I wondered, I Googled. Cats were thought of as evil, especially black cats, and were killed by the thousands in Medieval times. The lack of cats resulted in an abundance of rats and the Black Plague was born. Still, why black cats? The ancient Egyptians worshiped cats so what was this "evil" about? Then I read that during this same time, the church instilled a belief in evil witches and I looked no further. I can rely on my own logic here. "Witches" were women who practiced the art of healing and herbology and they grew and stored what they needed. Any smart woman would know they needed cats to control pests. They probably gave homes to any sort of cat, black included. I'll bet it was at this same time that the silly legend of "familiars" became popular. The Black Plague, or Black Death ran rampant and killed off an estimated 50% of Europe's population by the year 1400. Amazing, isn't it?
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
How did black cats become part of Halloween?
I wondered, I Googled. Cats were thought of as evil, especially black cats, and were killed by the thousands in Medieval times. The lack of cats resulted in an abundance of rats and the Black Plague was born. Still, why black cats? The ancient Egyptians worshiped cats so what was this "evil" about? Then I read that during this same time, the church instilled a belief in evil witches and I looked no further. I can rely on my own logic here. "Witches" were women who practiced the art of healing and herbology and they grew and stored what they needed. Any smart woman would know they needed cats to control pests. They probably gave homes to any sort of cat, black included. I'll bet it was at this same time that the silly legend of "familiars" became popular. The Black Plague, or Black Death ran rampant and killed off an estimated 50% of Europe's population by the year 1400. Amazing, isn't it?
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21 comments:
This makes me miss our cat Blacky..and heres the story. My son Josh who was 4 asked our Nanny (grandma) who we were living with if he could have a cat, to which my grandma said as long as you pick out the prettiest one...Beauty is in the eye of the beholder my son chose in his eyes the prettiest one he was the runt of the litter very scrawny where his little rib bones were protruding a very dark black if you can get black darker, it had a cold in one eye so it was matted shut my grandmother said to my little man you must think your nanny is beautiful if you think that is pretty and I would hate to know what those other cats look like he was pathetic looking...However he grew up and ended up being a huge Shiney Black Tom Cat with the biggest prettiest green eyes and my nanny said Josh you always see what others don't you did a good job picking out that kitten...thanks for the history on black cats, makes a lot of sense during the time of the plague extremely interesting. Hope your ok
Connie
What a nice story. Thanks!
Missed you Pat!! Glad to see you're back online!
I am so glad my wise Sister is
back...just feels like Family here:)
Missed you! Hope all is well.
Daphne
Cool story btw.
I've heard and read that shelters will not allow adoptions of black cats around Halloween because of sick and sadistic people. What a nutty world. Good to see you back, Pat.
Glad to see you back Pat... interesting history on black cats, thanks.
Great story Connie.
I love black cats and I have a black cat named Baby, who was a stray,that I have had since 1996.I love cats, I would be a cat lady if I could afford it.
Women who were 'witches' were strong women and I am sure were hated my many other women. I wonder if that had anything to do with it. Jealousy etc and thats is maybe why they were targeted.
I love my little black cat. I adopted her when she was 14. She is 18 now and just so sweet and affectionate. She loves to cuddle.
As for people in the middle ages-they were just hopeless in every way. Seriously, they were the most ignorant, bigoted assholes ever to walk the earth. Hated women, hated anybody who wasn't religious enough for their liking, hated people with red hair, thought everything was a sin, constantly tortured innocent people while hiding behind their "This is what God wants!" bullshit. Fuck the whole lot of them.
I grew up with a black cat. She was named Sam-Damn-Mantha and was a huge PITA. She was my aunt and uncle's cat, they grew up/went to college/moved away/whatever and she became Grandma & Grandpa's cat. Grandma died, Grandpa sold the house and moved into an apartment complex that was pet free. The cat lived on. She came to my house and died when she was 23 and I was 16. I have always had a black cat since then. All cats THINK they are better than humans, but black cats actually pull it off and make their owners believe they are right :)
Shelters are generally over-loaded with black cats because so many idiots believe they are "evil" and won't adopt them. Fucktards.
Connie your story brought tears to my eyes :)
PAt is so good to have you back!!
I love my cat Shadow. He's a big black Norwegian Forest. But we call him the Northwest Forest Debris kitty, because he tracks all kinds of things in his fur.
Nice to have you back, Pat =)
Cats are beautiful creatures. My best friend has a black cat who she named Blackie. Evil is not the word for such amazing animals.
Pat,
I missed something..you were gone?
Well, I'm glad your back.
And, people are so fucking stupid.
Witches, black cats, the list goes on and on for those who have suffered from the might of the intellectually challenged.
I'll add, those who suffer from epilepsy. Those folks were burned for "havin' the Devil in um".
The ancient Egyptians considered cats royalty - and to this day cats have not forgotten.
I just watched an entire program about The Black Death on Discovery or History last weekend. It was very good information. However, I did not hear anything about the cats being killed off, causing an abundance of rats thus the plague. They did not include that in the show. I am interested in history like that and you just gave me more. Thank you!
rox
Good to see you back Pat. You were missed.
awwww Connie, great story.
I grew up with a black cat named Simon. He was my first pet and he lived to be 22. I came home for winter break from college and he died in my arms. He waited for me. That boy was a loyal, loving friend. I still choke up just thinking of him. I keep his pic on my mantle. His body is gone but his little spirit still lives and chases jingly-balls in my heart.
I have truly missed you and your posts. Hope all is well.
aww, a topic i love! I've had black cats all my life, that is all i have had "fall" on my lap! My parents had the first black cat, she was named Mishi, she lasted 18 years and died 4 years ago, waited for us to come home and died on the porch. Then my sister had a litter at her house and one was black and she gave it to Mom and Dad, and her name was Mishi (2), Dad died and Mishi(2) is with me and I worship the ground this cat walks on and she mine. Mishi and I have a mutual understaning, she was my beloved father's last pet therefore she will be cherished by me for ever and she will protect me, and my home for as long as she lives!Not one dog or cat can come near my front yard, Mishi will fight any one of them no matter the size. Another thing that makes me very attached to this black cat is that we also share miscarriages, sounds weird,right? Well, I was 15 weeks pregnant, a month before my father died,and one day I woke to feel and find out that my baby was dead inside of me, a few days before Mishi (2), who was only 6 months old, went into labor and the kittens would not come out, so we rushed her to the vet, the kittens had all died on their way out of the birth cannal, we had seen our other cats have babies, and knew something was wrong with Mishi's labor, the vet took the dead kittens out and fixed her.
Two years ago, October 31st, 2007, I was pregnant and at work and a coworker came by and asked if i wanted a black kitty he found at the gas station the night before he picked it up because he knew Halloween was the next day and somebody would surely kill him. I called my husband and he agreed, so for the remainder of the day i had that kitten on my fat belly, purring for 6 hours, and my son, in my belly, seemed to love the vibration, he did not kick once! I brought the kitten home that night and asked my daughter to name it, she called it Flower. We locked Flower and Mishi in the laoundry room and all hell broke loose in there until Mishi started acting like the Mama Cat she never was and anytime anyone opened the door i would freak out that the cats would get out and some crazy satanist would kill them! Well, Halloween passed and one day my husband picked up Flower and realized that She was no Flower, she was a HE, so my daughter named him Jr!
Needless to say, I favor black cats, specially the one's that come into my life by "accident" or fate!
ali
I love Black cats.. My hubies family use to have a black cat named Missy. She was black as the night and tinny.. She use to nussle on shirts. Well one day my hubs father went into the hospital for a operation. He came home and missy was there. Missy was his lap kitty. A month went by and my hubies father started having more problems. Eventually he passed away in his sleep. Missy the cat was never the same again. She passed away 6 months later..
Also my friend Andy had a black cat to named inky. Oh was she feisty.
Its seems that black cats are only intrested in 1 person only. Just like calico cats..
My lily ann is a calico from a black cat mom. Her name is Halloween 2.0. She is a stray on the street and very loud.
What I think is so intresting is that a black cat always has a little tiny bit of white on them.
Amazing story, Ali. Thanks for sharing.
AM, I think all cats seem like one owner beings to me. I'm not sure about the white spot though.
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