It's a little devil to keep on your good side, a symbol of the night and, in a psychological reading, a mirror of the feminine condition. The superstition has been debunked – but above all it is far less widespread than people think. The black cat brings good luck in many parts of the world and throughout history.
The mistaken folk belief that considers black cats to be harbingers of bad luck has ancient origins. But this is not the case, except for some lingering superstition, and above all it has never been the case in various parts of the world and throughout the course of our history.
There are at least 22 breeds of cat with an entirely black coat, in addition to all crossbreeds. Cats with a dominant black gene are often, though not always, entirely black in appearance. That is, a kitten with two parents carrying a dominant black gene will, in most cases, be completely black. However, if one of the two parents also carries a recessive red gene, the kitten may inherit it too: hence the rust-coloured tints seen in some black cats.
Because of their peculiar beauty, their ability to disappear into the night, and their enigmatic black colouring, solid dark-coated cats have always made a stronger impression on the collective imagination, on artists, writers and filmmakers — from Edouard Manet to Fernand Leger, from Thèophile-Alexandre Steinlen to Edgar Allan Poe, from Dario Argento to Pat Sullivan and Otto Messmer, who in 1919 created the first cat superstar of cartoons, Felix. Black, naturally.
In English-speaking countries, the black cat is generally considered a true talisman. The Scots believe that the arrival of a black cat in the home signifies prosperity. In Celtic mythology, a fairy known as Sìth takes the form of a black cat. It is also held that a girl who owns a black cat will have many suitors. The supernatural powers attributed to black cats have often been viewed positively, for example by sailors who "wanted a black 'ship's cat' because it would bring good luck", as Jonathan Eyers writes in 'Don't Shoot the Albatross!: Nautical Myths and Superstitions'. At times, fishermen's wives kept black cats at home too, in the hope that they would be able to use their influence to protect their husbands at sea.
Black cats are considered auspicious throughout Japan as well. In Islamic symbolism they are an ambivalent animal with "seven souls" (seba'aruah). In Burma and Siam there was a belief that when a man died, his spirit would pass into a cat before ascending to heaven, remaining there until the cat's physical death.
During the Middle Ages, there were black cats burned alive, thrown from the tops of castles or killed on sight with the aim of keeping malevolent spirits at bay. Yes, perhaps that is true, but we are talking about a matter of a few decades. Or, when the Pilgrim Fathers arrived in Massachusetts in the 17th century, they harboured such suspicion towards anything deemed to belong to Satan that they came to regard the black cat as his emissary, and anyone caught with a black cat could face severe punishment.
Yet, in the millennia-long history of closeness, friendship, mutual benefit and companionship between human beings and small felines, the periods of mistrust and cruelty were far shorter and less frequent than people tend to think.
The small feline's closeness to human communities therefore goes back millennia, most likely encouraged by its skill in hunting pest animals unwelcome to humans, such as mice, rats and insects. It is true, however, that in certain periods this favourable symbiosis reversed, naturally always on account of human superstition, cruelty and barbarity. At some point the idea spread that in order to ensure a good harvest it was necessary to bury a black cat in the field during sowing, or to scatter its ashes over the land. There was also a tradition of sacrificing a cat in thanksgiving for the harvest. Or, as already mentioned, cats were regarded as the allies of women who were in turn accused of being witches.
But in many regions of the world and in other cultures cats are bringers of good fortune and happiness. In England, owning a black cat is like carrying a talisman. Treating a black cat well serves to prevent the demon within it from becoming resentful: in this sense, it brings good luck. In centuries past, pirates believed that keeping a black cat on board their ships would bring about fortunate adventures and rich treasures. Stroking a black cat three times is another ritual considered to be lucky, as is pulling out its one white hair. In English-speaking countries the idea took hold that anyone who managed to win the affection of one of these little black panthers would encounter good fortune along their way. According to this tradition, a black cat would therefore bring wellbeing, love and money. It was also thought that a black cat kept in the home would absorb negative energies, neutralising them and bringing safety and wellbeing to the family. This is still reflected in certain English proverbs: "If a black cat is lost, a thousand misfortunes will befall the family," "When the household cat is black, the loveless girl will not lack a suitor," "Kiss the white cat and it will make you lean, kiss the black cat and it will make you fat."
The ancient Egyptians, as is well known, held this animal in very high regard, to the point of choosing it to embody Bastet, an ancient deity of Egyptian mythology depicted with the body of a woman and the head of a cat. Originally, Bastet was a lioness. Sekhmet, Bastet's sister, is also depicted with feline anatomical features.
The cat shared with Bastet the qualities of fertility and clairvoyance, and with Sekhmet that of foresight. Sekhmet, who represented justice and power in war, was consulted by priests to learn of the enemy's plans and thereby assist soldiers in battle.
Cats were sacred animals to such a degree that if one was killed, the person responsible was required by law to be punished. In the event of a fire or any emergency requiring the evacuation of a home, the cat had to be saved before any other member of the family and before any of the objects in the house. When a cat died, those close to it entered a period of mourning and were required to shave their eyebrows.
From Egypt, the symbolic fascination of the cat passed to Greece and to ancient Rome, where it was regarded as an attribute of Diana, goddess of the hunt. Black cats in particular were believed to be endowed with magical gifts.
The popular sentiment that attributes a hypocritical character to the cat contradicts the conception of the cat as it appears in ancient heraldic art. Georg Andreas Bockler writes in Ars Heraldica, 1688:
Cats represent freedom because they will not be caught or confined. The cat is tireless and cunning in hunting its prey, which is the mark of a good soldier. This is why the ancient Swabian, Swiss and Burgundian families incorporated cats into their emblems, as a symbol of freedom itself.
