Cat

Cats are a type of animal.

## Beliefs

In parts of Europe it is believed that cats eat corpses, and if they jump over a corpse during a funeral it will become a vampire unless the funeral is stopped and the cat caught and killed.

In parts of France, cats were historically believed to be the Devil in disguise, and were thus burned alive on Shrove Tuesday and Easter in bonfires. According to de Plancy, cats attended the sabbath alongside witches, and that witches and the devil could all take on the form of a cat at will. Boguet says that when a female cat is rubbed with nepeta (catnip), the herb would impregnate her in the stead of a male cat. It was also believed that the brain of a cat was a poison used by witches.

In the Transylvania region of Romania, there is a belief amongst farmers that if a cat is brought into the house in a cradle and rocked in the presence of newlyweds roughly a month after their marriage, it will act as a fertility charm for the couple.

In the region of Bohemia in Czechia, dead cats are sometimes buried in grain fields. This practice is derived from the belief that cats are field spirits.

In Germany, Britain, and the USA, it is believed that black cats are bad omens, especially if one crosses a person's path. On the flip side, ownership of a black cat is said to bring luck. Amongst Welsh sailors, it is believed that the constant mewling of a ship's cat signifies a difficult voyage. If the cat is instead joyful, the sailors can instead expect a strong wind from behind. In rural parts of England, there is a belief that a cat born in may will never be good at catching mice, but instead will be skilled at catching glow worms, while in Sussex the belief is that they will be generally sad. In some parts of England, it is said that sleeping with a cat on the bed will bring good luck, while in other parts they suck the breath from sleepers.

In general folklore of the USA, cats washing their faces is a sign of rain, a sign of good weather, or that company is coming, depending on the region. The cat washing their face in the parlour is particularly linked with the coming of company. Likewise, cats are believed to wash themselves while facing the direction the wind is coming from. In Maine, it is said that when a cat looks out of a window it is looking for rain. In wider New England, a common belief is that the time of day can be told from the size of a cat's pupils, and in the Maritime Provinces of Canada the pupils are believed to be almost closed at low tide and wide open at high tide. According to de Plancy, American sailors believed that throwing a live cat from their ship into the sea would cause a massive storm.

In the African-American folklore of the southern USA, it is believed that kicking a cat causes rheumatism, if a person drowns a cat the devil will get them, and that cats have nine lives. If a person causes a cat to lose even one of their lives, the cat will torment them, send bad luck, or otherwise avenge themselves. These beliefs are a combination of widespread cat beliefs from both Europe and Africa, particularly the idea that killing or abusing a cat brings bad luck. Black cats in particular are said to be bringers of bad luck, misery, disease, and death, and that they are either the familiars of witches, or witches who have taken cat form, or otherwise are the devil or sign of a haunting due to the belief that they can see ghosts. In Alabama, this tradition includes a folk-remedy of black-cat broth claims to cure tuberculosis. In Louisiana Voodoo, the eyes, hair, and whiskers of black cats are sometimes used to make charms.

It is speculated that these beliefs about killing and/or mistreating a cat have developed from Ancient Egypt, where cats were considered sacred animals, and the harm of sacred animals brought about retribution. The above-mentioned folk-remedy also links into this as it is the consumption of the sacred animal that causes the healing.

According to de Plancy, some cat owners in the middle-east would give a lifelong annuity to their cat in their will, and in Cairo, near the Bab-el-Naza, there was a hospital for cats that also served as a shelter for homeless cats.

Amongst the Malay people of Indonesia, there is a belief that bathing a cat will bring rain.

## Stories

De Plancy recalls a story about a Roman soldier who accidentally killed a cat in Egypt and, despite the intercession of the Pharaoh on his behalf, was killed by the angered people.

In Turkey, there was a story about the cat of Muhammad: one day the cat slept on his sleeve and, when Muhammad had to go to prayer, he cut off the sleeve to avoid waking him. When Muhammad returned, the cat woke up, bowed in thanks and arched his back. Muhammad assured the cat that it would go to Paradise, and passed his hand over it three times to grant cats the ability to always land on their feet.

In a tale from Luxembourg, an aide-de-camp went to stay in an inn which had a room where the devil was said to come at night and choke whoever slept there. When he arrived, it was the only room available, so he decided to stay there. At night, a beast came through the chimney, and the soldier spent an hour fighting it with his saber before he won. When the beast's corpse was examined, it was seen to be a massive wildcat which had killed fifteen people.

According to Bodin, witches from Vernon, before they were tried in 1566, gathered in a large castle in the form of cats. Four men who were in the castle were attacked by these cats, resulting in one man dying and the rest being injured, though a number of cats were also injured. The next day these witches all bore injuries from the fight.

According to Boguet, a farmer near Strasbourg was attacked by three big cats, who he fought off and seriously injured. An hour later, he was arrested for mistreating three women of the town. He said he only injured cats and provided parts of their pelts he had cut off as proof. He was released since those women were revealed to be witches.

## See Also

* Ai Apaec
* Bast
* Belling the Cat
* Blokula
* Bullkater
* Ccoa
* Flying Dutchman
* King of the Cats
* Metamorphoses
* Puss in Boots
* Witches' Butter

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Unknown. (1972). "cats", in Leach, M. (ed) *Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend*. 3rd ed. pp.197-198
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 de Plancy, J. C., (1863). *Dictionnaire Infernal*. 6ed. pg.162
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 de Plancy, J. C., (1863). *Dictionnaire Infernal*. 6ed. pg.163
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 de Plancy, J. C., (1863). *Dictionnaire Infernal*. 6ed. pg.161