Do you see a bat or the devil’s face?
Image credit: nandasithu
The devil pod, also known as bat nut, goat head, buffalo nut and bull nut, is the seed pod of Trapa bicornis, one of three extant species of water caltrop, an Asian aquatic plant. Glossy and black, it measures 2 1/2 – 3 inches from tip to tip, and when dried and oiled, its surface texture resembles that of a chestnut or buckeye.
Depending on how it is viewed, this naturally sculpted botanical oddity can look like a leering goat-horned devil, an enraged bull demon, a flying bat, or even a chupacabra. You can see the devil face illusion on both sides of the pod, and the two faces can actually be quite different.
Just check this out:
You can see a devil face on one side. Image credit: Cerlin Ng
And you can see an even more scary devil face on the other side. Image credit: Genista
Water caltrops grow in the soil of ponds and lakes, from where they send up floating shoots with a rosette of leaves on top. A single flower is grown along the leaf axils which then produces the seed pods.
Inside the dark brown, hard pods, there is a white, starchy nut. Similar to water chestnuts, bat nuts have a crunchy texture with a mild flavor, often sautéed with rice and vegetables. Since in their raw form bat nut seeds contain toxins, they have to be neutralized by cooking before consumption.
Freshly harvested bat nuts. Image credit: Cerlin Ng
Since the Chinese word for happiness (Fu) sounds just like the word for ‘Bat’ (Fu), in China bat nuts are considered a lucky food to eat, and an extremely lucky curio to possess. In the South, the devil pod has long been used to ward off evil, with people placing it above a doorway, facing it outward as an apotropaic charm, much like a Roman Janus or Tibetan door demon. Some folks also carry a devil pod in a red flannel bag and anoint it with Uncrossing or Cast Off Evil oil when surrounded by enemies.
Despite its good taste, bat nuts are a rarity in the United States and their bizarre shape have led to its use as an offering on altars to some of the darker gods.
A cauldron of bat nuts. Image credit: Malte
These ritual uses might sound a bit odd, but since bats are under devastating ecological pressure from us humans, bat nuts can indeed be a good and effective substitute for any kind of magic that calls for the use of bats.
Indeed, these curious looking nuts are useful in more way than one.
