Many superstitious people are afraid of black cats. They believe that black cats have a strange power. If a black cat crosses their path， they think they will have bad luck.
Black cats haven"t always had such a bad reputation. Long ago， the Egyptians thought that black cats were holy animals. They even worshipped them. Pasht was an Egyptian goddess who had a woman"s body and a cat"s head. Because the Egyptians had so much respect for black cats， they often buried the sacred creatures with great ceremony. Mummies of cats have often been found in ancient cemetery ruins. To keep the cats company after they died， mice were sometimes buried beside them.
Feelings about black cats have always been strong. People have thought they were either very good or very bad. The people of Europe， in the Middle Ages， believed black cats were the evil friends of witches and the Devil. Witches were said to have the power to change themselves into black cats.
People believed that you could not tell whether a black cat was just a cat， or whether it was a witch disguising herself as she plotted some evil scheme. The brain of a black cat was thought to be a main ingredient in witch"s brew.
Unlike their ancestors of the Middle Ages， Englishmen today consider black cats to be good luck charms. Fishermen"s wives often keep a black cat around so that their husbands will be protected when they are out at sea.
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