When mice hunters are seen as demons

In ancient Egypt, cats were considered divine and were worshipped. 

Bastet, the Egyptian goddess of the home, domesticity, fertility and childbirth, is depicted as a woman with the head of a black cat.

Cats have been viewed positively in Celtic lore and in Japan as heralding good news. 

In Europe, black cats signified both good and evil; some are considered shapeshifting witches. These superstitions are fading, however. One myth states that if a black cat walks towards someone, it will bring good fortune, but if it walks away, it takes the good luck with it.

At sea, 18th-Century pirates said a black cat would bring bad luck if it walks towards someone, and good luck if it walks away.

It was also believed that if a black cat walks onto a ship and then walks off, the ship is doomed to sink on its next voyage.

Further, it was also said a woman who owns a black cat will have many suitors.

Most of Europe considers or considered the black cat bad luck, particularly if one walks in front of a person; it's believed to be an omen of misfortune and death. In Germany, some believe black cats crossing a person's path from right to left is a bad omen, but if it walks from left to right, the cat signifies favourable times.

DREADED IN AFRICA

In the modern world, cats (usually not black) are kept as pets in many houses because they hunt rodents and insects.

However, there is a very strong superstition in Africa associated with black and dark-coloured felines. They are considered signs of ill fortune and associated with the devil or evil, even considered demons themselves. 

At the Kenyan Coast, especially in Mombasa, Kwale, Kilifi and Lamu counties, residents are known to keep many cats, but black cats are always chased away.

Many black cats are strays without a home because residents say they, or their parts, are used for black magic or witchcraft. 

Strays are often beaten and chased away. If a brown cat and a black cat are both hungry, the brown cat gets fed, the black cat gets beaten and chased away.

Kwale's self-declared chairman of traditional doctors, Mwakusema Mwakweli, said black cats' parts are commonly used as tools of black magic by sorcerers.

"Yes, it's true. Witches like black cats and use them to bewitch people," he said.

Mwakweli said the witches, mostly night runners, take the form of cats and visit people's homes in the dead of the night with different dark motives.

He said some intend to frighten the residents, while others aim to cause harm. The witch doctor said the harm can be sickness, an accident, poverty or death.

It is widely believed that when someone is sick and a black cat is spotted near the sick bed or on the rooftop, bad news or death will follow.

Mwakweli said, however, the black cats are not only the animals used by sorcerers. Snakes, bats and dogs are also commonly used.

An animal should not be judged by its appearance, Mwakweli said.

“Not all black cats are evil, and we should not beat an animal because of its colour,” he said.

Mohammed Mwakuyala, a Kwale resident, said black cats are used to steal money using dark powers, commonly referred to as 'kutsorera' in the Mijikenda dialect.

He said the money disappears mysteriously after the black cat is spotted.

“You might be having Sh5,000 kept somewhere and later in the day, you will only find Sh3,000 and you have not bought anything or given anyone money,” Mwakuyala said.

For this reason, he said, residents do not keep black cats in their homes for fear of being called witch doctors or evil people.

“I have heard many people say so and so is an evil person because they have a huge black cat in their home,” he said.

However, the Kwale resident said he does not believe all black cats are evil.

“God created things differently. Therefore, we should not mistreat dark-skinned animals or any person who keeps such animals,” he said.

Japhet Wande, another Kwale resident, said he has heard superstitions about black cats, but he is yet to verify them. 

Wande said witchcraft needs to be stopped because it casts black cats in a bad light and can curse and hurt people. 

Another resident, Rehema Piru, from Kanana, affirmed that black cats are misused by witches.

She said many people are afraid of them all since they can't differentiate between the good and the bad black cats, though that's admittedly hard to do.

Prejudice has spread as far as China. The leader Deng Xiaoping (deceased) famously said, "Black cats, white cats — all cats are good cats as long as they catch mice."

Edited by V Graham