nissaba

African legends describe people who turn into lions or leopards. In the case of leopards, this is often because the creature is really a leopard god or goddess masquerading as human. When these gods mate with humans, offspring can be produced, and these children sometimes grow up to be shapeshifters. Any of them who never transform will have other powers.

The Leopard Woman (Liberia)

A man and a woman were once making a hard journey through the bush, The woman had her baby strapped upon her back as she walked along the rough path overgrown with vines and shrubbery. They had nothing to eat with them, and the longer they traveled, the hungrier they became. After a long while they emerged from the heavily wooded forest into a grassy plain. There they came upon a herd of bush cows grazing quietly. The man said to the woman, "You have the power of transforming yourself into whatever you like; change now to a leopard and kill on of those animals, so that I may have something to eat." The woman looked at the man with a hard stare, and said, "Do you really mean what you ask, or are you joking?" "I mean it," said the man, for he was very hungry.

The woman untied the baby from her back, and put it upon the ground. She removed her loincloth; a change came over her face. Hair began growing upon her neck and body. Her hands and feet turned into claws, In a few moments, a wild leopard was standing before the man, staring at him now with fiery eyes. The man was frightened nearly to death and clambered up a tree for protection. When he was nearly to the top, he saw that the little baby was so close to the leopard as to be almost within the leopard's jaws, but he was so afraid, that he couldn't make himself go down to rescue it. When the leopard saw that she had the man good and frightened, and full of terror, she ran away to the flock of cattle to do for him as he had asked her to. Capturing a large young heifer, she dragged it back to the foot of the tree.

The man, who was still as far up in its top as he could go, cried out, and piteously begged the leopard to transform herself back into a woman. She did so; slowly, the hair receded, and the claws disappeared, until finally, the woman stood before the man once more. But so frightened was he still, that he would not come down until he saw her take up her clothes and tie her baby to her back. Then he descended from the topmost branches of the tree. She said to him, in a voice that resembled the growl of a leopard, "Never ask a woman to do a man's work again." (Women must care for the farms, cook the food, tend the children, etc., but it is man's work to do the hunting and bring in the meat for the family.)

De leefplaatsen van luipaarden verschillen heel erg. Van droge woestijnen tot dichte regenwouden en van koude naaldbossen tot tropische savannes. Er is zelfs een dood luipaard gevonden op de berg Kilimanjaro, op 5638 meter hoogte, het beest was ingevroren. Het belangrijkste criterium voor een goede leefomgeving is de hoeveelheid voedsel. Ook voldoende schuilplaatsen, in de vorm van hoge begroeiing, bomen of rotsen, zijn belangrijk.

MAFDET



Patron of: protection against snakes, scorpions and other dangerous animals.

Appearance: a woman with the head of a cheetah, her hair braided and ending in scorpion tails. Sometimes she wears a headdress of snakes.

Description: The ancient Egyptians revered felines as sacred for many centuries apparently, as Mafdet is a very old goddess, dating to around the First Dynasty. She was prayed to for protection against scorpion stings and snakebite, and invoked in healing rituals for those who had been afflicted by such.

Mafdet, "The Runner", was a panther goddess whose ferocity prevails over snakes and scorpions. the scratch of her claws is lethal to snakes, so symbolically the harpoon of the king becomes Mafdet's claws for decapitating his enemies in the Underworld. When Mafdet is described as leaping at the necks of snakes, the imagery seems to suggest her form takes on that of a mongoose. In one epithet, Mafdet wears braided locks, probably a reference to her displaying the jointed bodies of the scorpions which she has killed.

Mafdet was depicted in the Pyramid texts as killing a snake. Her fame came mainly in the Old Kingdom and not so much is known about her except that she stood for (official) power. She could appear as a lynx, a leopard or a cheetah, but normally she was shown as a woman dressed in a cat's skin. She fought snakes and scorpions and evildoers in general and could be seen as a cat climbing up a pool (by some said to be used for executions), and if so thereby manifesting the judicial authority.

In the early New Kingdom she is also depicted attending in the Judgment Hall, perhaps to take care of the legal consequences. Her name can possibly mean "runner" and she is mentioned on the Palermo Stone from the fifth dynasty. She was somehow identified with the dwarf god Bes. Her parents were (at least in the New Kingdom) - Amon and Mut.

Worship: As her cult was incredibly ancient but supplanted by that of Bast, it is unknown how widespread Mafdet's cult was.

Lilith is a growth of the Rabbinic tradition, of that minute, ... She is a shape-shifter, and her usual change is into a white leopard with black spots. ...

Luipaarden hebben andere vlekken dan jaguars.