bats in african mythology bats in african mythology
He's also a teacher, a poet and the owner of 1,152 books. For example, a bat entering a household was a forewarning of a death in the house. The origin of bats is prominent in the folklore of several North American Indian tribes. In Myths of the Cherokee (1900), James Mooney points out that a general theme in American Indian folklore is that, in the beginning, there were no essential differences between humans and animals. The tour includes a brief 20-minute conservation education lecture about bats, caves, and the history of the Montford Bat Cave Sanctuary. As such, the Earl of Cranbrook was able to dispel this silly superstition. The official Islamic view is exempting bats from being killed because it would carry bad luck to kill a bat [32]. The lack of feathers, presence of teeth, and activity at night are rooted in basic biology and natural history. Bats tend to get off on the wrong wing with us humans. 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. There is also, of course, the European connection with bats to vampirism. Despite all the sinister associations bats perform an essential role in the environment, adding greatly to the wellbeing of humanity. Belief in myths seemed to prevail among those surveyed. The myths grew with the 1927 stage production which further associated Dracula with bats. London, SW7 2QJ, There are more than 1400 bat species worldwide, and they make up roughly 20% of the worlds extant mammals [6]. Bat myths Thanks Sir for this website. Bats are also seen as useful in Iran, India, and Pakistan because people are collecting bat guano as a natural fertilizer. Large flying fox Pteropus vampyrus suffers from its misleading scientific name as it is not blood-eating species but feeds only fruits and flowers. To date our community has made over 100 million downloads. This ability, coupled with the ability to navigate at night by using a system of acoustic orientation (echolocation), has made the bats a highly diverse and populous order. So in honor of National Bat Week, we're clearing up some myths about the world's only flying mammal. 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. The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. An irrational fear of batsChiroptophobiaencompasses negative perceptions of bats as disease vectors, pests, or harmful creatures associated with devils and witchcraft, which represents an important barrier to bat conservation globally [27]. One bat, whose habits may have fostered these tales of decapitating bats, is the false vampire Vampyrum spectrum. In Madagascar, the exploitation of bats for bush meat regularly takes place during periods of food shortage, especially fruit bats, which are heavily hunted. 7 Myths About Bats The account is linked to the first trees created by roog. In Malaysia, a face-to-face survey was conducted in Penang Island to assess knowledge and awareness level toward bat conservation efforts. Generally, the Maya revered a Vampire Bat god, Camazotz, the death bat, which killed dying men on their way to the center of the earth [51, 52]. No content from this site may be used elsewhere without the permission of either #FolkloreThursday or the article In many places, blood sacrifice was believed to benefit agriculture, and therefore, bats had agricultural, as well as death, connections for Pre-Columbian peoples and in Oaxaca, Mexico, a bat deity was associated with maize [51]. According to the Serer myth, the creation of the earth began from a swamp. Oh - and he wrote this website. Their prayers were partially granted and they were given grotesquely humanoid faces, hair and teeth but still had their wings and could fly. In 2005, the privately owned Montfort Bat Cave Sanctuary on Mindanao Island, south of the Philippines, opened for tourism. We are a community of more than 103,000 authors and editors from 3,291 institutions spanning 160 countries, including Nobel Prize winners and some of the worlds most-cited researchers. Bats flying vertically upwards and then dropping back to earth means that the Witches Hour has come. These creatures, or more like monsters, were said to be able to transform themselves into bats at will and would fly around looking for victims to drink their blood. dragon, in the mythologies, legends, and folktales of various cultures, a large lizard- or serpent-like creature, conceived in some traditions as evil and in others as beneficent. ), the ambiguous nature of bats is transformed into duplicity in their character. Sunset is just the beginning. Even worse have been the vandalism and wanton destruction of bats and their habitat in North America. Emiong always cooked a really tasty soup that Oyot loved and one day, after enjoying a bowl of Emiongs soup, Oyot asked how he managed to make it so tasty. However, in post-Christian Europe, the bats propensity of flying at night led to its association with the devil. On the other hand, the body fat of Indian Flying Fox is used to make massage oil to cure rheumatic pains, while drinking water from a bats wing is said to sharpen ones memory [30]. In Africa, bats were credited with high intelligence. It is estimated that the current population of most Australian species of Pteropidae is less than 20% of what it was 100 years ago. Bats are very social animals and often live in colonies of hundreds or even thousands of individuals. The bat must then hide during the day to avoid creditors. The bat populations in Malaysia are decreasing in 26% of species and only 15% are still stable. 7. People often perceive bats as anomalous or ambiguous creatures, different from more normal animals. 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. They believed bats to be able to cross into and out of the unseen realms at will, making them spiritual guides. It is the largest New World bat with a yard wingspan. Peasant farmers in Mexico used to call bats ratones viejos, which translates to old mice. They thought that when mice grew older, they would develop wings and transform into bats. Photo credit: Masteraah. The positive side is that by 600 BC., and probably before, humans were learning important things from bats. The idea that carrying a bats eye around with you will allow you to turn invisible. From a magical standpoint, bats are associated with workings related to death and dying, communication, and the spirit world. There are also numerous stories and legends associated with the bat. Photo credit: Raniel Jose Castaneda creative commons Wikimedia credit as in Figure 7. In Africa, house bats occur in distinct colors and sizes, but they are usually hard to identify. Bats are symbolic of bad luck, especially when they call while flying early in the evening. Strangely perhaps, given its poor press in Europe, carrying the dried and powdered heart of a bat in your front pocket was supposed to protect you from bleeding to death and later to stop bullets. It remains to be seen, however, if this could halt or even reverse the decline of the North American bats [64]. Over half of the students (57%) did not know anybody in their neighborhood who would hunt bats. Decapitating bat demons appears in various myths in Amazonia and to the south in northern Argentina. Here are some of the other names that people have given bats. The third reference is in Isaiah 2:20. This pollination syndrome is called chiropterophily. Company registered in England & Wales, no. Samoans said that flying foxes were cheeky and courageous, making it a popular tattoo motif [48]. American Indian legends and Aesop both gave animals human characteristics, including our failings, to teach moral precepts and the consequences of inappropriate behavior. We may never know how these early humans viewed their small flying co-habiters. The novel, Dracula, by Bram Stoker encouraged the vampire association which was expanded and embellished later by other writers. Because of the mouses pious respect for the holy wafer, God gave it wings so that it would be able to find plenty of food in the future. Despite its scientific name, it feeds exclusively on fruits, nectar, and flowers and not blood (Figure 6) [70]. Some bats also pollinate flowers and help disperse seeds. The Adze is a vampire in the legends of the Ewe people of Ghana and Togo. A legend tells that in Fiji, a giant white vampire bat acts as a messenger, and one finds bats as gods in both Tikopian and Tongan myths. Bats eyes are small and sometimes poorly developed, but they work just fine. In Hunza, Pakistan, a witch appears in the shape of a bat, and it plays a role in magical practice in southwest Asia. Bats feature in many myths, legends and folklore from diverse cultures around the world, and are often associated with darkness, death and the supernatural. Hopefully, now that we know more about these amazing creatures, we can protect them better in the future. Apaches tell a different tale about bats. 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. It was from these traditions that the vampire bats were named rather than them giving their name to the supernatural, blood-sucking creature. 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.. African Common vampire bat Desmodus rotundus is the one reason for global Chiroptophobia although it is very small weighing about 55 grams and only occurring in central and South America. In medieval Europe, dragons were usually depicted with wings and a barbed tail and as breathing fire. WebMYTH: Bats are blind. Fruitbats are not the only bats to be eaten in the Indo-Pacific region. The remaining cultures had combinations of positive, neutral, and negative values. Bat Myths and Folktales from Around the World. Commentdocument.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "a5fde012108c6f81a46adcd8fa31b17e" );document.getElementById("ebd2ec4c6f").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); Gordon is an ecologist with two degrees from Exeter University. Repeatedly, the bats feathers were stolen by small birds, and repeatedly the bat returned to Jonayaiyin to ask for more. In many cultures, they are seen as symbols of good luck, while in others they are seen as omens of bad news. The Rompo is a common South African mythical creatures believed to exist. Bastet/Sekhmet, Bastet and Sekhmet were described as two parts of a similar Goddess, with Sekhmet representing the ground-breaking fighter and defender figure and Bastet, who was often portrayed as a feline, speaking to a gentler viewpoint. While Aesops fables involving bats may have envisioned them as duplicitous and dishonest, other folklore has ascribed a lot worse to bats, as we have seen in this series of articles. Here are some of them: Flying foxes eat fruit, and this has inevitably brought them into conflict with humans, who grow fruit. Bat Conservation International 500 N Capital of TXHwy. We will be exploring how different cultures view these creatures and what stories have been told about them throughout the years. Bats have been present in folklore and myth for quite some time. Bats - Myths, Folklore and Facts Bat Conservation International is a 501(c)(3) organization. This article has covered some of the main points about bat mythology, superstition, folklore, and persecution. Although the bats roost in the sacred forest in Ghana, they are not regarded as sacred animals. Folklore of Bats: From Mythology to Witchcraft to In Africa, bats were credited with high intelligence. In Indonesia, Iban people in Kalimantan also hunt fruit bats for consumption, and mainly Christian people in North Sulawesi regularly eat flying foxes (Black Flying Fox Pteropus alecto and Sulawesi Fruit Bat Acerodon celebensis) especially during the Christmas season [38, 39]. Participation by local people is vital to achieving successful conservation programs [35]. 11022198. 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). In some places bats were seen more positively. Nevertheless, it is still a strongly sinister characteristic linking them closely to vampirism. Here, we review documented narratives and surveys from around the world and our ethnographic observations from Europe to analyze beliefs associated with bats. When Oyot went home his wife had to go out on an errand. UNITED KINGDOM. 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]. Should the bat stay and eat the fruit in the house, bad luck will befall the owner [27]. 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. From Sierra Leone comes an account of the gruesome habits of the Hammer-headed Fruit Bat Hypsignathus monstrosus. The study concluded that conservation-related education should be included in the school curriculum to ensure that students would appreciate not only the importance of bats but of all wildlife [26]. WebSpirits African mythology is filled with spirits, invisible beings with powers for good or evil. Licensee IntechOpen. The way they live their lives and their behaviour places them somewhere betwixt and between, appearing as neither one thing, nor the other. The bat begged to be spared but the weasel insisted that he could not do that because he was an enemy of all birds. In northern Guiana, Bat Mountain is the home of killer bats, and there is also a killer bat in folklore from Venezuela. Iban people in Sarawak, Borneo, believe that a bat flying into the house indicates a shaman bringing good vibes, conferring protection against any harm, while in Thailand, if a bat enters a house but immediately flies away, it is believed to change bad luck to good. It takes the form of a firefly, but if you capture one, it will revert to human appearance. Most students (56%) reported seeing bats in their locality. These animals are nocturnal creatures that sleep during the day and come out at night to hunt for food. In Jamaican folklore, bats are also perceived as death images [59]. Therefore, let us give them the recognition they deserve because if bats were to disappear tomorrow, that would give us something to genuinely fear. During this time eating food between sunrise and sunset is forbidden. Between the years 1950 and 2007, only 56 cases of bat-borne rabies transmission to humans occurred in the United States and Canada, which translates to 3.9 cases per billion person-years [65]. Presented here are different viewpoints from around the world, followed by a short look at the real significance of bats to humankind. Nandi Bear. Despite positive associations toward bats, they are widely consumed as food and medicine throughout Asia, except in Brunei and Singapore. These arrowheads were used to kill deer and were considered very powerful. That is why Emionog the bat is hardly ever seen out during the day anymore. Zteve enjoys researching deep into the folklore, myths and legends that run through society and are part of our everyday lives. While the English term batty denotes mad in a reasonably innocuous sense. Bats lead us to the best opportunities to protect nature anywhere in the world. Bat The flying fox obtained his wings when he borrowed them from the rat and refused to return them. He has studied bats for many years and is author of the entry on bats in The Encyclopedia of American Folklore and Superstition. The animals then give teeth to the bat to make it more animal-like. Because of the resemblance in dentition and such external phenomena as the thoracic position of the mammae, etc., the great Linnaeus himself ended to place the bat along with man in the order Primates [3]. Books > Working together, we have the power to end bat extinctions worldwide. 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 Jamaica, the bat and the owl were very important symbols in Taino mythology and death. The complete extinction of Pteropus tokudae and the extinction of Pteropus mariannus on most inhabited islands is a direct result of hunting and habitat destruction. More than 1,200 species are currently recognized, and many are enormously abundant. African Mythology Interestingly, Islamic taboo. In England, they also say that when someone is a little insane, they have bats in the belfry. In this article, we will be taking a deep dive into the world of bats in mythology, folklore, and superstition. Interestingly, blood sucking has been attributed to bats both in Cameroon and Sierra Leone despite the countries being widely separated and when no such type of bat is found in Africa [19]. If a bat flies into a house and then escapes, there will be a death in the family. A witch shape is believed to be capable to suck out the life of a sleeping man or woman [18]. Bat In ancient Egypt it was believed bats could alleviate or cure many ailments including baldness, fever toothache and poor eyesight. In Pakistan, one belief is that if a bat enters ones ear, it can never be removed and contact with bat urine is thought to cause eczema. Shockingly, US news media recently reported shortages of Halloween decorationsplastic bats among them, doubtlessdue to the world supply crunch [63]. Kill the bat before it escapes, and everyone will be safe. In Madurai, worshippers of the Muni god regard Indian Flying Fox Pteropus medius, formerly Pteropus giganteus, as sacred and protect colonies for fear of heavy punishment. A woman noted that her husband had a round tail and dropped the vessel of water she was bringing to him. Tjinimin wanted to have sex with the Green Parrot-Girls (who were the consorts of the Great Rainbow-Snake) and, of course, the Great Rainbow-Snake objected to this. [bio]Gary F. McCracken is a professor in the Department of Zoology and the Graduate Programs in Ecology and Ethology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The decision to include the New Zealand long-tailed bat Chalinolobus tuberculatus also known as pekapeka-tou-roa (Mori) in the 2021 Bird of the Year competition did cause a bit of controversy, some people saying the country had gone batty. However, the long-tailed bat got more than 7000 votes, bringing a clear victory to this critically endangered animal, despite not being a bird [50]. It is no real surprise that in a Christian Europe throughout history, the bat has been associated with the Devil, evil spirits, and witches [9]. In shamanism, the bat as well as being a symbol of death and rebirth is able to guide people through the dark times of their lives. In several other folktales, bats are banished into the night either as a result of some treachery or, as in the case of the Kanarese, because of embarrassment resulting from ill-advised behavior. Sometimes a Mochica bat carries a warclub and a small human captive. Sociocultural definitions of animals as good or evil have persisted throughout the history of human beings. Here are just a few: If a bat flies into your house, look out for bedbugs. Its unlucky to see a bat in the daytime. In Malaysia, ethnic Han Chinese, non-Muslim indigenous groups, and ethnic Malays hunt flying foxes and trade them to the Chinese [27]. 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. Obviously, these bats were not the only animalsor even the only batsto use these now destroyed habitats. Only older and somewhat educated people reported more positive attitudes toward bats than others [21]. They were then ashamed to meet the other birds and are now active only at night, returning to the temples in the daytime and praying to be turned back into birds. Nearly another third reported actively killing bats or destroying bat roosts, and most respondents associated bats with the destruction of farmers fruits, especially mangoes. The oldest age group (5170years old) of 150 respondents were mostly aware of the bat conservation efforts. In Nagaland between 7000 and 25,000 cave-dwelling bats (Cave Nectar Bat Eonycteris spelaea, Great Roundleaf Bat Hipposideros armiger, and Leschenaults Rousette Rousettus leschenaultii) have been annually harvested until recently [73]. In some countries such as the UK bats are seen as an indicator species and the stability of their population is monitored to look for changes in biodiversity. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode. The police arrested 200 vigilante youth suspected of involvement in gangs that attacked persons allegedly engaged in vampirism. 5 Princes Gate Court, Bat meat is widely consumed because it is considered more delicious than other types of meat. 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]. 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. Finally, his wife realized what he was doing and set fire to the tree and killed her husband and the bats [54]. Adjule. Montfort bat cave entrance in the Philippines with the numerous Geoffroys Rousette fruit bats Rousettes amplexicaudatus. In southwest Asia, the bat is predominantly perceived as a strange, negative, and demonic animal that should be avoided. In Vietnam, many mounted bat species are sold in souvenir shops, and in Laos, bats are traded in several markets (Figure 3) [41, 42]. MEMBER OPPORTUNITIES FOR 1994, Bats 101: High School Students and Field Research, Tips on Establishing Research Partnerships Between Schools and Wildlife Agencies, Motorola Supports Bat House Research Project, BCI Helps Protect Pennsylvania Mine for Bats, BCI-Sponsored Education Campaign in Mexico Leads to Cave Protection, Look for Masters of the Night: The True Story of Bats. People would sometimes even burn down whole colonies of bats because they thought that this would stop the spread of disease. 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.
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