Tiny Tuesday: Black Cat

My Editor got this black cat (only about 2cm tall) from a Christmas cracker when she was about 4 years old. Let’s see now…that was how many years ago…? – better not say! Anyway she’s treasured it ever since.
 
Apparently it used to have shiny eyes but these kept falling out and in spite of being glued back in a few times they were eventually lost. Poor thing.
 
Blipping it prompted me to look up the folklore surrounding black cats: seemingly this varies from culture to culture. There’s a lot about it in Wikipedia here. To summarise, in western history black cats have generally been regarded as evil omens, in particular being in league with witches – and in most of Europe if a black cat crosses your path you’d better watch out! The Pilgrims arriving in the US apparently viewed black cats as being associated with sorcery and demons and would punish anyone caught with one.
 
The Scots, however, believe that a black cat’s arrival in the home signifies prosperity, and in the rest of Britain and in Japan they’re regarded as a symbol of good luck, and a black cat crossing your path is a good omen. Sailors regarded a black cat as bringing luck to a ship, and fishermen's wives liked to own one as they reckoned they would be able to use their influence to protect their husbands at sea. So you can take your choice!
 
(Oh, and it is said in Britain that a lady who owns a black cat will have many suitors…maybe that’s why my Editor kept hers…? I'd better be nice to her!)
 
Many thanks again to JDO for hosting Tiny Tuesday this month.