Fear Not the Black Cat! By Leah St. James

I've enjoyed reading the various posts about autumn and Halloween-y topics over the past couple days, and as I contemplated what to write about, I thought what better Halloween creature to spotlight than the black cat.

As many might know, we share our home with Son No. 1 (a Ph.D. candidate working furiously on his dissertation) and his cat Hercules. Hercules came to us a little more than a year ago, a tiny ball of black fur. 
 

Hercules about 12 weeks. I don't think he can fit
on that table these days.

By the time he'd reached a year, he was about 15 pounds of mischief who evidenced no signs of maturing.

We are now almost at the 18-month mark, and the only change is that he's gotten bigger. Hercules is now a  hefty 17 pounds of mostly muscle, powerfully athletic and prone to pushing every button he knows to push for me and my husband. These days when we head to bed at night, we go armed with a water pistol for when Hercules pushes his way into our room in the wee hours and does his best to rouse us to play. (Yes, we can shut the door, but there's only so many scratches the door can take!) Of course then he spends the bulk of the next day taking as many cat-naps as he likes while we move zombie-like through our day.

Look at him, sleeping like a baby on the futon in my office
while I type away.

The history of the superstitions over black cats is fascinating. Most of us have heard the those about black cats crossing our paths....shiver. Or that black cats are familiars for witches. Even worse, some actually believed black cats were witches who had shape-shifted to wreak havoc. 

According to this blog on Historic Mysteries: "People believed that witches and black cats worked together. Supposedly, the devil sent the black cat to assist in the witch's evil deeds. Additionally, witches were able to turn themselves into black cats so that they could slink around in the shadows casting spells on unsuspecting people."

Okay, Hercules does slink about, but it's usually to catch an unsuspecting piece of fuzz floating around.

But it's not all bad news for Hercules and his black-furred friends. According to this article by Alison Yates on the website Ancient Superstitions, black cats especially are seen as good omens in Britain and Ireland,  bringing good luck. Yates says that black cats are also revered today by those who practice the Wiccan religion and their owners considered lucky. (Now if only Hercules would send some of that good luck our way....)


So if a black cat happens to cross your path while you're out trick-or-treating, fear not! He probably just wants to join the fun. Maybe he'll even guarantee and extra yummy candy haul.
......................

Leah writes stories of mystery and romance, good and evil and the power of love. Read more about her writing at leahstjames.com, or visit her on Facebook which is where she mostly hangs out online. She loves meeting readers and other authors.