In the West, bats have been seen as animals of ill omen, and connected bats with vampires. In a Christian Europe throughout history, the bat has been associated with the Devil, evil spirits, and witches. They were recorded as “unclean” in the bible while its nocturnal activities ally it to malevolent spirits that roam the land when darkness has fallen. According to Sieradzki and Mikkola (2022), “Vampires had been part of Slavic folklore in Eastern Europe since the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but it was not until the nineteenth century that popular fictional literature, predominantly through Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” in 1897, would forever tie bats and vampires together, with the protagonist, Count Dracula, being able to transform himself into a huge bat.” Additionally, in the “Night on Bald Mountain“; segment of Walt Disney’s animated film Fantasia (1940), the hideous Satan is depicted with terrifying bats that have gigantic wings capable of devouring everything!

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) also associated bats with witches, spells, and curses. In Macbeth (1605), the three
witches chant an incantation: “Eye of newt, and toe of frog, wool of bat, and tongue of dog.”

Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Penguin Publications

However, in the East, bats are seen as positive symbols. For instance, bats are revered in India, where they are believed to bring wealth in some areas. Bats are also used as allegories to denote romantic or parental love in the poetry of Tamil Sangam literature in India. In Islamic culture, it is believed that killing a bat might bring bad luck. One reason not to kill bats is that “female bats have breasts and are mothers like human females”!

In Chinese culture, bats are considered symbols of luck because the word for “bat”; and the word for “luck” are homophones, both pronounced “fu”. Since the fourteenth century, bats have been regarded as lucky animals, and their images have appeared frequently in Chinese art. In addition, in Buddhism, five bats symbolize a wish for the Five Blessings: longevity, wealth, good health, virtue, and a peaceful death, which is also represented in Chinese art!

Qing dynasty woman’s ceremonial robe with bats. Credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

In Chinese culture, bats are often associated with the number five and are depicted in designs or artwork, or they are connected with numbers like one hundred or one thousand. This is because the word for “bat”; sounds like the word for “fortune” in Chinese. The more bats there are, the more luck they represent.

Feng Shui – Five bats of wealth

In South America, there are more bats, and more bat species, than in any other part of the world! The bat played an important role in the religions and social structures notably in Guatemala. The Cakchiquel Maya of Guatemala has a clan named Zotzil, meaning “belonging to the bat”, and worshipping a bat deity. The Tzotzil Maya in Southern Mexico still live in the Chiapas highlands. They call themselves Zotzil uinic (batmen) and believe their ancestors found a bat-shaped stone, which they worshipped as a god.

Statue of the God Camazotz. Image credit: Chatsam

Symbols are not always fixed; they can change over time. For instance, while bats were often portrayed negatively in past literature and films, the character “Batman”; now represents justice! Do you know of other animals with interesting symbolic meanings? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Reference:
Sieradzki A and Mikkola H (2022) Bats in Folklore and Culture: A Review of Historical Perceptions