May 9, 2023 • 27 mins
It's Mother's Day and we are here for it on 6 Degrees of Cats, the world's #1 (and only) cat-themed culture, history and science podcast. In this episode, get ready for the motherload - in which we delve into the topic of motherhood through the captivating story of St. Gertrude of Nivelles, the Belgian abbess and (alleged) patron saint of cats.
Joining our host is Catholic culture researcher René Ostberg, M.A., who guides us through the life of St. Gertrude, her relationship with cats, and the pivotal role of motherhood in her story. Alongside René, we have returning guest and doula Jade Hillery, M.P.H., and media professional and working mom, Alem Tedeneke, M.A., who share their unique perspectives on motherhood, from the physical to the spiritual and emotional dimensions of mothering.
Support the podcast, sign up for The Captain’s Log, the companion podcast newsletter and more here: linktr.ee/6degreesofcats.
Reference image:
About the experts:
- Jade F. Hillery, MPH, CD (DTI), is a reproductive and sexual health trainer and educator, full spectrum doula, and sensual movement instructor. She works to support other trainers and educators in creating intentional learning spaces; promote healing through sensual movement; and help people tap into their own power. She is also a board member for Aaliyah in Action and a co-host of The Good Black Podcast.
- Rene Ostberg is a Chicago-based writer and researcher who specializes in Catholic culture whose writing has appeared in many publications such as National Catholic Reporter and Encyclopaedia Britannica. She is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in library and information science.
- Alem Tedeneke, M.A. holds a Master’s degree in Strategic Communications from Columbia University and works for a large international organization in the social impact space. She can be followed on Twitter via @eyealem.
Producer, writer, editor, sound designer, host, basically everything*
- Captain Kitty (Amanda B.)
* with co-executive producers Binky & Snuggles
Animal voices include:
- Binky & Snuggles _^..^_
Opening and closing credits:
- Leathered: "Look Alive" (c) 2022
- Samples licensed via Loopcloud
- Additional sound effects from Pixabay.com
Logo design:
- Edward Anthony © 2024 (Instagram: @itsmyunzii)
Research used:
- Drife, J. (2002, May 1). The start of life: A history of obstetrics. Postgraduate Medical Journal. Retrieved from https://pmj.bmj.com/content/78/919/311
- Fried, J. P. (2001, March 4). Following up. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/04/nyregion/following-up.html
- Garner, G. (2021, July 20). Mother cat in recovery after heroically saving her kitten from Barn Fire. People.com. Retrieved from https://people.com/pets/mother-cat-recovery-after-saving-kitten-barn-fire/
- Green, R. (2011, August 28). Scarlett the fire cat stray cat's devotion to kittens she carried one-by-one from fire an uplifting story of Motherly love. Spokesman.com. Retrieved from https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1997/dec/09/scarlett-the-fire-cat-stray-cats-devotion-to/
- Kybele. CYBELE (Kybele) - Phrygian Goddess, Mother of the Gods. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.theoi.com/Phrygios/Kybele.html
- Leeson, J. (2022, September 27). Is your cat ready to give birth? here's what to expect on the Big Day. How to Tell When a Cat Is Ready to Give Birth, So You Can Support Your Little Mama on the Big Day. Retrieved from https://www.dailypaws.com/cats-kittens/health-care/cat-neutering-spaying/how-to-tell-when-a-cat-is-ready-to-give-birth
- Ostberg, R. M. (2021, March 17). Meet St. Gertrude, cat lady of the Catholic Church. U.S. Catholic. Retrieved from https://uscatholic.org/articles/202003/how-st-gertrude-of-nivelles-became-the-cat-lady-of-the-catholic-church/
- Small, M. F. (2023, April 12). The biology of . . . morning sickness. Disc
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Huh, what are all these lumps on your belly? Snuggles, are you okay?
(00:04):
[MARCH SCREAMS]
Oh, sorry. I totally did not realize that was your chest...
[MUSIC - "MARCH"]
Welcome back to "Six Degrees of Cats."
A podcast about how cats have shaped our past, present, and future.
(00:26):
The date is March 30, 1996, the setting, an abandoned garage in East New York,
a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York.
A fire is burning, and firefighter David Gianelli of Ladder Company 175 is among the first
responders to the scene.
(00:46):
There, he spies three kittens, very young ones, just outside the door.
He looks to his left.
Two more, crying along with their siblings.
All far too young to have gotten themselves to safety.
Gianelli surveys the area, and his eyes are drawn to some movement near his feet.
(01:07):
Covered in soot with patches of smoking fur and visible injuries, he comes to realize
that this small creature is, in fact, a cat.
In the seconds before he signals for backup, he has two startling realizations.
(01:29):
First, that this was the kitten's mother, and second, it was she who made the repeated
trips into the burning building to rescue each of those five kittens.
That brave little kitty, a calico female of about nine months old at the time, became
(01:52):
known across the world as the heroic mother cat of the year.
Her name became Scarlett.
In feline legends of yore, she is hailed as Brunhilda the Burning.
(Sorry, I couldn't help myself.)
All kittens were rescued, treated and adopted, and someone rescued Scarlet too.
(02:16):
She was adopted and lived out her days in comfort and care.
And this hit the news outlets, it really struck a chord, not only among cat aficionados
but for all those who were just blown away by this cat's sacrifices for her kittens,
her maternal instincts.
The lengths a mother will go to protect her own, wow.
(02:39):
You know, she's not the only one, as a surprise to no one.
I happen to have lots of these news items on my radar.
Let's hear it for Canadian momma cat, Minka, who rescued her babies from a burning barn.
I think we need to be better about fire's safety, jeez.
The emerging pattern across this season of 6 Degrees of Cats is continuing to become
(03:04):
clearer.
In our last few episodes, we covered the cat fertility connection and how it's been long
treasured by those such as the ancient Egyptians and later even the Norse.
As we discussed regarding their goddesses, such as Egypt's Abaston's Ibelly and Freya,
at first it seemed to just be fertility, but it's really starting to be more about maternity
(03:31):
and motherhood.
Very timely.
At the time of this episode's release, it's gonna be just before Mother's Day here in North
America.
So, what better time to go back to those cat mother goddesses?
In the here and now, the "modern age" we've displaced magic and the workings of gods and
(03:56):
goddesses as the first explanation for all the very magical and mysterious things about
this world.
But if you really think about it, for millions - no, billions - across the world, there's definitely
still magic to be found by way of, well, miracles.
(04:17):
Performed by not quite gods or goddesses, but godly figures who have performed extraordinary
acts that almost seem superhuman.
What I'm talking about right now are saints.
And yeah, there actually are some out there affiliated with cats.
(04:39):
So, in this episode of 6 Degrees of Cats, we'll sort of be talking about a magical mother
goddess here, sort of, in the form of a saint who performed miracles and is, sort of, associated
with cats.
Mother is a verb.
Throughout this discussion on mothers and motherhood, this statement will become clearer and
(05:04):
clearer.
So, Mother's Day.
In the United States, that happens in May, incidentally.
Traditionally in the Catholic Church, the month of May is associated with the Virgin Mary.
That was Rene Ostberg.
I'm a writer based outside Chicago.
I write about Catholic culture.
(05:26):
My website is reneostberg.com.
Mary's kind of the mother of all saints.
But we're not really here to talk about Mary today.
I consulted with Renee to start our discussion about those saints.
Well, specifically one saint.
Saint Gertrude of Nivelles.
Does that ring a bell?
(05:47):
If it sounds familiar, it's likely thanks to a meme on the internet that's been circulating
for the past few years around the time that Saint Patrick's Day rolls around.
Maybe you know that meme.
The one with a female saint either depicted in stained glass or in a painting with a cat
at her feet or in her arms, with the caption, "It happens every year.
(06:11):
Patrick this and Patrick that no one remembers me and my cats."
I'll link this image in the show notes, though it's hard to track down its original author.
As with all stories, this one has been...
No, misinterpreted.
Let me be clear.
(06:31):
She is not French.
That was a misinterpretation on my side.
Modern day in Nivelles is a French community in the country of Belgium, though in my defense.
It wasn't called that in Saint Gertrude's time.
Anyway, I'm thankful to have had Rene on hand to clarify all of that and certainly dive
into who Saint Gertrude of Nivelles was and why she's even connected with cats.
(06:55):
She loved cats, right?
Maybe she had a cat.
Maybe she loved cats.
We don't know.
There's nothing that people have been able to find in her time, the biographies of her,
definitely like rats and mice, but not cats until the late 20th century.
Originally, she was designated as the patron saint of gardeners and travelers and she was
(07:17):
invoked against mice and rats, which makes sense because if you're the patron saint of
gardeners, who is the enemy of gardens, mice and rats?
That was how she was associated for a long time like in the medieval era.
If there were any animals in the art that shows Saint Gertrude, it was a mouse or a rat or
(07:40):
several mice, several rats running around her feet or running up her staff, the crozer,
the crook that she carried with her.
Those were the animals that were associated with her not cats.
I get it, but still, how'd she get named the patron saint of cats?
It seems like this idea of her being the patron saint of cats didn't come into being until
(08:02):
pretty recently.
The earliest association with cats I could find was in the 80s.
This is the 1980s now.
There was a catalog from the Metropolitan Museum of Art about Metropolitan Cats that mentions
her.
Somehow she became associated with cats and probably because if she's invoked against rats
(08:24):
and mice, who else do you call upon to get rid of rats and mice?
Well cats, of course.
And so I think somehow she must have become associated with cats.
Ah, G was a cat kind of.
It seems like maybe people really wanted there to be a patron saint of cats.
(08:46):
This is pretty recent and people embraced it.
There's a patron saint of dogs, so why not cats?
Yeah, why not cats?
So there you go.
Happy Mother's Day.
Saint Gertrude is the Mother of Cats.
Thanks for joining us on this episode of 6 Degrees of Cats.
Fold up!
That's not quite the whole story.
(09:07):
There's so much more to talk about when it comes to Gertrude and mothers after the break.
Before the break, we learned a bit about Saint Gertrude of Nivelles, the closest thing to
(09:32):
a cat goddess of this modern era, I guess.
But Gertrude's saintly journey is really a story of a mother performing near miracles
to protect her child.
Remember what I said about mother is a verb? Back to Rene.
Saint Gertrude of Nivelles, she was born into this very wealthy noble family in the 7th century.
(09:57):
Her birth year is usually given around 626.
She was born in Nivelles, which is a city in modern day Belgium.
Her mother was named Itta.
She was supposedly the daughter of a bishop, and her father was Pepin the first.
He was a very high-ranking official in the palace of several Frankish caves.
(10:22):
He was the mayor of the palace of Austrasia.
She was the youngest child of four, just to give you an association of how well connected
her family was and how powerful they were.
Her elder sister married another noble man.
(10:42):
They had a son named Pepin the Second, and this would have been Gertrude's nephew.
Pepin the Second became the ruler of the entire Frankish empire.
And then down the line, one of his descendants was Charlemagne, the first emperor of the Holy
Roman Empire.
This is a very powerful noble family.
(11:04):
Ita herself, like most noble women of her era, was literally born to marry a powerful man
with a lot of wealth and resources, and embedded in that responsibility, bearing children to
continue the line of her husband's family so that they could maintain their property and
wealth.
Let's take a moment to reflect on the fact that Ita even gestated and delivered Gertrude
(11:29):
in the first place.
The earth can be very wonderful, and it can also be very hard on the body.
And same goes for pregnancy and it affects bodies in different ways.
If someone were to get pregnant four times, each pregnancy might impact their bodies slightly
differently.
(11:49):
That was Jade Hillery, who we heard from earlier in this season.
I currently work for the National Office at Planned Parenthood Federation of America as
a training and learning design director.
They also hold titles and work as a labor of love as a full spectrum duel in the DC metropolitan
area by servant support families from birth through loss and everything in between.
(12:13):
Jade's work and training has granted her a very holistic understanding of pregnancy and
what it does to the body.
The general impacts that carrying a pregnancy can yield.
Your pelvic floor is very important for day to day functioning, as someone is carrying
anywhere from a four to ten pound baby that weighs on pelvic floor muscles.
(12:37):
That impacts their core, which includes their lower back.
It's not just about the abs.
It includes your trunk area.
People's feet swell, people might develop gestational diabetes.
It's not until people are going through some of these journeys and having impacts to
their teeth or pubic bone, syphysis, pain and things like that, the myriad of other things
(13:02):
that they might experience.
They are then finding out, "Oh, that's common."
We just don't talk about it.
That's a lot to go through, just getting through all of that.
I cannot personally speak to the birthing process, having never gone through it, but I do
know someone who has.
My name is Alem Tedeneke.
(13:23):
My pronouns are she and her.
I work in media.
I'm also a mom.
A step-mom to a 12-year-old and a mom to soon-to-be three-year-old?
Quick sidebar.
Yes, it is a true fact that cats are cuter than babies, but there's always an exception to
the rule.
Examples being, "Any baby I'm friends with, by proxy, or related to."
(13:48):
Back to the wonderful Alem.
She was kind enough to speak to me about her own experiences.
I guess in my second trimester, Sonya moved for the first time.
I remember the awe and joy I saw in my husband's face, and all I could feel was complete horror,
because it was just so bizarre to feel a foreign object move within my body.
(14:16):
It truly felt like an alien was living in there.
That's the thing people don't talk about.
They talk about the sense of joy and wonder, which there is, but there's also a lot of freaky
noise that happens.
You don't know how you're going to feel about.
It's such a surreal thing.
(14:37):
Your brain is being rewired, right?
And your hormones, it's all shifting so that your normal ability to self-regulate your
emotion completely changes.
And those changes that the body is making to accommodate?
Well, here's how that feels for some.
(14:57):
They call it morning sickness.
That's a lie.
It's sickness and nausea all throughout the day.
And it's just constant.
And you're expected to act like it's not happening.
You're always, always tired because your body is slowly reshaping itself.
(15:19):
To grow the uterus, to expand your pelvis.
It's truly insane what happens during these like nine to ten months.
You know, the majority of my third trimester, I started getting a lot of swelling, which
is pretty typical.
I'm usually in the feet, but I got it in my hands.
(15:41):
And it got so bad that I couldn't make a fist.
I couldn't even crush a piece of paper in my hands.
The doctors and the midwives were pretty blousy about it.
That happens.
Don't worry about it.
And I was like, no, I'm losing the use of my hands.
(16:06):
And they were also very comfortable with saying, well, once you have the baby, it'll be okay.
I had the baby and it took a full month.
Yeah, it's just a wild ride.
Since the beginning of time, this has been part of pregnancy.
(16:29):
Through medical and technical innovations, more carried through by those with as few or
as many resources as you can imagine.
What makes the thought bearable?
Folks do best and are able to birth when they feel safe and cared for and loved and they're
(16:54):
in safe environments.
Jade advises her clients accordingly.
Think about your environment.
Think about the signals that your body is giving off.
Think about what that does for you.
You need to go into survival mode.
I'm not the first by any means to speak to the next level hard work it takes to carry
(17:17):
on through a pregnancy.
But it still feels like we have taken it for granted just how much it takes to survive
a pregnancy.
Back to Ita in her time.
I kind of shudder to imagine.
Anesthesia, the autoclave, epidurals and even privacy, the basics of healthcare, centuries
(17:40):
away.
I'm sure there were wise midwives whose presence and healing knowledge heavily contributed
to successful deliveries.
But overall, the process of carrying a child and then forcefully expelling it from the
body was a very, very uncomfortable process.
Understatement of the year.
The stakes were as high as life and death.
(18:03):
Ita survived.
That's a big miracle right there.
I hope I don't need to convince you that pregnancy and giving birth is a big aspect of mothering.
But you know, it's not actually the primary demarcation of mothering.
Many folks, myself and my cats included were not mothered by the one who carried us.
(18:28):
Not to downplay childbirth, but it's so much deeper than that.
What you realize is how fragile they are.
There is this overwhelming sense of need to guard this precious being in whatever manner
(18:48):
that I can.
Part of mothering is being somebody who senses and responds to that sense of urgency and
care.
That's where Itta's mothering really shines.
Let's get back to Rene on Gertrude.
This time, girls did not have any say really in who they married and especially girls from
(19:11):
noble families.
They were very susceptible to being kidnapped and carried off.
These predatory men would want to get their hands on a girl who was wealthy or came from
a noble family because then that would give them access to power and wealth themselves.
Her mother seemed to understand that Gertrude was vulnerable.
(19:35):
When she was around 10 years old, her father hosted a banquet for the king at the time, King
Dagobert and the king wanted to set her up in marriage with a duke.
Amazingly, Gertrude just flat out refused.
Any man Christ alone would be her bridegroom.
(19:56):
Not long after that, her father died and the king died as well.
What's wonderful is that her mother supported her daughter instead of trying to marry her
off, her mother sought to protect her.
She consulted a local bishop to build a double monastery on their property.
(20:18):
One monastery was for men and one was for women.
She put Gertrude in charge of the monastery for women.
So Gertrude was the abyss of this convent, so to speak.
When her mother died in 652 or so, Gertrude became the abyss of this entire monastery.
An abyss who leads the monastery normally to the administration.
(20:46):
So much to say about everything about that life.
Let's just focus on it.
She protected her daughter from a predator, and in the process, she also made sure her daughter
was sheltered and last but not least, she even set her daughter up with a career.
Then she actually wanted.
(21:12):
I bet you anything, Ita was not the only resourceful guardian of her era who went to great creative
lengths to protect someone she was meant to care for.
But it's a really cool story, and I happened upon it when I was researching Saint Gertrude
the patron saint of cats.
I'm telling ya, this is what 6 Degrees of cats is all about.
(21:35):
I really don't think humans have the monopoly on this ability to mother.
The fundamentals are found in all species.
I love this next anecdote.
My sister had this cat named MJ, and she had a little of kittens.
(21:59):
And I remember hearing just the complete surprise in my dad's voice when he talked about
how MJ took care of her kittens.
He said he didn't understand how her found and mother's love was for her kids until he
(22:20):
saw how she took care of her kittens.
You could tell even after giving birth how tired she was, but how much she devoted herself
to those little babies.
One of them passed away, and you could tell.
She was heartbroken.
That love is transcendent.
(22:41):
I bet this is one of the many maternal minyads that led to the ancient Egyptians, the ancient
Norse, and other societies to recognize and appreciate this cross species phenomena,
and to associate it especially with kiddies.
Protecting, caring, all that stuff is way too much to handle alone.
(23:03):
Remember though how I said that mother is a verb?
Well it takes community to mother.
The thing that I learned the most about having kids is you need community.
You can't do this alone.
You need it to support you because it's hard physically, but also emotionally because
(23:26):
you cannot raise children in a vacuum.
They need people.
They need people and you need people.
Mothering is bigger than all of us isn't it?
The role comes with multiple visible and invisible, large and tiny duties that across time
(23:50):
in many cultures seems to have been assigned in totality to a single individual, which is
totally absurd.
Using someone else, protecting them, caring for them, that's on all of us.
We all can, and in fact must play a part in the role of mothering.
(24:10):
I hope you're looking at birth and mothering through a very different lens now.
If we were really doing it right, I don't think anybody could actually say they didn't
have kids or kittens for that matter.
Or puppies, you get my drift.
So, today and every day, I celebrate all those who mother by doing what I can to look out
(24:36):
for and support those in my care.
This one's for you.
And me, you know what?
I'm a cat, mom.
That counts.
Where's my card?
Oh yeah, you don't have thumbs, you can't write.
In the next episode, I will, in fact, be talking to another mom.
(24:57):
The mom of a budding scientist, because we'll be talking about science.
I want to thank my wonderful experts, Rene Ostberg, Alem Tedeneke, and Jade Hillerry, and my co-executive
producers and my fur children, Binky and Snuggles.
While the opinions are my own, the research and work is theirs.
(25:18):
If you'd like to learn more about them, please check out our show notes, which is also where
you can find the references and research that went into this episode.
If you loved it, please give us a five-star rating and a review and be sure to tell all the
magical people in your life about us and maybe even thank them for mothering you.
You know, actually that might be a little weird.
Maybe don't do that.
Thanks for joining us.
(25:39):
I appreciate you.
Everything is connected.
6 Degrees of Cats is produced, written, edited, and hosted by yours truly, Captain
Kitty, aka Amanda B.
Please subscribe to our mailing list by visiting tinyurl.com/sixdegreesofcats or find us on all
(26:00):
those social media platforms.
And for my paid subscribers, you'll have access to the extra audio with more deep dives
by our experts.
This and all episodes are dedicated to the misunderstood, the marginalized, the resilient,
and the weird.
And of course, all the cats we've loved and lost.
(26:21):
I inadvertently and unintentionally now have two cats.
They are half-served.
The patient they have shown to my daughter.
And you can imagine a toddler is not gentle.
(26:44):
She tries.
And it is completely unpredictable, which is why she terrifies them.
But they have learned to accept her because they know she is our kitten.
There is a gentleness in these cats that you wouldn't expect from two feral cats.
They have been incredibly patient with her.
(27:05):
I mean, they also run away.
They've been patient.
Huh, what are all these lumps on your belly? Snuggles, are you okay?
(00:04):
[MARCH SCREAMS]
Oh, sorry. I totally did not realize that was your chest...
[MUSIC - "MARCH"]
Welcome back to "Six Degrees of Cats."
A podcast about how cats have shaped our past, present, and future.
(00:26):
The date is March 30, 1996, the setting, an abandoned garage in East New York,
a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York.
A fire is burning, and firefighter David Gianelli of Ladder Company 175 is among the first
responders to the scene.
(00:46):
There, he spies three kittens, very young ones, just outside the door.
He looks to his left.
Two more, crying along with their siblings.
All far too young to have gotten themselves to safety.
Gianelli surveys the area, and his eyes are drawn to some movement near his feet.
(01:07):
Covered in soot with patches of smoking fur and visible injuries, he comes to realize
that this small creature is, in fact, a cat.
In the seconds before he signals for backup, he has two startling realizations.
(01:29):
First, that this was the kitten's mother, and second, it was she who made the repeated
trips into the burning building to rescue each of those five kittens.
That brave little kitty, a calico female of about nine months old at the time, became
(01:52):
known across the world as the heroic mother cat of the year.
Her name became Scarlett.
In feline legends of yore, she is hailed as Brunhilda the Burning.
(Sorry, I couldn't help myself.)
All kittens were rescued, treated and adopted, and someone rescued Scarlet too.
(02:16):
She was adopted and lived out her days in comfort and care.
And this hit the news outlets, it really struck a chord, not only among cat aficionados
but for all those who were just blown away by this cat's sacrifices for her kittens,
her maternal instincts.
The lengths a mother will go to protect her own, wow.
(02:39):
You know, she's not the only one, as a surprise to no one.
I happen to have lots of these news items on my radar.
Let's hear it for Canadian momma cat, Minka, who rescued her babies from a burning barn.
I think we need to be better about fire's safety, jeez.
The emerging pattern across this season of 6 Degrees of Cats is continuing to become
(03:04):
clearer.
In our last few episodes, we covered the cat fertility connection and how it's been long
treasured by those such as the ancient Egyptians and later even the Norse.
As we discussed regarding their goddesses, such as Egypt's Abaston's Ibelly and Freya,
at first it seemed to just be fertility, but it's really starting to be more about maternity
(03:31):
and motherhood.
Very timely.
At the time of this episode's release, it's gonna be just before Mother's Day here in North
America.
So, what better time to go back to those cat mother goddesses?
In the here and now, the "modern age" we've displaced magic and the workings of gods and
(03:56):
goddesses as the first explanation for all the very magical and mysterious things about
this world.
But if you really think about it, for millions - no, billions - across the world, there's definitely
still magic to be found by way of, well, miracles.
(04:17):
Performed by not quite gods or goddesses, but godly figures who have performed extraordinary
acts that almost seem superhuman.
What I'm talking about right now are saints.
And yeah, there actually are some out there affiliated with cats.
(04:39):
So, in this episode of 6 Degrees of Cats, we'll sort of be talking about a magical mother
goddess here, sort of, in the form of a saint who performed miracles and is, sort of, associated
with cats.
Mother is a verb.
Throughout this discussion on mothers and motherhood, this statement will become clearer and
(05:04):
clearer.
So, Mother's Day.
In the United States, that happens in May, incidentally.
Traditionally in the Catholic Church, the month of May is associated with the Virgin Mary.
That was Rene Ostberg.
I'm a writer based outside Chicago.
I write about Catholic culture.
(05:26):
My website is reneostberg.com.
Mary's kind of the mother of all saints.
But we're not really here to talk about Mary today.
I consulted with Renee to start our discussion about those saints.
Well, specifically one saint.
Saint Gertrude of Nivelles.
Does that ring a bell?
(05:47):
If it sounds familiar, it's likely thanks to a meme on the internet that's been circulating
for the past few years around the time that Saint Patrick's Day rolls around.
Maybe you know that meme.
The one with a female saint either depicted in stained glass or in a painting with a cat
at her feet or in her arms, with the caption, "It happens every year.
(06:11):
Patrick this and Patrick that no one remembers me and my cats."
I'll link this image in the show notes, though it's hard to track down its original author.
As with all stories, this one has been...
No, misinterpreted.
Let me be clear.
(06:31):
She is not French.
That was a misinterpretation on my side.
Modern day in Nivelles is a French community in the country of Belgium, though in my defense.
It wasn't called that in Saint Gertrude's time.
Anyway, I'm thankful to have had Rene on hand to clarify all of that and certainly dive
into who Saint Gertrude of Nivelles was and why she's even connected with cats.
(06:55):
She loved cats, right?
Maybe she had a cat.
Maybe she loved cats.
We don't know.
There's nothing that people have been able to find in her time, the biographies of her,
definitely like rats and mice, but not cats until the late 20th century.
Originally, she was designated as the patron saint of gardeners and travelers and she was
(07:17):
invoked against mice and rats, which makes sense because if you're the patron saint of
gardeners, who is the enemy of gardens, mice and rats?
That was how she was associated for a long time like in the medieval era.
If there were any animals in the art that shows Saint Gertrude, it was a mouse or a rat or
(07:40):
several mice, several rats running around her feet or running up her staff, the crozer,
the crook that she carried with her.
Those were the animals that were associated with her not cats.
I get it, but still, how'd she get named the patron saint of cats?
It seems like this idea of her being the patron saint of cats didn't come into being until
(08:02):
pretty recently.
The earliest association with cats I could find was in the 80s.
This is the 1980s now.
There was a catalog from the Metropolitan Museum of Art about Metropolitan Cats that mentions
her.
Somehow she became associated with cats and probably because if she's invoked against rats
(08:24):
and mice, who else do you call upon to get rid of rats and mice?
Well cats, of course.
And so I think somehow she must have become associated with cats.
Ah, G was a cat kind of.
It seems like maybe people really wanted there to be a patron saint of cats.
(08:46):
This is pretty recent and people embraced it.
There's a patron saint of dogs, so why not cats?
Yeah, why not cats?
So there you go.
Happy Mother's Day.
Saint Gertrude is the Mother of Cats.
Thanks for joining us on this episode of 6 Degrees of Cats.
Fold up!
That's not quite the whole story.
(09:07):
There's so much more to talk about when it comes to Gertrude and mothers after the break.
Before the break, we learned a bit about Saint Gertrude of Nivelles, the closest thing to
(09:32):
a cat goddess of this modern era, I guess.
But Gertrude's saintly journey is really a story of a mother performing near miracles
to protect her child.
Remember what I said about mother is a verb? Back to Rene.
Saint Gertrude of Nivelles, she was born into this very wealthy noble family in the 7th century.
(09:57):
Her birth year is usually given around 626.
She was born in Nivelles, which is a city in modern day Belgium.
Her mother was named Itta.
She was supposedly the daughter of a bishop, and her father was Pepin the first.
He was a very high-ranking official in the palace of several Frankish caves.
(10:22):
He was the mayor of the palace of Austrasia.
She was the youngest child of four, just to give you an association of how well connected
her family was and how powerful they were.
Her elder sister married another noble man.
(10:42):
They had a son named Pepin the Second, and this would have been Gertrude's nephew.
Pepin the Second became the ruler of the entire Frankish empire.
And then down the line, one of his descendants was Charlemagne, the first emperor of the Holy
Roman Empire.
This is a very powerful noble family.
(11:04):
Ita herself, like most noble women of her era, was literally born to marry a powerful man
with a lot of wealth and resources, and embedded in that responsibility, bearing children to
continue the line of her husband's family so that they could maintain their property and
wealth.
Let's take a moment to reflect on the fact that Ita even gestated and delivered Gertrude
(11:29):
in the first place.
The earth can be very wonderful, and it can also be very hard on the body.
And same goes for pregnancy and it affects bodies in different ways.
If someone were to get pregnant four times, each pregnancy might impact their bodies slightly
differently.
(11:49):
That was Jade Hillery, who we heard from earlier in this season.
I currently work for the National Office at Planned Parenthood Federation of America as
a training and learning design director.
They also hold titles and work as a labor of love as a full spectrum duel in the DC metropolitan
area by servant support families from birth through loss and everything in between.
(12:13):
Jade's work and training has granted her a very holistic understanding of pregnancy and
what it does to the body.
The general impacts that carrying a pregnancy can yield.
Your pelvic floor is very important for day to day functioning, as someone is carrying
anywhere from a four to ten pound baby that weighs on pelvic floor muscles.
(12:37):
That impacts their core, which includes their lower back.
It's not just about the abs.
It includes your trunk area.
People's feet swell, people might develop gestational diabetes.
It's not until people are going through some of these journeys and having impacts to
their teeth or pubic bone, syphysis, pain and things like that, the myriad of other things
(13:02):
that they might experience.
They are then finding out, "Oh, that's common."
We just don't talk about it.
That's a lot to go through, just getting through all of that.
I cannot personally speak to the birthing process, having never gone through it, but I do
know someone who has.
My name is Alem Tedeneke.
(13:23):
My pronouns are she and her.
I work in media.
I'm also a mom.
A step-mom to a 12-year-old and a mom to soon-to-be three-year-old?
Quick sidebar.
Yes, it is a true fact that cats are cuter than babies, but there's always an exception to
the rule.
Examples being, "Any baby I'm friends with, by proxy, or related to."
(13:48):
Back to the wonderful Alem.
She was kind enough to speak to me about her own experiences.
I guess in my second trimester, Sonya moved for the first time.
I remember the awe and joy I saw in my husband's face, and all I could feel was complete horror,
because it was just so bizarre to feel a foreign object move within my body.
(14:16):
It truly felt like an alien was living in there.
That's the thing people don't talk about.
They talk about the sense of joy and wonder, which there is, but there's also a lot of freaky
noise that happens.
You don't know how you're going to feel about.
It's such a surreal thing.
(14:37):
Your brain is being rewired, right?
And your hormones, it's all shifting so that your normal ability to self-regulate your
emotion completely changes.
And those changes that the body is making to accommodate?
Well, here's how that feels for some.
(14:57):
They call it morning sickness.
That's a lie.
It's sickness and nausea all throughout the day.
And it's just constant.
And you're expected to act like it's not happening.
You're always, always tired because your body is slowly reshaping itself.
(15:19):
To grow the uterus, to expand your pelvis.
It's truly insane what happens during these like nine to ten months.
You know, the majority of my third trimester, I started getting a lot of swelling, which
is pretty typical.
I'm usually in the feet, but I got it in my hands.
(15:41):
And it got so bad that I couldn't make a fist.
I couldn't even crush a piece of paper in my hands.
The doctors and the midwives were pretty blousy about it.
That happens.
Don't worry about it.
And I was like, no, I'm losing the use of my hands.
(16:06):
And they were also very comfortable with saying, well, once you have the baby, it'll be okay.
I had the baby and it took a full month.
Yeah, it's just a wild ride.
Since the beginning of time, this has been part of pregnancy.
(16:29):
Through medical and technical innovations, more carried through by those with as few or
as many resources as you can imagine.
What makes the thought bearable?
Folks do best and are able to birth when they feel safe and cared for and loved and they're
(16:54):
in safe environments.
Jade advises her clients accordingly.
Think about your environment.
Think about the signals that your body is giving off.
Think about what that does for you.
You need to go into survival mode.
I'm not the first by any means to speak to the next level hard work it takes to carry
(17:17):
on through a pregnancy.
But it still feels like we have taken it for granted just how much it takes to survive
a pregnancy.
Back to Ita in her time.
I kind of shudder to imagine.
Anesthesia, the autoclave, epidurals and even privacy, the basics of healthcare, centuries
(17:40):
away.
I'm sure there were wise midwives whose presence and healing knowledge heavily contributed
to successful deliveries.
But overall, the process of carrying a child and then forcefully expelling it from the
body was a very, very uncomfortable process.
Understatement of the year.
The stakes were as high as life and death.
(18:03):
Ita survived.
That's a big miracle right there.
I hope I don't need to convince you that pregnancy and giving birth is a big aspect of mothering.
But you know, it's not actually the primary demarcation of mothering.
Many folks, myself and my cats included were not mothered by the one who carried us.
(18:28):
Not to downplay childbirth, but it's so much deeper than that.
What you realize is how fragile they are.
There is this overwhelming sense of need to guard this precious being in whatever manner
(18:48):
that I can.
Part of mothering is being somebody who senses and responds to that sense of urgency and
care.
That's where Itta's mothering really shines.
Let's get back to Rene on Gertrude.
This time, girls did not have any say really in who they married and especially girls from
(19:11):
noble families.
They were very susceptible to being kidnapped and carried off.
These predatory men would want to get their hands on a girl who was wealthy or came from
a noble family because then that would give them access to power and wealth themselves.
Her mother seemed to understand that Gertrude was vulnerable.
(19:35):
When she was around 10 years old, her father hosted a banquet for the king at the time, King
Dagobert and the king wanted to set her up in marriage with a duke.
Amazingly, Gertrude just flat out refused.
Any man Christ alone would be her bridegroom.
(19:56):
Not long after that, her father died and the king died as well.
What's wonderful is that her mother supported her daughter instead of trying to marry her
off, her mother sought to protect her.
She consulted a local bishop to build a double monastery on their property.
(20:18):
One monastery was for men and one was for women.
She put Gertrude in charge of the monastery for women.
So Gertrude was the abyss of this convent, so to speak.
When her mother died in 652 or so, Gertrude became the abyss of this entire monastery.
An abyss who leads the monastery normally to the administration.
(20:46):
So much to say about everything about that life.
Let's just focus on it.
She protected her daughter from a predator, and in the process, she also made sure her daughter
was sheltered and last but not least, she even set her daughter up with a career.
Then she actually wanted.
(21:12):
I bet you anything, Ita was not the only resourceful guardian of her era who went to great creative
lengths to protect someone she was meant to care for.
But it's a really cool story, and I happened upon it when I was researching Saint Gertrude
the patron saint of cats.
I'm telling ya, this is what 6 Degrees of cats is all about.
(21:35):
I really don't think humans have the monopoly on this ability to mother.
The fundamentals are found in all species.
I love this next anecdote.
My sister had this cat named MJ, and she had a little of kittens.
(21:59):
And I remember hearing just the complete surprise in my dad's voice when he talked about
how MJ took care of her kittens.
He said he didn't understand how her found and mother's love was for her kids until he
(22:20):
saw how she took care of her kittens.
You could tell even after giving birth how tired she was, but how much she devoted herself
to those little babies.
One of them passed away, and you could tell.
She was heartbroken.
That love is transcendent.
(22:41):
I bet this is one of the many maternal minyads that led to the ancient Egyptians, the ancient
Norse, and other societies to recognize and appreciate this cross species phenomena,
and to associate it especially with kiddies.
Protecting, caring, all that stuff is way too much to handle alone.
(23:03):
Remember though how I said that mother is a verb?
Well it takes community to mother.
The thing that I learned the most about having kids is you need community.
You can't do this alone.
You need it to support you because it's hard physically, but also emotionally because
(23:26):
you cannot raise children in a vacuum.
They need people.
They need people and you need people.
Mothering is bigger than all of us isn't it?
The role comes with multiple visible and invisible, large and tiny duties that across time
(23:50):
in many cultures seems to have been assigned in totality to a single individual, which is
totally absurd.
Using someone else, protecting them, caring for them, that's on all of us.
We all can, and in fact must play a part in the role of mothering.
(24:10):
I hope you're looking at birth and mothering through a very different lens now.
If we were really doing it right, I don't think anybody could actually say they didn't
have kids or kittens for that matter.
Or puppies, you get my drift.
So, today and every day, I celebrate all those who mother by doing what I can to look out
(24:36):
for and support those in my care.
This one's for you.
And me, you know what?
I'm a cat, mom.
That counts.
Where's my card?
Oh yeah, you don't have thumbs, you can't write.
In the next episode, I will, in fact, be talking to another mom.
(24:57):
The mom of a budding scientist, because we'll be talking about science.
I want to thank my wonderful experts, Rene Ostberg, Alem Tedeneke, and Jade Hillerry, and my co-executive
producers and my fur children, Binky and Snuggles.
While the opinions are my own, the research and work is theirs.
(25:18):
If you'd like to learn more about them, please check out our show notes, which is also where
you can find the references and research that went into this episode.
If you loved it, please give us a five-star rating and a review and be sure to tell all the
magical people in your life about us and maybe even thank them for mothering you.
You know, actually that might be a little weird.
Maybe don't do that.
Thanks for joining us.
(25:39):
I appreciate you.
Everything is connected.
6 Degrees of Cats is produced, written, edited, and hosted by yours truly, Captain
Kitty, aka Amanda B.
Please subscribe to our mailing list by visiting tinyurl.com/sixdegreesofcats or find us on all
(26:00):
those social media platforms.
And for my paid subscribers, you'll have access to the extra audio with more deep dives
by our experts.
This and all episodes are dedicated to the misunderstood, the marginalized, the resilient,
and the weird.
And of course, all the cats we've loved and lost.
(26:21):
I inadvertently and unintentionally now have two cats.
They are half-served.
The patient they have shown to my daughter.
And you can imagine a toddler is not gentle.
(26:44):
She tries.
And it is completely unpredictable, which is why she terrifies them.
But they have learned to accept her because they know she is our kitten.
There is a gentleness in these cats that you wouldn't expect from two feral cats.
They have been incredibly patient with her.
(27:05):
I mean, they also run away.
They've been patient.
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