Crossing your path
In much of Europe and North America a black cat crossing in front of you brings bad luck, especially if it walks from left to right.
Animals superstition
Black cat superstitions
Black cat crossing your path: bad luck if it crosses in front of you — in most of Europe and North America. First recorded: 1560s England, as an association with witchcraft. That makes it about 450 years old — the 34th oldest of the 45 superstitions we have dated.
- Earliest record
- 1560s England
- Written down in
- 1872 Charles Hardwick
Record: Charles Hardwick, Traditions, Superstitions and Folk-Lore (Manchester: A. Ireland, 1872).
When it actually starts
How old is this one
First recorded
1560s England, as an association with witchcraft
That makes it
about 450 years old
Rank by age
34th oldest of 45 dated here
Category
Animals
Medieval European fear of cats as witches' familiars, sharpened during the witch trials. The direction of crossing mattered because it echoed reading omens from the flight of birds, a much older Roman practice.
33 of the dated superstitions here were written down earlier and 11 later.
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Primary source
As it was written down in 1872
“It was afterwards affirmed that Agnes and her two hundred weird sisters ‘had baptised and drowned a black cat, thereby raising a dreadful storm,’ which had nearly proved fatal to a ship that carried the superstitious monarch.”
Charles Hardwick, Traditions, Superstitions and Folk-Lore (Manchester: A. Ireland, 1872) — read the original text.
Hardwick is retelling the North Berwick witch trials of 1590–91, as reported in the pamphlet Newes from Scotland (1591): the accused were said to have raised storms against the ship of James VI of Scotland.
The versions people follow
What exactly is believed
A black cat at the door
In Scotland a strange black cat arriving at the house signals prosperity; in Britain generally a black cat is a lucky gift for a bride.
Sailors' cats
Sailors kept black cats aboard for luck, and fishermen's wives kept them at home to bring husbands back safely.
Japan's maneki-neko
In Japan black cats ward off evil and are said to attract suitors for single women.
How the bad luck is traditionally undone
Folk remedies include turning around and walking the other way, taking twelve steps backwards, spitting over the left shoulder or waiting for someone else to cross the cat's path first.
Where it lives today
Shelters report that black cats are adopted more slowly than other cats, and some stop black cat adoptions around Halloween — the superstition's most tangible modern effect.
What people say
Bad luck if it crosses in front of you — in most of Europe and North America.What is going on
Some shelter studies find black cats wait longer for adoption, though the evidence is mixed; if real, it is the one consequence this superstition has.Where it applies. Reversed in Britain and Japan, where a black cat crossing is good luck. The same event carries opposite meanings depending on where you stand.
Other animals superstitions
Nearest in age
Black cat crossing your path is the 34th oldest of the 45 dated superstitions here. Of those, 3 date from 1900 or later and 14 predate the common era.
First-recorded dates are the earliest documented appearance in written sources, not the earliest possible origin — an unrecorded practice can be older. How the dating works and where it is uncertain →
Sources
Statements of fact on this page were checked against these sources in October 2026. How we choose and check sources: editorial policy.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Black Cat Superstitions: Origin, Meaning and When It Began.” Accessed October 27, 2026. https://astrohot.com/superstitions/black-cat/
For Wikipedia
{{cite web |title=Black Cat Superstitions: Origin, Meaning and When It Began |url=https://astrohot.com/superstitions/black-cat/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-27}}