Therefore we should not merely shut our animals in dark stables, where the cosmic forces cannot flow towards them. We should lead them out over the pastures. Altogether, we should give them the opportunity to come into relation with the surrounding world by sense-perception too.

Think of an animal standing in the dark, dull stable, and receiving — measured out into its manger — what the wisdom of man provides. Such an animal, getting no change in this respect, and it can only get the proper change in the open air — how different it will be from one that is able to make use of its senses, its organ of smell, for instance, seeking its food for itself in the open air; following its sense of smell, following the cosmic forces through its sense of smell, going after the food, choosing for itself, unfolding all its activity in this finding and taking of the food.”

Rudolf Steiner – The Agriculture Course

The classification name that is given as the Genus for each animal appears to be the female one. Or, that is, as far as I can figure this out based on the rather clumsy way we now use words in the english language. For example, Cow (female), Ewe (female). By conjecture then Canis is feminine, as well as Felis and Equus.

Although maybe to use the word feminine would obscure our understanding. But I’m prepared to spend some time pondering that the Genus is a feminine creative spirit. Is this classification of Genus a modern way to understand or categorise the being that is known as a “Deva”?

Deva = Sanskrit – “a shining one”, the Mother Goddess in Hinduism.

Before moving on to something different, I’m going to take one last look at some etymologies. And just because I’m curious, I’ve looked into the Genus and Species of the Four Holy Beasts. These are also known as the four cardinal points of the zodiac, and are the symbols for the apostles who wrote the gospels.

Man - Aquarius – ‘Legs’ – St Matthew
Homo – “same” - but I’m not prepared to view this as a mundane word but perhaps as male and female make the ‘same’ being. This is my own thought and could be completely off base.
Sapien – “wise one, discerning”.

The Lion – Leo – ‘Heart’ – St Mark
Panthera – “all beast”, and to break it down further, Thera (a female name) means “the unmastered wild one”.
Leo – “king”

The Bull – Taurus – ‘Throat’ – St Luke
Bos – “Cow”
Primigenius – “first born, original, foremost and best”.

The Eagle – Scorpio – ‘Secrets’ – St John
Aquila – “true eagle” - interesting to note that Aquilla is the name of the eagle who preyed on the liver of Prometheus.
Chrysaetos – “golden eagle”. Chrys means golden, but as a name, Chrys (Chris) means “bearer of Christ”.

For more on the Lindisfarne Gospels go the British Library.

So we have, as drilled into my memory in Biology 12 (thank you Mr Mitchell) -
Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species.
And that gives us:
Kingdom – Old English “one of the realms of nature”, which is the traditional rendering but a further look gives us Dom from old Russian and old German, and means “a dome in which individual members are gathered together”.
Phylum – Latin “race”“
Class – Latin “rank”
Order – Latin “row, arrangement”
Family – Latin “household”
Genus – Latin “birth, origin”
**Note: genus is related to genius = Latin “procreative divinity”**
Species – Latin “behold the appearance”

Interesting – Behold the appearance. Behold – “to give regard to and observe”.

Now to compare a few domesticated animals.

Cows
Cows are classified similar to the horse down to the Infra-class level of Eutheria, so they are also a Good Beast.
Then we have:
Order – Artiodactyla = Greek “even toe”
Family – Bovidae = Latin “cattle having cloven feet”
Subfamily – Bovinae = Latin “ox”
Genus – Bos = Latin “cow”
Species – Bos primigenius = Latin “cow, first born, original, foremost and best”
The common species name is Bos taurus = Latin “cow, bull”. I’m not so sure the common name tells us something as hidden and meaningful as bos primigenius!

Sheep
Sheep, also a Good Beast, are classified similar to cows down to the Order level of Artiodactyla, having an “even toe”, and Family, “cattle having cloven feet”.
Then we have:
Subfamily – Caprinae = Latin “caper, like a goat” (ah… capricorn … )
Genus – Ovis = Latin “sheep”
Species – Ovis aries = Latin “sheep, ram”

Dogs
Dogs are also one of the Good Beasts, but then their classification takes on a sinister turn!
Order – Carnivora = Latin “flesh devourer”
Family – Canidae = Latin “family of wolves, jackals, foxes, coyotes and dogs”
Genus – Canis = Latin “wild dogs”
Species – Canis lupus = Latin “wolf”
Also known as Canis lupus familiaris = which takes a wild wolf and makes her part of the “family”.

Cats
As one might suspect, cats are also one of the Good Beasts, and a wily flesh devourers.
Family – Felidae = Latin “family of cats from lion to domesticated”
Genus – Felis = Latin – “small cats” who are unable to roar due to ossification of the hyoid bone
Species = Felus catus – Latin “small cat”.
Also known as Felis catus domestica = which takes a small cat, who can’t roar, and makes you think she has been “tamed”.

I can’t promise I won’t do any more clarifications but you have to admit, it’s actually rather interesting to look at the inner meaning of words, even if this is by no means extensive. By looking at word origins and meanings, as opposed to looking only at physical characteristics, there is still much to be uncovered. The words seem to suggest that at the level of Genus, a "Procreative Divinity" is at work.

Behold, the appearance of the Genus.

But now, so many questions.

What then makes the cow, the Original First Born and the Best.
Why is a sheep, seemingly just a sheep? Or more precisely, where can I find an etymology source that goes a little bit deeper?
Why is a dog part of the family, but a cat is only tamed?
And what in the world went wrong with the horse. The Good Beast who somehow went from Equus Ferus, the Wild Horse, to Equus Ferus Caballus.
Not part of the family. Not tamed. But Caballus – a “pack-horse, a nag, a hack. A broken down horse” … surely not?

“The horse species is not employed in legend without reason.”
Rudolf Steiner, Apocalypse of St John, Lecture IV

To get started here is the scientific classification of a horse:

Kingdom – Animalia = Latin “having breath”
Phylum – Chordata = Latin “cord”
Class – Mammalia = Latin “of the breast”
Sub-class – Theria = Greek “wild beast”
Infra-class – Eutheria = Greek “true / good beast”
Order – Pessodactyla = Greek “uneven finger / toe”
Family – Equidae = Latin “horse family”
Genus – Equus = Latin “horse”
Species – Equus Ferus = Latin “wild horse”

This doesn’t really tell us that much, although I find the infra-class eutheria – “true / good beast” – to be rather intriguing. This infra-class consists of mammals which are born with a placenta.

Some of the other animals, including humans, in this infra-class:

Boreotheria = Greek “north beast” – badgers, hares, dogs, dolphins
Xenathra = Greek “foreign joint” – anteaters, armadillos
Afrotheria = Greek “afro beast” – elephants

The other infraclass is metatheria – “other beasts” – which are animals that produce a yolk sac placenta and give birth to larval like offspring. Marsupials are part of this class.

I suddenly find this distinction rather interesting – placenta vs yolk sac animals. One being “true or good” and the other … not.

Before moving onto myths and legends, this may take some further investigation.

I think this is a good place to start.

One common soul lives in the entire animal group. As your ten fingers are members of your hands, so are all horses members of the horse group soul. (Rudolf Steiner)

Have a ponder about this concept and see where it might lead you.