Why Do Witches Have Black Cats?
- Aug 12
- 2 min read
The witch and her black cat is one of the most enduring images in Western folklore, but the association is genuinely a European invention, not a universal or ancient one. Cats were revered, not feared, across most of the ancient world, the black cat's sinister reputation is a specifically medieval European development.
Were Cats Always Seen as Sinister?
No, quite the opposite for most of recorded history. Ancient Egypt actively worshipped cats, associating them with the goddess Bastet and imposing severe penalties for harming one. Norse mythology linked cats to Freyja, goddess of love, fertility, and magick, whose chariot was said to be pulled by two great cats. None of this early symbolism carried any hint of evil.
So Where Did the Fear Actually Start?
The shift happened in medieval Europe, tangled up with the same religious anxiety that fuelled the witch trials. Cats, especially black ones, became linked in the popular imagination to the devil and to witches specifically, partly through the concept of the familiar spirit, a supernatural helper believed to serve a witch, often taking animal form. A 13th century papal document, Vox in Rama, explicitly connected cats to Satanic ritual, giving the association a genuine institutional push it hadn't had before.
Watch the Full Story in 60 Seconds:
What Is a Familiar, Exactly?
A familiar was believed to be a spirit, often assuming the form of a common animal, cat, toad, owl, or hare, that assisted a witch with magickal work in exchange for care or a blood offering. During the witch trials, owning any pet at all, but especially a cat, could be presented as damning evidence of witchcraft, an accusation with genuinely fatal consequences for thousands of people and, indirectly, an enormous number of cats killed alongside them.
How Does This Show Up in Witchcraft Today?
Many modern witches have reclaimed the cat familiar concept as a positive, meaningful one, a beloved cat as a genuine spiritual companion rather than a servant bound by fear. Some witches work with the spirit of a specific animal in meditation or ritual without owning a physical pet at all. The image of the black cat itself has also been reclaimed in modern witchy aesthetics, worn as a badge of identity rather than treated as something to fear.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do witches need a pet to have a familiar?
No. A familiar can be worked with purely in a spiritual or meditative sense, without a physical animal at all, and many witches never own a familiar animal in either sense.
Is it bad luck to have a black cat cross your path?
This superstition varies by culture, in parts of Britain a black cat crossing your path is actually considered good luck, while in much of the United States the opposite belief is more common. There's no consistent global answer.
Are black cats still adopted less because of this stereotype?
Unfortunately yes, many shelters report black cats take longer to be adopted than other colours, a genuinely unfair legacy of centuries-old superstition rather than anything about the cats themselves.
Explore More Witchcraft Folklore
For the deeper history behind these associations, see our guide to the real origin of witchcraft.
Comments