There are some more contemporary bat superstitions as well. If a bat flies into the kitchen and at once hangs on to the ceiling, it is lucky; but if it circles around twice before alighting, it is bad; if a bat flies into your house, look out for bedbugs; a bat flying into a building means it’s going to rain. It’s unlucky to see a bat in the daytime, and killing a bat shortens your life.
In both ancient Greece and Rome, it was thought that sleep could be prevented either by placing the engraved figure of a bat under the pillow, or by tying the head of a bat in a black bag and keeping it near to the left arm. In the Ivory Coast, even today many think that bats are the spirits of the dead, and in Madagascar, they are assumed to be the souls of criminals, sorcerers and the unburied dead. In the Tyrol it is believed that the man who wears the left eye of a bat may become invisible, and in Hesse he who wears the heart of a bat bound to his arm with red thread will always be lucky at cards. To the Chinese and the Polish, the bat means long life and happiness, a good omen.
Wash your face in bat's blood, and you will be able to see in the dark; keep a bat bone in your pocket will ensure good luck; powdered bat heart will staunch bleeding or stop a bullet; bullets from a gun swabbed with a bat's heart will always hit their target; bat's blood into someone's drink will make them more passionate; stimulate a woman's desire by placing a clot of bat blood under her pillow; use a hair wash of crushed bat wings in coconut oil and it will prevent both baldness and graying of the hair; and the list goes on and on... how many wondrous and magical uses these small flying mammals have! Unfortunately for the bat, most of these 'wonderful' applications where its 'miraculous' properties are required, ensue its demise.
"All the charms of Sycorax, toads, beetles and bats, light on you."
Some ancient allegories about the bat even made it to the Bible. The Hebrew word atalleph so rendered (Leviticus 11:19; Deuteronomy 14:18) implies 'flying in the dark'. The bat is reckoned among the birds in the list of unclean animals, and to cast idols to the 'moles and to the bats' means to carry them into dark caverns or desolate places to which these animals resort (Isaiah 2:20), i.e., to consign them to desolation or ruin.
This website is best viewed with the latest
versions of
Microsoft
Internet Explorer or
Firefox.
Occultopedia
makes extensive use of
Flash and Scripting in its pages and interface. Make certain your browser
permissions are set
accordingly and that you have the latest
Flash plug-in for the full experience, proper look and accurate
layout. You can do it with confidence. This site does not contain any viruses, malicious software
or scripts.
Occultopedia is the genuine article, the
original and the best internet index of the extraordinary and uncanny,
shamelessly copied by many, but never equaled. Online since 1995 — at first in a free web space provider
(Tripod.com), and in 1997 finally
with its own domain name and hosting — Occultopedia still is the
principal online resource for those looking for the unexplained, the
curious and the unusual.
Occultopedia respects your privacy. As
such, no cookies or any other tracking software will be installed as a
part of this website's original programming. I do not seek to obtain any personal information
beyond what is volunteered through electronic communications
(e.g. emails & forms).
Occultopedia may appear to be a for profit site, but my site is
not in reality a commercial one. All of the commercial links are from affiliate
programs, and the little revenue I get from these is to pay for hosting,
bandwidth — that can be quite costly if you have a lot of traffic, graphics and
pages — and any other expenses related to Occultopedia's upkeep, support, and maintenance.
For more details, visit my
ordering
information page.
Occultopedia is a
FREE online
resource available to the whole world. Usage of my word definitions and articles
by educational institutions, teachers and students alike, is here by granted.
Reproduction for profit, and for display in another web site is strictly
forbidden, and will be handled as copyright infringement and prosecuted to the
full extent of the law. However, if you follow
some simple guidelines,
I will grant permission for limited reproduction. For more information, please consult my
intellectual property rights, warranties and
disclaimers information page. Support Occultopedia and make it your
online shopping
destination. If you prefer, you can also make a donation.
HELP FOOT THE BILL: this website
is created and maintained by one guy, who also pays the hosting bill.
Please donate if you like and/or use Occultopedia.
Participate in Occultopedia and submit a word
definition or article for the occult encyclopedia at my
entry submission
page. If you would like to suggest a web site or page for
addition into Occultopedia's links database, please go to my
URL submission page.
.
