Hey people!

A couple of nights ago, my hubby and I were driving home and I slammed on my brakes to avoid hitting a black cat that darted out into the street. My hubby immediately spit into his shirt (the traditional Romanian response to a run-in with a  black cat). Immediately disturbed and distressed by the sight of the creature, I kept on driving in silence. I then asked my husband a minute later if the cat was all black. He tried to reassure me that it wasn’t–that he may have seen some gray marks near its paws, or a white patch on its stomach. I rolled my eyes and accused him of lying just to make me feel better. He admitted that he wasn’t sure, that indeed it may have been completely black. About thirty seconds later, I rolled my eyes again–at myself–for having such a ridiculous reaction towards the beautiful black feline that crossed our paths and it got me thinking about how strongly engrained some everyday superstitions are.

In ancient times, Babylonians had an extreme aversion to black cats–they likened them to serpents because of the way they liked to curl up and rest near warm places. Of course, I’m sure gray cats, white cats, and striped cats do that same damn thing, so why black kitties bore the brunt of this prejudice remains a mystery.

In Western culture, black cats have long been considered a bad omen. Ever since the Middle Ages, black cats were considered creatures beloved by witches. Their black coloring made them the perfect cohorts in witchcraft since they couldn’t be seen in the dark. This belief stayed strong in the New World as early settlers here were obsessed with rooting out witchcraft.

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