The Mysterious Black Cat
Oct 28, 2022
How did black cats go from being worshipped in ancient Egypt to being feared in our modern-day society?
Well, it started around 2000 years ago in the Druidic culture. There, animal spirits and witches (who acted as healers), became tribal leaders and created nocturnal festivals and ceremonies. This created an allure to the nocturnal animals, especially black cats who slinked thru the shadows.
On Samhain, the autumnal celebration in which the veils between this realm and the next are opened, people celebrating would wear costumes made of animal skins and heads, invoking their gods and banishing away dark forces. This tradition continued into modern times. But then women were considered as dangerous as the feline shadow totems, and both would be lumped into the same pot of superstition.
Then the male, Holy Trinity didn’t like that women were leading so the Church created the rumor that they were dangerous and participating in demonic practices. As we know, the church turned Samhain into All Saints Day, attempting to eradicate the old Pagan traditions.
Black cats are portrayed as switching from omens to truth-telling feminist avatars, depending on the dominating forces at work in popular storytelling. But perhaps the breed’s most complete depiction is in The Matrix, when one slinks just past Neo’s sight, indicating a déjà vu, a glitch in the false reality. Since the Druid rites, the black cat has symbolized the unknown and the mysterious. They’re a portal to a new reality, a stealthy crawl into the unknown night.
