National Black Cat Day

As I was struggling to come up with a blog topic for the day, I decided to scan the news (it’s often where I get my blog ideas). What could be more perfect when Halloween is around the corner than an article talking about National Black Cat Day (which is today). Considering I have two beautiful boys, who are all black cats, and I wrote a free Halloween short featuring a black kitten who becomes a vampire pussy cat, I figured, why the hell not write about National Black Cat Day and give everyone a gift of a link to that short story as a kind of early Halloween treat. The article gives a bit of information about the origination of black cats and their association with witches, devil worship, bad luck, death, and Halloween.

Here’s what I discovered on the topic:

Our fascination with cats goes back to the Ancient Egyptians, who believed that cats were the embodiment of the deity Bastet–the Goddess of protection and motherhood. Because of this, killing a cat was an offense punishable by death. Hmmm…I don’t necessarily disagree with that punishment!
The ancient Greeks associated cats with Hecate, who was the goddess of magic, witchcraft, the night, light, ghosts, necromancy, and the moon. She was also the goddess and protector of the oikos (the household to include family) and entranceways. She was able to cross from the underworld to the physical world with ease. The Greeks thought that Hecate kept a cat as both a familiar and a pet, which may be where the original link to witches, magic, etc., occurred.
Others believe the turn against cats started in the 13th century and Pope Gregory IX’s proclamation that black cats were a Satanic incarnation. He commanded, “Thou shalt not suffer a cat to live!”
Not only did witches literally come under fire after the inquisition gained momentum, but their feline companions were also burnt. Since cats, like women who were accused of witchcraft, tended to disrespect authority, were independent animals, unlike dogs, the men simply could not tolerate that, now could they! Bastards…
The correlation between cats and witches continued in colonial America, and the Pilgrims continued to associate black cats with evil and Satanic sympathies. Anyone found to harbor a black cat was severely punished, including receiving a death sentence.
The final nail in the black cat coffin was a story by Edgar Allan Poe, published in 1843, called The Black Cat. It was a gruesome tale where a man kills his cat, which then leads him to kill his wife. Killing the cat was supposedly a gateway drug…Yikes. I am glad I never read that story.
On one positive note…long ago, black cats were favored because they were great mousers, able to move in the night unseen.
Fortunately, more positive representations of black cats can be found in movies like Hocus Pocus and the series The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
And finally, now only 21% of American cat owners (most likely Trumpers) believe black cats bring bad luck, as opposed to 41% who associate them with good luck. However, the stats for the adoption of black cats are pitiful. They have lower rates of adoption and higher rates of euthanizing. So, please, if you have a chance to adopt a black cat, please do so. My two boys are the sweetest cats ever (Nico, my little bad boy has calmed down considerably), and sooooo beautiful!

My good friend, Ali Spooner, devotes a lot of time to black cats in her Cast Iron Farm Series. If you haven’t read it yet, there are many adorable black cats, a goat, and a dog, besides other memorable characters. Here is a link to my short story: https://www.wattpad.com/1323612536-vampire-pussy-cat-short-story That story features a wonderful little black kitten. As far as other books that I’ve featured cats, the only other one that I can recall has a black cat is The Dream Catcher. I deeply regret the name I gave to that cat because it probably perpetuated the stereotype, but at the time, my precious baby, Nico, was acting out and I sometimes called him my little bad boy. Still love the little bugger, but I should never have named the cat in that book, Satan…To be fair he only acted out, like Nico, when he wasn’t getting the attention he deserved and Heaven, the main character did love him to pieces, just like I adore Nico. Want to check out the furry companions in my books…you know the drill, just click the links below. Oh, and Happy Halloween!