Black Cat. Culture: Japanese. Artist: Enoki Toshiyuki . While medieval Europe associated black cats with bad luck, the Japanese associated them (kuro neko) with good fortune and prosperity. What’s more, during the Edo Period, people believed that black cats could help cure diseases like tuberculosis. According to popular belief at the time, a tuberculosis patient would hug a black cat to their chest or lap while receiving a traditional Japanese treatment on their back known as "Okyū" (Moxibustion -- a therapy akin to acupuncture that involves burning dried mugwort on specific points of the skin). The logic behind this ritual was that as the moxibustion stimulated the back, the black cat in the patient's lap would act like a spiritual sponge, absorbing the relentless disease and negative energy from within to heal the person. People also believed that a black cat's glowing eyes in the dark and its mystical aura would scare off the evil spirits and negative energies responsible for the illness. In short, sharing a home with a black cat meant securing protection for both the household and its owner.