What does a bat mean in Africa. Encyclopedia of symbols

Bat: Souls of the Dead

Among the peoples of South Africa there is a belief that the souls of deceased people in the form of bats visit their living relatives. Indeed, in South Africa, bats love to dwell in cemeteries, which confirms, in the eyes of Africans, their connection to the world of the dead. It is believed that these little spirits can both harm people and help them - for example, in the search for buried treasures - if people feed the bats with blood.

The giant bats that can be found in Ghana were considered the helpers of sorcerers and African gnomes - mmoatia. These large and rather scary-looking animals are vegetarians, their diet consists only of fruits, but Africans believed that these bats kidnap people and transfer them to where people fall under the influence of evil spirits. This subspecies of volatile and outwardly similar to evil gnomes: the paws of these bats are stretched back, they have red hair, and, moreover, they have beards.

Source: "Symbols of Africa" ​​Heike Ovuzu