Bats in religion

In the Late Post-Classic Maya mythology of the Popol Vuh, Camazotz ( from Mayan ) (alternate spellings Cama-Zotz, Sotz, Zotz) is a bat spirit at the service of the lords of the underworld. Camazotz means "death bat" in the Kʼicheʼ language. In Mesoamerica generally, the bat is often associated with night, death, and sacrifice.

Popobawa, also Popo Bawa, is the name of an evil spirit or shetani, which is believed by residents of Zanzibar to have first appeared on the Tanzanian island of Pemba. In 1995, it was the focus of a major outbreak of mass hysteria or panic which spread from Pemba to Unguja, the main island of the Zanzibar Archipelago, and across to Dar es Salaam and other urban centres on the East African coast.

thumb|Zhong Kui with the wufu as represented by five bats, in a late 19th or early 20th century xylograph