It has nothing to do with “Christianity”. I’m a little tired of everything people don’t like being blamed on this religion (and I am not even Christian). Pagans had equally negative feelings about certain animals. I knew people from Muslim countries who would turn around three times when they saw a black cat. I have know Africans from a “pagan”, Christian and Muslim backgrounds who react badly to cats.
Cats just get a bad rap because, as one girl told me, they “look so much like people” and do not talk.

cats were very important to many of the celtic tribes through out places like scotland-where tribes were united by their cat ‘worship’( that is cat as totem). place names like Caithness(originally Kataobh meaning ‘ cat country’) still bear this out. those sometimes referred to as the Picts were a cat people tribe.

it’s because of this that the christian world of such places as britian often portray a confused notion of the cat and her either sinister or beneficial attributes.while it’s true as some have stated that in some places in britian the black cat is good luck she is also at the same time in the same locales still seen as evil and bad luck. demonized as part of pagan worship, they were still sometimes begrudgingly thought of as lucky in most likelihood because of that past worship and esteem. for example- you find them as considered a bad sign- as when a sailor crosses a black cat on his way to his ship, he has to turn back or good luck-women whose men are at sea consider it lucky to keep black cats and they were often stolen in some areas because of this superstition. it was considered extremely bad luck to shoo a black cat away from your house while black cats were still considered to be servants of the devil- and also lucky to their owners. on the same island we find seeing the front of a black cat first good luck but seeing the back bad luck. some say seeing them on your wedding day is good luck and some say it’s bad- i could go on like this for quite a bit- all folk beliefs from england and the surrounding islands.

such is the confusion when you are forced to believe in lies about other people or indeed often your own ancestors and their beliefs.

Personally, I subscribe to my British ancestors belief that black cats bring good luck and to the Japanese belief in the black koi “money fish.” Superstitious? Maybe. But I can also tell you if someone has died in a house or if the vibes are positive or negative.

Traci - Desmond Morris in his book “Catlore’ quotes an old British saying: “Whenever the cat of the house is black, the lasses of lovers will have no lack.”

Every cat is special in his or her own way, but we’ve always become especially attached to our black cats through the years.

As for the responses, I feel compelled to point out that nowhere in the Bible will you find a reference to cats being evil. On the contrary, we are instructed to care for ALL animals on this planet, not to mention one another. Christianity is not about judging or oppressing each other, but about redemption, love and sacrifice. There are fanatics in every walk of life that give the rest a bad rap; Christianity simply has more because it’s so highly visible and well known.

I am a Christian, and I’m proud to be so. One of my favorite and most beloved cats was Shawna, a gorgeous black girl with the most amazing gold eyes. She was devoted to me and even guarded my house when I was away, once actually attacking a neighbor who had agreed to feed my furbabies while I was on a military exercise. I miss her still.

http://www.messybeast.com/folktails.htm

http://www.abc.net.au/arts/boo.....424268.htm

http://pio.tripod.com/magicpaw/catmyths.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new.....cat126.xml

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/mayhem/blackcat.asp

http://www.xmission.com/~emailbox/folklore.htm

http://www.pusscats.com/Other_Interesting_Cats.htm

A commonality in my searches, cats were considered sacred in many pagan religions, especially in relation to fertility and magic goddesses. Consequently, they became demonic symbols to a Church striving to repress the last remnants of pagan and heretical beliefs.

Finally:

“A black cat crossing your path signifies that the animal is going somewhere.” ~~ Groucho Marx

i am a pagan goddess worshipper who believes in a female creator and the power of the spirit and nature to heal. gooddess worship is ,as supported in part by the science of archeology, the oldest known religion on earth-clearly predating both judaism and christianity.the bible mentions us and even moses had a hard time dragging the jews away from Her worship.

i do believe in evil- the evil of mankind who likes to make up creepy supernatural powers to blame for all his own vile hateful deeds.i try my best to not partake in this folly. i try to do no harm because it creates self perpetuating negativity and a spritual void and because it’s wrong. period.- not because i live in fear of some angry god who wont reward me with stuff if i dont obey. unlike many self professed christians in the news i hardly ever break any of your so called 10 commandments. you wont find mittens stealing anyone’s stuff, killing anyone, coveting anyones anything or raping a child, having sex in a public bathroom or marrying someone while still having extra marital sex with members of the same sex.

and i try not to judge people like they seem to think they have the right to judge me even though their lord and saviour forbade them specifically from doing so.

cats are my familiars- spirit guides if you will.it’s why ignorant women- hating christians killed them in the middle ages and attached superstitious stigma upon them. they threw them on the pyres that burned the ‘ witches’-a fire upon which they also tossed accused homosexuals.a fire that also consumed whole villages of jews. tell me, why are the followers of the prince of peace, the pauper who hung out with whores and spared adulterers and was in fact a jew himself, act so much like the satanists youre alwasy accusing the rest of us of being? projection?