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Bat
The
Bat!
The bat is a mammal, and the only mammal that flies. It is also a very
social animal, and if you have a fascination for bats, or if one has
crossed your path recently, perhaps you should look at your social
habits. Are you too much of a loner? Do you need to work on improving
your interaction with others? Are you withdrawn; introverted; too shy?
Then the time has come for some inner work to break these old ways.
If bat is coming to you, then you have an extraordinary sense of
direction. You can find your way anywhere, and never seem to get lost.
You also have the ability to weave through threatening or uncomfortable
situations safely. You are quite at home in the dark, and have
outstanding eyesight that lets you see clearly in poor light, or even
the dark.
Bat is a powerful totem that carries a very heavy message. It is usually
misunderstood, for it is more comfortable to ignore the teachings of bat
— which is all about fear. Bat brings up our most hidden fears; those
that lurk in the dark corners of our mind and spirit; those that make us
break out in a cold sweat.
He is telling you that it is time to bring these fears to the light.
Nothing is greater torture than hiding such fears for our very refusal
to acknowledge and deal with them only magnifies them, gives them even
more power over us, and turns them into destructive monsters.
If you follow the teachings of bat, it may seem that things get only
worse. They may for a time until you bring each of your fears into the
full light of Spirit, tear them apart thoroughly, examine each element
of that fear (where it came from and how it is influencing your life)
with total honesty, and let it go — out of your mind — out of your
heart — out of your spirit. It's time for serious self-examination and
self-evaluation.
Always remember the positive power of bat. It is the symbol of the
shaman death. This is not actual, physical death, but the death of old
fears, old ways that no longer serve you, old belief systems that you
have grown beyond, old prisons that have held your very soul captive.
The beauty of bat? Once you pass through the darkness into the
light.....YOU CAN FLY! You are transformed. You are re-born. You are
free.
Bat animal totem!
Most tribal Shamans regard the bat as an evil omen. Perhaps the
creature's very appearance suggests a kind of moral ambivalence, for
it is difficult to ascertain if the swiftly flying nocturnal beast is
a bird
with a rodent's snout and teeth or a rat with a bird's wings.
A number of the plain's tribes have a tale in which the handsome and
mysterious bat successfully woos his wives by night only to have them
run away in the light when they see how ugly he is.
"If you have dreamt of a bat," a Medicine practitioner once told me,
"you
must be prepared for bad quarrels and much unpleasantness to come
at you right around the next corner.
However, I have heard other Native Americans place a positive
connotation
on the bat, for they regard him as a rainmaker who drives away drought.
And there are African tribes that esteem the bat as a sign of wisdom,
for
behold how unerringly it can maneuver through the darkness.
In Christian folklore, perhaps especially in Central Europe, the bat is
considered the bird of Satan, a night-flying, blood-sucking entity that
can
actually become a vehicle for the Master of Hell. Such beliefs stay with
us,
firmly anchored in the popular fright night figure of Count Dracula
spreading
his dark cape to transform himself into a hat.
Batman, another pop culture figure, also embodies the mysterious
ambiguity of his namesake.
A flawed hero, with a great many deep-seated
psychic scars, the face of the rich and handsome Bruce Wayne is covered
in a frightening mask when he becomes the dark knight of vengeance.
To the Chinese, the bat represents happiness and longevity. If five bats
should visit one's home, one has been blessed with the five blessings
of health, wealth, long life, peace, and happiness.
On the other hand, the
Japanese seem to perceive in the bat's ambiguous nature a symbol of
chaos
and unhappy confusion.
Among certain of the Australian Aborigines and other Pacific peoples,
the bat
is synonymous with the human soul; and to find a dead bat is to be made
aware that someone has made his transition to the other world.
If the bat appeals to you as a totem guardian, you may very well be a
very
adaptable person who has little fear of the Dark Side. You have probably
been
blessed with a keen sense of wonder and the willingness to explore with
zeal
topics which others may consider "forbidden" or "too
far-out."
As a totem animal, the bat will be ever ready to guide you safely
through the
darkness of confusion and to lift you to higher realms of consciousness.
Its
built-in "radar" makes this totem guardian a skillful pilot through
the
darkest
trials of the spirit. And it will always be a sure navigator as you
enter the
Silence and receive inspiration from the Great Mystery!
Author Unknown