Happy Friday, Missy!
I hope all you guys are off to a great morning so far. Today's Featured Creature post is our last for the year, (we'll likely come back in May with more Mythical Beasts, though). Before we get off into today's Featured Creature, I just want to remind everyone that we have one last Pet Spooktacular episode scheduled for tomorrow, entitled, "Halloween: Is It Evil?" This episode airs at our normal time of 5pm Central on Google Hangouts.
Okie dokie...now let's get to today's creature. We've all heard the term, "screaming banshee" before, and beyond the fact that they scream, and are female, we likely know, little else. So just what is a banshee? To answer that question, we'll get a little help from Wikipedia and Myth or Truth.com:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banshee
A banshee (/ˈbænʃiː/ BAN-shee; Modern Irish bean sí, from Old Irish: ban síde, pronounced [bʲan ˈʃiːðʲe], "woman of the fairy mound" or "fairy woman") is a female spirit in Irish mythology who heralds the death of a family member, usually by shrieking or keening. Her name is connected to the mythologically-important tumuli or "mounds" that dot the Irish countryside, which are known as síde (singular síd) in Old Irish.
Irish legend speaks of a lament being sung by a fairy woman; she would sing it when a family member died or was about to die, even if the person had died far away and news of their death had not yet come, so that the wailing of the banshee was the first warning the household had of the death.[2][3]
She also predicts death. If someone is about to enter a situation where it is unlikely they will come out of alive she will warn people by screaming or wailing. Hence why a banshee is also known as a wailing woman.
It is often stated that the Banshee laments only the descendants of the pure Milesian stock of Ireland,[4] sometimes clarified as surnames prefixed with O' and Mac,[5] and some accounts even state that each family has its own Banshee. One account, however, also included the Geraldines, as they had apparently become "more Irish than the Irish themselves".[6]
When several banshees appear at once, it indicates the death of someone great or holy.[7] The tales sometimes recounted that the woman, though called a fairy, was a ghost, often of a specific murdered woman, or a mother who died in childbirth.[8]
Most, though not all, surnames associated with banshees have the Ó or Mc/Mac prefix - that is, surnames of Goidelic origin, indicating a family native to the Insular Celtic lands rather than those of the Norse, English, or Norman invaders. Accounts reach as far back as 1380 to the publication of the Cathreim Thoirdhealbhaigh (Triumphs of Torlough) by Sean mac Craith.[9] Mentions of banshees can also be found in Norman literature of that time.[9]
In some parts of Leinster, she is referred to as the bean chaointe (keening woman) whose wail can be so piercing that it shatters glass. In Scottish folklore, a similar creature is known as the bean nighe or ban nigheachain (little washerwoman) or nigheag na h-àth (little washer at the ford) and is seen washing the bloodstained clothes or armour of those who are about to die. In Welsh folklore, a similar creature is known as the hag of the mist.[10]
Almost all the cultures in the world believe in the existence of death and the afterlife as well as these so called harbingers of death. Every culture has their own stories of such creatures or spirits that are said to foretell the demise of a person like the “White Lady” in the Philippines and some European countries, the “Red Lady” in China, the Pontianak in Indonesia, and the Grim Reaperin the West.
They may differ in names and in origin, but they are all considered to be precursors of death. In this article, we are going to know all about this mysterious and superstitious creature called the Banshee as we explore its paranormal roots as well as the scientific facts that can be used to explain this particular entity.
Overview Of The Banshee:
The Banshee is one interesting entity because stories and legends of its existence dates back as far as the 1300’s and it is said to manifest itself even to this day. As most legend suggest, the Banshee is a female fairy who begins to cry when somebody is about to die. The appearance or manifestation of this creature is said to be a bad omen it leads to the demise of an individual the next day. The legend of the Banshee is common in Ireland and similar creatures can be found in Scotland and in the America:
Some Facts About The Banshee:
Here are some interesting facts about Banshee that you should know:
1. In some stories, Banshees are seldom seen by the people. Their presence is only determined if they hear a loud wailing sound coming from the woods, which is heard mostly during the eve of someone’s death. Other versions of the stories indicate that there are certain Irish families which is attached to the Banshee and whenever a family member is about to die, the Banshee will appear and warn them by wailing. The cry of the Banshee may vary from a low pleasant singing to a piercing and shattering noise.
2. The Banshee is often seen to be dressed in white or grayish-white gown while brushing their long pale hair with a comb. According to a romantic Irish legend, the comb is used by the Banshee (and also Mermaids) to lure innocent souls into their doom. That’s why people in Ireland never pick up any comb that is lying on the ground even until this day. Others who have seen this creature described her as wearing a green, red, and sometimes black dress hidden under a grey cloak.
3. As mentioned, Banshee can manifest in any forms and disguises, the most common of which is the appearance of a beautiful or ugly woman. But they are also believed to appear as animals like the weasel, stoat, hare, or the hooded crow. These animals are commonly associated to witchcraft in Ireland.
4. One version on the origin of the Banshee tells that the female apparition is later revealed to be the Morrigan, the Irish goddess of battles, sovereignty, and strife. The Morrigan is the Irish version of the Valkyries who decides the fate of warriors during the Germanic battles.
5. The Irish death bringer is considered to be a fairy or elemental spirit, but the Banshee seen in the Americas are depicted to be more of a ghost or any ghoulish apparitions that are commonly mistaken by people to be the Irish messenger of death.
Some Scientific Explanations Of This Famous Irish Legend:
The Banshee is considered to be a creature bound under the belief in superstition and the supernatural. Others even think that it’s only a figure of wild imagination by some people. Let’s try to explore some scientific facts that might give an explanation to the existence of the Banshee.
1. Before the world was dominated with scientific knowledge, most of the people in the “old” world were more inclined to believe in the existence of the supernatural elements to give to give an explanation to some things or events that they cannot comprehend. It’s most likely a coincidence that the Irish folks saw an old hag, a beautiful woman, or a crow when somebody dies when in fact they can be seen daily and yet barely noticed. This goes to show that most people in the past tend to device an explanation they can think of to many things as scientific knowledge was still not available to provide a proper definition of things.
2. Banshees were considered as creatures in the woods and often not to be seen by most people. Instead, their weeping is only heard from a distance and there are only a number of cases reported that they were seen. Based on the description of the sounds that the people once heard, they can be easily explained to be howls of wolves at night, a gust of wind blowing on hollow trees, and other animals making weeping-like noises. Again, it’s most likely that the people from the old times tend to give a rational explanation to the sound they were not able to recognize and then added the idea of associating it to the event of death.
3. In cases of actual apparition, it could possible that those who have seen this mysterious being may have been seeing some type of optical illusion as the Banshee is usually seen covered with mist in the woods. According to some scientist, our human brain is trained to pick up any human-like figure from the things all around us. Basic examples of this phenomena is when one takes a picture and then sees a face at the background which was actually the cause of the distortion of light and the “mirage effect” (seeing images in the distance). In the case of the Banshee apparition, it most likely that people who have seen it just saw other inanimate objects in the dead of the night and then immediately conclude the idea that what they saw was the actual harbinger of death.
Conclusion:
Whether it is real or not, the Banshee still remains as one of the supernatural creatures that haunt the frail minds of human beings. Seeing it or hearing it is a definite sign of death. So the next time you hear a woman weeping, pray that no one will die the next day.
Alright. That's it for now. I hope these two articles were able to shed some light on Bashees. Like all our other Featured Creatures, I definitely don't want to run across a banshee, (and hope you don't either).
Until tomorrow's show, this is your host J, signing off....
I hope all you guys are off to a great morning so far. Today's Featured Creature post is our last for the year, (we'll likely come back in May with more Mythical Beasts, though). Before we get off into today's Featured Creature, I just want to remind everyone that we have one last Pet Spooktacular episode scheduled for tomorrow, entitled, "Halloween: Is It Evil?" This episode airs at our normal time of 5pm Central on Google Hangouts.
Okie dokie...now let's get to today's creature. We've all heard the term, "screaming banshee" before, and beyond the fact that they scream, and are female, we likely know, little else. So just what is a banshee? To answer that question, we'll get a little help from Wikipedia and Myth or Truth.com:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banshee
A banshee (/ˈbænʃiː/ BAN-shee; Modern Irish bean sí, from Old Irish: ban síde, pronounced [bʲan ˈʃiːðʲe], "woman of the fairy mound" or "fairy woman") is a female spirit in Irish mythology who heralds the death of a family member, usually by shrieking or keening. Her name is connected to the mythologically-important tumuli or "mounds" that dot the Irish countryside, which are known as síde (singular síd) in Old Irish.
Description
The banshee is often described in Gaelic lore as wearing red or green, usually with long, disheveled hair (usually described as red or orange, and yellow in medieval times described to shimmer like wild fire). She can appear in a variety of forms. Perhaps most often she is seen as an ugly, frightful hag, but she can also appear young and beautiful if she chooses. In some tales, the figure who first appears to be a banshee or other cailleach (hag) is later revealed to be the Irish battle goddess, Morrígan.Keening
In Ireland and parts of Scotland, a traditional part of mourning is the keening woman (bean chaointe), who wails a lament - in Irish: Caoineadh, [ˈkɰiːnʲə] (Connaught dialect) or [ˈkiːnʲuː] (Ulster dialect), caoin meaning "to weep, to wail". This keening woman may in some cases be a professional, and the best keeners would be in high demand.Irish legend speaks of a lament being sung by a fairy woman; she would sing it when a family member died or was about to die, even if the person had died far away and news of their death had not yet come, so that the wailing of the banshee was the first warning the household had of the death.[2][3]
She also predicts death. If someone is about to enter a situation where it is unlikely they will come out of alive she will warn people by screaming or wailing. Hence why a banshee is also known as a wailing woman.
It is often stated that the Banshee laments only the descendants of the pure Milesian stock of Ireland,[4] sometimes clarified as surnames prefixed with O' and Mac,[5] and some accounts even state that each family has its own Banshee. One account, however, also included the Geraldines, as they had apparently become "more Irish than the Irish themselves".[6]
When several banshees appear at once, it indicates the death of someone great or holy.[7] The tales sometimes recounted that the woman, though called a fairy, was a ghost, often of a specific murdered woman, or a mother who died in childbirth.[8]
Origin
The Ua Briain banshee is thought to be named Aibell and the ruler of 25 other banshees who would always be at her attendance.[9] It is possible that this particular story is the source of the idea that the wailing of numerous banshees signifies the death of a great person.[9]Most, though not all, surnames associated with banshees have the Ó or Mc/Mac prefix - that is, surnames of Goidelic origin, indicating a family native to the Insular Celtic lands rather than those of the Norse, English, or Norman invaders. Accounts reach as far back as 1380 to the publication of the Cathreim Thoirdhealbhaigh (Triumphs of Torlough) by Sean mac Craith.[9] Mentions of banshees can also be found in Norman literature of that time.[9]
In some parts of Leinster, she is referred to as the bean chaointe (keening woman) whose wail can be so piercing that it shatters glass. In Scottish folklore, a similar creature is known as the bean nighe or ban nigheachain (little washerwoman) or nigheag na h-àth (little washer at the ford) and is seen washing the bloodstained clothes or armour of those who are about to die. In Welsh folklore, a similar creature is known as the hag of the mist.[10]
Here's some additional interesting Banshee Info from Myth or Truth.com:
http://mythortruth.com/banshee/Almost all the cultures in the world believe in the existence of death and the afterlife as well as these so called harbingers of death. Every culture has their own stories of such creatures or spirits that are said to foretell the demise of a person like the “White Lady” in the Philippines and some European countries, the “Red Lady” in China, the Pontianak in Indonesia, and the Grim Reaperin the West.
Overview Of The Banshee:
The Banshee is one interesting entity because stories and legends of its existence dates back as far as the 1300’s and it is said to manifest itself even to this day. As most legend suggest, the Banshee is a female fairy who begins to cry when somebody is about to die. The appearance or manifestation of this creature is said to be a bad omen it leads to the demise of an individual the next day. The legend of the Banshee is common in Ireland and similar creatures can be found in Scotland and in the America:
Some Facts About The Banshee:
Here are some interesting facts about Banshee that you should know:
1. In some stories, Banshees are seldom seen by the people. Their presence is only determined if they hear a loud wailing sound coming from the woods, which is heard mostly during the eve of someone’s death. Other versions of the stories indicate that there are certain Irish families which is attached to the Banshee and whenever a family member is about to die, the Banshee will appear and warn them by wailing. The cry of the Banshee may vary from a low pleasant singing to a piercing and shattering noise.
2. The Banshee is often seen to be dressed in white or grayish-white gown while brushing their long pale hair with a comb. According to a romantic Irish legend, the comb is used by the Banshee (and also Mermaids) to lure innocent souls into their doom. That’s why people in Ireland never pick up any comb that is lying on the ground even until this day. Others who have seen this creature described her as wearing a green, red, and sometimes black dress hidden under a grey cloak.
3. As mentioned, Banshee can manifest in any forms and disguises, the most common of which is the appearance of a beautiful or ugly woman. But they are also believed to appear as animals like the weasel, stoat, hare, or the hooded crow. These animals are commonly associated to witchcraft in Ireland.
5. The Irish death bringer is considered to be a fairy or elemental spirit, but the Banshee seen in the Americas are depicted to be more of a ghost or any ghoulish apparitions that are commonly mistaken by people to be the Irish messenger of death.
Some Scientific Explanations Of This Famous Irish Legend:
The Banshee is considered to be a creature bound under the belief in superstition and the supernatural. Others even think that it’s only a figure of wild imagination by some people. Let’s try to explore some scientific facts that might give an explanation to the existence of the Banshee.
1. Before the world was dominated with scientific knowledge, most of the people in the “old” world were more inclined to believe in the existence of the supernatural elements to give to give an explanation to some things or events that they cannot comprehend. It’s most likely a coincidence that the Irish folks saw an old hag, a beautiful woman, or a crow when somebody dies when in fact they can be seen daily and yet barely noticed. This goes to show that most people in the past tend to device an explanation they can think of to many things as scientific knowledge was still not available to provide a proper definition of things.
2. Banshees were considered as creatures in the woods and often not to be seen by most people. Instead, their weeping is only heard from a distance and there are only a number of cases reported that they were seen. Based on the description of the sounds that the people once heard, they can be easily explained to be howls of wolves at night, a gust of wind blowing on hollow trees, and other animals making weeping-like noises. Again, it’s most likely that the people from the old times tend to give a rational explanation to the sound they were not able to recognize and then added the idea of associating it to the event of death.
Conclusion:
Whether it is real or not, the Banshee still remains as one of the supernatural creatures that haunt the frail minds of human beings. Seeing it or hearing it is a definite sign of death. So the next time you hear a woman weeping, pray that no one will die the next day.
Alright. That's it for now. I hope these two articles were able to shed some light on Bashees. Like all our other Featured Creatures, I definitely don't want to run across a banshee, (and hope you don't either).
Until tomorrow's show, this is your host J, signing off....
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