Black cat: superstition and meaning around the world
Why black cats are unlucky in some countries and lucky in Britain, Japan and among sailors, with the history behind the superstition.
A black cat is bad luck in much of the United States, Spain, Italy and parts of continental Europe, and good luck in Britain, Ireland, Scotland, Japan and among sailors' families almost everywhere. The same animal, the same colour, opposite verdicts: the black cat is the clearest example of how superstitions are local habits rather than universal truths. If one crosses your path today, the honest answer is that it means a cat was going somewhere.
How the black cat became unlucky
Cats were revered in ancient Egypt, and nothing in Greek or Roman writing singles out black ones. The turn came in medieval Europe. From the thirteenth century, church writers associated cats with heresy and night-time rituals, and by the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the black cat had become the standard "familiar" of the accused witch in English, Scottish and continental trial records. Folk belief followed: a black cat was a witch in disguise, or a demon's messenger, and meeting one meant misfortune was near. Puritan settlers carried the fear to New England, which is why the American version is so strong, and why black cats still decorate Halloween.
Where black cats are lucky
- England, Scotland and Ireland: a black cat crossing your path or arriving at your door brings good fortune; a black cat given to a bride was a traditional wedding gift in parts of England.
- Japan: black cats ward off evil and are thought to help single women attract suitors; the beckoning maneki-neko figurine exists in a black version for protection.
- Sailors and fishing towns in Britain, Ireland and elsewhere kept black cats aboard or at home to ensure a safe return; fishermen's wives were said to keep one for exactly this reason.
- Parts of France and Germany hold mixed views: a cat crossing from left to right is lucky, from right to left unlucky, or the other way round depending on the region.
- Russia and much of Eastern Europe are mixed as well, though black cats are often seen as household protectors.
Variations on the superstition
Many versions attach the luck to direction: a cat walking toward you brings fortune, walking away takes it. Others say a black cat that comes to live with you brings prosperity, while one that merely passes brings nothing. In Italy, the fear is strong enough that a national "black cat day" was created to counter it. Shelter workers in several countries report that black cats take longer to be adopted, partly because of the superstition and partly, more prosaically, because they photograph poorly.
Common questions
What should I do if a black cat crosses my path? Nothing; or, if you enjoy rituals, the old English advice is to greet it politely. Is it bad luck to own one? In every lucky-cat country it is the opposite, and most cat owners would say the same anywhere. Why are black cats linked to Halloween? Through the witch-trial imagery and the Victorian fashion for Gothic decoration, not through any older Celtic belief.
Sources: European witch-trial records and histories, folklore collections from Britain, Ireland, Japan and the United States, and animal-shelter reports on adoption patterns.