall fridge, looking down on the kitchen. The same position Her Catness, the original, prefers.






The iconic lucky cat is classically a tri-colour tortie like my companion Noushka, so I was pre-sold.

On the internet I learn that a raised left paw invites in good fortune, while the right paw welcomes money and wealth. Although the raised paw(s) are often construed as a greeting, the older texts have the cat's gesture to be washing, instead of beckoning. In several cultures, washing behaviour from cats augers a change in the wind or weather, or (as for Maneki Neko) a change in fortune. And cats as fortune-tellers or familiars are also cross-culturally prevalent, despite their comparatively late (vs canines) domestication and dispersal.

http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/maneki-neko.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maneki_Neko