Black cats have been subject of myths and superstitions for centuries and not always associated with bad luck. In Ancient Egypt, cats were worshiped and treated as royalty – killing a cat was even a capital offense. But in the Middle Ages, a deeply religious era, Christianity wanted to get rid of all traces of other religions and cats suffered from it.
Anything Christians wouldn’t understand was considered witchcraft and many old ladies thought to be witches, were burned with the cats they cared for. It was believed they could transform into black cats or that cats were their familiars – why else would they care for them?
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Since black cats were symbols of evil omens, one crossing your path had to mean bad luck and most European countries kept that superstition. This idea arrived to the New World with the first settlers. The pilgrims were devout Christians and anything believed to be associated with evil they hunted down.
Not only in Europe, but in the United States as well, they hunted and killed whoever they believed as witches. Many black cats were killed with them. A lot of ignorance and intolerance towards different beliefs led to this and sadly, black cats still today suffer from it.
With the coming of Halloween, black cats are most at risk. Many shelters refuse to adopt out black cats for fear they will be harmed or used as props for customs and then abandoned.
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There are many superstitions involving black cats as bad omens. Probably the most known one is the one of a black cat crossing your path. The curious thing about this one is that it has a lot of variations. In United Kingdom and Japan instead of being bad luck, it is good luck. In Germany it is a bad omen if the black cat crosses your path from right to left but it’s a good omen if it crosses from left to right. In Turkey, the bad luck can be reversed if at the moment you hold a part of your hair.
Hopefully one day people will realize that when a black cat crosses your path, it simply means the cat is going somewhere.
Until that day comes, we can see superstitions as tales and we can choose not to believe in them. After all, black cats have also been part of superstitions involving good luck. Here we give you 10 of those to celebrate black cats as the wonderful creatures they are. If you own or are owned by a black cat, you are truly lucky.
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- In Britain, a young woman that owns a black cat will have many suitors.
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- In France, if you own a black cat with one white hair, Lady Luck will smile upon you.
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- Fishermen wives always kept a black cat in their house while their husbands were at the sea, because they believed the cat will keep the danger away.
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- If a black cat sneezes near a bride on her wedding day, she will have a happy married life.
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- A black cat in the audience on an opening night, means the play will be successful.
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- For the Scottish, a strange black cat that arrives at your porch means prosperity.
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- In Latvia, if a black cat is found in the grain silos of farmers, they feel happy because they believe they are the spirit of Rungis, a god of harvests.
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- For sailors, black cats meant a good omen, so they always tried to have one on their ships.
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- In the English Midlands, a black cat as a wedding present is thought to bring good luck to the bride.
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- If a black cat approaches to a sailor on the deck of their ship, fortune would smile upon him.
Via Web Citation | Superstitions Online | Kinross Folds | American Folklore | Bored Panda | Timeless Myths | Cats About | Animal Foundation
Usually black cats are known for bad deeds and there are many myths regarding the black cats. But its not the fact. Cats have nothing to do with the good or bad they are just animals who need love and affection.
Actually the superstitions about black cats being bad luck came from the christians trying to discredit the pagans in Europe. The pagans believe that the Goddess Hecate could transfigure into the form of a black cat. If a black cat crossed your path, according to pagan belief, you would trace your steps and restart your journey as a mark of respect. Christians would see pagans backing away from the cats thinking it was out of fear and started to rumour that black cats were possessed and evil. So in the crusades they would kill them.
The color of a cat’s fur has nothing to do with the luck it may bring. Cat’s do not bring luck, they bring joy, happiness, and responsibility for the owner(s). A black cat is no different then a white, orange tabby, calico, tortoiseshell, or tuxedo cat. It all depend on how the cat was raised, either by humans, in a shelter, or on the streets. If you treat a cat with love and respect from a early age they will continue to show that to the humans they trust.
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