I really like cats and I want to tell a story about them.

A certain sect of Buddhism once practiced in the former kingdoms of Siam and Burma believed that when you die, if you’re holy enough, your soul is transferred to a cat for safekeeping. In this way, special souls lived in a sort of feline purgatory, and when the kitty died, the chaste soul would ascend to paradise. The sect obviously holds cats in high regard, depicting sleeping cats at the feet of Buddha statues. Although Siam is now called Thailand, a ritual that’s still strictly observed during the coronation of a new Thai king is to present him with a live cat adorned in gold jewelry. (A Siamese one, of course.) In this way, it’s thought, the spirit of the old king is able to witness the coronation, through the cat’s eyes. A gold-trimmed cat was present at the crowning of the current Thai King, Bhumibol Adulyadej, in 1950.