15 facts about black cats bringing good luck

It is that time of year when black cats need to be protected. Some rescue centres do not adopt out black cats during Halloween. There are people who like to abuse black cats in some sort of witchcraft black magic ritual at this time of year. More human superstition. Human superstition tends to be detrimental to black cats and cats in general, but people should remember that black cats don’t always bring bad luck. Here are 15 examples of the opposite as in some cultures, they bring good luck which reminds us that this is all about superstition; a very fragile and of course scientifically unsupported mental process.

Black cats can bring good luck but throw away all superstitious thoughts
Black cats can bring good luck but throw away all superstitious thoughts. Image: Screenshot from video.
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  1. In Japanese culture women who live with black cats are said to be more attractive to men!
  2. And also, in Japanese culture when a black cat crosses your path it is considered to be good luck, the exact opposite to many other cultures.
  3. Sometimes ships’ cats were black to bring good luck to the sailors on the high seas.
  4. And sometimes fishermen’s wives would keep a black cat at home in the hope that it would help to bring her husband home from a dangerous job.
  5. In the theatre, the players consider it good luck if a black cat enters the auditorium. They believe that there will be a long run for the play. And they believe that the presence of a black cat on opening night is particularly auspicious for the success of the play.
  6. In Chinese culture black cats ward off evil. They frighten away demons and evil enemies.
  7. Freya is the Queen of the Valkyries and the goddess of love and fertility in Norse mythology. Her chariot was pulled by two black cats. Farmers would leave bowls of milk for the cats to win Freya’s favour to ensure a good harvest.
  8. The French believed or perhaps some believe today that a black cat can lead them to wealth. If a black cat appears at a crossroads where there are two alternative routes, and the black cat takes one of those routes the believer (a ‘French peasant’) should follow.
  9. At one time, in southern France, black cats were labelled ‘Matagot’ meaning ‘magician cat’. At every meal a black cat owner (?) would give them the first mouthful of food in return for a solid gold coin in the morning!
  10. In Scotland, there was a belief that if a black cat was on your doorstep in the morning it was your lucky day and a sign of forthcoming prosperity.
  11. At some stage in the history of England, the English used to give black cats as a wedding present to their bride for good luck in their marriage.
  12. In Germany, some citizens believed that if they saw a black cat walking across their path from left to right it was good luck. It had to be left to right because walking in the opposite direction was bad luck!
  13. King Charles I was convinced that his black cat brought him good fortune. His cat was guarded, and he was devastated when his cat died because he believed that his good luck had died with his cat. The king was subsequently arrested and beheaded!
  14. In Celtic tradition, they once believed in the Cat Sith. Many people feared them and thought they were large, all black with a white spot on their chest. But they were believed to bring good fortune.
  15. It would seem that almost an equal number of people believe that when a black cat crosses your path it is a bad omen or a sign of good fortune to come.

Don’t believe that black cats bring ill-fortune. It’s mere superstition. Everyone should bury any superstitious thoughts that they might have. Below are some more articles on superstition and cats.

Black cat superstitions
Black cat superstitions. Photo: Pinterest.

The RSPCA proves a point that almost everyone realises that in general people perceive black cats as bad luck and therefore it takes longer for black cats in rescue centres to be adopted. The RSPCA say that the charity rehomed 2260 black cats during 2019-2021 and it took on average 30 days for a black cat to find their new home. Gray tabby cats take 16 days to be rehomed. Black-and-white cats take 28 days to rehome while tortoiseshell-and-white cats (calico cats) took 17 days to be rehomed.

I think that this information is quite interesting because it highlights the more popular coat types which are grey tabbies and calicos compared to the other coat types listed here.

This does not in any way surprised me. The tortoiseshell cat is certainly more popular than most other coat types.

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4 thoughts on “15 facts about black cats bringing good luck”

      • Thanks for the compliments Michael.Sir,should say that at the young age of 73 years your enthusiasm and range of topics on ” CATS” is unbelievable.Thanks to your encouragement that I got involved in starting a ” CAT Group” which later with other like minded cat enthusiasts in India resulted in the formation of India’s first ” CAT Show” in 2013.Wishing you best of health and always anxious to read your latest posting on ” PicturesofCats”.

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  1. In September/ October I had been on a 21 day travel across the African Country’s of Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia and Botswana. Had started my flight from Mumbai on a horrible day with the demise of my house care taker’s sister to a sudden heart attack.Anyhow made the flight to Zimbabwe and got back to normalcy,typical nature of a former retired sailor .From Zimbabwe my next country was the border crossing to Zambia and in Zambia during my visit to the ” Railway and Jewish” museum in Livingstone came across a jet black kitten lying sprawled on my pathway at the entrance to the Jewish museum.Bizarre, a lone single jet black kitten on a empty open air railway yard which also housed the Jewish museum with me being the lone visitor that Sunday.Petted the kitten and clicked a few photographs .Should say my entire ” African Safari” travel of wild life safari and sightseeing was a grand success finally returning home back from Harare to Mumbai on 18 October 2022.What struck me utterly odd was that it was the only cat in the entire large sprawling complex and that too a ” BLACK CAT” that brought me “GOOD LUCK” after coming across it.

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