El murciélago se hizo eterno entre colores y piedras preciosas

Abstract

Mesoamerican religions in the pre-Hispanic period perceived the animal and plant world as inseparably connected with the divine world, and, thus, having decisive influence on human existence. Animals could play different roles in them: from deity personification, through assuming a part of divine nature, to acting as messengers communicating divine and human reality. Due to the environment in which they live, bats became one of the leading figures in Indian culture. Since caves, being typical habitat of these mammals, were regarded as gateways for communication with the supernatural world, while bats, freely moving between the unexplored darkness of the caves (identified with the underworld) and the outside world (the world of living people), naturally became personification of divinity and/or messengers of gods. Moreover, as shown in the presented iconographic sources, bats aroused both curiosity, admiration and fear due to their ability of echolocation, feeding on blood and also due to their dual nature: although they were mammals, they could fly like birds. This article aims at analysing perception of bats in various Mesoamerican cultures over the centuries: from the Olmec civilization through the Maya, Zapotec to the Mexica.