Black Cats

Odds are you've seen at least one black cat in your life, but was that cat fully black? A lot of the "black" cats you see today have white spots or patches on their fur, usually the chest or stomach. Why is that? To explain we are going to have to take a small trip back in time.

Throughout history, black cats are known to bring good luck and fortune. Egyptians believed that if they brought a black cat into their home part of it would be embodied by the goddess Bast and that she would bring fortune and good luck into the household. It was said that Bast considered cats to be sacred, and harming one was considered a crime against the goddess and would bring bad luck.

A lot of aspects of the Egyptian culture show a fondness for cats; it is even thought that at one point Egyptians hunted with their cats.

It wasn't until the middle ages that things began to change for the black cat. They gained popularity in Europe and America due to their dark colour aiding their ability to catch mice, but the popularity didn't last long. Due to their dark features, people started associating them with the fears of the time: the devil and witches.

The stray cats in these places (some black some not) started being cared for by the older women living in poverty, some of whom would be accused of witchcraft. Their feline friends would be accused of witchery through association and burned as well. Once this began, cats, in general, started to get a bad reputation by being associated as witch's familiars, but things escalated greatly for the black cat after a folklore started being told in the 1560s.

Basically, the story goes that a father and son were walking late at night when their paths were crossed by a black cat. They cornered the cat and pelted the poor thing with rocks until it scurried away. They followed it to the house of a suspected witch and decided to carry on to their destination. The next day, when the father and son passed the house on their way back, the woman who lived there appeared to be limping and badly injured, which the pair did not think was a quiescence. After this, it was believed that witches could turn into black cats at night.

During the Salem witch hunts in America, it was widely believed because of this folklore that a witch could walk the streets as a black cat to travel without being noticed.

Because of all of this, the reputation of the black cat was diminished, especially in western culture. All pure black cats were burned, due to the suspicion of witches. If a cat wasn't 100% black, it couldn't be a witch.

Due to this, every black cat with a white spot was not harmed, while many pure black cats unfortunately were. After the end of the witch hunt, the surviving cats produced and continued on the white spot to their future generations. So many black cats were killed that it is now considered rare to find a solid black cat.

Black cats are gaining popularity once again, and spacing themselves from the negative rumors they once carried. Shelters around the world encourage the adoption of black cats. Some locations will even offer lower adoption rates for our witchy friends because some people still consider black cats to be bad omens.

What do you think?