The Lucky Black Cat:
“Idol of All Witches” or “Black Dragon Floating Above the Clouds”?
Mr. Spock shares The House of Good Fortune’s affection for black cats.
The House is one of many who consider black cats magical creatures. For thousands of years, black cats have been associated with goddesses as well as witches. The gif above is from an episode of Star Trek called “Catspaw,” in which the half Vulcan/half human Mr. Spock is charmed by a black cat, who is actually an evil shape-shifting woman named Sylvia.
The relationship between humans and cats began in ancient Egypt, and initially it was one of mutual convenience. Cats preyed upon the vermin that threatened humans’ grain, and living in close proximity to humans protected cats from larger predators.
Due to their combination of independence and loyal guardianship, the Egyptians recognized a divine presence in cats. Bastet, the goddess of violence (but also fertility) was depicted as a human-cat hybrid.
Black was one of Bastet’s sacred colors, so she was also frequently depicted as a black cat, and that is how the black cat became the subject of special veneration in Egypt.
So beloved and revered were cats in ancient Egypt that killing one was a serious offense, and departed cats were lovingly mummified with their guardians for resurrection in the afterlife.
According to Herodotus, when a cat died in Egypt, all the inhabitants of a house shaved their eyebrows as a sign of deep mourning. The cats were embalmed and buried in sacred receptacles. The period of mourning was considered complete when the eyebrows had grown back.
Cat Statuette intended to contain a mummified cat. 332–30 B.C. Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Extraordinary Egyptian pendant amulet from the collection of the Louvre Museum.
Bastet Statuette 664–30 B.C. Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Europeans did not venerate cats in the same way that Egyptians did. Cats were kept as pets in ancient Greece and Rome, but they were viewed with suspicion due to their nocturnal prowlings and prowess as hunters. But it was the Catholic Church that gave life to the many folk tales and superstitions associating cats with evil. This excerpt from the Wall Street Journal outlines the process by which cats were formally villified:
“When Christianity became the official religion of Rome in 380, the association of cats with paganism and witchcraft made them suspect. Moreover, the cat’s independence suggested a willful rebellion against the teaching of the Bible, which said that Adam had dominion over all the animals. The cat’s reputation worsened during the medieval era, as the Catholic Church battled against heresies and dissent. Fed lurid tales by his inquisitors, in 1233 Pope Gregory IX issued a papal bull, Vox in Rama, which accused heretics of using black cats in their nighttime sex orgies with Lucifer—who was described as half-cat in appearance.
“In Europe, countless numbers of cats were killed in the belief that they could be witches in disguise. In 1484, Pope Innocent VIII fanned the flames of anti-cat prejudice with his papal bull on witchcraft, ‘Summis Desiderantes Affectibus,”which stated that the cat was ‘the devil’s favorite animal and idol of all witches.’”
The association between witches and black cats is a long-standing one. Images courtesy of The Wellcome Collection.
In the United States, black cats are the subject of certain superstitious beliefs — e.g. bad luck will follow you if a black cat crosses your path. In the African-American tradition of hoodoo, a black cat’s bone is said to be able to make you invisible. The origin of this belief should be obvious to anyone who has played hide -and-seek with a black cat. The method for extracting the bone is rather gruesome (boiling the cat alive), and The House is pleased to report that many modern-day hoodoo practitioners use black cat fur for this purpose rather than a bone.
Black cats are said to bring good luck in many cultures, such as Great Britain and Japan.
It is said that the domestic cat first came to Japan in the sixth century, around the same time as Buddhism, to protect sacred texts from the damage mice can cause. Genetic research indicates that the domestic cat probably came to Japan from India, via China. The first definitive record of a domestic cat in Japan is from 889 in a diary known as the Kanpyō Gyoki kept by the Emperor Uda, who lovingly describes his black cat as follows:
Detail from Kuroki Neko by Hishida Shunso
“I wish to express my joy of the cat… the color of the fur is peerless, none could find the words to describe it… I affixed a bow about its neck but it did not remain for long… in rebellion it narrows its eyes and extends its needles… when it lies down it curls into a ball like a coin. You cannot see its feet… when it stands, its cry expresses profound lonliness, like a black dragon floating above the clouds… its color allows it to disappear at night. I am convinced it is superior to all other cats.”
(untitled) by Philip D Gendreau, gelatin silver print.
black cat, crouched, staring intently at point beyond photographer, National Museum of American History
Please explore the other image galleries of Lucky Black Cats, Black Cats in Art, Black Cats in Advertising and Black Cats and Halloween.