Black Cat Crossing Your Path

If a black cat crosses your path, your work will be unsuccessful. You should stop, wait for someone else to cross first, or take a different route entirely. Some people will literally turn around and go home.

This belief likely came to India through Persian and European traders. In medieval Europe, black cats were associated with witches and the devil. The superstition merged with existing Indian beliefs about omens and traveled along trade routes.

In the pre-electricity era, a dark-colored animal suddenly crossing a dimly lit road at night could startle horses and bullocks pulling carts, causing accidents. The "bad luck" was really just "you might crash." For pedestrians, a sudden dark shape darting across your path in the dark could cause you to trip and fall.

People in cars on well-lit highways still stop when a black cat crosses. Uber drivers have been known to take detours. Meanwhile, black cats are the least adopted cats in shelters worldwide — partly because of this superstition. The irony: the cats are getting the bad luck, not you.