The Truth About Bats: 3 Reasons to Love Them

The bat is a messenger
A Little Information about one of the creatures that unwittingly play a part in our Halloween decorating and horror stories.

The bat may bring a message from either the other world or your subconscious The bat is a powerful symbol for Native American shamans, who recognized that the bat was highly sensitive to their surroundings and therefore considered a symbol of intuition, dreaming and vision. Often the spirit of the bat would be invoked when special energy was needed, like “night-sight” — the ability to see through illusion or ambiguity and dive straight to the truth of matters. Bats, especially night flying bats that eat insects, do not rely on their eyes, but rather function though highly developed sonar echolocation, the sending out of streams of high-pitched sounds through the mouth or nose. These signals then bounce off nearby objects and send back echoes. By “reading” these echoes with its super-sensitive ears, the bat can determine the location, distance, size, texture and shape of an object in its environment, even determining which insects are edible from those that aren’t.

In Shamanic lore, the Bat’s message is about rebirth, journeying to our inner depths, ritual and initiation. When one is initiated, they are taken to their “Higher Self,” and leave the illusion of the physical world behind. Just as bats use sonar, bat symbolism is about going beyond what can be seen with the eyes, and listening to your soul calling from the unseen side of yourself. Bats are about venturing deep into our inner psychic realm and to developing a sensitivity to and awareness of our own intuition. Shaman initiates undergo a ritual death in which they face their fears and are reborn without their old identities. The difficult and demanding process involves letting go of ones ego, and going deep within to touch hidden fears. Old habits and patterns are released which no longer fit the initiates new identity and self. Bat symbolism is about letting go of the old and the negative, so we can become who we are truly meant to be.
If you have the bat as your totem you are extremely aware of your surroundings. Sometimes you can be overly sensitive to the feelings of others. Additionally, you are quite perceptive on a psychic level, and are prone to have prophetic dreams. 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. The bat will never accept half-hearted or lukewarm attempts at self-improvement. 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. As with most of our hardest challenges, working with the demanding bat will reap some of the most profound rewards you could ever dream of. But be warned, the bat asks a lot of us. Letting of every belief, thought pattern and habit that defines us is a harrowing experience, and is not for the faint of heart nor the haphazardly committed. This is why the bat is such a powerful shamanic symbol.
In pagan tradition, bats are associated with ghosts, nighttime and death, thus the symbolism of the bat for Samhain. In many parts of the world, bats are considered the physical manifestation of a separable soul. Bats have been associated with vampires, shape shifters who can turn into a bat, a wolf, or a misty fog.
Bats are also a symbol of communication. Native Americans observed the bat to be a highly social creature, with strong family ties. They are very nurturing, exhibiting verbal communication, touching, and sensitivity to members of their group. The bat is a symbol of rebirth and depth because it is a creature that lives in the belly of the Mother, or Gaia. From the womb-like caves it emerges every evening at dusk. And so – from the womb it is reborn every evening. Try building a bat house on your property to attract bats, and then call upon them if you need help in improving your communication skills. Bats are messengers – if you see one flying around in the night ask it to carry a message for you. Particularly if you’ve lost someone you love, bats can carry messages across the veil.
To some Native Americans, namely Apache, Cherokee and Creek, the bat is considered the “trickster spirit,” like the coyote. In Chinese lore the bat symbolizes longevity and happiness. In China, five bats in a group together is a five-fold blessing: financial security, longevity, good health, a virtuous life, and a natural death. In Poland and Macedonia, the bat is considered “lucky.” The United Kingdom states all bats are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Acts; therefore disturbing a bat or its roost can result in a heavy fine. In Western Culture, the bat is symbolic of the night and its foreboding nature.