Halloween Cats
by Jen Longshaw

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Halloween has taken over from the ancient pagan festival of Samhain marking the night when the veil between the worlds lifts allowing the dead to walk amongst the living. Witches and ghosts, goblins and ghoulies epitomize this increasingly commercial holiday but of all the heinous otherworldly creatures that come out to play on the 31^st October Halloween is best symbolised by the black cat.

From being worshipped as a God in Ancient Egypt the poor cat became a persecuted creature in the Middle Ages. Cats were widely regarded as evil creatures, their teeth venomous and breath poisonous enough to cause consumption. Even their hair could suffocate an unsuspecting peasant foolish enough to swallow it. As they were primarily secretive nocturnal animals cats were regarded as being the supernatural servants of witches or even the witch herself if she possessed the power of shape shifting. It was widely believed that as familiars and companions they joined in the witches perverse and depraved rituals and orgies.

One of the earliest records of cat persecution was in 962 AD. In the town of Metz in northeastern France on the second Wednesday of Lent the ceremony of “Cat Wednesday” was held involving the burning alive of hundreds of local cats believed to be “witches in disguise”. Later Pope Gregory IX (1147-1241) initiated the official persecution that would last for the next eight centuries by issuing a papal bull in 1233 denouncing the black cat as diabolical. Pope Innocent VIII (1432-1492) issued another in 1484 condemning a witch’s cat to be burned alive with her at her execution.

The black cat was particularly associated with witchcraft and magic. The Prince of Darkness himself was believed to borrow the coat of a black cat in order to torment his victims. Even today some cultures still believe they bring bad luck although in several countries it is believed good fortune for a black cat to cross your path as it signifies that evil has passed you by.

In the 16^th and 17^th centuries (now infamously known as “The Burning Times”) 100,000 witches were executed in Germany, 30,000 in England and a further 75,000 in France along with their “familiars”. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of cats died at this time.

With the loss of so many cats the rodent population escalated and the Bubonic Plague or Black Death took hold across Europe. Belatedly the importance of the cat as an incredibly efficient hunter was recognised but even then writers of the time could still not rid themselves of the fear induced superstitions surrounding the humble moggie. It was suggested that though cats were needed to destroy vermin they should be exploited for this alone and never shown any affection. In his 1658 book on natural history Edward Topsel stated “the familiars of Witches do most ordinary appear in the shape of Cats, which is an argument that this beast is dangerous to soul and body” but suggested “with a wary and discreet eye we must avoid their harms, making more account of their use than their persons”.

After centuries of the most appalling atrocities committed against humans and felines in the “war against sorcery” the last execution of a cat for witchcraft was in England in 1712.

©Jen Longshaw 2001-2005 Please do not copy in any manner, print or electronic, without permission from the author.