We celebrate National Black Cat Day each year on October 27th. On this day, leading up to Halloween, feline fans love showing off their love for this often misunderstood animal.
Misconceptions of Black Cats
Black cats have been considered both good luck and bad luck, depending upon locale.
In the British Isles, and also in Japan, black cats are considered to be forebringers of good fortune and prosperity. But in most other places, particularly in much of the Western world, black cats are thought to be the bringers of misfortune and wickedness. This belief appears to have begun in the historical times of witchhunts and the witch trials when people mistakenly believed that black cats served as companions to potion-brewing, spell-casting witches, thus, symbolizing supposed evils.
Enough of this negativity surrounding black cats continues to exist today to the point where they have lower rates of adoption compared to other cat breeds. Thus, National Black Cat Day was begun to bring awareness to the plight of black cats.
Myths and a Holiday Associated with Black Cats
Halloween has long been associated with black cats. It seems to come from these cats’ stealthy and nocturnal nature, combined with their dark fur. It led to the belief that black cats were either witches in disguise or were witches’ supernatural familiars. It all apparently became symbols of evil and bad luck and, over the years, contributed to a spooky holiday imagery.
Personal Black Cat Story
Our family had a series of black cats over the years. Our very first one was an all-black, half-Siamese cat we got as a tiny kitten. We named her Spooky. The name came from the owner of our kitten’s parent cats. Catherine was from England and once told us stories of a haunted house she lived in there. She called the stories her ‘Spook Stories’, so “Spooky” seemed the perfect name for our new kitten. She was the ‘best cat ever!’ 🙂
Summary
It is time to discard the old-fashioned notion that crossing the path of a black cat, or just associating with black cats in general, brings bad luck.
Therefore, National Black Cat Day becomes a terrific opportunity to change these wrong impressions of these beautiful black cats and demonstrates appreciation for these animals who could use a little luck themselves!
National Black Cat DayOctober 27
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*National Black Cat Day review was written by Wednesday Elf
+Black Cat images in this review are compliments of Pixabay
Black Cats Galore! Happy Halloween ~

































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