The Cult of the Death Bat God

12/28/2024

by M.P. Pellicer | Stranger Than Fiction Stories
Belief in this deity started among the Meso-Americans of Guatemala which was described as a dangerous cave-dwelling bat creature known as Camazotz. In the Maya culture it is linked to death. and inhabits a cave called the "house of bats" in the Popol Vuh.

Artist's rendition of El Chonchon

This monster bat would attack victims and decapitate them. Camazotz is identified as one of the four animal demons whose aim is destruction. His purpose along with the other gods was to clear the slate to create the perfect slaves on earth. Camazotz is the fourth of the Nine Lords of the Night featured on the Mayan Haab' calendar.

Another version of bat-like monsters in Peru and Chile is called chonchon. It was supposed to have been created by a sorcerer or "kalku", who through dark magic caused a severed head to sprout giant ears that became wings and talons, and it has fierce fangs like a jaguar.

The kalku himself can become a chonchon by applying a magical ointment on his throat, that allows for the separation of his head from the body. Once detached the head becomes a chonchon. It flies around on moonless nights, committing evil acts and drink human blood, especially from those who are sick. The legend says that only another kalku can see a chonchon. Regular persons can only hear its cry of "tue, tue, tue". Hearing it is a portend of impending doom or the death of a loved one.

Some archaeologists suggest that the basis for these stories are encounters with real vampire bats, and the inspiration for the bat-god Camazotz. This animal has a historical connection to bloodletting and sacrifice.

The Zapotec were a pre-Columbian civilization that flourished in the Valley of Oaxaca in southern Mexico. They built the ancient city of Monte Albán, and their mention of a bat-like deity dates back to 100 A.D. Seen flying out of the sacred cenotes or dark caves, they equated the bats with death.

Undated picture of a "thunder bird", are these the same creature?

Mayans of Central America believed the bat was the guardian of the underworld and a powerful force against enemies. Camazotz was a large, leaf-nosed bat with a human-like form. He was usually depicted with a sacrificial knife in one hand and a human heart in the other.

In the Popol Vuh, Camazotz acted as a go between, when the first men wanted to acquire fire from the underworld. Mankind offered the bat god their armpits and waists in exchange for fire. This is believed to be the origin of the ritual of human sacrifice, which is why victims were cut open from the top to the bottom of their torso.

Surprisingly Madeleine L'Engle's (1918-2007) book A Wrinkle in Time (1962), is a fantasy that describes a physicist father who travels through space in the 5th dimension, and three children who aided by supernatural beings seek him on the planet Camazotz. It's a place where puppet-like inhabitants are controlled by a disembodied brain. What an odd choice for a children's story, when one can be sure that she understood the origins of the name.

Did Desmodus Draculae (giant bat) really go extinct?

There was a real animal that existed during the Pleistocene age that was about 25% larger than modern vampire bats. Its name is Desmodus draculae or giant vampire bat. It is the largest-known vampire bat to have ever lived. Its extinction is assumed to be geologically recent, as some of its remains discovered were not yet fossilized.

The latest age for fossils found for this giant bat have been dated to approximately 1650 AD, which leads to the belief that it coexisted with human beings in Central and South America.

Recent sightings date back to 1947, when J. Harrison claimed to have seen large creatures he described as giant bats with wingspans of about 12 feet.

In the early 1950s, a Brazilian couple claimed to see a giant bat as they walked in a forest of Pelotas, in the same area that fossils had been recovered. The couple however described the creatures as being humanoid in appearance.

In the mid-1970s, different witnesses claimed to have seen a creature described as a bald bat, or pterosaur-like with a short beak and gorilla-like face. Three-toed prints were said to have been found at the place of one of the sightings.

Giant bats were seen in Chihuahua, Mexico c.1965

In 1965, giant bats were seen in northern Chihuahua (Mexico) with wingspreads of up to 3 feet. They were attacking people and cattle.

In 1975, there was an outbreak of animal mutilations in the town of Moca in Puerto Rico. A farmer and others who lived in the area of the attacks described seeing two grey, bird-like creatures.

In 1988, a fossil of this bat was discovered in the Mongas province of Venezuela. Additional evidence has been found in the Yucatan peninsula, Belize, northern Brazil and Argentina. It is not known exactly when Desmodus draculae went extinct, if at all.

In 2021, paleontologists in Argentina found a fossilized jaw of the Desmodus draculae inside an ancient burrow of a giant sloth.

Fossil evidence, strange stories and native mythos points to the possibility that man and giant vampire bats crossed paths many times. Were humans ever victims of an animal that lived from ingesting blood?