Black Cats and Halloween
Article by Noah Eisengrein
When you think of Halloween, what’s the first image that comes to mind? A grinning Jack-o-lantern? A ghost floating through a haunted house? A cackling witch soaring through the sky on a broomstick? For some of us, the answer may be a glowing-eyed black cat. Have you ever wondered why this animal is associated with Halloween in the first place? Today, we’ll explore the origins of the black cat as a symbol of spooky season, and the complicated journey they’ve taken to gain the reputation they have now.
For a long time, black cats were feared as bad omens and oftentimes unnecessarily exterminated, but this wasn’t always the case. There have been some cultures throughout human history that held cats in very high regard, and in some cases even worshiped them. For example, ancient Egyptians viewed black cats as mortal symbols of the goddess Bastet, who herself appeared as a woman with the head of a black cat. Similarly, the Greek goddess of magic, sorcery, the moon, and witchcraft - Hecate - was said to have a cat companion.
One tradition in Ireland and Scotland may help us understand where the association between black cats and Halloween may come from. A mythical creature in Celtic folklore is the Cat Sìth (pronounced “caught shee” and loosely translated to “fairy cat”), who was depicted as a black cat with a single white spot on its chest that walked on all fours in the presence of humans but on two legs when alone. The Cat Sìth played an important role in the Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced “SAH-win”), which marked the end of the harvest and the beginning of the darker months of the year. Households would leave a saucer of milk for the Cat Sìth, and those who left the milk were blessed while those who didn’t were cursed. The holiday of Samhain is believed to be an early influence of what we now celebrate as Halloween, and thus we have a connection between black cats and Halloween!
Historically, cats did not appear to be viewed as a problem until the year 1233, when a document called Vox in Rama was created by Pope Gregory IX with the purpose of denouncing a German form of devil worship called Luciferianism. One of the devils that Luciferians were said to worship came in the form of a black cat, so Vox in Rama specifically referred to the animal as an incarnation of the devil. The release of the document marked the beginning of the European witch trials, and cats were hunted down just as much as suspected witches were.
Another factor that certainly didn’t help cats’ reputation in the Middle Ages was the Bubonic plague. Cats were often blamed for the spread of the disease, likely in part due to the negative stigma they already carried. Through the worst of the plague, cats were exterminated in large numbers in hopes that it would curb further spread of the deadly disease. Ironically, the killing of the cats only made the spread worse, as it was not the cats but the rodents who were the culprits! Rodents themselves weren’t necessarily the carriers as much as the fleas that may have inhabited their fur. Without cats around to hunt them, the rodent population boomed, making way for a larger and quicker spread of the plague.
In 1484, cats became more directly associated with witches after Pope Innocent VIII declared cats the “devil’s favorite animal and idol of all witches.” But why did the Church hate witches so much? Some wonder if the early Christian Church viewed witches as competition when it came to winning the public over in matters of spirituality. Witches’ pagan practices, which included a deep affection and respect for the natural world, were vilified by the Church, and thanks to their power and status as an organization at the time, the majority of the public tended to lean more into Christian values.
As for why cats - and black cats in particular - became associated with witches, it’s not entirely clear. Some speculate that black cats were better nighttime hunters due to their dark fur, a trait that was perhaps favored by those who kept cats as companions. Black cats began to be viewed as witches’ “familiars”, or supernatural beings that would protect the witches and aid them in their spiritual practices. These beliefs were brought across the Atlantic Ocean with the first American settlers, and by the start of the 16th century, it was widely believed that witches could actually transform into black cats as a way to spy on people and cause mischief. It’s no surprise that by the time the witch trials of New England began, cats largely had the same grim fate as those harmed in the European witch trials.
As time went on and widespread Puritanical rule died out, cats began to be seen in a more positive light. By the 18th century, they were widely used as symbols of mystery in literature. Possibly one of the most famous examples of this is Edgar Allen Poe’s The Black Cat, first published in 1843. By the 1930s, black cats began to play a big role in horror films, and by the early 1940s, they had undoubtedly earned their place as a symbol of Halloween. As the tradition of Trick-or-Treating took off, black cats were even viewed as a symbol of good luck, as many believed that a black cat near your house on Halloween night was there to protect your home from evil spirits.
Unfortunately, these days there remains a bit of a stigma against black cats, and some may even go out of their way to target and harm cats on Halloween night. This Halloween season, we encourage you to hold your black cats extra close and remember how special of an animal they truly are!