(Caption: A little to the left mom, please.)All Hallow's Eve...Samhain...or Halloween is in 2 days. I got to thinking about a certain four-legged feline now occupying my dwelling. So, I did some research. (http://www.best-cat-art.com/black-cats.html)
Do you believe it is a sign of ill fortune when black cats cross your path? Or do you conclude the cat has dispensed a run of good luck, by passing in front of you?Whether you believe black cats to be good or bad luck could depend on where it is in the world that you live, and even within different countries, there exists differing beliefs, and superstitions concerning black felines.
If you live in the United States, or most European countries, then black cats passing in front of you will likely make you believe that no matter how dismal things are now, things are going to get worse. If however you live in the United Kingdom, or in Japan, black cats crossing your path will probably make you smile, and think that good fortune is on its way.
Live in Germany and you will probably believe that black cats crossing your path from right to left, is a bad omen. But from left to right, and the cat is granting favorable times for you.
In Italy many hold the superstition that if an inky feline lays on a sick persons bed, death will follow. In China there are those that believe black cats to be harbingers of famine and poverty. Latvian farmers, that find black kitties in their grain silos, dance with joy. They believe these felines to be the spirit of Rungis, a god of harvests.
Crossing the path of a black cat, as opposed to it crossing yours, is generally thought of as inviting the very worst of luck. In Scotland folks believe finding back kittens sitting in their porch is a sure sign of riches, and happiness to come.
In most parts of the world it is thought that a black cat walking towards you is a certainty of good luck coming your way. Should the cat stop and turn away, before it reaches you, then don't take any risks or place any bets, fair fortune is not to be yours.
Chasing black cats out of your house is a certain way to ensure that yours will not be a lucky house. Stroking the fur of black felines will bring you both health, and wealth. In some fishing communities, the fishermen's wives keep their cats indoors, believing that this will keep their men folk safe from peril whilst at sea.
Many people around the world believe that there is a single white hair to be found, on even the blackest of cats. Pull out that hair, without getting a scratch, and yours will be a long, happy and prosperous marriage.
Whatever the local superstitions about cats that are black, most owners of cats consider themselves lucky and blessed. And indeed it is a blessing to own a cat, black or not.
I kind of always wanted to have a black cat live with me, be a part of my life simply because of the mythos surrounding the color of the cat. My mother had a short-haired black cat who came and went on the farm. Of course called "Midnight", she gave birth to one litter of kittens and then vanished, never to return. I remember her being very skittish, not at all a people cat. (Yes, there are such things.)
As my ladies don't go outside, I don't think the neighborhood, with the exception of Zeke who saw them in the window one day, knows I have any cats, let alone a black one.
Her "necromancy" consists of sitting in my lap and looking up at me and, I swear, smiling; or greeting me in the morning when I get out of bed; or just lying on the settee and looking so cute.
So in spite of the recent falling into a pot hole, I have luck. It comes on 4 feet with a tail. I am lucky when there's a cat in my lap.
(Caption: But this IS my good side.)
Beverage: Assam tea
Deb
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