In mythology, the cat was believed to have a great influence on the weather. Witches who rode on storms took the form of cats. The dog, an attendant of the storm king Odin, was a symbol of wind. Cats came to symbolize down-pouring rain, and dogs to symbolize strong gusts of wind.
Some people believe that if a cat washes its face and paws in the parlor, company's coming.
Some cats can predict earthquakes (actually, there is some truth in this "folklore").
When a girl living in the Ozark Mountains received a marriage proposal and was uncertain whether to accept, she folded and placed 3 hairs from a cat's tail into a paper under her doorstep. The next morning, she would unfold the paper to see if the hairs had formed themselves into a Y or N before answering her suitor.
Sailors used cats to predict the voyages they were about to embark on. Loudly mewing cats meant that it would be a difficult voyage. A playful cat meant that it would be a voyage with good and gusty winds.
If early American cats sat with their backs to the fire, the owners knew it foretold a cold snap.
A cat sleeping with all four paws tucked under means bad weather is coming.
One Roman dream interpretation was that dreaming of being badly scratched by a cat foretold sickness and trouble.
French peasants thought that black cats could find buried treasure, if they followed a specific ritual: find an intersection where 5 roads connected, then turn the cat loose and follow him.
Tortoiseshell cats were believed to be able to see into the future and could give the gift to a lucky child in the family.
In Scandinavia, the cat stood for fertility.
The Hindu also believed the cat was the symbol for childbirth.
If you are a farmer and kill a cat, you can expect your cattle to die mysteriously.
Sailors believed that the worst possible cat-related act, guaranteed to raise a storm and bring bad luck of all sorts, was to throw the cat overboard.
Charles I, King of England, owned a black cat that he felt brought him luck. He was so afraid of losing it that he had it guarded day and night. The day after the cat died, he was arrested.
A cat sneezing is a good omen for everyone who hears it.
Dreaming of a cat is sometimes regarded as a sign of bad luck in the future. On the other hand, American folklore has it that dreaming of a white cat is good luck.
In France, it is believed that if you find one white hair on a black cat, Lady Luck will smile upon you.
In the early 16th century, a visitor to an English home would always kiss the family cat to bring good luck.
Fishermen's wives kept a black cat at home to prevent disaster at sea.
It is bad luck to see a white cat at night.
In Ireland, having your moonlit path crossed by a black cat was thought to foretell death in an epidemic.
In France, there is a superstition that it is bad luck to cross a stream carrying a cat.
When you see a one-eyed cat, spit on your thumb, stamp it in the middle of your palm, and make a wish. The wish will come true.
In Normandy, seeing a tortoiseshell cat foretold death by accident.
A common folk cure for a stye on the eyelid was to rub it with the tail of a black cat.
In Transylvania, if a cat jumps over a corpse, the corpse will become a vampire.
Early Christians believed that if a cat sat on a grave, the buried person's soul was in the devil's power. Another belief was that if two cats were seen fighting near a dying person, or on the grave shortly after a funeral, the creatures are really the Devil and an Angel fighting for possession of the soul.
Immigrants from Scotland believed that if a cat entered a room where a dead body was in state, the next person to touch the cat would be blinded. Therefore, the cat in such situations was immediately killed.
The folklore that a cat has 9 lives possibly came about because #9 is the "trinity of trinities" and was considered lucky.
A cat has 9 lives. For 3 he plays, for 3 he strays, and for the last 3 he stays. (An American and English Proverb)
Some people believe that cats engage in astral travel even in life.They also believe that if a cat adopts you, it will stay with you forever, even after death.
King Osorkon, of the twenty-second dynasty, placed a white cat in the center of a magnificent temple and ritually endowed it with supreme power.
During excavations in the ruins of Tell-Basta(the former Bubastis), a graveyard with 300,000 mummified holy cats were discovered. Though many were sent to England and sold as fertilizer, a few were sent to museums.
Mohammed cut off the sleeve of his robe rather than disturb his cat from resting.
Traits associated with cats include cleverness, unpredictability, healing and witchcraft, since in ancient times it was believed that witches took the form of their cats at night.
Folkore has it that if a witch becomes human, her black cat will no longer reside in her house.
It was largely in the Middle Ages that the black cat became affiliated with evil. Because cats are nocturnal and roam at night, they were believed to be supernatural servants of witches, or even witches themselves. Partly because of the cat's sleek movements and eyes that 'glow' at night, they became the embodiment of darkness, mystery, and evil, possessing frightening powers. If a black cat walked into the room of an ill person, and the person later died, it was blamed on the cat's supernatural powers. If a black cat crossed a person's path without harming them, this indicated that the person was then protected by the devil. Often times, a cat would find shelter with older women who were living in solitude. The cat became a source of comfort and companionship, and the old woman would curse anyone who mistreated it. If one of these tormentors became ill, the witch and her familiar were blamed.
In ancient times, a criminal's punishment sometimes including having his tongue cut out; the tongue was fed to the King's pets. Hence, there is some historical truth to the phrase "cat got your tongue?"
Domesticated cats are not mentioned in the Bible.
An American superstition: When moving to a new home, put the cat in through the window, not the door, so that it will not leave.
