|
|
Bats are integral to the
modern day concept of the vampire. However. this was not always
the case.
Many cultures hold myths about bats. In South America, Camazotz
was a bat god of the caves, living in the Bathouse of the
Underworld. In Europe, bats and owls were long associated with
the supernatural, mainly because they were creatures of the
Night. On the other hand, the Gypsies thought of Bats as lucky;
they wore charms made of the bones of bats. And in England, the
Wakefield crest amongst many others are depicted with a bat.
So how did bats end up
becoming associated with vampires?
There are three species of vampires bats in the entire world, all
of which occur in Central and Southern America. The Spanish
conquistadors first came into contact with them during the 16th
century, and immediately recognised the similarity between
feeding habits of the bat and the mythical vampire. It wasn't
long before they began to associate bats with their vampiric
legends. Over the following centuries the relation grew stronger,
with James Malcolm Rhymer's "Varney the Vampyre" in the
1840's. Stoker was the primary source for cementing the link
between bats and vampires in the minds of the general public.