As the traditional companion of witches, the black cat has become an omen that misfortune and ill luck will quickly follow in its wake… In early times superstitious people believed that witches and evil spirits could assume the forms of black animals, particularly black cats—and during the middle ages the brain of a black cat was considered an important ingredient in witchcraft recipes and prescriptions! The old notion concerning the nine lives of a cat goes back to the Ancient Egyptians whose cat-headed goddess, Pasht, was believed to have nine lives… They regarded black cats with the utmost reverence and mummified remains of them are frequently found in the same tombs as their worshippers!
