Question: Describe the Banshee of Lemuria from Mythical Magick?
The Banshee of Lemuria are spirits of deceased human women. As long as certain requirements are met, any human female could possibly become a banshee. In most cases the women we traumatized in life.
You have to die to become to become a banshee. When one becomes a banshee, the spirit leaves a human body. Banshee have a eerie glow that surround them. They often appear semi translucent. However, there have been cases where a banshee can take a solid form. This happens either by extreme emotion from the banshee or Magick. Another common trait is that they are able to fly.
The personality of the person changes when they become a Banshee. The moan and wail like they have lost something dear to them. Banshee tend to be stuck in a negative emotion until their task is complete. The task generally is revenge on someone from their human life. Once the banshee is calmed, they must make a choice. Dissolve and move to the spirit world or live as a Banshee spirit. If the Banshee chooses to remain as they are they act like they were before they were a Banshee.
Most Banshee could not stay near their human families once they recovered their “emotional Banshee breakdown“. Their human families feared them. They thought they were evil sprits sent to haunt them. Instead of remaining home they left to find a new home. That is why the majority Banshee that reside on Lemuria are the ones that have completed their tasks. They do not scare the inhabitance of Lemuria. They are welcomed as another Mythical Creature.
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The Information below is from Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banshee
The Banshee (
/‘bænʃiː/ ban-shee), from the Irish bean sí [bʲæn 'ʃiː] (“woman of the síde” or “woman of the fairy mounds“) is a feminine spirit in Irish mythology, usually seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherworld.
In Irish legend, a banshee is a fairy woman who begins to wail if someone is about to die. Similar creatures are also found in Welsh and American folklore. The aos sí (“tumulus folk”) are variously believed to be the survivals of pre-Christian Gaelic deities, spirits of nature, or the ancestors. Sightings of Banshees have been reported as recently as 1948.[1]\
Overview
The story of the bean-sidhe began as a fairy woman keening at the death of important personages.[2] In later stories, the appearance of the banshee could foretell death. Banshees were said to appear for particular Irish families, though which families made it onto this list varied depending on who was telling the story. Stories of Banshees were also prevalent in the West Highlands of Scotland.[2]
The banshee can appear in a variety of guises. Most often she appears as an ugly, frightening hag, but she can also appear as a stunningly beautiful woman of any age that suits her. In some tales, the figure who first appears to be a “banshee” is later revealed to be the Irish battle goddess, the Morrígan. The hag may also appear as a washer-woman, or bean-nighe (washing woman), and is seen washing the blood stained clothes or armour of those who are about to die.
Although not always seen, her mourning call is heard, usually at night when someone is about to die and usually around woods. In 1437, King James I of Scotland was approached by an Irish seer or banshee who foretold his murder at the instigation of the Earl of Atholl. There are records of several prophets believed to be incarnate banshees attending the great houses of Ireland and the courts of local Irish kings. 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 Kerry in the southwest of Ireland, her keen is experienced as a “low, pleasant singing”; in Tyrone in the north, as “the sound of two boards being struck together”; and on Rathlin Island as “a thin, screeching sound somewhere between the wail of a woman and the moan of an owl“.
The banshee may also appear in a variety of other forms, such as that of a hooded crow, stoat, hare and weasel – animals associated in Ireland with witchcraft.
History and mythology
In Irish legend, a banshee wails nearby if someone 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. The most common surname attached to the banshee was Mac.[3] They were also associated with the Airlie clan.[2] Accounts of banshees go back as far as 1380 with the publication of the Cathreim Thoirdhealbhaigh (Triumps of Torlough) by Seean mac Craith.[4] Mentions of banshees can also be found in Norman literature of that time.[4]
Traditionally, when a person died a woman would sing a lament (in Irish: caoineadh, “caoin” meaning “to weep, to wail”) at the funeral. These women are sometimes referred to as “keeners” and the best keeners would be in much demand. Legend has it that for five great Gaelic families — the O’Gradys, the O’Neills, the O’Briens, the O’Connors, and the Kavanaghs — the lament would be sung by a fairy woman; having foresight, she would sing the lament when a family member died, 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.
The O’Briens banshee was thought to have the name of Eevul, and was ruler of 25 other banshees who would always be at her attendance.[4] It is thought that from this myth comes the idea that the wailing of numerous banshees signifies the death of a great person.[4]
In later versions, the banshee might appear before the death and warn the family by wailing.[5] When several banshees appeared at once, it indicated the death of someone great or holy.[6] The tales sometimes recounted that the woman, though called a fairy, was a ghost, often of a specific murdered woman, or a woman who died in childbirth.[7]
Banshees are frequently described as dressed in white or grey, often having long, pale hair which they brush with a silver comb, a detail scholar Patricia Lysaght attributes to confusion with local mermaid myths. This comb detail is also related to the centuries-old traditional romantic Irish story that, if you ever see a comb lying on the ground in Ireland, you must never pick it up, or the banshees (or mermaids — stories vary), having placed it there to lure unsuspecting humans, will spirit such gullible humans away. Other stories portray banshees as dressed in green, red, or black with a grey cloak.[3]
American Folklore
Stories of banshees can also be found in America in the late 18th century.[3] The most prevalent of the American stories comes from Tar River in Edgecomb County, North Carolina. However, in this variation of the story, the banshee is simply a ghoul, as opposed to a sign of misfortune.
Celtic cultures
In Welsh folklore, a similar creature is known as the Hag of the mist.[8]
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I hoped you enjoyed learning a bit about Banshees. They make a brief appearance in our graphic novel Mythical Magick : Lemuria, The Land Of Light And Dark
- Mourning Daily