How Black Cats Became a Part of Halloween

Like other holidays, Halloween has symbols associated with it. These symbols help to shape our view of the holiday. When we think of Halloween, we think of the colors black and orange. Images of jack-o-lanterns, bats, witches, black cats, and other scary creatures come to mind. But how did these symbols come to be a part of Halloween?

Today, black cats are as much a part of the Halloween tradition as pumpkins and witches. However, black cats have not always been associated with Halloween. In fact, from ancient times until recent history, black cats do not seem to have been connected to Halloween. Their modern association with Halloween appears to be a relatively recent and mostly American contribution to the holiday.

Cats are nocturnal animals, and this preference for prowling at night certainly doesn't hurt their chances of becoming a fixture for a nighttime holiday. In addition, being all black enables black cats to blend in with the darkness, leaving only the eerie glow of their eyes visible-another plus for the inclusion of black cats as icons for a scary nighttime holiday.

From very ancient times to the present, cats have been kept by humans as pets. But, unlike dogs, which have long had the reputation of being man's best friend, cats have generally been either loved or hated by individuals and cultures.

Cats' habit of sneaking around and silently stalking their prey has caused many people to dislike or be suspicious of cats. These factors have led some people and cultures to associate black cats with bad luck or view them as a sign of an evil presence.

While Americans have a superstition about bad luck resulting from a black cat crossing one's path, other cultures have looked upon black cats as bringing good luck.

King Charles I (1600-1649) of England had a black cat that he adored. When the King's cat suddenly became ill and died, his good luck seemed to die with it, as King Charles himself attested.

Given the King's political blunders, inept ruling, and numerous enemies, it is probably safe to say that his luck would have run out whether or not the cat died, but the coincidence of the cat's death and his arrest (and subsequent beheading) was sufficient for King Charles and others to attribute his misfortune to the loss of the cat, which had seemed to have previously brought him good luck.

While this is not the reason for black cats becoming a spooky Halloween symbol, the king's misfortunes following the death of his cat did help to reinforce the idea among some people that black cats and misfortune were related.

In most Western cultures, the color black itself has many negative connotations. Many people are scared of the dark; black is associated with death and funerals; a negative action is a black mark on one's reputation; black arts are a synonym for sorcery. The list goes on.

In addition to their color, black cats also suffer from their supposed association with witches. In times past, some elements in the Christian Church associated the ancient Celtic and other pagan religious practices with evil and devil worship. Witchcraft fell into this category, and the Church would periodically persecute those suspected of witchcraft. Some myths held that witches could take the form of black cats, while others held that black cats assisted witches.

While the fall festival of Samhain, which was celebrated by the ancient Celts of Ireland and is the ancestor of our present-day Halloween, did not involve sorcery or devil worship, many have come to associate it with these things.

Samhain did involve a belief that this date, which marked the changing of the season from summer to fall, was a time when the natural barrier between our world and the spirit world was temporarily lifted, allowing spirits of the dead to return.

Once back in the world, it was feared that the spirits of the dead would enter the bodies of people and animals, and for some reason, a myth came about that claimed that returning spirits were attracted to black cats.

Given these and other facts concerning black cats, it is easy to see how they came to be associated with Halloween. Through the centuries, however, these connections were scattered, and most were not widely held until they were brought to America.

Like Halloween itself, which didn't develop into a major holiday until after it came to America, the connection between black cats and witches didn't really develop until the Puritans came to America. While deeply religious, the Puritans who settled in the New England colonies saw the devil and evil everywhere.

Because of their association with witches, black cats were also looked upon as evil agents of the devil. This evil connection in the minds of the Puritans between black cats and witches led to black cats not being tolerated-let alone kept-in the colony.