The short answer
Dream interpretation is not prediction and not diagnosis. This article separates what sleep research observes from what popular interpretation associates with the theme.
Dreaming about a bat is not a sign of death in the family, illness or the evil eye. The bat gathers in one body several things that people find strange: it flies in the dark, sleeps upside down, appears suddenly. That is why it usually turns up in dreams of unease, when something seems out of place, invading a space that should be safe, such as your own home.
Bats inside the house, stuck in the ceiling or beating at the window, usually go with the feeling that a problem came in where it should not. A calm bat, hanging, tends to come more with curiosity than fear.
Read also: Dreaming about an owl and Dreaming about a cave.
Why the bat visits the dream
By the threat simulation hypothesis, proposed by Antti Revonsuo in 2000, dreaming works as danger training. A shape crossing the bedroom in the dark, fast and hard to see, is the type of alarm this hypothesis describes: the brain reacts before understanding what it is.
The continuity between waking life and dreaming also counts for a lot. In several Brazilian cities, fruit bats visit mango trees and porches at night, and anyone who has seen one enter the house keeps the scene. Horror films, Halloween and vampire stories feed the same repertoire.
Sources: Revonsuo, The reinterpretation of dreams, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 2000; Schredl and Hofmann, Continuity between waking activities and dream activities, Consciousness and Cognition, 2003.
The most common versions of this dream
| Scene | What it usually comes with |
|---|---|
| A bat inside the house or the bedroom | A feeling of invasion, a worry that entered intimate life |
| A bat biting or attacking you | Fear of being drained, tiredness with someone who demands too much |
| Many bats flying in a swarm | Diffuse anxiety, many small worries at the same time |
| A dead bat or one standing on the ground | Relief, a subject that lost strength, or strangeness |
| A giant, black or white bat | Amplified fear, or fascination with the unusual in the case of the white one |
If the bat was biting the neck, the dream speaks with another symbol: see dreaming about a vampire.
When the dream deserves professional attention
Dreaming about a bat now and then is common. If the scene returns almost every night, if you wake in panic or become afraid to turn off the light, it is worth talking to a health professional: there are simple treatments for nightmares. See what helps you have fewer nightmares.
Source: Morgenthaler et al., Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2018.
Freud, Jung and faith on this dream
In Freud's psychoanalysis. Freud divided the dream into pieces and asked for associations for each one: the wings, the dark, the bedroom, the bite. This free association method often reveals that the bat condenses different things, such as a noise on the roof heard at dawn and a visitor who will not leave the house.
In Jung's psychology. Man and His Symbols reproduces an etching by Goya in which owls and bats swarm around a sleeping man, as an example of the fantastic nature of dreams. On another page, the book shows a painting of Saint Anthony tempted by a young woman whose bat wings reveal her demonic nature: an image of the negative anima, the seductive and dangerous female figure of the male unconscious.
In the Dictionary of Symbols. Chevalier and Gheerbrant show an animal of opposite meanings. In China, the character that names the bat sounds like the word for happiness, and five bats represent the Five Blessings: wealth, longevity, tranquility, virtue and a good death. Among the Maya, the house of the bat is one of the underground regions on the road to the land of death. For the Tupinamba, the end of the world would come when a bat devoured the Sun. Among the Fulani, it is at once the one who sees in the dark and the enemy of light.
Putting the two readings together. Science explains the fright; the traditions recall that the same creature has been a sign of luck and of darkness. Asking whether the dream bat saw in the dark or put out the light helps choose the reading.
Sources: Freud, Die Traumdeutung, 1900; Jung (ed.), Man and His Symbols; Chevalier and Gheerbrant, A Dictionary of Symbols.
What dream dictionaries record
In O Livro dos Sonhos (a Brazilian dream book), L. P. Baçan records for the bat: in life, death; in love, ardent desire. It is an old, traditional reading that echoes the animal's nocturnal reputation, and not a prediction: no study links dreams about bats with real deaths.
Man and His Symbols itself, a book organized by Jung, warns against this kind of catalog: dreams would be completely individual phenomena, and their symbols cannot be cataloged. The bat of someone who cleaned an infested attic last week is not the same as that of someone who just watched a horror film.
Sources: Jung (ed.), Man and His Symbols; L. P. Baçan, O Livro dos Sonhos, 2014.
What folk tradition links to this dream
In popular Brazilian reading, the bat usually appears as a sign of people who "suck" energy, of envy or of something hidden coming to light. A bat flying out of the house is read as cleansing; dead, as the end of a heavy phase. These are cultural beliefs to reflect on, and not warnings about the future. See dream meanings according to science and culture.
Sources
- Revonsuo A. The reinterpretation of dreams: An evolutionary hypothesis of the function of dreaming. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 2000. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X00004015
- Schredl M, Hofmann F. Continuity between waking activities and dream activities. Consciousness and Cognition, 2003. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1053-8100(02)00072-7
- Morgenthaler TI et al. Position Paper for the Treatment of Nightmare Disorder in Adults: An American Academy of Sleep Medicine Position Paper. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2018. https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.7178
- Freud S. The Interpretation of Dreams (Die Traumdeutung), 1900. Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66048
- Jung CG (ed.). Man and His Symbols, 1964. Portuguese edition consulted: O homem e seus símbolos, Nova Fronteira/HarperCollins Brasil. https://www.skoob.com.br/book/8435
- Chevalier J, Gheerbrant A. A Dictionary of Symbols (Dictionnaire des symboles). Portuguese edition consulted: Dicionário de símbolos, José Olympio/Record. https://www.record.com.br/products/dicionario-de-simbolos
- Baçan LP. O Livro dos Sonhos (Brazilian dream book). Self-published, 2014.
Frequently asked questions
What does it mean to dream about a bat inside the house?
It usually goes with the feeling that something invaded an intimate space: a worry, a person, a tension in the family. It can also be just the memory of a real bat seen nearby. It is not an omen.
Is dreaming about a bat biting a bad sign?
No. The bite usually translates the feeling of being worn out or exploited by someone or by a situation. Science does not link this dream to illness or real danger.
What does it mean to dream about a dead bat?
Often it comes with relief, like an annoyance that ended. In some popular readings, it symbolizes the end of a hard phase. It is a cultural interpretation, not a guarantee.
What is the meaning of dreaming about a bat in the spiritual world?
It varies a lot. According to the Dictionary of Symbols, Mosaic law held the bat as an unclean animal, while in China it is a symbol of happiness and longevity. These are readings of faith and culture to reflect on, not predictions.
Does dreaming about a bat have to do with a vampire?
Sometimes, yes. Films and stories have joined the two for over a century, and the dream mixes that repertoire. If there was blood, a neck or a human figure, the reading comes close to the vampire symbol.
