// Bat Medicine: Initiating Shamanic Death//

Steeped in the mystery of Meso American tribal ritual is the legend of Bat.  Akin
to the ancient Buddhist belief in reincarnation, in Central America,B at is the symbol of
rebirth. The Bat has for centuries been a treasured medicine of the Aztec, Toltec,
Tolucan, and Mayan people.

 Bat embraces the idea of shamanistic death.  The ritual death of the healer is
steeped in secrets and highly involved initiation rites.  Shaman death is the symbolic
death of the initiate to the old ways of life and personal identity.  The initiation that brings the right to heal and to be called shaman is necessarily precede by ritual death.  Most of these rituals are brutally hard on the body, mind, and spirit.  In light of today’s standards, it can be very difficult to find a person who can take the abuse and come through it with their balance intact.

 The basic idea of ancient initiations was to break down all the former notions of
“self” that were held by the shaman-to-be.  This could entail brutal tests of physical
strength and psychic ability, and having every emotional “button” pushed hard.  Taunting and spitting on the initiate was common, and taught him or her to endure the duress with humility and fortitude.  The final initiation step was to be buried in the earth for one day and to be reborn without former ego in the morning.
    

This ritual is very similar to the night of fear practiced by natives of Turtle Island.
In this ritual, the shaman-to-be is sent to a certain location to dig his or her grave and
spend the night in the womb of Mother Earth totally alone, with the mouth of the grave
covered by a blanket. Darkness, and the sounds of animals prowling, quickly confront the initiate with his or her fears.
    

As the darkness of the grave has its place in this ritual, so does the cave of Bat.
Hanging upside-down is a symbol for learning to transpose your former self into a
newborn being.  This is also the position that babies assume when they enter the world
through the womb of woman.
    

If Bat has appeared in your cards today, it symbolizes the need for a ritualistic
death of some way of life that no longer suits your new growth pattern.  This can mean a time of letting go of old habits, and of assuming the position in life that prepares you for rebirth, or in some cases initiation.  In every case, Bat signals rebirth of some part of
yourself of the death of old patterns.  If you resist your destiny, it can be a long, drawn
out, or painful death.  The universe is always asking you to grow and become your future. To do so you must die the shaman’s death.