Trevor the Black Cat is the star in a whole range of my original paintings, greetings cards and fine-art prints. He has been for many years and has been very, very, lucky for me, and my family.
But, at this time of year, Halloween, black cats have another reputation. There is a body of opinion that associates black cats with witchcraft, spells, and spookiness.
So I have delved into the various backgrounds to these quite different concepts of black cats.
Many thanks to the Internet.
Quote from Hartz.com… ‘Many Medieval Germans believed themselves to be cursed if a black cat crossed their path from left to right. Black cats, however, have also served as symbols of good luck in numerous cultures. In the British Islands, black cats are often believed to bring affluence to any house they occupied. In Japan, they are also considered to bring good luck. In Ancient Egypt, black cats were worshipped as sacred…
The Puritan Pilgrims distrusted anything associated with witches and sorcery, including black cats. They actively persecuted black cats – it became a practice to burn black cats on Shrove Tuesday to protect the home from fire. After the anti-witch zeal had subsided in the colonies, black cats had been thoroughly cemented in popular legend right alongside witches. Decorators use them as a Halloween symbol, both alongside witches and independently, to add a frightful, unnerving ambience to their front steps, their green eyes spooking trick-or-treaters.’
More!
And from thesprucepets.com… ‘In Japan, for example, single women who own black cats are believed to attract more suitors. In Great Britain’s English Midlands, a black cat is the ideal wedding gift; they’re believed to bring good luck and happiness to the bride.
Not only can black cats better your love life, but they can amp up your good luck and improve your finances, too. Historically, sailors brought cats aboard ships to hunt mice—and, presumably, for companionship—but British sailors believed a black cat would bring the ship good luck and ensure a safe return home.
It was a little more complicated for pirates, though. They believed a black cat walking toward you was bad luck, a black cat walking away from you was good luck, and if a cat boarded the ship and then jumped off, the ship was going to sink.
For those of us not in a maritime profession, a black cat arriving at your doorstep signals prosperity (a common belief in Scotland) and a black cat crossing your path signals good luck (in England and Ireland).’
Cat and Rainbow
Wow!
If a black cat arrives on our doorstep we will be prosperous. Hooray!
So our black cat Trevor bought affluence to my household, ensured good luck, and bought happiness to any single women with us here. If they got married they were even happier. Plus a black cat is an ideal wedding gift.
If I get a boat I can feel sure that we won’t be overrun with mice, and as long as the cat walks away from us we will be safe and lucky. We will arrive home safely as well. But I need to make sure that he doesn’t jump off. I do not expect to be getting a boat soon.
I am not a Pirate, Puritanical Pilgrim, or Medieval German anyway. Are you?
At the up and coming Halloween we can deter ‘trick-or-treaters’ saving a small fortune in cookies, if we want to.
Maybe we should worship black cats as ‘sacred’, just like ancient Egyptians.
Conclusion.
Many of these good points have actually happened to us. It still happens with Karly our current black cat.
You could share in my good fortune by getting one of my black cat paintings, prints, or cards. If you send the cards to someone that is dear to you they could also be prosperous, lucky, happily married, with a safe boat.
Previous blog posts about our black cat here…
TREVOR THE BLACK CAT AT CHRISTMAS 28OCT16
https://www.artpublish.com/that-cat-again/
CAT AND POT OF GOLD 1NOV16
https://www.artpublish.com/cat-and-a-pot-of-gold/
LETTER FROM TREVOR 9OCT19
https://www.artpublish.com/letter-from-trevor/
We have now developed our own pages where you can actually choose and buy direct from us. See our website for a wide range of black cat art-works here…
https://www.artpublish.com/product-tag/cats-and-kitchens/
