{"id":3335,"date":"2010-03-01T01:10:23","date_gmt":"2010-03-01T06:10:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=3394"},"modified":"2010-02-23T22:48:30","modified_gmt":"2010-02-24T03:48:30","slug":"faeries-elves-and-other-kin-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2010\/03\/01\/faeries-elves-and-other-kin-9\/","title":{"rendered":"Faeries, Elves, and Other Kin"},"content":{"rendered":"

Other Kin:\u00a0 The Banshee <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\"BANSHEE-SPIRIT\"<\/a><\/p>\n


\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The banshee, from the Irish bean s\u00eddhe<\/em> meaning \u201cfaerie woman\u201d or \u201cwoman of the faerie mounds,\u201d is a troublesome being when it comes to classification.\u00a0 Although it would seem the banshee should clearly be classified as a faerie based on the meaning of the name alone, it isn\u2019t that simple, although the banshee is clearly of the same \u201cOther World\u201d to which the faeries belong. <\/span><\/p>\n

The origin of the banshee may be the Morrigan herself, a triple Goddess and one of the Tuatha D\u00e9 Danann.\u00a0 Banshees have been called a \u201cBadbh,\u201d the death and battle aspect of the Morrigan, and legends say if a warrior heard the Morrigan\u2019s song, he was destined to die in battle.\u00a0 The Morrigan was also said to wash the entrails of those about to die in a stream and to choose only the loveliest maidens to become banshees. <\/span><\/p>\n

When the Tuatha D\u00e9 Danann were defeated in battle by the Milesians, they agreed to retreat and dwell underground in the s\u00eddhe<\/em>, the earthen burial mounds found throughout the Irish landscape.\u00a0 They became the aes s\u00eddhe<\/em>, a powerful, supernatural race comparable<\/em> to the faeries or elves.\u00a0 Today we use the word s\u00eddhe<\/em> to refer to both the mounds and the people of the mounds.\u00a0 However, the word correctly refers specifically to “the palaces, courts, halls or residences” only.\u00a0 Thus does the classification of the banshee as a faerie become problematic if the meaning of bean s\u00eddhe<\/em> is changed to be simply \u201cwoman of the mounds\u201d and if the women of the mounds are comparable to the faeries, but are not actually faeries.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is tradition in an Irish or Scottish village for a woman to sing a lament at the funeral of someone who has died. The keening of these women is said to be a combination of a wild goose\u2019s screech, a wolf\u2019s howl and the cry of an abandoned child, mimicking the banshee\u2019s wail.\u00a0 Legend says a \u201cfaerie\u201d woman will sing this lament for Irish and Scottish families of pure Milesian descent, or only for the O\u2019Grady, O\u2019Neill, O\u2019Brien, O\u2019Connor, and Kavanagh families, or for families gifted with song and music.\u00a0 The family may know the name of their banshee and the banshee may even follow the family overseas, despite the prohibition that the banshee cannot cross running water (a prohibition shared by many faerie entities).\u00a0 Some families, however, believe their banshee is the spirit of a dead friend or family member, often a virgin, sometimes a murder victim, usually someone who died young.<\/span><\/p>\n

The banshee may appear in various forms, including:<\/span><\/p>\n