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Thoughts: Chess, a game. Movement of pieces. Black and white, good and bad. Two Knights.
The white picket fence is an old American dream from the 50s: to own, to have, home sweet home with a white picket fence.

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Definitions are supplied to demystify symbolism (and the artwork in this studio).
Click here to return to the online symbolism dictionary.

 

Bats...
Nowadays BAT has become a symbol for vampires (they're supposed to be able to turn into bats at will), spooky nights, haunted houses and Halloween (USA). I think the merging of vampire and bat has to do with the way the South America bloodsucking bat has caught the imagination of so many people: bloodsucking bat and bloodsucking vampire, no big stretch eh?

Modern slang/(American) culteral interpretation layer: "Bats in the belfry" and "Batty" both mean a person is crazy, "Blind as a bat" is another oft-used modern phrase for a person with very poor eyesight.
Posted: October 16, 2003.
Revised: April 19, 2004.

 

Shortcut links to the (expert) quotes below:
Vollman: The Little Giant Encyclopedia of Dream Symbols
Biedermann: Dictionary of Symbolism
Campbell: The Power of Myth
Estés: Women Who Run With the Wolves

 

The Little Giant Encyclopedia of Dream Symbols, p. 55
The symbol for VAMPIRE, sucking out, being sucked dry. Dull, compulsive, dangerous emotions. On the other hand, this dream symbol expresses great sensibility, having radar-like skills and useful instincts.
Posted: January 17, 2004.

Dictionary of Symbolism, p. 29-31
An animal of multiple symbolic significance, whose dual nature (as a winged mammal) has attracted attention in many cultures. In the Occident the bat is an eerie creature, believed to become entangled in people's HAIR. Reports from South America of BLOOD-sucking vampire bats have made Europeans view their own bats (who are harmless except to gnats and the like) as terrifying creatures. The DEVIL as a fallen ANGEL is portrayed in art with bat's wings (he, too, flees the LIGHT), and the same is true for demonic creatures of every sort (e.g., Invidia, the personification of envy, who dare not show herself by day). Bats are seldom omitted from paintings of WITCHES' Sabbaths. And in modern English the creatures appear in derogatory idioms referring to the mentally ill ("to have bats in one's belfry," "to be batty") and older women ("an old bat"). Bats fare better in other cultures. Among the Maya of Central America the bat (z'otz) is revered as a tutelary god, especially by the Zotzil tribes. In the mythology of the Quiché Maya a "beheading bat" from the underworld appears frequently. In ancient China the bat was a symbol of good fortune, primarily because of the homonymy of the words for "bat" and "luck" (fu). Five bats mean five forms of earthly happiness: a long life, wealth, health, love of virtue, and a natural death; there are many depictions of a kindly magician producing five bats from an urn. RED bats were considered to be particularly lucky: their color would frighten away demons. In African myths the bat was often considered especially intelligent, since it never collided with anything in flight.

In classical antiquity the bat symbolized vigilance, and its eye was believed to offer protection against drowsiness. At the same time bats were already being nailed to doors as protection against night demons and black magic; this practice continues even today in some rural areas. Drops of bats blood under a woman's pillow were thought to assure that she would bear many children, and bats furnished miraculous remedies for snakebite and plagues of ANTS, LOCUSTS, and caterpillars. In Greek fable and legend the bat is portrayed as shrewd but timid. "Bat" (Latin vespertilio, Greek nykertis) was also a humorous term for a night reveler. In the Odyssey, the souls of the dead are described as fluttering through the underworld and emitting cries like those of bats. In medieval bestiaries the bat is still presented in a positive light:...(more of this definition can be found in Mr. Biedermann's book :)...
Posted: October 16, 2003.

Want to know more? Go out and pick up a copy of the book(s) quoted and expand your mind :) These are MY teachers, the people who teach me about symbolism :) I hope the supplied definitions help you understand the art found on this site.

 
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