Throughout the world, folklore is rich with tales speculating on how creatures as mysterious as bats came to be. ): A bat falls to the ground and is caught twice by a weasel, predator of both mice and birds. if (navigator.appName == "Netscape") A recent story comes from a woman in Illinois who related that if a bat enters a house that has a small baby inside, the child will cut teeth better if the bat is killed and its carcass is kept overnight in the house. A Toba story from the Gran Chaco region of northern Argentina tells of the leader of the very first peoplea hero bat or bat-man who taught people all they needed to know as human beings. For Arawak Indians in northern Guiana, Bat Mountain is the home of killer bats, and there also is a killer bat in folklore from Venezuela. Such lore also explains the disappearance of bats during the day, since when humans awake, their souls return home to their bodies. The bat is said to swallow the light because it wakes at dusk, the time between day and night. The wool of bat in the brew of Macbeths three witches is a prominent example of the association, as is Calibans curse on Prospero in The Tempest: All the charms of Sycorax, Folklores vampires bite at the chest, while fictions vampires go for the neck. An even earlier example of Western tradition associating bats with souls of the damned is provided by Homer when Hermes conducts squeaking, bat-like souls to Hades (The Odyssey, XXIV, 5-10). kiungsleeps liked this . They live only in Latin America and feed primarily on birds (two of the vampire species) or mammals, especially livestock. According to the villagers, the bats seek protection from a God named Muni who dwells around the tree. The Egyptians called the god the Benu bird and portrayed it as a long-legged, wading heron in the sun temple at Heliopolis. The Waning Moon, represented by Hecate (the Crone), also known as Trivia. The physical earth and sky, or mind (spirit), functions together to produce new life. If this animal totem has appeared to you in your dreams or in waking life perhaps it is a sign that it is time for you to go within. 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. Kill the bat before it escapes, however, and everyone will be alright. The people of ancient cultures venerated creatures who, to them, symbolized anomaly and transformation. This is spelled out in one of the most beautiful accounts of bats in Latin literature, that of Ovids Metamorphoses, composed between the years 2 and 8 A.D. The most striking example of this medieval attitude is probably found in Dantes Divine Comedy, where the Devil himself, emperor of the kingdom dolorous, is depicted as a gigantic bat with three faces. Greece and Pliny the Elder of first-century A.D. Rome, provided rather detailed descriptions of bats. This was primarily due to her similarity in ruling over certain aspects of the world. A woman from California stated that if a pregnant woman sees a bat, her child will die. 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. The apparent liminality of bats is also reflected in a legend from the Kanarese of India in which bats were originally a type of unhappy bird. In South America among an ancient Mayan cult of the Quiche, located in the jungles of what is now Guatemala, Camazotz was a minor deity associated with bats. With them originated the belief that the vampire entity could leave its body at will and travel about as an animal or even as flame or smoke. The Minyades (Greek: . Typically, the devil is after souls, and this accounts for the frequent association of a bats appearance in a building with death. Some bat caves in the East have remained unchanged for thousands of years; the bats that live there are revered as sacred animals. The lore states that they will gnaw on hams and slabs of bacon, which in former times were hung to cure in chimneys and well-ventilated roomsplaces where bats were often discovered roosting. The Oneiroi lived in Erebos, the land of eternal darkness that lay beyond the rising sun. 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. This led to the belief that Pagans might become bats when they die, and then they might search for a means of rebirth or the blood of life. Stoker seems to have been the first to depict a vampire as taking the appearance of a bat. Other bat folk medicines are said to be remedies for snakebite, asthma, tumors, sciatica, fevers, a painless childbirth, or to promote lactation. Folklore from the Ge tribe in Brazil tells of Indians who had wings and bat noses, lived in a big cave near a river, and went out only at night. For fans of horror movies, the bat has become an animal to be feared. But while the live flying foxes must be protected at all costs, freshly dead bats found on the ground are taken for food, but only after prayers are offered to Muni. Greek Achlys, a primordial goddess of the clouding of eyes after death, the eternal night, and poison Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, and wild animals, who was commonly associated with the moon Astraeus, Titan god of the dusk, stars, planets, and the art of Astronomy and Astrology The bat is reckoned among the birds in the list of unclean animals, and to cast idols to the moles and to the bats means to carry them into dark caverns or desolate places to which these animals resort (Isaiah 2:20), i.e., to consign them to desolation or ruin. With Zeus, she had Persephone and with Poseidon, she had Despoina and Arion (a horse). With little historic or folkloric basis for a fear of bats, this fictional link with vampires may well be a key source of the still-frequent revulsion for these gentle mammals. In Greek, the word for bat is nykteris, which is related to "night," while in Latin, it is vespertilio, derived from "twilight." This is spelled out in one of the most beautiful accounts of bats in Latin literature, that of Ovid's Metamorphoses, composed between the years 2 and 8 A.D. Many of these myths have obvious roots in the real features of bats. They give Tostig top billing, cut out King Harald Sigurdsson's first name and even misspell his epithet. Mentors are ever present, although sometimes invisible. The natural characteristics of bats provide a rich foundation for symbolism, making them creatures of life and death, fecundity and destruction. Camazotz - Mayan God Facts. year="19" + year; Kill the bat before it escapes, however, and everyone will be alright. As bats fly squealing in the hollow of some great cave, when one of them has fallen out of the cluster in which they hang, even so did the ghosts whine and squeal as Mercury the healer of sorrow led them down into the dark abode of death.. For this reason, bats were revered for their special vision, and medicine people often invoked bat energy if they wanted to see clearer into a situation. Bats were also very popular in Japanese culture. The fact that bats give birth to live young (known as viviparity) was often reported. To most people in India, especially those in rural areas, bats are not attractive. Indeed, if the bat senses that you are slacking in your psychic/spiritual training it will likely move on to someone else who is more willing to learn the lessons the bat has to offer. Peaches were first cultivated in China some 5,000 years ago, but their wild ancestors relied on bats to disperse their seeds. With the bat by your side, you can learn to face your deepest fears and to accept yourself fully. Flying bats might also mean good weather. In China, the ideogram for good luck, fu sounds the same as the word for bat and so the animal is a lucky charm. The origin of bats is prominent in the folklore of several North American Indian tribes. Additionally, you are quite perceptive on a psychic level, and are prone to have prophetic dreams. 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). Decapitating bat demons appear in various myths in the Amazon region, and, to the south, in the Gran Chaco of northern Argentina. In New Mexico lore, the death will occur within eight days, while myths from the midwestern United States state that the death will occur either in a month, or within six months. While European and North American folklore about bats in buildings generally views bats as portents of misfortune or evil, some benign lore also exists perceiving them as good omens. One of the most common traditional beliefs about bats in houses, repeated throughout Europe and by immigrants in North America, is that bats are extremely fond of fat. 204. 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. Each night they flew out from their cavernous home like a thousand bats to spread dreams around the world. In Western culture, however, legends, folktales, books and movies have mostly described villainous, hateful creatures. Quickly the sisters hide in the smoke-filled house and in various places shun the flames and light. Bldg. else if (days == 0) Hollywood took over in 1931, with the movie Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi. Bat- Death and Rebirth, Guardian of the Night, Cleaner. The stars, moon, and constellations are shown on the body of Father Sky, the zig-zags crossing his shoulders, arms, and legs forming the Milky Way. That view has been challenged in recent years, however, because of literary sources such as those cited here and, of course, the positive images of bats in China. The Imbolc season is associated with a number of deities, including Venus. Bats flying vertically upwards then dropping back to earth means that The Witches Hour Has Come. The word vampire came from the Slavic vampir, meaning blood-drunkenness, but the mythic creatures have been called by many names. What are they? Heres an abbreviated list of the standard words for bat in various European languages. Birds and Creation Myths from several regions associate birds with the creation of the world. If you work with the bat as your totem, you will be put to the test, because it is demands only 100% commitment to spiritual growth. This tracker uses flash. While of less consequence than death, woe be it to the bridal couple who has the misfortune to marry in a church with bats in the belfry. In a Creek Indian variation of this tale, the bat first asks to play with the birds but is rejected by them and accepted by the animals team. In 1332, Lady Jacaume of Bayonne in France was publicly burned because crowds of bats were seen about her house and garden. Frustrated, Jonayaiyin eventually told the bat You cannot take care of your feathers, so you shall never have any. Very well, said the bat, I deserve to lose them, for I could never take care of those feathers.. Stoker created his Dracula as a vampire, thus giving rise to the vampire of fiction (with so little in common with those of folklore). One of several creation stories in ancient Egypt said that when land rose out of the primeval waters of chaos, the first deity to appear was a bird perching on that land. As Suns day and night messengers, they are identified with Talking God, one of the foremost deities. 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. Thereafter, humans and animals may have lived different lives; but like people, the animals still had tribes, councils, and ethics, and they played ball games. For the traditional Navajo Indian in the deserts of the American Southwest, the bat is an intermediary to the divine, bridging the supernatural distance between men and gods. The nocturnal habits of bats have no doubt contributed to the many myths that bats are creatures of another, unearthly world. Allen reports testimony on the validity of this belief from an aged Finn who related an example where, upon awakening, a man could remember the places he had visited as a bat the night before. As creatures of the night, bats had long been associated with witchcraft and demons in European traditions, both in fable and art. A modern variation of the myth that bats arose from rodents comes from an Ohio woman of Polish ancestry who attested that the bat was from a mouse that had eaten blessed Easter food. (In Polish tradition, a representative food from the Easter dinner is taken to church to be blessed.). Medicinal preparations using bats are legion and have been recommended for many other maladies. Online version at the Topos Text Project. #Greek gods #Greek mythology #Mythology #ancient greece #Greek goddesses #gods #goddesses; 8 notes, 7 years ago. Bats are associated, in many cultures, with death and dying, which makes them a perfect representative of Samhain, the time when the veil is thin. As they left Erebos, each Oneiros passed through one of two gates. 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. But not all myths bring to mind frightening acts; some ascribe wondrous magical properties to bats and associate good luck with them. There is the page Spirit of Truth, you will find the wisdom that I share Bless. This made the bat a powerful symbol for Native American shamans and medicine people. 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. I would like to share I website with you. 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? Greeks and Romans often referred to people who were active at night as "bats." Apparently many of these people had adopted nocturnal behavior to avoid those to whom they owed money. Bats fly joyously across fabrics and tapestries, jewelry and porcelain, and are carved into jade and ivory, and adorn the columns and facades of palaces and the thrones of emperors. Zeus was fed honey by sacred bees as an infant and gained the title Melissaios, or "bee-man." Dionysus was the creator of beekeeping. During the Greco-Roman Age of Antiquity, the desire of the soul to be freed from earthly chains was expressed by the metaphor of winged animals: birds, butterflies and sometimes bats. else if (days < -1) Bats in Myth and Legend 945ontwerp / Getty Images In many cultures, bats are associated with good fortune! She presided over grain and fields, and was also the goddess of fertility and managed the cycle of Life and Death. The Yoruban god Oko is often associated with bees, due to them fertilizing plants. The West seems to have forged its own concept of evil bats. A world without bats would look very different than the one you know and not for the better. In medieval Europe, artists typically represented devils with bat-like wings and pointed ears. At thisnot surprisinglyDionysus was angered and instead of a girl became a bull, then a lion, then a leopard. In all directions, sky and earth are fused as one on the horizon. The bat is your companion on your spiritual journey and will guide you to deep places where you can begin to see things not as good and bad, but just as they are. In more modern times, Texas folklore advocates drinking bat blood to cure rheumatism and consumption, and asserts that rubbing warts with a bats left eye will remove them. A contemporary local story comes from Indians in California who relate that a bat flying in a house foretells a good hunting season. Some ancient allegories about the bat even made it to the Bible. Although none are blind (except by injury or congenital defect) and most have good vision, blind as a bat is still a commonly heard phrase, and many people believe it. And once you have reached this state, you will find that your devotion to your spiritual path with strengthen and journeying within will become easier and easier. One common folk belief is that bats are human souls that have left the body. Traditional Navajo folklore places the origin of bats in the earliest world, when all was dark: twelve insects and the bat revolved in darkness. 620 B.C. By killing the bat, one might be able to minimize its evil effects or even gain grace with good forces. Camazotz features in the Mesoamerican mythological text Popol Vuh, decapitating Hunahpu of the Maya Hero Twins. God punished the bat for helping Satan by taking away its wings (presumably its feathers), making its tail naked, and fashioning its feet like those of Satan. The life-giving energy of the sun radiates from the bosom of Mother Earth, bringing fertility to her womb, from where the seed of all living things springs. He was seen as the son of the Creator god Ptah, as well as the feline goddess (Bast in Lower Egypt or Sekhmet in Upper Egypt) whose nature he shared. The rat now tries to retaliate by climbing tees and eating the flying foxes young, and this is why flying foxes carry their pups with them. Some American Ozark pioneers had another variation of this belief: they carried the dried, powdered hearts of bats to protect them from being shot and to keep wounded men from bleeding to death. Bats in buildings have also been seen as omens of lesser evils than death. Both bats and tobacco are associated with shamans (native priests). Throughout history, bats have often been considered the familiars or even the alter egos of witches. The famous art historian Jurgis Baltrusaitis of Lithuania argued that the iconography of demon bats was transplanted into Western culture from East Asia. This apparent ambiguity in the nature of bats is seen in many folktales about how they came to be in the first place and how they acquired their various features. Some folklore portrays female bats as alluring to men. Seasonally, bats are tied to Halloween and this is because when the fall seasons bonfires were lit, it attracted thousands of insects which in turn attracted the bats for a feeding frenzy. Often the spirit of the bat would be invoked when special energy was needed, like night-sight which is the ability to see through illusion or ambiguity and dive straight to the truth of matters. Before echolocation was recognized and understood, the bats ability to find its way about was a source of great intrigue, adding to the mystique of the animal. It will eternally support us on our spiritual path ever faithful and forever loving us on our journey to maintain our highest potential. 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