Black Cat Blackout Now In Effect

Caspers Human

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Some kind of stupid, senseless superstition, I think. I don't have that in my background, but a lot of people here seem to. It's ludicrous.
It's NOT the black cat which was associated with witches and the devil! It was the grimalkin!

Grimalkin - Wikipedia

It was a writer named William Baldwin who wrote a novel about "evil cats" in the year 1570. This was the first time that the "cat legend" appeared in print and it was the grimalkin cat that was specifically written about.

Shakespeare wrote the play "Macbeth" in 1606 and, again, it was a grimalkin cat that was specifically called out by name as being the "witch's cat."

Nostradamus had a grimalkin cat that was actually named "Grimalkin."

All throughout the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, it was the grimalkin that was believed to be the witch's familiar.
Nowhere in all of this does the black cat receive any mention.

Not only is it a stupid superstition, it is a superstition that is taken up by stupid people who don't even know what the real superstition is supposed to be!
 

tarasgirl06

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It's NOT the black cat which was associated with witches and the devil! It was the grimalkin!

Grimalkin - Wikipedia

It was a writer named William Baldwin who wrote a novel about "evil cats" in the year 1570. This was the first time that the "cat legend" appeared in print and it was the grimalkin cat that was specifically written about.

Shakespeare wrote the play "Macbeth" in 1606 and, again, it was a grimalkin cat that was specifically called out by name as being the "witch's cat."

Nostradamus had a grimalkin cat that was actually named "Grimalkin."

All throughout the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, it was the grimalkin that was believed to be the witch's familiar.
Nowhere in all of this does the black cat receive any mention.

Not only is it a stupid superstition, it is a superstition that is taken up by stupid people who don't even know what the real superstition is supposed to be!
Excellent share and TYSM for it, Caspers Human Caspers Human ! So in essence it's like believing in santa claus, easter bunny or any of the other stupid rubbish some people believe in. A fantasy, like a cartoon or something. Idiotic! Sadly, though, uncounted precious lives have been lost because of it. NO cat has ever been "evil". All are created by the same Creator Who created us and all other living beings, Who cares for us infinitely.
 

Caspers Human

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Not only is it the same as believing in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, it is like believing that the Easter Bunny puts presents under your Christmas Tree and Santa brings chocolate eggs!
 

tarasgirl06

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Not only is it the same as believing in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, it is like believing that the Easter Bunny puts presents under your Christmas Tree and Santa brings chocolate eggs!
Yeah. Those aren't my traditions so I looked them up and read about them. Saint Nicolas was a Turkish man, and Easter is derived from "euster" which is a european pagan fertility thing. That's why the rabbits and the eggs are symbolic of it. The Christians had to integrate their things into the pagan holy days to get the pagans to accept them more readily. So those days aren't really the days people were born or died. They just got used for that so everyone would go along with the takeover.
 

dustydiamond1

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I too have a gorgeous black cat! He is the sweetest of all my cats. Lovely disposition!

He was born in my home of the stray pregnant mama cat I took in a couple of years ago. She was a tabby, and had a black kitten, an orange kitten, a tuxedo kitten, and a look-alike tabby kitten. I kept them all! :)
:clap::clap2::hearthrob::redheartpump:
 

Sparkle50

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Many rescues and shelters do put a hold on black cat adoptions right around Halloween time to ensure the safety of the cats.
Why is that? Are black cats susceptible in some way on Halloween? I’ve never heard this.
 

Sarthur2

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Due to ridiculous superstitions that some people unfortunately hold, black cats in many communities are best kept indoors around Halloween. The feeling among some shelters is "why take a risk."

It's for the safety of the cats. I tend to agree.
 

mainecoonaddict

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All throughout the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, it was the grimalkin that was believed to be the witch's familiar.
Nowhere in all of this does the black cat receive any mention.

Not only is it a stupid superstition, it is a superstition that is taken up by stupid people who don't even know what the real superstition is supposed to be!
Wow, you really do learn something new every day! And all the absolutely gorgeous black cats in this thread. I love my Maines, but if I did get another cat (more like when I do!...) it might just be a black cat!

I have to say though, the page just says a grimalkin is a term for a cat. I wonder what those cats might have looked like, back then.

It's amazing how much of our life and safety has been influenced by people who have been dead for centuries. So sorry to hear about those poor cats. I hear that black dogs suffer a similar fate in being abused and unwanted.
 

denice

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I think the deal with black dogs isn't as common in the U.S. It is a common belief in some other countries though. I have occasionally heard about groups bringing black dogs in shelters in those countries to shelters here in the U.S. It isn't a sure thing that they will get a good home here but they at least have a chance which would not be the case in the countries that they come from.
 

Caspers Human

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I have to say though, the page just says a grimalkin is a term for a cat. I wonder what those cats might have looked like, back then.
Probably something like this...
a4985913898ae52c75d5afa09f862091--himalayan-cat-british-shorthair.jpg


...at least, this is what I always thought of when the term "grimalkin" is mentioned.

Yes, I know this is a Himalayan but the word "grimalkin" is an archaic term. Back in historical times, people wouldn't have necessarily differentiated cats by breed.

If you really want to know which black animal is believed to be possessed by the devil, it would be a black goat!
 
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denice

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Goats play a big part in all of the lore surrounding Satan and Satan worship. They are actually cute funny animals. They can get into mischief and can have a stubborn streak but I think they are adorable, especially the pygmy goats.
 

Kat0121

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Goats play a big part in all of the lore surrounding Satan and Satan worship. They are actually cute funny animals. They can get into mischief and can have a stubborn streak but I think they are adorable, especially the pygmy goats.
I love goats. There is a house not far from me with a large piece of property. They have goats and they have a pen near the road. People often stop to pet and feed them. I have been over there many times with a big bag of baby carrots. They love those. They are so gentle when they take food from people. They have a big white billy goat who always muscles his way to the front but he is very sweet too. He loves to be petted and have his head scratched. They have one female who loved my DH. He often stopped over there too to give them treats and she would lay her head on his arm and wait for pets.

There is a big tree in the pen with a lot of low branches and it's funny to see the goats climbing it. Goats are fantastic
 

tabbysia

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I think the idea is mainly based on the "Satanic panic" of the 1980s in the US. People become convinced, based on one book that was later proven to be a hoax, that there are a large number of Satan worshippers who sacrifice cats and do stuff to kids, etc. So it's mostly an urban legend. BUT, because people started believing that, some copycats actually started doing that kind of stuff. It's not a huge risk but it has happened.
I remember all of the panic about Satanists in the late 80's. (1988-89?) I believe it started with the Satanic-related abduction and murder of UT student Mark Kilroy across the border in Mexico, as well as the discovery of other bodies. There was a lot of talk about it on the news where I live in Texas, since he was from Texas--or at least attended school here. I'm not sure how much it was talked about in other parts of the country. I was about twelve years old and remember hearing something about body parts and boiled brains on the news. It was all my friends and I could talk about at school. It was reported in the small-town newspaper where I live that some animals had been killed in town, most likely "sacrificed" by teenagers trying to be Satan worshippers. There was even a rumor (which made it on to the local news--they were dispelling the rumor) that Satanists were following school buses in order to abduct and sacrifice blonde haired, blue-eyed children. I am actually not kidding! I happened to ride a school bus at the time and remember being relieved that I did not have blonde hair and blue eyes!
 

xdimples

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It's sad that this needs to be done. Black cats are THE BEST.. and the prettiest..and the smartest..and the most charming..

OK. Sophie... step away from the computer....

Who? ME? I wasn't doing nuthin. It was the dog. I SAW HER..

 

xdimples

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If that is not one of the cUTEST CATS I'VE EVER SEEN! But like, can I steal your cat? lol
 

mercer

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When I was picking up Sonny from the shelter, I was taking to someone there in the meantime about black cats (I love them so much and have owned one, and had been looking for another but found Sonny instead), and she told me a story about some kids in a neighborhood who would get them to make ritualistic sacrifices... and it just makes my skin crawl to think a defenseless animal is adopted, or is taken, into the trust of these people and turned into nothing, less than worth a life. Ugh. I hope they're doing okay this year.
 

arouetta

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When I looked up grimalkin, it mentioned the color of the cat was gray, not black. The picture is probably an accurate depiction of what people thought...especially those spooky eyes. I'd fully believe it was a shapeshifting faerie or whatever a grimalkin was supposed to actually be.

There clearly would be copycats in the 80s and early 90s, but I had always wondered if the anecdotal evidence of black cat sacrifices since then was actually equal opportunity. But maybe only the black ones were being mentioned because those fed the urban legend that devil worshippers were involved, where any cat would simply be just another case of animal abuse, nothing exotic to gossip about.

(And you all have no idea how many times I proofread my posts before clicking submit. I initially just type my thoughts, and apparently my thoughts are run-on sentences. Then, like the above paragraph, I have to break up a single sentence into two or more.)

Goats? Those things are pure evil. The little ones, I guess pygmy, were the bulk of the free range animals at the SPCA petting zoo, and they were aggressive as heck. They were constantly butting each other, and god help you when you operated the corn machines. The llamas and emus were polite but insistent. The geese were geese, swarming you. But the goats? You'd have to fight of three or four mouths right where the corn would come out, and I actually thought a couple of times I was going to be trampled. One time I had five of the suckers running at me when I got a handful of corn. Not walking, running. (And when I took a step back I ran right into the llama that had a head over my shoulder, lol.)

One time there was a woman wearing short cut-off denim shorts. A goat behind her decided to lunch on the hanging strands. She felt the tug and swung around, hand raised, clearly expecting some man was behind her being gross. She was clearly surprised to find it was actually a goat eating her shorts but simply calmly walked away from the goat.

And they were so greedy some were almost as wide as they were long. But the petting zoo pretty much took in sick animals, like the leopard with a lifelong thyroid problem, or animals that couldn't be rehabilitated, so it's possible part of the size was an underlying health problem.
 
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