Black Cat Crossing Your Path Good Luck In Japan
January 13, 2012 by staff
Black Cat Crossing Your Path Good Luck In Japan, Many cultures have superstitions about black cats, often ascribing either “good luck” or “bad luck” to them.
A black cat is a feline with black fur. It is not a particular breed of cat and may be mixed or of a specific breed. The Bombay, known for its sleek black fur, is an example of a black cat. The all-black pigmentation is equally prevalent in both male and female cats. In some cultures black cats are considered good luck, and in others they are considered bad luck.
Any cat whose fur is a single color, including black, is known as a “solid” or “self”. A “solid black” cat may be coal black, grayish black, or brownish black. Most solid colored cats result from a recessive gene that suppresses the tabby pattern. Sometimes the tabby pattern is not totally suppressed, mintira markings may sometimes appear in certain lights even on a solid black cat. A cat having black fur with white roots is known as a “black smoke.”
Black cats can also “rust” in sunlight, the coat turning a lighter brownish shade.
In addition to the Bombay, The Cat Fanciers’ Association allows solid black as a color option in 21 other breeds. The color description for those breeds is:
BLACK: dense coal black, sound from roots to tip of fur. Free from any tinge of rust on the tips. Nose leather: black. Paw pads: black or brown.
The exceptions are:
Oriental – EBONY: dense coal black. Free from any tinge of rust on tips or smoke undercoat. Nose leather: black. Paw pads: black or brown.
Sphynx – BLACK: black. One level tone from nose to tip of tail. Nose leather: black. Paw pads: black or brown.
Ragamuffin – Although black is not specifically mentioned, the standard allows for “any color, with or without white,” so technically speaking, an all-black Ragamuffin would be allowed under the breed standard.
The character Behemoth in “The Master and Margarita”, an enormous black cat (said to be as large as a hog), capable of standing on two legs and talking, and has a penchant for chess, vodka and pistols.
The folklore surrounding black cats varies from culture to culture. In Great Britain and in Ireland, black cats are a symbol of good luck. The Scottish believe that a strange black cat’s arrival to the home signifies prosperity. In Celtic mythology, a fairy known as the Cat S?th takes the form of a black cat. Black cats are also considered good luck in Japan. Furthermore, it is believed that a lady who owns a black cat will have many suitors. However in Western history, black cats have often been looked upon as a symbol of evil omens, specifically being suspected of being the familiars of witches, and so most of western and southern Europe considers the black cat as a symbol of bad luck, especially if one crosses paths with a person, which is believed to be an omen of misfortune and death. In Germany, some believe that black cats crossing a person’s path from right to left, is a bad omen. But from left to right, the cat is granting favorable times.
The gambling world is afraid of black cats: it is believed that if, while traveling to a casino, a black cat crosses a gambler’s road or path, that person should not go to the casino; most players believe that black cats bring bad luck.
The black cat in folklore has been able to change into human shape to act as a spy or courier for witches or demons. When the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock, they brought with them a devout faith in the Bible. They also brought a deepening suspicion of anything deemed of the devil and were a deeply suspicious group. They viewed the black cat as a companion, or a familiar to witches. Anyone caught with a black cat would be severely punished or even killed. They viewed the black cat as part demon and part sorcery. During the Middle Ages, these superstitions led people to kill black cats. This had the unintended consequence of increasing the rat population and the spread of the Black Death (bubonic plague) and other diseases carried by rodents. There is no evidence from England of regular large-scale massacres of “satanic” cats, or of burning them in midsummer bonfires, as sometimes occurred in Europe.
However, the supernatural powers ascribed to black cats were sometimes viewed positively, for example sailors considering a “ship’s cat” would want a black one because it would bring good luck. Sometimes, fishermen’s wives would keep black cats at home too, in the hope that they would be able to use their influence to protect their husbands at sea (see Ship’s cat). The view of black cats being favorable creatures is attributed specifically to the Egyptian goddess Bast (or Bastet), the cat goddess. Egyptian households believed they could gain favor from Bastet by hosting black cats in their household. This view was held in the early 17th Century by the English monarch Charles I. Upon the death of his treasured pet black cat, he is said to have lamented that his luck was gone. True to his claim, he was arrested the very next day and charged with high treason.
Pirates of the 19th Century believed that a black cat would bring different kinds of luck. If a black cat walks towards someone, that person will have bad luck. If a black cat walks away from someone then that person will have good luck. If a black cat walks onto a ship and then walks off it, the ship is doomed to sink on its next trip.
A black cat
Black cats have been found to have lower odds of adoption in American shelters compared to other colors (except brown). Some shelters also suspend or limit adoptions of black cats around Halloween for fear they will be tortured, or used as “living decorations” for the holiday and then abandoned. However, in the history of humane work, no one has ever documented any relationship between adopting black cats, and cats being killed or injured. When such killings are reported, forensic evidence has pointed to natural predators, such as coyotes, eagles, or raptors, as the likely cause. To promote the adoption of black cats, “National Black Cat Awareness Day” is held on August 17.
In the early days of television in the United States, many stations located on VHF channel 13 used a black cat as a mascot in order to make sport of being located on an “unlucky” channel number.
The black cat of the Industrial Workers of the World, also adopted as a symbol by anarcho-syndicalists
Since the 1880s, the colour black has been associated with anarchism. The black cat, in an alert, fighting stance was later adopted as an anarchist symbol.
More specifically, the black cat-often called the “sab cat” or “sabo-tabby”-is associated with anarcho-syndicalism, a branch of anarchism that focuses on labor organizing (see Wildcat strike).
In testimony before the court in a 1918 trial of Industrial Workers of the World leaders, Ralph Chaplin, who is generally credited with creating the IWW’s black cat symbol, stated that the black cat “was commonly used by the boys as representing the idea of sabotage. The idea being to frighten the employer by the mention of the name sabotage, or by putting a black cat somewhere around. You know if you saw a black cat go across your path you would think, if you were superstitious, you are going to have a little bad luck. The idea of sabotage is to use a little black cat on the boss.”
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