Essay on Cats Do NOT Cause Bad Luck

Cats entered the New World on the Mayflower. A new breed called the American Shorthair was created. This tame cat would have been distinguishable from the wild cats by their color patterns, hair length, and size. The tame cat could help hunt for birds and rodents because they are hardy, tough, and athletic. It is also likely that the tame cat bred with the wild cats, so new breeds that had the characteristics of the wild ones entered the domestic stock. Cats were not always liked though. There were many superstitions about cats, which made people afraid of them. The cat became known as an indispensable pet for all the genuine witches. The black cat also became known as one of the symbols of Satan. These superstitions may have started because nightly, silent expeditions of feral cats, or their weird cries and shining eyes in the dark. So, cats have not always been accepted as a domestic pet.

With these the early conception of disease, I still come across superstition with in my own Native American heritage. According to Sanchez, D. (2012), “As a fundamental belief in Navajo culture, one should not disturb the dead, meaning

Superstition is considered a myth to most people, but for the ancient Romans, this was a historical belief. For the Romans, believing in superstition was a very ordinary thing. To them superstition explained the supernatural and strengthened their relationships with the gods (The Roman Empire). In the play Julius Caesar, the author William Shakespeare uses superstition repeatedly to affect the plot as well as the characters. Superstition in the play is used to foreshadow Caesar’s death, impact Brutus’ actions in the battlefield and to emphasize the Roman’s connection to superstition and fate.

The Elizabethans were a very superstitious bunch. In fact most of our silly seeming superstitions come from them. All of our superstitions from knocking on wood for good luck to black cats crossing your path being a bad omen. They also believed in everything from ghosts, to magic, to fairies, to the influence of the stars and planets alignment.

They named the cat Pluto, which is the name of the god of the underworld in Roman mythology. He mentions that his wife “…made frequent allusion to the ancient popular notion, which regarded all black cats as witches in disguise” (Poe 513). He says that he is only writing this because he just remembered her saying it to him. On the night of the day that he hung Pluto, he awoke to his house burning down. An image of a gigantic cat with a rope around its neck appeared in the plaster of one of the walls. While patronizing one of his drinking haunts, he sees a very large black cat and thinks it could replace Pluto and take away his pain. He asked if he could purchase the cat, but no one had ever seen the cat before, so he brings it home. The next morning he discovers the cat has a very similar physical trait as Pluto, a missing eye. There was something different about this cat, it had a white mark on the breast of its fur. As time went on the white marking on the cat became a more pronounced outline of the gallows. It was the howl, “…a wailing shriek, half of horror and half of triumph, such as might have arisen only out of hell” (Poe 518) that revealed to the police his wife’s body that he had buried in the wall. This presents a question, was Pluto a witch in disguise that returned from the dead to burn the house down and drive his master into complete

Life is full of superstition, whether you like it or not everybody has some sort of superstition in them. Some people don’t let some things go to their head like others do. Some people can get really stubborn if something suspicious happens. I am one of them people, it is really hard to get suspicion out of your head, it is one of them things that once you do it, it is hard to not have those thoughts in your head. And in the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn you will see the cause and effects of the use of suspicion. The main character, Huck Finn, used superstition as a means to keep him going in search of his true self and find interesting ways to live life the only way he knew.

Growth is a characteristic that comes with time. It can define the path of one’s personal success. That path or journey, our strengths and weaknesses can be tested. We can be pushed past our limits and bring out the fear in us. It is a learning experience that can shape the person that we grow up to be. New and different experiences help add to our knowledge and personality. It can also change our ways of living and beliefs. These experiences can take us on a journey with new people that can help you learn new things about yourself that you never discovered. The knowledge taught by these people can assist in your growth ,spiritually and emotionally. In Michael Ondaatje’s novel, The Cat’s Table, eleven year old Michael is taken out of his

Superstitions are a common theme throughout this story, what are some examples of superstition they believed? How did it affect the characters and what did they do to prevent “bad luck”?

Before the time of geology, meteorology, and other sciences that proved phenomena, people had superstitions. More often than not, people believed in things like black cats bring bad luck or that witches could control elements. In the playhouses, people believed wishing someone “good luck” was indeed bad luck so, they told them to “break a leg”, which meant good luck. Everyone in the Elizabethan Era believed in some type of superstition, even the highly esteemed William Shakespeare. Superstitions were so deeply embedded into the mindset of everyone in the Elizabethan Era that they eventually worked their way into the play houses.

In the play Julius Caesar, there was constant reference to superstition. This is quite ironical because the play is dominated by men who considered themselves as practical, even stoic. We see superstition at work for example, when during the festival of Lupercal, Caesar wanted Antony to touch Calphurnia to relieve her of her barrenness. He also sent his servant to the augers to determine whether it was safe for him to leave the house to go to the Capital that day as Calphurnia has mentioned that there were a lot of bad omen that have presented themselves. He did not want to show himself as someone who is superstitious, so he made himself appear to be not affected by these signs.

Black cats. They are one of the world’s underrated and magnificent creatures. Depending where you are in the world, people’s perceptions of these felines are different. In the United States, they are symbolized as superstitious creatures that brings evil and bad luck, while in Japan if a black cat crosses your path, you will be blessed with good luck. My perception of black cats? Well…I simply adore them, as I have been blessed with one of my own. Furthermore, they have given me the inspiration to write my descriptive essay. This brings me to my topic of the art piece that I have chosen to examine, which is a photograph called “Black Cat Auditions in Hollywood”.

Another commin superstition is that braking a mirror, brings seven years of bad luck. The origin of this belief go back to ancient roman times.the Romans were the first to create mirrers made of glass. They believe that a mirror could capchure part of the sole of anyone who looked into it. Breaking the mirror, then, would shatter the persons soul, which would cause the person's health to deekline. So it would take seven year's for the person's health to reecover. why seven years According to ancient lore the human body and soul is renewed every seven years. While waiting, the person would be unable, to deflect bad

There once was a goddess who lived above the clouds. She was a playful goddess who always played tricks on the other gods and goddesses. One day after playing a trick on the wrong god, the goddess was forced to live on Earth. She didn't want to live as a human, so she decided to create her own body. This new body of her's will be what we know now today as cats.

This brings is to the theme of superstition. As mentioned above the country folk are very much suspicious of things they do not understand. Since they are unable to rationally and logically comprehend the nature of such things, they start formulating superstitions regarding these things. This is why “the shepherd, though he had good reason to believe that the bag held nothing but flaxen thread, or else the long rolls of strong linen spun from that thread, was not quite sure this trade of waving…could be carried on entirely without the help of the Evil One.”

Superstition refers to unreasonable fear and belief of something that is unknown. The extent of this belief and the fear is common, not only among the illiterate, tribal and senior citizens, but even amongst the educated ones, and the people guided by rational thoughts. Superstitions contain various types, and diverse people of various countries are influenced by these assertions. Some people consider it as a bad sign when someone sneezes while going out. The cry of a lizard or call from behind is measured to be a sign of somewhat not good