The Grasshopper, Locust, Cricket, Cicada, and Mantis in Religion, Myths, Mythology and Folklore

For cultures of the Far East, the songs of insects such as cicadas and crickets also represent the chanting of Buddhist priests. Cicadas and crickets are sometimes kept in cages, and their songs are often esteemed more than those of birds. The Chinese also value crickets for their martial spirit. Gladiatorial combats between crickets have remained a popular sport in China since ancient times.

The repeated sounds of crickets have not always impressed Westerners as unequivocally beautiful. In Germany somebody with a neurotic obsession is said to have crickets in his head. On the other hand, repetitions can represent the sometimes irritating, yet essential, lessons of conscience.

One variety of cricket is known as the “house cricket” for its habit of frequently entering homes. Because these crickets are drawn to warmth, they are symbols of the hearth. To have such a visitor is traditionally considered good luck throughout Europe, and killing it can bring ill fortune. In Carlo Collodi’s classic for children Pinocchio (first published in Italy in 1883), the hero, a wooden doll that has come to life, smashes a cricket named Jiminy with a mallet but, after many misfortunes, regrets the evil deed. Disney Studios later made Jiminy Cricket into one of their most popular animated characters and even had him introduce the television show Walt Disney Presents. The word “mantis” is Greek for “seer,” and the praying mantis certainly looks the part. Its long front legs are constantly moving. For ancient people this suggested a conventional posture of supplication, with hands upturned toward the sky, while Christians have some times thought of its claws as hands folded in prayer. The wings of a mantis suggest the flowing robes of a priest, but the most noticeable feature of the insect is its enormous eyes. People in the ancient world believed that the mantis had the power to curse with its gaze. People in the Far East have been impressed by the aggressiveness of the praying mantis, which is willing to attack creatures several times its size. A traditional saying in Japan goes, “Like a mantis raising its arms to stop the wheel of a passing cart” (Shoeki, p. 81).

Like other religious figures, the mantis of folklore seems to veer between extremes of good and evil. There is a widespread legend that the praying mantis can divine the goal of a traveler at a glance, as well as any possible dangers along the way. When asked by a wanderer, the mantis will point in the direction he should take. In the nineteenth century, however, when females of the species were observed to eat their mates after copulation, people were disillusioned and even began to demonize the mantis.