Are there any curses or anything that involve leaving/finding a headless bat outside the backdoor of someone’s house?

August 18, 2005 2:19 PM

Are there any curses or anything that involve leaving/finding a headless bat outside the backdoor of someone’s house?

I just got home and went out to feed the dogs, when I found a decapitated brown bat at my door. Now, granted the door is somewhat glass and we do have cats… the manner in which it was decapitated struck me as odd. I can’t say that it was a clean cut, because some little red ants were having there way with it, but it did strike me as lacking in both the carnage that most some of the cats inflict as well as the efficiency of the others. I have yet to find the head anywhere around. The boars where the bat is lying is distinctly damper around the bat, making me think it was cut off there.

Anyway, there have been a few odd little things going on around the house. more odd feelings, weird sounds and things moved. Nothing you would really think of alone, but accumulated… and now this. My family and I have certainly become unpopular with some neighbors and groups in the surrounding county and state over the years. So I’m wondering if this has any ritualistic significance. Witchcraft, cults, the occult or just kids who take Hammer horror movies a little too seriously. Also I’d be interested in any general significance it might have pertaining to supernatural or Native American symbolism. Basically if this rings a bell on any level to anyone, I’d love some feed back.

Thanks!

-Neosamurai85

posted by Neosamurai85 to society & culture (20 comments total)

Whatever happens, if you survive, let us know how it went!
posted by Rothko at 2:46 PM on August 18, 2005

Do you live near Ozzy Osbourne?
posted by driveler at 2:57 PM on August 18, 2005

bats in South American folklore with images of *human* decapitation. Not exactly what you're looking for.

How did you piss off your neighbors, and what is their ethnicity or cultural identity?
posted by craniac at 3:06 PM on August 18, 2005

I don't think I understand. Are you saying you think your house is haunted, or that your neighbors are trying to hex you? Or that your neighbors tried to hex and you and somehow succeeded, thereby rendering you house haunted?
posted by tepidmonkey at 3:08 PM on August 18, 2005

dead bats found in neighborhood
posted by craniac at 3:09 PM on August 18, 2005

I don't know any specifc information about your case, but I'll admit this to you; I've often thought to myself, with regard to people who have pissed me off, "Hey I should go leave some dead chickens hanging from their trees, some black candles outside their gate, and some piles of salt around the place to make them think a curse has been put on them or something."

The point being, I don't believe in black magic. But they don't know that. This stuff only means as much as you let it, and if someone is using this technique to "get back at you", they're obviously too pussy to actually confront you in person.
posted by Jimbob at 3:10 PM on August 18, 2005

I'm wondering if the question is a joke? There is no such thing as black magic, or magic of any other kind. The only thing going on is that you were weirded out by finding a creepy headless bat and are now jumping at harmless shadows!
posted by Justinian at 3:15 PM on August 18, 2005

To clear things up a bit, I am not really concerned about any real supernatural threat. I am a pretty level headed agnostic. I’m open to the existence of the supernatural. Grew up in a house where stuff moved on it’s own with little regard to who was around. However, my concern is should I consider this a possible act by someone that does not like my family or I? I’m not worried about magic being real or fake as much as someone who dose believe in it and is attempting to use it in a hostile manner on my property. Also if this were related to a specific ritual that might shed light as to who might do it. For one my family has a long history of helping people in and out of the community get out of abusive situations where the abusers were fully aware that we did. I honestly don’t know where to begin the list of people that for various reasons might cut the head off a bat and leave it on the door.

I feel as if my descriptions of these events and concerns have led to an impression that I am very concerned about this. I am simply wondering if anyone is aware of anything like this. I am more than used to my share of oddities, however it’s always good to make a casual check up on things than shrug them off. This is a compleatly serious question, but rest assured, I’m not jumping at shadows.

Peace.
posted by Neosamurai85 at 3:51 PM on August 18, 2005

Justinian, much like the non-alcoholic vanilla extract question, you can read as much or as little into this question as you want to, but the fact remains, it's a very simple, to-the-point question: Are there any cultures/superstitions/rituals practiced somewhere that involve decapitated bats, yes or no?

The eighty-fifth neosamurai isn't asking whether we believe in the magical powers of bats, decapitated or otherwise, and we would be wise to stay focused on finding an answer to the real question rather than derailing the thread, says I ironically.
posted by odinsdream at 4:25 PM on August 18, 2005

When it comes to witchcraft - a curse only works if you believe that it works.

Having said that, I'm not aware of any specific ritual that involves a decapitated bat.
posted by divabat at 5:31 PM on August 18, 2005

Very well, then to be more constructive: I don't know of any ritluals that specifically involve a headless bat. That's not as useless a sentence as it might be as I have done a little reading on this sort of thing in the past.

That said... people do all kinds of crazy stuff and just because there is no "official" ritual involving cutting the head off a bat doesn't mean somebody might not think it up. But I wouldn't worry unless something more than weird noises starts happening. If you see someone prowling about or whatever. Otherwise; maybe bat heads are yummy cat treats.
posted by Justinian at 5:34 PM on August 18, 2005

There are decapitated mice and small birds left on my living room floor all the time.

I believe all of this bad ju-ju is designed to make me open a can of cat food.

Seems to be working.
posted by wilful at 6:20 PM on August 18, 2005

My guess is that your cats decapitated the bat. I had a cat who was fond of decapitating rodents and using the different body parts in various art installations around the house. Don't relax until you find the head. On a serious note, you now really need to make sure that your cats are up to date on their rabies vaccine. Bats are major rabies carriers.

Completely anecdotal: I had a bunch of weird things left around my front porch last summer, including a package of herbs & dirt & blood smeared on my front door. I wigged out a bit but after two or three mildly unpleasant incidents, it stopped, and we think the culprit was a 12 year old neighborhood kid dabbling in witchcraft who had been spurned by my 13 year old. Adults rarely do stuff like this. Kids do.
posted by mygothlaundry at 6:29 PM on August 18, 2005

Owls will bite off the heads of birds and leave the rest - maybe they like the occasional bat as well !
posted by rfs at 7:24 PM on August 18, 2005

There is such a thing as psychic attack. and fortunately,methods to defend yourself
posted by hortense at 7:52 PM on August 18, 2005

Thanks guys. I appreciate all the more plausible and rational explanations for the phenomena. I expect they are all more or less the answer to this. However, with all due respect, my original question was not how a bat could wind up on my door without a head, but rather there is any established significance in anything in the occult or other that is related to such things. If this were something I was seriously concerned about, I’d go to bigger lengths than poking around google and dusting off my Meta account (which really did need to be done). I think the background of the question is getting way too in the way for some of you guys…

Still… the bit about Ozzy did make me smile… how the hell did I not see it coming?

Peace.
posted by Neosamurai85 at 8:05 PM on August 18, 2005

There are occult practices calling for bat's blood, and I suppose decapitating the bat would be one way to get its blood. There are also traditions in which the bat's head is a good luck charm, though presumably not for the bat.

I've not heard of any practice that would call for the bat's torso to be left behind.
posted by bac at 9:06 PM on August 18, 2005

Perhaps you're focusing too much on the fact that it was decapitated. You mentioned that the area around the bat was moist (drenched in bat blood I presume). Bat blood is used by some practicioners of different 'occult arts' as a marker for revenge. Perhaps the individual who did this was spooked away and wasn't able to complete their task?

I think reporting it to the police, although seemingly frivolous, might be a good step to documenting a history just in case it doesn't end at this.

On the bright side, if the yahoo is spending all their time hunting and decapitating bats, they've invested time and belief that this will work and will not resort to anything that's actually dangerous.

Best of luck!
posted by Lactoso at 11:29 PM on August 18, 2005

I've found decapitated bats twice in the yard. I'm pretty sure it was an owl's work. For fast food, they prefer the crunchy bits to the chewy bits.
posted by fish tick at 8:35 AM on August 19, 2005

Another personal anecdote: my mother went through a period (about two weeks) of finding a daily headless rat- a big, BIG headless rat in her kitchen. No explanation, no closure. But that was 10 years ago and she and the house are all fine. Best explanation: somebody was setting traps for rats and mom's cat was finding the bodies and dragging them in the house.

Since there is no specific voodoo curse utilizing headless bats, I would bet on the more natural cause.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 9:19 AM on August 19, 2005