Cephalopodcast

Some folks know St. Christopher as the patron saint of travelers. It is not uncommon to keep a small icon of him in a car for safe transit. My own little Honda has a slightly leggier talisman watching over us. Some might discount the putative protective power of cephalopods. But from this account in Panabasis, the Journal of the Janus Museum, you can clearly see there is precedence for their benevolence :).

Very pleased to announce a major museum acquisition, Ex Voto Pulpo, a contemporary anonymous painting on a steel sheet. For those not familiar with the term, an ex voto is a thanks offering to the Virgin or to a saint. Many, like our acquisition, commemorate a miraculous intervention. This particular ex voto is personally gratifying because it shows a cephalopod in a very sympathetic light - the octopus is saving the chap in the boat, you see, and not attacking him - its stern expression is a look of steely determination, rather than anger….

It’s always dolphins that get credited with epimeletic¹ behavior. Clearly there is a need to also consider the beneficence of octopuses as well.

(Via ponto, who has also documented recent less charitable encounters between certain Felis sp. and Architeuthis dux)