Fiends of the devil or those who bring good luck: black cats in different cultures

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

“They say it’s unlucky if a black cat crosses the road,” - this is how it is sung in a famous song. In different eras and in different countries, the attitude towards black cats was ambiguous. Some considered them the fiend of the devil, while others worshiped four-legged. Some remnants of the past in relation to these animals are still alive today. After all, seeing a black cat, many of us unconsciously spit over our left shoulder. Where did the superstitious fear of cats come from - further in the review.

Some researchers believe that fear of cats originated in humans in prehistoric times. After all, then the representatives of the feline were much larger. Man was not yet at the top of the food chain, so fear of, for example, a saber-toothed tiger was taken for granted.

In the VIII-XI centuries, the Normans and Germanic tribes believed that the appearance of a black cat indicated an imminent death. And if the cat crosses the road to someone, then the person will fail. With the raids of tribes in Europe, beliefs about hairy animals migrated to other cultures.

Perhaps everyone has at least once heard of terrible witch hunts. They were tortured, burned and staged other sophisticated executions. Almost the same thing befell black cats, since they were considered the devil's devil and accomplices of witches. It got to the point that people decided to exterminate not only black cats, but all other cats as well. The eradication of furry led to the outbreak of a plague in Europe, carried by rats. The absence of a natural enemy has led to an uncontrolled increase in the number of rodents. In 5 years, the Great Plague claimed the lives of 25 million people.

In England, there was not as unequivocally negative attitude towards black cats as in the rest of Europe. The sailors believed that a black cat on a ship was a good luck. The wives of the fishermen also kept the four-legged at home so that their spouses would return from the voyage safe and sound.

As for the Middle East and Ancient Egypt, thousands of years ago people were able to domesticate cats. In Ancient Egypt, animalism was revered, that is, many animals were considered sacred incarnations of deities. Because of this, it was forbidden to exterminate them.

The black cat was considered the embodiment of the goddess Bastet. The love and respect of the Egyptians for their black pets was so strong that the owners often mummified them after death and then mourned them as family members.

In Japan, the attitude towards black cats is only positive. In the souvenir shops of the Land of the Rising Sun, you can often see figurines of Maneki-neko. Both white and black, they wave their paws, thereby bringing good luck. Lonely Japanese women buy statuettes for themselves, believing that they will attract a groom to them.

Today, many people stop when they see a black cat walking down the street and spit over their left shoulder. However, the owners of such pets in chorus declare that the color does not at all affect the state of joy and peace that the cat brings to the house.

In times past, not only black cats attracted people's attention. These 10 strange and mystical cats possessed the unique ability to sense the supernatural.