dereksleatherjacketsociety: The banshee tradition occurs throughout Ireland and nearby islands. The

dereksleatherjacketsociety:The banshee tradition occurs throughout Ireland and nearby islands. The gaelic terms used most frequently to describe the banshee are the “bean-si" (a female dweller of a sidhe, or fairy mound), the “bean chaointe" (a female keener, a term found in east Munster and Connaught) and the “badhb" (referring to a more dangerous, frightening bogey). Although “bean-si" implies an Otherworld or fairy being, the banshee is a solitary creature without male counterpart who never partakes in communal human or fairie social enterprise. More likely the banshee should be thought of as the “spirit of the family", a spirit who attends to the family in a time of transition. The banshee is described as a wee woman with long white, blond or even auburn hair who appears in the vicinity of the birthplace of the soon to be deceased. When seen, she is wearing the clothes of a country woman, usually white, but sometimes grey, brown or red. The former hues represent the colors of mourning while red is associated with magic, fairies and the supernatural. In some accounts she is seen combing her hair as she laments. … The inaccurate association with crows is probably due to confusion of the banshee with the primitive Celtic goddess Badb, the goddess of war who appeared frequently in the form of a crow.Banshees also wail around natural forms such as trees, rivers, and stones. Wedge shaped rocks known as “banshee’s chairs" are found in Waterford, Monaghan and Carlow. … Stories are told of the misfortune visited upon men who interfered with the banshee by taking her comb or challenging her. These tales point up the value of courteousness towards women, the avoidance of drink, violence and late hours.There is historical precedence for the banshee’s appearance as a female spirit. In Genesis, Eve delivers the apple to Adam. In the Christian myth, Mary delivers Christ unto the world, in ancient Greece women prophesied the message of the gods to mortals who sought their divine purpose at the Oracle of Delphi. Women “deliver" children into the world. As death is as natural as life, it is appropriate that the banshee, a feminine shade, provide the message which ushers a soul along on its journey. (x) -- source link

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