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Wednesday, October 31, 2007 12:10 AM CDT
Feared felines: Superstitions surrounding black cats largely stem from centuries-old folklore
By HERB MEEKER, Staff Writer
hmeeker@jg-tc.com
In the days just before Halloween, 36 cats, including four pure black ones, were up for adoption at the County Animal Rescue and Education Center.
One was a fuzzy kitten with bluish-green eyes that could melt any heart. And a short-haired black female “teenager” cat was showing how she loved to receive a back rub.
But Julie Deters of the Coles County animal shelter says many people won’t take black cats home.
Is it superstition? Or are those many Halloween decorations with evil-looking black cats striking fear in the hearts of potential adopters?
Or is it something else?
“Some people prefer not to have a black cat because the black fur shows up more in the house,” Deters said.
Another black cat myth goes up in a puff of smoke.
Deters doesn’t understand why black cats have such a bad reputation with many people. They can be just as cute, cuddly and comforting as any other cats, she said.
“It’s just the color and superstition. There’s nothing different about black cats,” Deters said. “Usually, our black cats have some white markings. That’s because any cat litter can have a black one.”
So why are black cats tied to Halloween and evil tidings? Joy Kammerling, an Eastern Illinois University history professor, said the bad rep for black cats can be partly tied to witch hunts in Europe and America a few centuries ago. This folklore was carried on into the 20th century and eventually mixed with Halloween lore.
“In the Middle Ages you had demonizing of certain animals, especially nocturnal ones like foxes, owls and cats,” said Kammerling, who has taught classes on the European Witch Hunts and Salem Witch Trials. “One of the beliefs people had then was witches could employ demons to do their bidding. So they could use ‘familiars’ or little critters with the spirit of the devil in them.”
These beliefs may seem primitive today, but consider the myth of “shape shifting” by witches to use an animal’s form to do harm to others. Prominent in Halloween lore are vampires turning into bats, or people taking the form of werewolves during a full moon. And the prominence of black animals as entities of evil is prevalent today. How many times have you stopped in your tracks when a black cat crosses your path?
Solid alibis did not matter for the witch suspects a few hundred years ago.
“When someone was accused of witchcraft they would claim they were asleep at home. But if a cat had been seen in a barn that burned or a house where something terrible happened then it was claimed the accused took the form of that cat,” Kammerling said.
From 1400 to 1600 in Europe, up to 100,000 people were executed on charges of witchcraft, said Kammerling, who did research in Europe on numerous witch trials. Even more suspects were interrogated and tortured to draw out confessions.
“The trial records are full of references to cats and other animals or prosecutors asking, ‘What was your familiar?’” Kammerling said.
Today, no one will burn or hang over a black cat. But some black cat owners keep their pets safe at Halloween. There are fears of some wicked deeds befalling the cats. Some of it might be simple sadism toward animals instead of people dedicated to pagan rituals or witchcraft.
Deters has not heard of the occult or Halloween inspiring black cat abuse cases in Coles County. There are no restrictions on adoptions at the Coles animal shelter for black cats either due to a comprehensive screening of potential adoptees.
But Deters once ran into a curse over black cats.
“A few years ago I had a curse put on me by a woman with 31 black cats. We pulled them out for health reasons and there was a sign on the door saying whoever came in would be cursed. There was something to it because I faced bad luck for a week,” Deters said.
But the cats faced much worse. They were in poor health and diagnosed with feline leukemia.
“We had to put them down,” Deters said. “It was very sad.”
Contact Herb Meeker at hmeeker@jg-tc.com or 238-6869.
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Tiddly Winks wrote on Oct 31, 2007 2:03 PM: