DOES A BLACK CAT BRING BAD LUCK?

BLACK CAT  -

Have you heard someone telling you that a black cat crossing the road is a bad omen and you should not walk on the road if the cat has just passed by? Do you know why a cat in general and a black cat, in particular, is considered inauspicious?

Superstitions have taken various forms over the centuries but one of the most common superstitions that still prevails is that of the 'black cat'. Many people all over the world regard the site of a black cat as inauspicious.

The thought that a black cat is inauspicious in a mere superstition. This superstition goes back to a belief of thousands of years. The ancient Egyptians worshipped cats. They had a goddess called PASHT whose head resembled that of a cat. They believed that this goddess had nine lives. Whenever a black cat died in Egypt, its dead body was preserved as a mummy (the preserved corpse of a human being or animal). Remains of thousands of black cats have been recovered from a cemetery of Egypt. Killing a cat was then considered an offense, punishable with a death sentence. Thus people had a great fear of the sight of a black cat.

During the middle ages, witches and witch doctors always used the skull of a black cat to prepare mysterious medicines. As a result, people started thinking that a black cat brought bad luck and was a bad omen. People have believed in this superstition for many centuries. The truth is that no cat is inauspicious. The cat is a pet animal being domesticated from past 5,000 years.