The people of ancient cultures venerated creatures who, to them, symbolized anomaly and transformation. var day_before = "Christmas Eve"; While of less consequence than death, woe be it to the bridal couple who has the misfortune to marry in a church with bats in the belfry. At thisnot surprisinglyDionysus was angered and instead of a girl became a bull, then a lion, then a leopard. Thereafter, humans and animals may have lived different lives; but like people, the animals still had tribes, councils, and ethics, and they played ball games. Some of the earliest came from Babylonia: The edimmu was a troubled soul who wandered the earth in search of human victims whose veins it sucked. In Greek, the word for bat is nykteris, which is related to "night," while in Latin, it is vespertilio, derived from "twilight." This is spelled out in one of the most beautiful accounts of bats in Latin literature, that of Ovid's Metamorphoses, composed between the years 2 and 8 A.D. Samoan folklore tells of a similar origin for bats. Goth, a spectral bat and descendant of Cama Zotz is the primary antagonist of Kenneth Oppel 's Silverwing series. Another retelling of the wrathful punishment of the Minyades by the god Dionysus appeared in Antoninus Liberalis' Metamorphoses[6]: The daughters of Minyas, son of Orchomenus, were Leucippe, Arsippe and Alcathoe. It is common in folklore that the desired effect of a potion or medicinal preparation reflects real or imagined characteristics of the ingredients. 204. Experience the wonder of bats. But the larger animals made fun of how small the creatures were and drove them away. Bats fly joyously across fabrics and tapestries, jewelry and porcelain, and are carved into jade and ivory, and adorn the columns and facades of palaces and the thrones of emperors. ~English nursery rhyme. 12 days ago. Decapitating bat demons appear in various myths in the Amazon region, and, to the south, in the Gran Chaco of northern Argentina. If the bat has chosen you, this means that you will have a chance to improve your abilities and yourself ten-fold. Quickly the sisters hide in the smoke-filled house and in various places shun the flames and light. Much of this bat sacrificial symbolism likely derives from the common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus), a very small creature that feeds entirely on the blood of vertebrates. This led to the belief that Pagans might become bats when they die, and then they might search for a means of rebirth or the blood of life. Thanks to Valentine's Day, many gods . Contemporary Finnish folklore relates that during sleep, the soul leaves the body and may appear as a bat.