Banshees

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Bean Sidhe

The Banshee, from the Irish bean sí (”woman of the síde” or “woman of the fairy mounds”) is a female spirit in Irish mythology, usually seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherworld. Her Scottish counterpart is the bean shìth (also spelled bean-shìdh). The aos sí (”people of the mounds”, “people of [...]

Banshee in Folklore

In Irish legend, a banshee wails around a house if someone in the house is about to die. There are particular families who are believed to have Banshees attached to them, and whose cries herald the death of a member of that family. Traditionally, when a citizen of an Irish village died, a woman would [...]

Bean Nighe

As the “Washer at the Ford” she wanders near deserted streams where she washes the blood from the grave-clothes of those who are about to die. It is said that mnathan nighe (the plural of bean nighe) are the spirits of women who died giving birth and are doomed to do this work until the [...]

Siouxsie and the Banshees

Siouxsie & the Banshees were a British rock band that formed in 1976. Led by the singer Siouxsie Sioux (Janet Susan Ballion) and the bassist Steven Severin, the band’s only constant members, the Banshees formed at the advent of the British punk scene and soon became one of the major bands in the post-punk era. [...]