Path: Supernews69!supernews.com!news.eecs.umich.edu!panix!howland.erols.net!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!cam-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!news-xfer.netaxs.com!netnews.upenn.edu!ts6-31.upenn.edu!user From: eballard@sas.upenn.edu (Eoghan Craig Ballard) Newsgroups: alt.lucky.w,alt.magick,alt.magick.folk,alt.pagan,alt.paranormal.spells.hexes.magic,alt.magick.tyagi,alt.pagan.magick,alt.religion.orisha Subject: Re: Black Cats, Lucky and Unlucky Date: Mon, 30 Jun 1997 22:59:06 -0500 Organization: University of Pennsylvania Lines: 21 Message-ID: References: <33B80A5E.68A4@luckymojo.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: ts6-31.upenn.edu Xref: Supernews69 alt.lucky.w:1651 alt.magick:106426 alt.magick.folk:852 alt.pagan:220480 alt.paranormal.spells.hexes.magic:3032 alt.magick.tyagi:13327 alt.pagan.magick:5219 alt.religion.orisha:572 In article <33B80A5E.68A4@luckymojo.com>, catherine yronwode wrote: > Black cats are considered very unlucky in the European and > European-American traditions. Among Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavian > people, it is said that one sets out on a journey and a black cat > crosses the road ahead, one's only safe course of action is to turn back > and return home. It should be noted that in most celtic traditions, at least among native celtic speaking communities of either Gaelic or British celtic language groups, the black cat has always been an auspicious rather than negative omen. It should also be noted that among these peoples, black is not the color of death as it is in most christian communities. Among the Celt, white stands for death (as it does among the Congo) and red is associated with divination. In early Irish epics the seer was known to say "Chim dearg, Chim dearg" (I see red, I see red) immediately prior to making visionary prophecies. -- Nzambia bubote wasa mukutuvanga!