The Black Cat

Over the last few weeks, my husband and I have had a new guest at our house: a stray black cat. When my husband first saw the cat in our part of the neighborhood she was being chased by one of our cats, Onyx. Onyx is an inside cat that loves exploring the woods outside our door. That day she was claiming her territory. Onyx is only allowed outside when the weather is nice though, so when the cold rolled in we stopped letting her out. A few weeks after we stopped, my husband and I saw the black cat sitting in the middle of the sidewalk next to our home. She immediately ran away when she saw us approaching, but she didn’t leave. The black cat hide beneath some stairs a few apartments away and stared at us with her big yellow eyes.

This happened a few times over the next week. Every time my husband or I saw her around our apartment we tried to get her to come closer to us. In the middle of that week, I saw her and just sat down where I was on the sidewalk. I was on my lunch break and only had thirty minutes before I had to drive back, but that didn’t matter. I sat there, my butt getting cold from the concrete, and watched as she crept closer through the bushes. She didn’t come up to me, but it was a start. When my husband did the same thing a few days later, she got close enough for him to touch her.

We agree that that was likely the first time the cat has let any human pet her. She became trusting of the two of us afterward. She was still skittish for a few weeks and is still getting used to other humans, but she became attached to us. She lives on our porch now and hardly leaves. We let her into our house when our own cats are locked away and pet her in turns. She’s started to crawl into our laps during these times, and I greet her every time I leave or enter the apartment now. This week she not only started to let us hold her but started asking for it.

She is entirely covered in black fur. When she peers through the blinds from the porch into our living room at night, the only thing you can see is her yellow eyes. At first, I wanted to call her Shadow. I have never seen a cat blend into the night so well as her. But we call her Nibbler instead because when she is happy she nibbles on our fingers. My husband is also a fan of the show Futurama which features a creature of the same name.

Nibbler entering our lives and adopting us has me thinking about the myths about black cats being bad luck. Being a witch, I have a different perspective on the creatures, and Nibbler only furthers those differences between the creature and the stories. So, instead, here are some good things associated with black cats.

I cannot continue without first mentioning the Norse goddess of love, war, and cats, Freyja. The lady with a cat-driven chariot. In some stories, the cats are giant black ones. If farmers fed them then Freyja would bless them with a good harvest. In the Norse culture, it was common to gift a kitten to a bride on her wedding day in honor of the goddess of love. I made a joke to my husband that Nibbler was Freyja’s six month wedding anniversary gift to us since we were unable to get a new cat at the time of our wedding. The tradition does seem to move on to England which specifies that giving a black cat to a woman on her wedding day is symbolic of a good marriage.

In Japan, black cats are considered lucky for single women and bring about many suitors for them. Across Europe black cats are good for sea voyages. Having the cat on board is believed to ensure a safe journey and return. Hopefully, Scotland is on the right path to believe that a black cat showing up on your doorstep is a sign of future prosperity. In France you would have good luck if they showed up and you took care of them.

Even my neighbor’s mother stated that a black cat showing up as Nibbler did is good luck. The event feels like a sign of something to me, but even if it’s not I am glad to have a third cat join us for some time.