Learn why the bat has flown into your life as an animal totem!
If the bat has been “flying” into your life as an animal totem, this symbolizes great intuition and utilizing your sensitivities to explore the world around you. The bat has been misunderstood by many over the years and most people fear this creature, but many medicine people and the Native Americans sought the bat for its connection to the “other world.” Bats have a special way of “seeing,” and they don’t use their regular eyes to see, but rather they use a built in sensor, a type of radar called echolocation, that guides them during flight at night time. For this reason, bats were revered for their special “vision,” and medicine people often invoked bat energy if they wanted to “see” clearer into a situation.
What Do Bats Symbolize?
Bats are misunderstood because of the folklore dealing with vampires. However, bats are highly social creatures; they love to congregate with their family in huge numbers inside caves. They often hang upside down inside their cave (also called a roost), and only emerge at dusk to feed on insects (a common time for insects to stir). For this reason, the bat has come to symbolize rebirth because they go “inside” their cave which represents going within, and then they emerge at dusk, and this is seen as being reborn from the womb of mother Earth. If this animal totem has appeared to you in your dreams or in waking life perhaps it is a sign that it is time for you to go within. It might be time to take some time off and go on a vacation and bring a journal with you, or even just try meditation as a way of becoming quiet and allowing your true self to speak.
Animal Totem Bats
Once bats have emerged from their cave, and they are experiencing the outside world, they are highly attuned to their surroundings. The highly sensitive bat can pick up movement of prey as well as avoid colliding with fellow bats during flight by using echolocation. If the bat has appeared as your totem, this means that you are on a journey of awakening to your psychic gifts. If the bat has chosen you, this means that you will have a chance to improve your abilities and yourself ten-fold. You may find this a bit challenging as you will be called to go within and explore ALL of you, the light and dark side. You will be asked to explore your inner demons and learn to love them. As you do this, you will find yourself learning to not only love your enemies but even the darkest parts of yourself. When you accomplish this, you will realize the profound rewards that come from having compassion for your fellow man and all of his follies through learning to love your own.
And once you have reached this state, you will find that your devotion to your spiritual path with strengthen and journeying within will become easier and easier. The nice thing about this is as you learn to face your demons more and more, you will realize that what is being offered to you is the gift of constant self-improvement and this means that you get to EVOLVE! The bat is your companion on your spiritual journey and will guide you to deep places where you can begin to see things not as good and bad, but just as they are. With the bat by your side, you can learn to face your deepest fears and to accept yourself fully. This animal totem has entered your life to help you reach your highest potential by showing you that the first step in accessing your gifts is by first loving yourself fully and then and only then can you emerge into the light.
Bats symbolize:
Intuition
Connection
Communication
Journeying Within
Rebirth
Evolution
Loving Self
Psychic Vision
Bats in Culture Meaning
Culturally, the bat symbolized great luck and wealth to the Chinese. This is because the same word/pronunciation for bat, “fu,” also means prosperity in Chinese. The Mayans saw them as symbols of rebirth. Europeans believed that the human soul took the form of a bat during sleep time and then people could leave their bodies. 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 (linking to vampire imagery).
Why are Bats tied to Halloween?
Seasonally, bats are tied to Halloween and this is because when the fall season’s bonfires were lit, it attracted thousands of insects which in turn attracted the bats for a feeding frenzy. Because this happens in the fall, this is another reason why the bat is seen as a symbol of transition and change (not only for the season but for humans experiencing life change as well).
Bats as a Messenger
Personally, bats have appeared to me during walks at dusk during times of great change in my life. I vividly remember one night when I was walking and contemplating big changes happening in my life concerning relationship and work, and I kept hearing swooshing sounds above my head. When I looked up, I could see little bats flying above me and darting about. I took it as a good sign that it was time to let go of any beliefs that were holding me back, and it was time to allow my true self to emerge!
If you are curious about animal totems and what messages they may have for you, I highly recommend Animal-Speak by Ted Andrews. I found this book to be highly valuable as a reference for recognizing and interpreting the signs and omens of nature. You will learn to meet and work with animals as totems and spirit guides by learning the language of their behaviors within the physical world. Animal-Speak will help you to attune to your animal totem and discover your hidden powers and skills as reflected by your specific animal totem. If you’ve always felt connected to animals and nature, this book is a must have!
One of my favorite things to do to receive messages from animal totems is to draw a card from the Medicine Cards: The Discovery of Power Through the Ways of Animals. This is a great way to meditate with a question or an issue that you might have and then draw a card and let that particular animal speak to you. This card deck contains beautifully illustrated cards containing an inspirational message from the animal world. The book that is included provides you with even more spiritual wisdom!
Much love to you as you emerge from your cave and enter the light!
Mandy Gatlin
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