ARE WE REALLY EVIL?

Starting as early as the 13th century, black cats were considered evil. The Catholic Church linked cats to Satan with superstitions; one of the most common superstitions being that crossing paths with a black cat will bring you bad luck. Black cats are also commonly associated with Halloween, even though in ancient Egypt, cats were considered a divine symbol. They also made an appearance in Greek mythology, specifically with Hecate, the goddess of magic and sorcery. Hecate is described as having a cat as both a pet and a familiar, a supernatural creature that assists a witch.

SHAY, THE CROSS-EYED KITTY; PHOTO BY RAELEE DAY

During the Salem witch trials of 1692, black cats were commonly used as evidence against the accused. One of the first people to be accused was an enslaved woman named Tituba. When being accused, she said she saw two cats, one red and one black, the size of a small dog, and she said they told her to serve them. Many more cases like this happened between 1692 and 1693.

Throughout the years, black cats have been featured in a lot of scary and Halloween movies, which has kept them connected to that stereotype. I interviewed a couple of people from the school to see if they knew anything about the stereotypes surrounding black cats. The first person I interviewed was Gwen Engle. She knew about the stereotype of them being evil and associated with witches, and the urban legend that they are killed or mistreated during Halloween. Gwen thinks that black cats are just like any other animal and that they don't deserve to be killed during Halloween or in general.

The next person I interviewed was Mr. Watt. He had heard the superstitions about black cats being bad luck. I asked where he had heard that from, and he said it was from Halloween movies. Mr. Watt doesn't believe black cats are bad luck because he has never had any personal bad experiences with seeing black cats. Mr. Watt had also never heard that in some places, black cats are mistreated in the month of October, which shows that maybe it's not as common as some people like Gwen and I thought.

While researching black cats, I found out that them getting hurt or mistreated during October isn't as common as I thought, or at least it's not talked about a lot. I think it's good to be better safe than sorry, though, because even if there's a low chance of them getting hurt, it's still important to be careful.