Why Black Cats???

Throughout history black cats have always been linked in with the occult and witch craft. This has always struck me as being a little 'cat racist', but over the years I have noticed certain traits in black and predominantly black cats.

1. These cats appear to listen to humans when they talk to them and sometimes act on verbal commands.

2. They seem more intelligent when it comes to problem solving i.e. opening locked cat flaps and 'knocking' at outside doors to come in.

So why the link in with the occult for our good old black moggies????

In case you are wondering.......no I'm not some sad old man living on my own sitting in a house full of cats, with the smell to go with it!

Any comments welcomed

"Black" cats are no intelligent than other cats....as to them being associated with evil...that come from years ago when people were supposititious and thought black was evil. If you were to go to www.witchvox.com... and look at hte "cats photo" pages....you'd see that most Witches and/or Wiccans have other color kitties.

My cat is black with white spots and she's very smart.

Originally posted by BillyTheCat
over the years I have noticed certain traits in black and predominantly black cats.

1. These cats appear to listen to humans when they talk to them and sometimes act on verbal commands.

2. They seem more intelligent when it comes to problem solving i.e. opening locked cat flaps and 'knocking' at outside doors to come in.

Well, now that you mention it, MY black cat does fit your description while my calico does not exhibit these traits and skills.

He does understand most of what I say and if he feels like it he will do what I ask. I have the most fun telling him to "bite daddy" when the DH is annoying me.

I found it fascinating that the black cat didn't start knocking on doors till he was about 8 after my sister and her 3 girls lived with us for 6 months. Prior to that, doors were never closed in the house as it was just me and my husband. When they moved in, frequently their bedroom doors were closed and they would knock before entering if another was inside. I was rather stunned he seemed to have noticed this and began to do it himself.

It is now a problem when we have guests, since he is prone to knock on the door when they are in the bathroom or sleeping. He is a rather rude and demanding feline.

I'm curious if this is really a black cat thing. It might very well have added to the superstition.

I have to agree with lady v - cats are cats and their intelligence varies due to their interaction with humans and other animals - cats that are allowed to interact outside the house probably have a better learning curve unlike those poor animals that seem to live a life under rich old ladie armpits

Ok then, let me rephrase my initial question.......why when most people see a black cat do they associate it with the occult

Examples of this are:

1/ Its lucky to have a black cat cross your path as you walk.

2/ Its unlucky to have a black cat cross your path as you walk.

3/ In childrens books Witches cats are normally black.

4/ In TV shows (Sabrina the witch?) the cats are normally black.

5/ In the UK around halloween stories always go around that black cats are being catnapped for satanic rituals.

On a separate note the thickest cat I have ever had was a ginger tom named 'Jake', who whilst being very loving was short in the intelligence department. He lived until he was 22!

I'm going to attempt to keep my black cat inside the week of Holloween. He is mostly an outside cat during the day so it wont be easy. About five years ago some kids killed a black cat on Holloween or the next morning by my house. I wont say in what condition I found the cat, you dont want to know. I'm not taking any chances with Stubby. I call him Stubby because he is a Manx, he has a stub for a tail. He has perfect balance though.

I think it's the word: BLACK
The word black has mostly always been associated to
negativity, the allure of the unknown, unseen.
Dark and mysterious.

Take:
Operation Orange(bio-terrorism)...
Operation Sunshine(chemical weapons)...
euphemism it's all in a word...

It's just superstition, another example would be a rabbits foot or a four leave clover. By the way I think that cats of any color can be smart, its all in the genes.
Have a nice day

*EDIT* My terrible spelling

[edit on 24-10-2004 by TheDarkFlame]

Couldn't it be something as simple as the fact black is associated with night, the time when witches were thought to do their magic. A common black cat can easily move under the cover of night time darkness.

So a black cat is more associated with witches due to their nighttime activities I would think. My friend had a black cat that would roam his yard and if you were sitting on the back patio at night the cat could really scare the crap out of you if it came running out of the dark and towards the house. Almost as if appearing out of thin air.

Here's a picture of a non-black yet still evil cat.

Spiderj
[www.funnyjunk.com...]

[edit on 10/24/2004 by Spiderj]

Originally posted by BillyTheCat
Ok then, let me rephrase my initial question.......why when most people see a black cat do they associate it with the occult

Examples of this are:

1/ Its lucky to have a black cat cross your path as you walk.

2/ Its unlucky to have a black cat cross your path as you walk.

3/ In childrens books Witches cats are normally black.

4/ In TV shows (Sabrina the witch?) the cats are normally black.

5/ In the UK around halloween stories always go around that black cats are being catnapped for satanic rituals.

On a separate note the thickest cat I have ever had was a ginger tom named 'Jake', who whilst being very loving was short in the intelligence department. He lived until he was 22!

1) Superstition
2) Superstition
3) Tradition
4) Tradition
5) Stupidity

Down with superstition, tradition, and stupidity! And that's one old cat!

well as the proud owner of one kickass black cat, I would love to say how much they help me with my witchiness...But Im not a witch, nor do i practice any sort of ritual..

My point to add is that my darling feline here is a first generation siamese cross---most of the time the siamese cross is ALWAYS a sleek little black cat--full of energy and very intelligent and talkative..I have had many cats, and met many black cats, but none like my guy here. He is just incredibly dog-like/playful and very loyal. If i did practice any sort of magic i think he would make one hell of a familiar for it!


But as far as the association of black cats being better for magic...well i would have to agree with the superstition, tradition, stupidity theory as well.

So then.............it looks as if we are reaching some sort of agreement that black cats appear to be slightly more intelligent than other coloured moggies?

If this is the case I will summise that this is the reason they are associated with magic and the occult

You may have to poll all of the cat people, but i cant come up with a counter argument.

Cats have long been linked to the mysterious and the occult. Even ancient Egypt saw them as guardians of the underworld. Perhaps their mysterious nature and aloofness, combined with their preference of human company lends to this? Old practicioners of magic usually were solitary, and kept company with several pets. Cats were simply a common one. Soon after, when people suspected such "witches" of evil deeds, their cat was seen as their agent of evil (a familiar). The church of course, is responsible for much of such attitudes.

There are other legends stemming from an old misunderstanding. It was believed that cats stole the breath of babies while they slept, and caused them to die. What was actually happening, is that cats often like to sleep atop humans, and were usually blamed when babies died of SIDs (as they didn't know about it at the time). This only furthered their rep as agents of evil forces...

The reason Black is so pronounced is simple...black is usually connected to evil, therefore a completely black cat must be evil, by supposition.

Originally posted by BillyTheCat
Ok then, let me rephrase my initial question.......why when most people see a black cat do they associate it with the occult

I did explain it to you in the first answered post to this thread....

Originally posted by Gazrok

There are other legends stemming from an old misunderstanding. It was believed that cats stole the breath of babies while they slept

Yes...usually, they wold smell milk on the babies breath,

Lady V...I'm sorry but I must disagree with your comment. You didn't explain it to me............you gave me your opinion. The question is, is do I agree with that opinion?. On this occasion I don't, which is why I asked others on the site for their views.

I have to admit that you are one of my favorite members

Most cats are quite smart regardless of color, as I have lived w/ all sorts of colors and breeds ever since I was a child. My 'familiar' was a white cat, and she always knew when I was upset/depressed because she would show up on my bed before I layed down to cry.
The new kitten we were recently given, only about 6 months old now, is a cross bred Siamese. We recieved her when she was less than 2 months, and w/in a matter of days was showing signs of her fearlessness by wrestling w/ our other 2 adult cats. Her name changed a few times, to finally be called Samurai. (No wonder they were once used as guard cats!!) Even talking to her using her nickname of "Little Key" (little keety), when I first called out to her using her name, she immediately came to me. That was incredible for me, as she was so young and had been called numerous names. Cats are also more aware of oddities that may be around you than many other household pets because they've only been around humans for about 4000 years and have had little bred OUT of them (i.e - that's the reason so many are still tabby-striped, its part of their 'wild' DNA that hasn't been bred out....yet) whereas dogs have been involved w/ humans for around 14,000 years which is why there are so many different breeds and alot of instincts to the surrounding environment have been (accidentally?) bred out.