Cats are nocturnal in their habits, their eyes glow in the dark, and their ability to move swiftly and silently can be unnerving. It was probably for such reasons that the harmless cat became inextricably bound up with witches, demons, and the dark powers of the unseen.

It was believed that cats had a pact with the Devil himself. They were though  to be able to cause storms, or to be witches in disguise. Terrible things happened to them; they were burned in ritual ceremonies designed to drive out evil spirits, buried alive, and cited in the notorius witch trials of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Hysteria and paranoia were at times so great that anyone who loved a pet cat might be suspected of dabbling in the black arts. The way cats enjoy sleeping upon their owner’s beds, or curling up on their laps, was seen as evidence of some dark, demonic relationship.

These warped beliefs have survived into our own times. In 1929, for instance, there was a virtual epidemic of cat slaughter in Pensylvannia.  It was believed that if a black cat was plunged alive into boiling water, and killed, one of her bones would make a powerful charm against witchcraft.

Even the hideous practice of burying a cat in the foundations of a building to bring luck has continued into this century. This ancient ritual was sometimes carried out with human sacrifice.