In the Middle Ages, black cats were not very popular because of their association with witchcraft and black magic. Superstitions about black cats, some of them current today, date back to this period. Fisherman’s wives believed keeping a black cat in your home meant your husband would always return from the sea. In the 9th century, King Henry I of Saxony decreed that the fine for killing a cat should be sixty bushels of corn.
There are still people who believe that the black cat is a reincarnation of the devil and regard it as bad luck.
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Black cats have been known throughout history for being bad luck. Interestingly, these felines are also known for being harbingers of good fortune as well, depending upon who you ask.
There are many myths about cats. For example, you may have heard the myth that white cats make bad mothers. But by far, more myths, legends, and sayings revolve around cats with black coats than any other.
While the black cat is a coat color rather than a breed, there are domestic feline breeds that are black in color, or have a fair amount of black in their coats.
In fact, the Bombay cat breed, with it's jet black coat, is said to look like a miniature panther. As we know from the big cat fact page, panthers are actually not solid black.
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Black Cats have been associated with deities, witches and magic
for centuries. Black cats have been worshipped, condemned,
persecuted, have been thought of as having powers,
as being the omens of bad luck and being also a good
luck charm.
Part of the "mystery" surrounding the black cat comes
from the traditional interpretation of the color black.
Black is the color of the night, and of "evil." Black
can also be a color of elegance or class (such as a
black-tie only event, and black evening gowns.) Black
can also represent ideas such as power, sexuality,
sophistication, formality, wealth, mystery, fear, evil,
unhappiness, depth, style, sadness, remorse, anger, and
mourning.
Black can also represent a lack of color or emptiness.
It can also mean sorrow or mourning, in the Christian
tradition of wearing black to funerals. Used by itself,
black can represent bad luck or misfortune. Black also
is the color of black magic.
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Info. taken from various websites: http://petcaretips.net/black_cat_superstition.html
http://rulingcatsanddogs.com/cat-legends-feline-myths-kitty-fables-ancient-folklores.htm
http://www.cat-lovers-only.com/black-cats.html
