bats in african mythology

Bat Mythology There is a strong association between bats and death. Pomo Indians of California have a myth that a bat could chew and swallow a large piece of obsidian and then vomit large numbers of excellent arrowheads. Pre-Islamic magical belief in Hunza said that if the lady would once offer the cooked meat of bat to her guests, hiding it behind her back while serving her family would never be without meat for their whole life [25]. 3. Fruit growers may view fruit bats as crop pests [71]. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this. 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]. In New Zealand, Mori people associate bats, pekapeka, with the mythical nocturnal bird hokioi that foretells death [49]. Bats are interesting animals and have been a part of human culture for a long time. In Macbeth (1605), there is the incantation of the three witches: Eye of newt, and toe of frog, wool of bat, and tongue of dog, while there is Calibans curse on Prospero in The Tempest (16101611): All the charms of Sycorax, toads, beetles and bats, light on you.. People often perceive bats as anomalous or ambiguous creatures, different from more normal animals. Perhaps now youd like to learn a bit about the bat skeleton. In Malaysia, older generations prevented thievery by mixing flying fox blood with milky mangrove Excoecaria agallocha tree sap to cause violent intestinal inflammation [40]. People can further move the fungus on their clothing and caving gear and spread the disease into an area that does not currently. The duality of bats is mentioned in one of Aesops Fables, which tells how a bat fell to the ground and was Betwixt and Between. As with that other iconic nocturnal creature, the owl, the bat has a myriad of very strange old wives tales and superstitions surrounding it [15]. Prior to 1985, flying foxes were not protected in New South Walesin fact, they were regarded as vermin. It is not just their physical form that makes bats a curiosity. The official Islamic view is exempting bats from being killed because it would carry bad luck to kill a bat [32]. There exists a widespread belief in Southeast Asia that eating bat meat cures asthma [27]. American Indian legends and Aesop both gave animals human characteristics, including our failings, to teach moral precepts and the consequences of inappropriate behavior. Even worse have been the vandalism and wanton destruction of bats and their habitat in North America. Among the Ndop people, bats, owls, and bush-cats are said to be witch shapes. Many paintings from western Europe in the middle ages depict the devil with bat wings. 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 some places bats were seen more positively. 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. An artist's depiction of the Adjule or Bush Dog. By using a million dollars annually to educate the public about the dangers of bat-caused rabies in humans simply exacerbates the already unreasonable fears, which many people have of bats. Bats also have wings. Orchard owners in Myanmar believe that allowing bats to roost and feed in the garden ensures prosperity and well-being. Also, a Tacana woman in Bolivia was killing a bat while not realizing that it was her husband [34]. This allowed the borders to be crossed and the dead and the spirits of the underworld return to visit earth. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/de/legalcode. Bats have been present in folklore and myth for quite some time. considers bat as harm meaning that it is forbidden as food. The study estimated that in the karstic Mahafaly Plateau some 50100 caves are exploited for bats and that between 70,000 and 140,000 Microchiroptera bats may be collected annually in the region. This article has covered some of the main points about bat mythology, superstition, folklore, and persecution. Bats are found almost everywhere on Earth! Which is why bats have such short faces, apparently. 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. Below, we will be taking a look at some of the most popular bat myths from around the globe. The Tzotzil Maya lived, and continue to live to this day, on the plateau of Chiapas in southern Mexico. It is a carnivore, eating birds and other vertebrates, occasionally taking even other species of bats. The myth states that a mouse came into a church and stole one of the wafers of the eucharistand then decided to keep it rather than eat it. No content from this site may be used elsewhere without the permission of either #FolkloreThursday or the article Besides hunting, the primary threats to bat species include habitat loss and degradation through logging. To date, ethnobiological information regarding bats in Africa has mainly focused on utilitarian aspects of bats as food and medicine, whereas knowledge concerning symbolism and beliefs surrounding bats in that continent has not been assembled, apart from ancient Africa [18], Ghana [19, 20], Kenya [21], and Madagascar [22]. Zteve believes that people have far more in common with each other than is often shown on the surface and this can often be seen in the folktales from other parts of the world. 15 Interesting Myths And Legends In African Mythology 1. In Sri Lanka, it is believed that one may be reincarnated as a bat for denying another person drinking water [31]. In its entire history, the state of New York has recorded only one case of bat-transmitted rabies [64]. They are hugely beneficial to man and play a major role in the well-being of the worlds ecosystems. The number of Bats seen also has meaning. It tells how a bushrat named Oyot was friends with Emiong the bat and they would often eat together, taking it in turns to cook. It is the largest bat found in continental Africa and was believed to suck the blood of sleeping children until they die. Bats, being seen as liminal creatures, were believed to be able to cross this barrier. When capturing its prey, it grabs the neck, sometimes killing the prey with a single powerful bite [51, 52]. In Malaysian Borneo, people consider it taboo to disturb a fruit bat. Especially when the bats preferred natural resources have been logged out of existence and replanted as a monoculture. I am a bird. IntechOpen Limited 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. Bats tend to get off on the wrong wing with us humans. The enormous size of the bat and the small human head or body indicate supernatural status for the bat [51]. If a bat flies into a kitchen and at once hangs on to the ceiling, it is a lucky omen, but if it circles the room twice before alighting, it is a bad omen. All rights reserved. Home > Consult our entry on the Monkey Twins for the full story. At the end of the story, Tjinimin hangs upside-down in a tree to admire the stars and decides never to try having sex with anyone againwhereupon his nose falls off. BATS IN FOLKLOREpart six, the conclusion to a series on bats in North American and European folklore. 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. In Irian Jaya of Indonesia, former head-hunters considered flying foxes to be head-hunters too, as they took the head of the tree by consuming its fruit [37]. For example, a bat entering a household was a forewarning of a death in the house. Despite its scientific name, it feeds exclusively on fruits, nectar, and flowers and not blood (Figure 6) [70]. 7. The Pomo Indians of California had a superstition that bats could devour volcanic rock and then spew out ready-made arrowheads. A substantial proportion (53%) thought that bats have medicinal value, but 35% saw them only as harmful creatures. Their prayers were answered, but only in part; they were given teeth, hair, and human faces, but otherwise remained bird-like. Since the fourteenth century, Chinese culture has associated bats with good luck and blessings [33]. 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. Two Bats are greater luck, and five represents the five blessings With Gods permission, He fashioned the winged likeness of a bat from clay and breathed life into it. Bat Conservation International is a 501(c)(3) organization. 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. Our tax ID number is 74-2553144. In Europe, there are also myths about bats in the house. Han Chinese people attach positive esthetic values to bats but may still hunt bats at unsustainable levels [72]. (Above is from a variety of African mythology not just Sub-Saharan, but it's also the tiniest fraction of it) These creatures have had a long and varied history with humans, and it is hoped that this article has helped to increase your understanding of these creatures. 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. 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]. In Hunza, Pakistan, a witch appears in the shape of a bat, and it plays a role in magical practice in southwest Asia. Over half of the students (57%) did not know anybody in their neighborhood who would hunt bats. Men hunt and consume bats more often than women who have fears that consuming bat meat would give them strange or deformed children. It remains to be seen, however, if this could halt or even reverse the decline of the North American bats [64]. 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. GET INVOLVED! Nearly another third reported actively killing bats or destroying bat roosts, and most respondents associated bats with the destruction of farmers fruits, especially mangoes. Bats appear in numerous myths throughout the world and are frequently connected with death, darkness, and the supernatural. Between Iran and Rajasthan, north-western India, there is the widespread public belief that if a bat lives somewhere in the house or hangs on the roof, this would mean bad luck for the owner [25]. The tour includes a brief 20-minute conservation education lecture about bats, caves, and the history of the Montford Bat Cave Sanctuary. Using its new teeth to hold the ball, the bat helps the animals to win the game. WebAfrican mythology has common threads that run through the various tribe's cultures and stories because rapid migration of people allowed for the spread of language as well as beliefs. In Pudukkottai, roosting P. medius is seen as the guardian of the sacred groves, and in Bihar, that bat brings wealth. 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. Later bats received even more bad publicity when they became linked to Count Dracula and vampires. American Indian legends and the fables of Aesop were more than just stories recited around the campfire or bathhouse: they were teaching devices. While the English term batty denotes mad in a reasonably innocuous sense. 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. Samoan folklore tells of a similar origin for bats. But the larger animals made fun of how small the creatures were and drove them away. In a Cherokee fable, an eagle, a hawk, and other birds fashioned the first bat and the first flying squirrel from two mouse-like creatures. Although they live near humans and are common, it appears that some of the species have not been described and given scientific names [17]. The Adze is a vampire in the legends of the Ewe people of Ghana and Togo. The bat serves as mentor of the night and is identified with Talking God, one of the foremost deities. Cultural traditions and beliefs influence the future of the bats, which is threatened by human exploitation, both directly on bats and indirectly on the environment. What are they? However, modern science, and hence western Europe, really only learned about them as we traveled out to the tropical world. However, in post-Christian Europe, the bats propensity of flying at night led to its association with the devil. In 1959, this superstition was still so believed that the Earl of Cranbrook took it upon himself to test the superstitions veracity. A world without bats would look very different than the one you know and not for the better. In India, a total of 3059 high school students from 36 schools were questioned on their bat perceptions. 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]. 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. Bats are shot for sport or to eradicate them from fruit plantations. The novel, Dracula, by Bram Stoker encouraged the vampire association which was expanded and embellished later by other writers. 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]. It was called Boman, and it was able to turn into a stone or a snake at will. Our collection of global perceptions aims to promote a better biocultural richness for humans and bats as our long-term nocturnal companions. They have wings and fly like birds (actually, in many ways better than birds). Kill the bat before it escapes, and everyone will be safe. Do they really deserve this sinister reputation, or do they play a more important role in the world than feeding the dark human fascination for the spooky and the supernatural? This persecution has been quite intense and has had negative effects on the whole environment. Also known as Hunbatz, One Monkey A Monkey, not a Bat One of the Monkey Twins, hes the son of Hun Hunahpu and Xbaquiyalo. 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 widespread sacrificial association derives largely from the habits of the Common Vampire Bat that feeds exclusively on the blood of vertebrates (Figure 5). 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. In another tale from Aesop, a bat borrows money for a business venture that fails. In England, they also say that when someone is a little insane, they have bats in the belfry. In the past, people have believed that: If a bat got into your house it was a sign someone was about to die; A bat arriving on Halloween meant your house was haunted; A bat tangled in a persons hair will lead to eternal damnation; Photo credit: Raniel Jose Castaneda creative commons Wikimedia credit as in Figure 7. In India, bats are revered in many areas, but still large bat-harvesting festivals take place. Bldg. These arrowheads were used to kill deer and were considered very powerful. Public domain. Besides the above, hunting of fruit bats in the Indo-Pacific area is also supported by a market in Guamartificially maintained by the higher per capita income on Guam than on the source islands. Unquestionably, they are strange creatures, appearing as half animal and half bird, like something from a nightmare world. Decapitating bat demons appears in various myths in Amazonia and to the south in northern Argentina. The bat husband then cut off her head and those of other Indians and put all heads in the tree hole where he was living [55]. A woman noted that her husband had a round tail and dropped the vessel of water she was bringing to him. Brief introduction to this section that descibes Open Access especially from an IntechOpen perspective, Want to get in touch? In Madagascar, the exploitation of bats for bush meat regularly takes place during periods of food shortage, especially fruit bats, which are heavily hunted. As you can see, bats have been both persecuted and protected through the ages. Bat Conservation International 500 N Capital of TXHwy. 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.
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