Cat Ancestors / I Need Wisdom From My Ancestors

About

Cat Ancestors, also known as I Need Wisdom From My Ancestors, refers to an exploitable image of a cat sitting proudly in front of spectral illustrations of its ancestors. The illustration was released in June 2020 as part of the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering (MTG), titled “Nine Lives.” The cat ancestors meme grew as a popular image macro meme on Reddit and Instagram in early 2024, while also inspiring the “I need wisdom from my ancestors” trend on TikTok in early May 2025, which features montages of cats being advised by lions, tigers and other relative feline species about their instincts.

Origin

On June 17th, 2020, Scottish artist Paul Scott Canavan posted the illustration for an MTG card titled “Nine Lives” to the r/magicTCG subreddit channel. The image shows a cat proudly in front of spectral illustrations of its “ancestors.” The post amassed more than 742 upvotes and 33 comments in five years.

The illustration was featured in the official Magic: The Gathering in September 2021.

Spread

Memetic usage of the cat ancestors illustration gained viral traction in early 2024, mainly on Reddit, Instagram and X / Twitter. For example, on February 2nd, 2024, X user @BrendanDaGawd posted the MTG illustration accompanied with the caption “my ancestors in heaven smiling down on me when I get a crown win in Fortnite.” The tweet (seen below) amassed over 349,000 views and 9,000 likes in a year.

On June 13th, 2024, Memedroid user @Ta3vex posted a version of the meme with the macro “My ancestors looking down on me after I pulled the finest woman in our family history.” The post (seen below) received roughly 377 likes in a year.

I Need Wisdom From My Ancestors

On April 17th, 2025, TikTok user @trufflescult posted the earliest known version of the “I need wisdom from my ancestors” trend, which features a montage of their pet over the “cat ancestors” original illustration and comedic texts of the animals talking. The post (seen below) amassed more than 339,000 plays and 89,000 likes in two weeks.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References