Bat Watching...

Last night after dark, B and I shared a most wonderful experience...

Standing just a few feet away from this most bizarre tree in her garden...

(have you ever seen anything so fantastic & peculiar?)

We held our breath, becoming an audience of two... it felt as if we were in the middle of a filming of a National Geographic Special on fruit bats.. 

These little leather winged creatures swooped and zoomed silently amongst the branches to bury their heads deep into the nectar filled flowers, (as seen above) from this very strange "Gourd Tree." 

The Flowers seem to grow right out of the tree trunk and have a most unusual odor... which the bats seem to find irresistible....  - I can tell because the morning after it looks like they had a grand old time with spent flowers all over the place...  

What a great example of symbiosis... The tree gets pollinated and can set fruit, and the Bats get drunk on the wine from the flowers... - what a wonderful relationship... 

I wish I had photo's to share of the bats, but their much to fast, and the light is not sufficient...

However, this morning, as I pondered the loveliness of the bat and what a treat it had been to behold I wondered about the symbolism and meaning of bats in native cultures... and here's what I found...

Though much maligned in more modern cultures, the  bat in native cultures is thought to be highly sensitive to its surroundings, and therefore a symbol of intuition, dreaming & Vision, and is considered a powerful totem to shamans & medicine people...  Bats ability to "see" in the night allows them to see through illusion, go to inner depths, and used in journeying.  

Bat is powerful medicine, encouraging us to release fear and any old patterns which no longer fit in with new patterns of growth.. and therefore symbolizes new beginnings, trusting ones instincts and rebirth...

Powerful stuff... - hope you enjoyed.

Love,

Neinah