Cat Tales

by D.J. Conway

Down through the centuries there have been many tales and superstitions about cats, some of them positive, but even more of them negative. The cat was considered to be an animal of the Great Goddess. When the patriarchal cultures replaced the Goddess with their god, they needed to discredit any creature that was connected with her. What happened to the cat also happened to the owl, the bat, and the raven. Unfortunately, constant propaganda turns the tide against the Goddess’s creatures, especially the cat.

The following beliefs are given for the sake of interest alone. Common sense will tell any intelligent person that the negative beliefs about cats are not true. Cats are loving but independent animals who share our homes and fill our lives with joy and happiness. It is amazing that the belief that black cats bring bad luck exists primarily in the United States. In many European countries, a cat of this color is considered to bring the very best of luck into a household.

• In ancient Egypt, women wore amulets of cats so they would be fortunate in love and all things feminine. A woman who wanted children would wear an amulet of a cat and kittens. The number of kittens indicated the number of children she wished to have.
• Wives were once made to drink milk with a cat’s eye stone in it to prevent them from conceiving children while their husbands were gone on a journey.
• If a black cat crosses your path and/or enters your house, it will bring good luck. This superstition may have come from ancient Egypt where the sacred cats (especially the black ones) were said to bring blessings on any house that took care of them.
• You will be extremely rich or lucky in love if you pull off a white hair from a black cat without getting scratched (Lowlands of Brittany).
• If a cat crosses your path and does you no harm, you will be very lucky. This superstition comes from medieval times, during the very era when the “devil-cat” was so hated. Because the orthodox church could not peacefully separate the people from the goddess worship and the veneration of her cats, they linked the cat with the devil. Obviously this superstition is a twisted version of the older, less negative one.
• If a black cat crosses your path, you will have good luck. The black cat is also considered to be an omen of money (England).
• If a cat comes into your house, be kind to it, and the devil will not bother you. Another medieval twist of the superstition, this also assumes that the cat and the devil are in league. By inference, if you have the devil on your side, he will go torment someone else.
• Whenever the cat of the house is black, the lasses of lovers will have no lack.
• Keep an old cat collared and chained in a shop, and prosperity will be yours. If the cat escapes, the prosperity is believed to go with it (China).
• In parts of Yorkshire the wives of fishermen keep black cats at home to ensure their husbands’ safety at sea.
• In southern England if a black cat crosses the path of a bride as she leaves the church, it will be a fortunate marriage. This is still a popular English belief. Like hiring a chimney sweep to give her a good luck kiss when she exist the church, the bride may also make arrangements to have a black cat led across her path.
• An ancient Buddhist superstition states that if you have a white cat, silver will always be in the house. If you have a dark-colored cat, there will always be gold.
• A tortoiseshell cat brings good fortune (Ireland and Scotland).
• People who dislike cats will be carried to the cemetery through rain (Holland).
• If you treat a cat badly or neglect it, carry an umbrella to your wedding (Holland).
• Cats who have three colors (red, white, and black) are able to predict the approach of storms (Japan).
• To decide whether to say yes or no to a marriage proposal, take three hairs from a cat’s tail. Wrap them in white paper and put this under the doorstep overnight. In the morning, carefully open the paper. If the hairs are in a Y-shape, it is yes; if in an N-shape, it is no (Ozarks).
• Cats will deliberately suffocate babies in their cribs. They will suck away the breath of any sleeping or ill person, leaving them weak or even killing them. This erroneous idea was developed during the witch frenzy and, unfortunately, is still widely held by otherwise intelligent people. Some cats will sit on your chest and get close to your face because they want attention, but they have absolutely no need or ability to suck away your breath.
• Cats carry the souls of the dead to the afterworld (Finland).
• If a cat jumps over a coffin, the soul of the deceased will not be able to find its way to heaven (Scotland).