“FEAR is an acronym in the English language for “False Evidence Appearing Real”” Neale Donald Walsch

Recently I had a close encounter with a bat. It flu into my apartment, that is how close it was. I am afraid of bats, or shall I say – I was afraid until I met this fragile creature and named it Angelina.

She was trapped in the apartment for 5 hours and soundlessly flu around while my dogs remained oblivious to it. No matter how high or low she flu, one dog kept sleeping and another one was curiously looking at me while I was hiding under the table. I felt ridiculous and at times thought I was living a nightmare.

Eventually I decided to close myself in a (bat-proof) room and call friends to help me with Angelina’s rescue. While waiting for their arrival I Googled ‘bats in the house’ and found a lot of interesting facts and myths related to these creatures.

This is what I found on www.wvu.edu/~agexten/wildlife/bats.pd:

Many myths are associated with bats, such as the saying “blind as a bat.” This isn’t true. Bats can see quite well. Another myth is that bats get caught in people’s hair. They don’t. Nor are bats destructive pests like rats and mice. In fact, a colony of bats could cut down on unwanted mosquitoes around your house and help keep your garden free of insects.

The more I was reading the more I felt my fear of bats was based on an event that happened when I was 8 or 9 years old: I think I saw bats for the first time and was mesmerized by their flight until my friend said that a bat can get trapped in hair and the only way to release it was to cut the hair off. Just the thought of carrying a bat around until I found scissors seemed like the worst thing that could happen. That is how 30 years of living with fear of bats was programmed in my brain. How powerful (and paralyzing) is that!

The process of naming the bat Angelina, reading more about the facts, myths and symbols and finally seeing her magnificent flight into the night I felt more empowered then afraid. This was put into a test the next evening as I walked around a park: bats were flying all over the place! I smiled as I checked in with my body – my heart was not beating, I didn’t panic, I didn’t run away, I didn’t feel disgusted. I was free of my fear and bats are cool.

“Bat medicine teaches us to release fear and any pattern which no longer fits in with our pattern of growth. A new beginning, trusting one’s instincts, the bat is powerful medicine.” (http://symbolism.wikia.com/wiki/Bat)