In the terminology of folklorists, bats are liminal; they dont fit into the normal order of things and are somehow apart or in-between. Indeed, the bat has strong family ties. To see five bats at once represents the Five Happinesses: Like the Taoist Immortals, bats live in caves and so they, too, are symbolic of longevity and immortality. redable-red reblogged this from musicismyreligions . In addition, natural fires in caves sometimes occur from spontaneous combustion of bat guano. Throughout the world, folklore is rich with tales speculating on how creatures as mysterious as bats came to be. The prescription is to wrap a bats heart in a silk handkerchief or red ribbon and keep it in a wallet or pocket, or tie it to the hand used for dealing cards. Gustave Dors illustrations for Dantes Inferno followed the tradition of portraying good spirits with the wings of birds and evil spirits with the wings of bats. If the bat has been flying into your life as an animal totem, this symbolizes great intuition and utilizing your sensitivities to explore the world around you. This is because they go away in the day, but the bats come out again at night and are "reborn". As you do this, you will find yourself learning to not only love your enemies but even the darkest parts of yourself. Some ancient allegories about the bat even made it to the Bible. In colonial North Carolina, eating roast bat was a recommended cure for children who ate dirt. Interestingly enough, bats dont appear traditionally to have been one of those transformations. "); But most accounts agree that it wasnt until Bram Stoker wrote his classic novel, Dracula, in 1897 that bats were linked with vampires for the first time. The fact that bats give birth to live young (known as viviparity) was often reported. "); Bats flying vertically upwards then dropping back to earth means that The Witches Hour Has Come. Writers interested in science were almost certainly drawn to bats because of what must have seemed a remarkably ambiguous taxonomy: mammals that looked and acted like birds. Online version at the Topos Text Project. In many cultures, they are seen as symbols of good luck, while in others they are seen as omens of bad news. Wakefulness at night or sleeping all day are well-known characteristics of bats. Bat Conservation International is a 501(c)(3) organization. 1, Suite 175 Austin, TX 78746, USA 512.327.9721 1.800.538.BATS. Much of this bat sacrificial symbolism likely derives from the common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus), a very small creature that feeds entirely on the blood of vertebrates. With Zeus, she had Persephone and with Poseidon, she had Despoina and Arion (a horse). Bats are misunderstood because of the folklore dealing with vampires. var year = today.getYear(); Bat serves as mentor of the night, as Big Fly does by day. Vampire myths existed long before Europeans or the rest of the Old World ever knew of the existence of bats that fed on blood. Bats are interesting animals and have been a part of human culture for a long time. And from the Ge in Brazil comes a tale of a tribe that moved through the night led by a bat who looked for light toward which to guide them. One of these fables also exists, with slight variation, among tribes in southern Nigeria, among Australian aboriginals, and ancient Romans. Bat Conservation International 500 N Capital of TXHwy. The Minyades (the three daughters of Minyas) also had a strong association with bats. 509. var date = new Date("December 25, " + year); A bat flying into a building means its going to rain. There is also long tradition associating bats directly with the devil and evil spirits. Various myths relate that bats in houses may bring bad luck, or portend that someone in the house will go insane, become blind, be missing the next day, that a letter with bad news will arrive, or that the people in the house will move. The true Slavic word for vampire, volkodlak, means a person in the guise of a wolf.. Since antiquity, people have perceived many of the physical features of bats as strangely similar to those of humans. Kill the bat before it escapes, however, and everyone will be alright. The lot fell to Leucippe and she vowed to offer as a sacrifice to the god her own son Hippasus whom she tore to pieces with the help of her sisters. From a magical standpoint, bats are associated with workings related to death and dying, communication, and the spirit world. Similarly, the Mayas of Central America had a bat God, Cama-Zotz (or death bat), depicted as a man with bat wings and a bat-like leaf nose, who lived in a region of darkness through which a dying man had to pass on his way to the netherworld. To them, a group of five bats represented the five causes of happiness: wealth, health, long life, virtue and a natural death. In Japanese, the word for bat is Koumori. There are several possible explanations as to why bats were given this name. Vampires were described in legend as dead humans with the ability to rise from the grave, always at night. Allen relates that Satan wished to create a man, and after fashioning a human form from mud, could not give it life. Bram Stokers novel Dracula was published in London in 1897. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library, Online version at the Perseus Digital Library, Greek text available from the same website. I think it's time to go shopping maybe even buy some really cool stuff at my online shops!! A contemporary local story comes from Indians in California who relate that a bat flying in a house foretells a good hunting season. This belief is reflected in a German word for bat (speckmaus, speck being the German word for bacon), and also in period illustrations and nursery rhymes. Zeus was fed honey by sacred bees as an infant and gained the title Melissaios, or "bee-man." Dionysus was the creator of beekeeping. Stoker may have been influenced by the vampire bats of Latin America, since their existence was well known in Europe by that time. As with most of our hardest challenges, working with the demanding bat will reap some of the most profound rewards you could ever dream of. And now we must continue our efforts to replace that harmful concept with a new, more accurate and positive image of these gentle and invaluable creatures. What are they? And finally, miners working in the mountains of Nevada insist that a mine will be safe if a bat remains in the mineshaft after blasting. One colony of around 500 Indian flying foxes roosts in a huge banyan tree in the small village of Puliangulam, about 40 miles east of Madurai in southern India. Ancient Greek Bat Symbolism . The bat manages to escape with its life by claiming first to be a mouse, then a bird. When capturing its prey, it grabs the neck, sometimes killing with a single, powerful bite. Other cultures also view bats in a human dwelling as a good omen. ), the ambiguous nature of bats is transformed into duplicity in their character. Vampire bats have never been found in Europe, and it is not clear when news of the New World vampires reached Europe. Although they may bite various parts of the body of their prey, they normally feed from the neck and shoulder regions of large mammals, a behavior that may have fostered tales of decapitating bats. The Greek word aphros means "foam," and Hesiod relates in his Theogony that Aphrodite was born from the white foam produced by the severed genitals of Uranus (Heaven), after his son Cronus threw them into the sea. Many other beliefs suggest that bats have the power to make people invisible. American Indian legends and the fables of Aesop were more than just stories recited around the campfire or bathhouse: they were teaching devices. Bats hanging upside down in a roost likely looked somewhat similar. Fathers of the Church, including Eusebius of Caesarea, Ambrose of Milan, Jerome and others of the fourth and fifth centuries A.D., took up this view, regarding bats as symbols of the blindness of heresy or the darkness of evil. The names of the Minyades were Alcathoe (or Alcithoe), Leucippe and Arsippe (although instead of "Arsippe", Claudius Aelianus calls the latter "Aristippa", and Plutarch "Arsino"; Ovid uses "Leuconoe" instead of "Leucippe"). Repeatedly, the bats feathers were stolen by small birds, and repeatedly the bat returned to Jonayaiyin to ask for more. God creates a bird; the devil attempts to imitate Gods creation, but ends up with a bat. Maahes (also spelled in Greek: Mihos, Miysis, Mios, Maihes, or Mahes) (Greek: , , , , or ) was an ancient Egyptian lion-headed god of war, whose name means "he who is true beside her". Each night they flew out from their cavernous home like a thousand bats to spread dreams around the world. Apaches tell a different tale about bats: Jonayaiyin, a hero who battled the enemies of mankind, killed several eagles and gave their feathers to a bat who had helped him escape from the eagles nest. Other European and North American myths give a positive interpretation of bats in houses, but as is often the case in folklore, the death of the batsometimes in a rather gruesome ritualis usually required to interpret the bat as a good sign. When a team of researchers from Madurai Kamaraj University visited Puliangulam to talk to the local people about their beliefs concerning the flying foxes, an 80-year-old woman reported that the colony had occupied the tree even before her birth. Also, we should appreciate that in earlier times, houses were much more than good investments and income tax breaks; they were a persons safe refuge from many very real dangers. The nocturnal nature of the bat has given it some negative associations. It is symbolic of the night devouring the day. But it was not always so. Myths from Slovinian, German, and Jewish immigrants relate that bats in an attic foretell a death in the house. Once the poor animal is dead, its legs must be buried at least a foot deep in the back yard. What does it mean when you see a bat? They have wings and fly like birds (actually, in many ways better than birds). Tzinacan was a Mayan and Aztec bat god, with the power to heal any sickness and to cut the silver cord of life tying the physical body to the soul. Flying bats might also mean good weather. Quickly the sisters hide in the smoke-filled house and in various places shun the flames and light. Folklores vampires bite at the chest, while fictions vampires go for the neck. An African-American folk legend relates that the devil may appear as a bat. Who can forget the scene from the 1931 film, Dracula, in which the elegant count, immortalized by Hungarian actor, Bela Lugosi, stands before an open balcony door, spreads his dark cape and silently takes flight, transformed into a small bat flying against the full moon? In many cultures, bats are associated with good fortune! Bees and the honey they produce have many symbolic meanings and are featured in stories of the Greek and Roman gods. With the plethora of myths handed down from so many cultures, perhaps we can come to understand some of the often irrational fears and behavior people exhibit when confronted with the presence of a small, harmless (and likely terrified) bat in their home. Bat- Death and Rebirth, Guardian of the Night, Cleaner. In other stories, bats are husbands in folktales, although often the wife does not realize at first that she is married to a bat. (Birth of Venus, by Sandro Botticelli). The worship of Bat dates to earliest times and may have its origins in Late Paleolithic cattle herding. By killing the bat, one might be able to minimize its evil effects or even gain grace with good forces. Our tax ID number is 74-2553144. In either case, the fact remains that the vampires of folklore have nothing to do with bats. In Trinidad there is an old belief that if you drank the blood of a bat, you would become invisible. If the bat has appeared as your totem, this means that you are on a journey of awakening to your psychic gifts. The word vampire came from the Slavic vampir, meaning blood-drunkenness, but the mythic creatures have been called by many names. This made the bat a powerful symbol for Native American shamans and medicine people. In an attempt to explain the cause of epidemics, which often decimated entire villages, vampires frequently were blamed. Bats in a church during a wedding ceremony is a bad omen. The extensive folk association of bats with hair can likewise explain their use as a depilatory or for preventing baldness. Bat magic can also be an antidote to sleepiness. Chinese art is rich with images of bats. Throughout history, bats have often been considered the familiars or even the alter egos of witches. But they paid no heed to him. Using its new teeth to hold the ball, the bat helps the animals to win the game. These classical authors might well have been dealing with the widespread European species now known as the brown big-eared bat (Plecotus auritus). But be warned, the bat asks a lot of us, like: All of these tasks can be harrowing experiences. "); Furthermore, once we are tested to satisfaction, the devotion of the bat will never fade. Bees were associated with the underworld and honey was a beloved food of the gods. The Imbolc season is associated with a number of deities, including Venus. In Roman antiquity, Pliny maintained that a man could stimulate a womans desire by placing a clot of bat blood under her pillow. Some folklore portrays female bats as alluring to men. From the womb-like caves it emerges every evening at dusk. The seeds were planted for much of the intense fear people today have toward all bats and have been exploited ever since. At the time when the worship of Dionysus was introduced into Boeotia, and while the other women and maidens were reveling and ranging over the mountains in Bacchic joy, these sisters alone remained at home, devoting themselves to their usual occupations, and thus profaning the days sacred to the god. One tale tells of a man summoned by bats in a tree when he was returning from an evening hunt. They never disturb the bats and do not permit others to do so even when only a glimpse is wanted. As flying creatures, bats signify the sky, but they have many qualifications for Underworld symbolism as well. Bats communal behavior was noted, especially by Basil of Caesarea (fourth century A.D.). For fans of horror movies, the bat has become an animal to be feared. Once bats have emerged from their cave, and they are experiencing the outside world, they are highly attuned to their surroundings. The Mayans saw them as symbols of rebirth. Greetings as I searched for the symbolism of the Bat, because it makes up the Family Crest of I Name, the Cockatrice, a mythical creature made up of the Rooster, the Crocodile, and the wings of the Bat. The word vampire is almost certainly of Slavic origin, probably from the Old Slavic word o,pyr, meaning spectre. It became vampir when it moved into Western European languages, and returned to Slavic in that form. They frequent rafters, rather than woods, and, hating the light, they fly at night, and derive their name, vespertiliones, from vesper, the evening.. A world without bats would look very different than the one you know and not for the better. For the ancients, human sacrifice, in which the bat participated symbolically, nourished the sun and the gods of nature. 620 B.C. But redemption is sometimes possible once a bat enters your home. During this time eating food between sunrise and sunset is forbidden. else if (days == -1) In Oklahoma carrying the right eye of a bat pierced with a brass pin will have the same effect, while in Brazil a person carrying the hearts of a bat, a frog, and a black hen will become invisible. Until we provoked the animals hostility because of our aggressiveness and disregard for their rights, humans and all creatures lived together in harmony, mutual respect, and helpfulness. Regardless, it is certain that people back in the day did not have a poor image of bats. Their ambiguous taxonomy was unsettling.The Bible makes a few references that seem to list bats as impure, and Isaiah 2:20 states (English Standard Version): In that day mankind will cast away their idols of silver and their idols of gold, which they made for themselves to worship, to the moles and to the bats. This passage likely refers to Babylonian idols in the shape of bats. (Weve heard about cannibals eating the heart of a valiant but vanquished foe to obtain the foes courage.) Because mountains obscured the western sky, Jesus could not tell when the sun sank below the horizon. In Swedish their actually called fladdermus not flutter mouse , Your email address will not be published. Such lore is encountered today in the common expression like a bat out of hell (which even made it into contemporary music as a title by rock musician Meatloaf). Has left the brain that wont believe. Many Greek gods are associated with animals, and while Hephaestus is no exception, his link to animals is less prominent. Hollywood took over in 1931, with the movie Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi. Bats have a special way of seeing, and they dont use their regular eyes to see, but rather they use a built in sensor, a type of radar called echolocation, that guides them during flight at night time. To describe the awesome nocturnal atmosphere of the underworld, the author compares the souls of the dead gathering together to bats flying in a dark cave. At thisnot surprisinglyDionysus was angered and instead of a girl became a bull, then a lion, then a leopard. Goth, a spectral bat and descendant of Cama Zotz is the primary antagonist of Kenneth Oppel 's Silverwing series. Another bat, whose habits also may have contributed to such legends, is the false vampire (Vampyrum spectrum). The bat will never accept half-hearted or lukewarm attempts at self-improvement. The Chinese believe that bats are a symbol of long life and happiness. Bat, the sacred messenger of the spirit of the night, guards the sand painting at the opening in its border. If you keep in mind that bats were viewed as evil spirits, or even the devil, it is not difficult to understand why folklore about them appearing in ones own home focuses largely on death, illness, and misfortune. 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