Were cats and witches really negative?

Created by - Hemant Pareek

The witch - evil sorceress, seductive enchantress flying in the moonlight. What do we know of her mysterious origin?Who were the real women behind the myth of witches?

The witch,enchantress, the devil's consort, a fierce some being of myth and fairy tale, she has haunted human consciousness for thousands of years. The witch remains a chilling specter that captures human imagination and baffles us with mysteries.

What is a witch? When exactly did the belief in witches originate? Do they exist or are they merely bizarre creation of human imagination? Over centuries the image of a witch has undergone several transformations. perhaps no figure in myth or legend has been so despised as the witch. In their earliest beginnings magical female beings who possessed supernatural powers were not seen as a source of evil.
Witches have been around as long as since human community has been trying to fight disease.It may be that they developed from early goddess cults that these are the women who served the goddess.

The goddess figures dating back around 20,000 years were believed for their magical abilities to enhance fertility and nurture the land. All powerful creation deities, they held sway over the forces of universe.For thousand years, creation goddess was honored as the all powerful divine force. She was known by names.
In ancient Mesopotamian she was called Inanna, the queen of heaven. In Egypt, the predominant civilization of the ancient world, she was known as Isis. In the land of Canaan, she was Asherah. All of them were supreme goddesses who presided over the sacred forces of life and death, worshiped by those who relied on earth's fertility for their survival.
Not only did the ancients worshiped powerful female deities, but throughout middle east often those who practiced the holiest rituals were women. could these priestesses, trained in sacred art have been the antecedents of witch. Over the centuries, these ancient priestesses came to be known as wise women.

From the early rituals prying to sacred ceremonies which would later be known as witchcraft,what magical power did these so called 'ancient wise women' posses? Accounts from Turkey describe how the ancient wise women would sit inside a circle drawn with salt to reside their magical implantation.
Their ritual objects were simple, but they were believed to posses awesome powers of healing and protection.
They were so positively viewed by the society they lived in. No king could be without their consult, no army could recover from a defeat without their ritual activities, no baby could be born without their presence!


Source :
Documentary on Incredible History of Witches, 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG4EH3FQjnI

Superstitions on a cat

There are many superstitions surrounding a cat (black cat,in particular). 

• If a black cat crosses your path, it is considered a bad omen while a cat giving birth to kittens at your house is considered a good one.
• A cat crying facing you house is a sign of ill health or even death of a family member whereas hearing a cat sneeze is supposed to bring you good luck.
• If you see black cat early morning then your whole day is ruined.
• Cats are witches in disguise.
• A cat has nine lives.
• If you kill a cat then you have to donate a cat made of gold or else black luck will be until then.

Many of these may be true or may not be.Many people believe in these superstitions while many don't. What I want to discuss now and later is the concept of a black cat being associated with witches. Black cats were considered the 'familiars' which is a friend of a witch. 

Why was it that a cat only was associated with a witch? -Why not a dog or rabbit or any other animal?

Cats were more often associated with evil than other animals because of their nocturnal and independent nature. cats have been a mystery as well as loved by many and hated by others.They have distinct personalities and a seemingly mysterious way and thus have been mistaken for being evil. Also, because of their ability to remain unseen in dark places/night, they were considered an  ideal  witch partner.