Bats in the house mean a death in the house or is a sign that the occupants will soon be leaving. Ammit (from Egyptian Mythology) Ominously translating to devourer or soul eater, the Ammit (also known as Ammut) was an underworld-dwelling ancient Egyptian goddess/demon who personified divine retribution. Public domain. The Moche people in Peru were aware of the connection between bats and plants. Samoan folklore tells of a similar origin for bats. Similarly, fishermen in the Philippines consider mangrove roosting flying foxes to be guardians of their fishing grounds and to increase fish and shellfish catch [27]. An idea that reflected their ability to fly around so quickly in the dark without hitting anything. and Folkrealm Studies. It is at this time when the veil between this world and the otherworld was believed to thin and a state of liminality existed. In the Bible, the bat is seen to be unclean [8], while its nocturnal activities ally it to malevolent spirits that roam the land when darkness has fallen. The bat must then hide during the day to avoid creditors. Nandi Bear. Bat Conservation International 500 N Capital of TXHwy. However, the association of bats with evil still persists in some parts of the world. Although vampire bats have been known to attack humans and large animals it is usually not fatal, though it has been known to transmit rabies. The felling of roosting trees was mentioned as bat death reason by 29% and hunting by 18%. Bats use a form of echolocation to navigate in the dark and to find their prey. When Oyot went home his wife had to go out on an errand. Around 62% of the Asia-Pacific people had only positive cultural values of bats, 8% had only neutral values, while 10% had only negative values [27]. The bat serves as mentor of the night and is identified with Talking God, one of the foremost deities. His name means literally One Monkey, which is more than fitting as he turned into one. Sometimes bats are husbands as in a Mataco lore from Argentina. 15 Interesting Myths And Legends In African Mythology 1. What are they? 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. Out of over 13,000 species, there are only three that feed on blood. Liminality aside, many of these myths have obvious roots in the real features of bats. It remains to be seen, however, if this could halt or even reverse the decline of the North American bats [64]. UNITED KINGDOM. Here, using documented narratives, surveys, popular literature, and cinema, we will explore the various myths, legends, and attitudes to bats from around the world. Perhaps now youd like to learn a bit about the bat skeleton. Ancient Celtic Cauldrons: The Magical, the Mythical, the Real, Top 5 Trees in Celtic Mythology, Legend and Folklore, Celtic Warrior Women: Queen Boudica of the Iceni, Animism and the Living World of the Ancient Celts, Mixing Animals, Birds, Humans and Gods in Celtic Mythology, Unicorn Lore: Interpreting the Lady and the Unicorn Tapestries, The Legendary Puss in Boots and the Marquis of Carabas, Top Five Mythical Birds in Legend and Folklore, Aesops Fables; a new translation by Aesop, BATS Magazine Article: Folklore and the Origin of Bats, Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria, West Africa by Elphinstone Dayrell. American Indian legends and the fables of Aesop were more than just stories recited around the campfire or bathhouse: they were teaching devices. By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. For example, a bat entering a household was a forewarning of a death in the house. Samoans said that flying foxes were cheeky and courageous, making it a popular tattoo motif [48]. This Order name means hand-wing as the bats can hold food between their forearms. He has studied bats for many years and is author of the entry on bats in The Encyclopedia of American Folklore and Superstition. WebIn the Popol Vuh, Camazotz are the bat-like spirits encountered by the Maya Hero Twins Hunahpu and Xbalanque during their trials in the underworld of Xibalba. A bat was once known as a flittermouse or fluttermouse, which translates to flying mouse. This phrase is derived from the German word for a bat, Fledermaus. The English term bat is taken from the Old English word bakke, which means to flutter.. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode. It is imperative to obtain more current ethnobiological data to further our understanding of contemporary attitudes and relationships with batsand to document other cultural traditions not covered in this review. Bats are largely considered to be tricksters in African folklore and mythology. Test your knowledge with the "Myth or Fact" image sliders below. People often perceive bats as anomalous or ambiguous creatures, different from more normal animals. These animals are nocturnal creatures that sleep during the day and come out at night to hunt for food. These birds went to temples and prayed to be turned into humans. Many mythological stories from different cultures have been passed down throughout the years about bats. But it became obvious that the public attitude toward bats has still not been investigated extensively enough throughout the world, namely in contemporary Africa, America, Australia, and Europe. These gods and goddesses are some of the more well-known in Africa yet some of the lesser known by people of the the rest of the world. The weasel replied, No, I never let mice go! The bat said, Well, look closely at me. Contact our London head office or media team here. In 2021, a bat won New Zealands Bird of the Year competition name of which in Mori language is Te Manu Rongonui o te Tau, and the word Manu means flying creatures, including bats. Muslims and Seventh Day Adventists did not consume bat meat. One clan of the Cakchiquel Maya, of the highlands of Guatemala, was named the Zotzil (=belonging to the bat), whose deity was a bat. From a magical standpoint, bats are associated with workings related to death and dying, communication, and the spirit world. 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. Publishing on IntechOpen allows authors to earn citations and find new collaborators, meaning more people see your work not only from your own field of study, but from other related fields too. In medieval Europe, dragons were usually depicted with wings and a barbed tail and as breathing fire. Especially when the bats preferred natural resources have been logged out of existence and replanted as a monoculture. Large-bodied old-world fruit bats, like this Egyptian fruit bat Rousettus aegyptiacus, are disproportionally targeted to be hunted for bushmeat. Only older and somewhat educated people reported more positive attitudes toward bats than others [21]. - The third reference is in Isaiah 2:20. Its based on principles of collaboration, unobstructed discovery, and, most importantly, scientific progression. 5 Princes Gate Court, They are unquestionably weird beings, appearing as half birds and half rodents, as if they came from a nightmare realm. Theyre passive components, not active agents of change. Fruitbats are not the only bats to be eaten in the Indo-Pacific region. Christianity and the origin of bats are also intertwined in the Mohammedan legend that Christ created a bat while keeping the fast of Ramadan. While others say bats resemble an unhappy bird who got lost on its way to find the sun, in Greece during the middle ages, there was a myth that bats arose from mice. Bats belong to the order Chiroptera, not Rodentia; they're actually more closely related to primates than they are to rodents. Bats were associated with longevity and pleasure in both ancient Chinese and Persian traditions. In Western culture, bats are also associated with vampires causing hysteria and wrong nomenclature of non-sanguivorous bat species such as Large Flying Fox Pteropus vampyrus. London, SW7 2QJ, Halloween. In 1332, a French noblewoman, Lady Jacaume of Bayonne [12], was publicly burned to death as a witch because crowds of bats were seen about her house and garden., William Shakespeare (15641616) also equated bats with witches, spells, and curses. However, in post-Christian Europe, the bats propensity of flying at night led to its association with the devil. During the early days of the world, a bat and twelve insects revolved in the darkness. Conversely, negative symbolism could promote conservation if it prevents unsustainable hunting and consumption [27]. In the third book of Moses in the Old Testament, bats were identified as birds, while the world-famous Swedish taxonomist, Carl von Linn (or Linnaeus), only reclassified bats as mammals and not birds as late as 1758 in the 10th Edition of his Systema Naturae [2]. WebWhen seen as human souls, bats are often imagined as souls of the dead, particularly souls of the damned, or those that are not yet at peace. Despite all the sinister associations bats perform an essential role in the environment, adding greatly to the wellbeing of humanity. In Jamaican folklore, bats are also perceived as death images [59]. This North American bat-like depiction should come as no surprise; it is merely another manifestation of the fear, horror, and superstition with which bats have been regarded down through ages [64]. In another tale from Aesop, a bat borrows money for a business venture that fails. They called themselves Zotzil uinic (batmen), claiming that their ancestors discovered a stone bat, which they took as their god, and their chief town was named Zinacantlan (=place of the bats) by Nahuatl merchants from Mexico [53]. In fact, around a fifth of all mammals on Earth are bats! The lack of feathers, presence of teeth, and activity at night are rooted in basic biology and natural history. Another belief about bats comes from the Navajo, a Native American tribe from the southwestern United States. In Makira, Solomon Islands, local people value traditional currency for transactions, such as bride price, and use the canine teeth of flying foxes as a traditional currency [47]. People in Vanuatu consider Pacific Flying Fox Pteropus tonganus as their ancestor and claim to be able to communicate with them [46]. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this. Although the bats roost in the sacred forest in Ghana, they are not regarded as sacred animals. If a bat flies into a house and then escapes, there will be a death in the family. Similarly, the Ge tribe in Brazil moved through the night following a bat that looked for light toward which to guide the people (Figure 4) [51, 52]. In Sri Lanka, it is believed that one may be reincarnated as a bat for denying another person drinking water [31]. The way they live their lives and their behaviour places them somewhere betwixt and between, appearing as neither one thing, nor the other. Using its new teeth to hold the ball, the bat helps the animals to win the game. No content from this site may be used elsewhere without the permission of either #FolkloreThursday or the article Finally, we discuss shortly the need of education to change attitudes toward bats. These small creatures wished to participate in a ball game in which the animals challenged the birds. In many cultures, they are seen as symbols of good luck, while in others they are seen as omens of bad news. Further films and novels continued associating vampires with bats and this is still perpetuated in western literature, films, television, theatre, art and most forms of media. Here, we review documented narratives and surveys from around the world and our ethnographic observations from Europe to analyze beliefs associated with bats. In the sandstone caves of Northern Australia, the Northern Territory, and Queensland, there are numerous depictions of flying foxes, some dating back tens of thousands of years. WebThen there was the Olitiau, a giant demon bat that had been seen in these parts, and lived for hundreds of years. Oh - and he wrote this website. In Africa, bats were credited with high intelligence. Despite this primate-like gesture, it took quite some time for people to understand that bats are mammals and not birds. A variety of methods have been used to harass and kill these harmless and beneficial creatures, and some people have even gone so far as to dynamite caves and abandoned mines where bats roost or hibernate [64]. With Gods permission, He fashioned the winged likeness of a bat from clay and breathed life into it. In many parts of Indonesia, people specifically consume bats livers and hearts as medicine [39]. Even cultures that value bats positively may have values conflicting with bat conservation. Hopefully, now that we know more about these amazing creatures, we can protect them better in the future. WebSpirits African mythology is filled with spirits, invisible beings with powers for good or evil. Nowadays, of course, we know that vampires are not real and neither is the ability to turn into a bat. In Kenya, a bat attitude questionnaire was presented to 394 people living around the Arabuko-Sokoke forest. From Sierra Leone comes an account of the gruesome habits of the Hammer-headed Fruit Bat Hypsignathus monstrosus. Oyot boiled the water and jumped in, but the soup, being boiling, killed him. In Malawi, negative bat superstitions caused recently quite disproportionate behavior when rural people in southern parts of the country killed nine people accusing them to be vampire bats [23]. It is the largest bat found in continental Africa and was believed to suck the blood of sleeping children until they die. Bats prefer a variety of daytime hideaways, including rock crevices, caves, old buildings, mines, bridges, and trees. But it should come as no surprise that bats figure in most ancient mythologies. The Serer Creation Myth Like in every creation myth in Africa, the Serer of Senegal, Mauritania and the Gambia have theirs. Unquestionably, they are strange creatures, appearing as half animal and half bird, like something from a nightmare world. They eat insects performing pest control while also pollinating species of plants and spreading seeds. Lately, education seems to have some effect, and more and more people have started to appreciate how useful and amazing bats truly are. The cave prohibits hunting and guano harvesting, while income from this ecotourism chiefly flows into local economy and enhances the sustainability and protection of the cave site (Figures 7 and 8). American Indian legends and Aesop both gave animals human characteristics, including our failings, to teach moral precepts and the consequences of inappropriate behavior.
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