Creative Tuesdays – Black Cat – A good omen or bad, or nothing?

Creative Tuesdays – Black Cat – A good omen or bad, or nothing

Today is Creative Tuesdays with Michael. Our prompt was BLACK CAT.

The was my first try. It was supposed to look scary or sad – not sure which.

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Here is the next one:

watercolour black cat Janis Cox

This  time I took longer, did more layers to make the dark. Reds, blues, yellows and indigo.

When the prompt from Creative Tuesdays came in, Black Cat. I thought oh no – Halloween. Black Cats, spooky ghosts, witches and goblins.

But I am not going to talk about Halloween. Instead I am going to look at superstitions. Black cats, broken mirrors and even dropped gloves can lead some people to say, Oh no – that’s a bad omen. Or sometimes oh yes that’s a good omen. Go figure that one.

How can something that doesn’t pertain to anything else
affect something else? That makes no sense.

We are taught in God’s Word not to believe in omens or witchcraft. Well at least we are not to follow such notions.

And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver (Acts 19:17-19, ESV).

And luck, what about that? We say “good luck” or “bad luck”. But from whose point of view? Sometimes things can be good for someone and bad for someone else. Even rain falling on a farmer’s field can be good sometimes and bad other times.

But we don’t need to say it was luck,
if we believe in the sovereign will of God who controls all things. (tweet this)

I don’t believe in luck. I believe we are here for a purpose and each day I learn more and more about what that is. I also grow closer to God as I struggle with understanding Him and His ways.

Today as I think of black cats, I know there is evil in this world – sometimes black cats are defined as bad omens because of the blackness – dark being evil. Evil is real. But a black cat isn’t.

We are NOT to fear anyway because we are protected by God.

The next time a black cat crosses your path, or you break a mirror, or you walk under a ladder – ask yourself does a superstition make sense or not? Then trust Jesus for everything.

Blessings,

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Janis is the author of the award winning children’s book, Tadeo Turtle, published by Word Alive Press. Available in Kindle Format, in bookstores, online and from her website. Curriculum available upon request. Janis also is a contributor to Hope Stream Radio. Join her on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

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18 comments

  1. I like these cat paintings, sad or not. Thank you for doing them. Yes, I thought the BLACK CAT would be seasonal without necessarily being halloween per se, unless on wanted it as such. As it is, I just like cats of all sorts, but especially slick black ones as I had one like that when very young. So soft.

    “How can something that doesn’t pertain to anything else affect something else? That makes no sense.”
    –You know, I doubt there is anyone out there that really thinks such things as black cats or ladders can bring bad luck. In the past, maybe people did? I don’t know. But as it is, I think that the cause and affect angle is just one way to look at it. One could easily see it in reverse–that black cats, for example, don’t cause anything but are a sign of something. No different than, say, the Star of Bethlehem in that sense. Of course, a star or light is not going to cause a virgin birth delivery but nevertheless it was still to be a sign.

    1. Hi Michael,
      I am not usually a cat person as I have suffered from cat allergies for many years. I seem to be tolerating them more and am able to take my grandson to a pet shelter to let him pet the cats.

      Yes I agree with signs for sure and I guess you could say a cat could be a sign. I feel God’s presence intensely when I see a deer or butterfly or rainbow. But you know I do know of people who were very suspicious and would consider such things as a broken mirror bad luck.

      Thanks for the encouragement. Just loving Creative Tuesdays.
      Blessings,
      Janis

  2. Beautiful paintings and thoughtful words. I believe animals are inherently good and loving, and not bad omens. As I lived in London England for six months for college once, and as I am part Italian-and in England and Italy black cats are good luck– I just cuddle them and personally believe them to be good omens, and symbols that we should love and not judge our fellow furry friends.

    1. Donna,
      Thank you so much. I don’t believe in omens but certainly can see all animals pointing to a loving Creator. And yes for sure we need to love all animals and humans – even those we don’t really “like”. A hard thing to do but can bring such peace and reconciliation in this world if we would live like that.
      Blessings to you,
      Janis

  3. Janis, what a wonderful twist. I’m glad you concentrated on omens/superstitions and trying it in beautifully with scripture. I love the colors that are interwoven in the second illustration. Beautifully executed. 🙂

    1. Thanks Tracy, I was hoping to see your version of Black Cat today. I am going to call my posts for Creative Tuesdays – Art & Scripture. Thank you for the kudos for the cat.
      Blessings,
      Janis

  4. Seems my first cat and your cats are cousins….HaHa. I do appreciate your devotion to our Lord and Savior and bring it into your art. I am involved in a Prayer Blog, and also so thoughts for Sunday from time to time. Thanks again for your friendship as a sister in the Lord.

    1. Wanda,
      I certainly think they are cousins. Thank you for your kind words of encouragement in my writing. I love doing the two – art and writing – together. What is the link for your prayer blog? I hope you link to my Sunday Linky now which will be called Word of God Speak.
      Blessings to you Sweet Sister,
      Janis

  5. black cat a bad omen? I don’t think so, I think it’s something people make up, cats are just cats, right?

    perhaps a little scary and a little more sad looking but nice entries for CT.

    hope you have a lovely day.

    1. Lissa,
      Yes – cats are just cats! I hoped that the second cat didn’t look sad but pensive – thinking over whether she is an omen or a cat. lol:)
      Blessings,
      Janis

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