Let's get one thing out of the way: the black cat crossing your path is probably just trying to get somewhere.

For centuries, though, humans have assigned a lot more meaning to it.

Black cats have been called unlucky, mysterious, ominous, even supernatural. They've become practically required casting for Halloween. But depending on where and when you look in history, that same black cat might have been considered a sign of protection, prosperity, or very good luck.

Turns out, the cat didn't change. We did.

So, where did the bad reputation come from?

Cats haven't always been associated with bad luck. In ancient Egypt, cats were deeply respected and connected with protection and the divine.

The darker reputation developed much later. In medieval Europe, cats became entangled with folklore surrounding witchcraft and the supernatural, and black cats were especially easy characters to cast in the story.

There wasn't anything inherently ominous about them. Humans simply became very good at projecting our fears onto an animal that already had a reputation for being independent, nocturnal, and a little difficult to read.

To be fair, anyone whose cat has stared silently at an empty corner of the room at 2 a.m. can understand how the rumors got started.

Somewhere else, your “bad luck” is good luck

Here's where the superstition starts to fall apart.

Ideas about black cats vary widely across cultures and time periods. In some traditions, they've been associated with prosperity, romance, protection, and good fortune.

Sailors and their families even developed traditions around cats as symbols of luck and protection.

Same cat. Completely different story.

Which tells us something important: the superstition was never really about the cat.

Underneath all that mythology is...a cat

Take away hundreds of years of folklore and you're left with something considerably less mysterious.

A cat.

One who may yell because dinner is four minutes late. Sit directly on the clothes you just washed. Find the one cardboard box in the house that's technically too small and decide it's perfect.

Black fur doesn't determine personality, affection, or how spectacularly inconvenient a chosen sleeping location will be.

It determines coat color.

That's it.

Maybe it's time for a new reputation

Black cats have spent centuries starring in stories humans wrote for them.

We think they deserve a different one.

Not an omen. Not a Halloween decoration. Not a superstition.

Just a cat waiting to be seen for exactly what they are.

And if one happens to cross your path?

We'd consider that pretty lucky.