Sunday, February 21, 2010

Amber & Gigi Pooja

Today is my favorite festival of all of the festivals that I have ever invented. (I love Kitty Eyebrows Day just as much, but Jimmi invented that one.)  What makes this Sunday different from any other day before Monday?  It's Gigi Pooja, of course!

 (Ginger, seen here in a reprentation known as "Reclining Gigi")

Gigi Pooja is a very special day on which we celebrate and express our gratitude for Ginger.  It's a day full of rituals, including brushing his fur and making him a special bed in a box with a pillow, like a throne.  The throne both provides comfort for Ginger, but also reminds us of his dual nature: He is both soft and snuggly, and embodies devotion when he milk treads your neck and grooms your hair in the night, but he is also a fearsome warrior who devours all paper products with his sharp teeth and destroys wicker chests with his fearsome claws.


On Gigi Pooja, after I henna my hair, we make a pilgrammage to our favorite pet store to buy devotional offerings like litter and wet food.  And we perform the act of Chin Rubs, which allows us to contemplate the infinite softness of Ginger.

We do this while he rests upon his lingam.

Earlier in the day, the other cats observed abhisheka, not with marigolds and ghee, but with fur on the lingam, which we will ritualistically remove with the magic sponge the day after Gigi Pooja.  Also, the day is full of naps.

On Gigi Pooja, we also thank Diana who told us all about her trip to India yesterday, including her observance of Shiva Puja.  Not that that has anything to do with Gigi Pooja.

Don't worry, people who think the new cats are apocryphal, the other cats will get their own poojas.  Not only do we always invoke Tiggy first on the blog with the sidebar, but Tiggy Pooja is an even more exciting day (tbd).  But let's live in the moment and take the rest of the evening to meditate on Ginger.
Happy Gigi Pooja, readers!

4 comments:

Alison said...

Too. Much. Cuteness.

I love your cats and I don't even know them!

Amy said...

I am meditating right now.

Anonymous said...

Those cats are spoiled!!!

ALH said...

Yes, Anonymous. They are.