Superstitions abound about cats and dogs, perhaps because their lives are so intertwined with our own. For a long period of time, there was a popular belief that cats and dogs could see ghosts or the spirits of the dead. It was thought:
- If a dog howled at night or scratched holes in the ground as though digging a grave, it was anticipating a death.
- If a dog or cat jumped over a body, it was bad luck for its spirit, and therefore the animal had to be killed to reverse the effect. Some superstitious households removed their family pets immediately following a death at home.
- Buddhists believed that cats were the temporary resting places of extremely spiritual people.
- Cats are capable of astral travel, and possess the power of hypnotism.
- Druids felt that cats were humans who were being punished for evil acts during their lives.
- A cat on top of a tombstone signaled that the soul of the body buried beneath was possessed by the devil.
- In Japan, it was believed that spirits of the dead sometimes take the form of female cats.
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