When you think of Halloween and spooky season, what comes to mind? For a lot of us it is definitely black cats.
Over the years, black cats have been associated with things like Halloween, witches, and a number of other myths and superstitions. And of course we wanted to know what some of those myths were. What do, or did, people believe about black cats that has been proven false?
Thanks to the Spruce Pets, we have some ideas of some superstitions and myths that have been easily debunked about black cats over the years. And we were pretty surprised by some of them.
5 Myths and superstitions that have been associated with black cats over the years
- Black cats are actually witches - We all know that black cats are not witches, but it makes sense that during medieval times, there were stories of witches and cats being one. A lot of us have heard the stories of black cats being a witch's familiar, but not necessarily that they were one and the same.
- Black cats are considered to be bad luck - It has long been said that black cats are bad luck and that you don't want to cross the path of one of these felines. They have also been associated with things like sickness and death. A lot of this has to do with the fact that the color black has often been associated with the dead.
- Black cats are evil - Black cats were often considered evil because they were often spotted at night. And in the dark, you could only really see their eyes. And in the darkness, their eyes seemed to glow.
- Black cats in a playhouse on opening night is a sign of success for that play
- Black cats were a sign of fair weather at sea for fishermen - It was said that if a fisherman had a black cat and it was kept happy and healthy, then they would have good weather when they went out to sea.
As you can see, some of the superstitions and myths associated with black cats are not negative. And it is always nice to see that not every story revolving around these fuzzy felines is a bad one.
Black cats have gotten a bad reputation over the years, and it is something that has stuck with them even today. But these sweet kitties all deserve as much love and affection as any other cat out there, and we hope that knowing the myths will actually make it easier to understand why black cats get such a bad rep.
Did you know any of these myths? Are you surprised that black cats have this reputation?