Banshee Interview #3

An Gra Keira Nightsinger, Banshee

SOBS: Thank you, Keira, for letting us interview you once more.

Nightsinger:  You are most welcome.

SOBS:  When we began the first interview, I addressed you as An Gra Nightsinger.  You have graciously let me call you "Keira."  Let me ask you, though, what does "An Gra" mean?  We use titles such as Mr., Ms. or Dr.  Is it similar to those?

Nightsinger:  An Gra means "Beloved One."  It is not so much a title as it is a term to indicate that you are an accepted member of the community.  It is a custom of the place I come from and has nothing to do with being a banshee.

SOBS:  What a beautiful custom!  Would you tell us a little bit about the land you come from?

Nightsinger:  Yes.  I'm glad that you have asked because many humans think that there is a single place called "Fairyland" where all faeries or so-called enchanted or magical beings live.  There is no such place.  We live all over the world, sometimes near humans, sometimes with them.  Most are unaware of us.  I come from Cu Tailte, which means "The Five Lands."  In four of these lands live beings that humans would call "magical."  There is a fifth land nearby, a human town called Baile Eile.  We refer to ourselves, that is those of us who have what humans would consider magical powers, as the Cinn-gnath.  This means "the normal ones."  We call the humans The Cinn-gann--"those without."

SOBS: Interesting. There is a human folklore belief that if a person sits under an Elder tree on a Midsummer's evening, he or she has a good chance of encountering fairies.  It's said that the chances increase if the person plays music, particularly playing a flute made from an Elder branch, because the fairies love music.  What do you think of this?

Nightsinger:  It's nonsense!  As I said, there is no such place as "fairyland."  If a human wants to encounter magical beings, we are all around.  Humans who want to see us simply need to lower their defenses, let go of disbelief and silly notions and open their eyes.  What I mean by "silly notions" is thinking that all faeries are tiny and have wings and that all banshees are ugly old hags.

SOBS: Speaking of appearances, you do not look at all like the typical Hollywood image of a banshee.  We wanted to put a photo of you on the blog but...

Nightsinger: Yes, I'm sorry, but I don't photograph.

SOBS: So we have an artist's rendering of you.  I'm afraid it doesn't do you justice.

Nightsinger:  That is kind of you to say.

SOBS:  It is true.  You have a light about you that is difficult to describe or portray.  I know that you can't speak with us next week, but we are excited to hear that your sister will be here.  She is not a banshee. Is that correct?

Nightsinger:  No, Keena is a healer and a mythweaver.  She is a keeper of stories and can tell you a great deal about Cu Tailte, if you like.

SOBS: We look forward to meeting her.  Thank you once again, Keira, for clearing up some misconceptions about banshees.

Nightsinger:  Thank you for your graciousness in asking me.  Blessings!

What have you learned about banshees that surprised you?

What would you like to know about Cu Tailte?

Real Emergency

Due to a family emergency, I am unable to write the blog this week.  I'm sorry.  Please check back this weekend for a new post.

C.B.

Interview With a Banshee Part 2

An Gra Nightsinger is here with us for a second round of interviews.  There are so many questions and so little time for each interview!  We, at SOBS, hope she will be able to come back a few more times.

SOBS: Welcome, Keira.  Thank you again for your willingness to let SOBS interview you.

Nightsinger: You are most welcome.  There are many misconceptions about Banshees and it gives me joy to clear some of them away.  Banshees--well, most of us--love humans and I hope that these interviews will help remove the fear of banshees.

SOBS: Last time, we touched on the question of what exactly a banshee is.  You said that you are a fairy.  I think that would surprise many people who picture banshees as ghosts.

Nightsinger: Well, as I mentioned last time, the word banshee actually means "fairy woman" or "woman of the fairy mound."  It comes from the Irish bean sidhe.  Banshees originate from Ireland, Scotland and Wales, although many now live in other parts of the world because they follow their families wherever they go, even across the ocean.  The Scottish Gaelic name for us is bean sith.  I hesitate to mention that because the word sith has come to mean something particular to those who follow a story called Star Wars.  From what I understand, this story world has a race of beings called The Sith who are evil.  It's important that humans understand that we Banshee are no relation to these fictional Sith characters.

SOBS: No, in fact, The Sith of Star Wars and the Banshee have as much in common as the erstwhile band The Beatles and the insects of a similar name.

Nightsinger: Yes.  Now the ghosts that you mentioned and the Banshee do have some things in common.  For example, both generally appear to humans only at night.  This is not because we're only allowed out in the nighttime.  We are around in the day as well.  Humans tend to see us at night because that is when they relax and let their defenses down. This helps them to see through the thin veil that divides the worlds.  Some sensitive humans are able to do this at any time of day, but they are the exception.  There are some ghosts, as I mentioned last time, who take on the duties of a banshee.  The Banshee serves her family by warning them of the impending death of a member.  Then, when the soul passes on, she keens over the body.

SOBS: Keen?  What does that mean?

Nightsinger: To keen is to grieve, to weep and wail over the one who has died.  Until recently, some families in Ireland who didn't have a banshee of their own, would pay women to come keen at the family's funerals. And perhaps this is why some ghosts started acting as banshees--because their family didn't have one.  Whatever the reason, these are usually the ghosts of young women who have died suddenly.  Some have drowned.  Some have been murdered.  Some have died in childbirth.  It's always an unexpected death, a young life cut short.  Perhaps that's why they stay close to their family.  They are not ready to move on.  And then they begin to perform the functions of a banshee.  I don't know for certain, but I believe that in all cases, these are women from families that do not have a banshee of their own.

SOBS: Oh!  There is so little space for these interviews.  Keira, will you please come back again next week and continue to enlighten us about banshees.

Nightsinger: Certainly--unless my family needs me.  I thank you and your readers for your interest and for your willingness to learn the truth about us.  Have a blessed week!

Until you read this interview, how did you picture banshees?

We haven't described Keira.  What do you imagine she looks like?

At Last--Interview With a Banshee

Last Wednesday, SOBS excitedly announced that Banshee Keira Nightsinger had agreed to do a series of interviews with us.  In her eagerness, An Gra Nightsinger had said she would to like start the interviews over the weekend, but early Saturday morning she was called to an emergency and the interview was delayed.  The situation has been resolved and we are delighted now to share the transcript of our first conversation with her.

SOBS: An Gra Nightsinger, thank you for agreeing to talk with us about the true nature of banshees.  


Nightsinger: You're most welcome and please give me joy by calling me Keira.


SOBS: Thank you.  Keira, you were called to an emergency.  Please tell us what happened.


Nightsinger: Oh, yes.  It was a near-tragedy!  My family, the McAshinaghs, has five children.  The youngest child, Ciaran, sleepwalks.  Early Saturday morning, about two o'clock your time, the little boy--he's only four--wandered out of the house.  There is a stream nearby and river goblins inhabit a part of it.  The miserable things usually prey on young women but at seeing little Ciaran, they took the opportunity for easy food and pounced on the poor boy.  Grabbing him, they pulled him into the stream to drown him.  Thankfully, Kyla Reedtender, a Water Sprite who guards another part of the stream heard the commotion and rushed to help the boy, but she couldn't fight all of the goblins herself.  She enlisted the help of a number of Tree Spirits who began battling the monsters.  I, of course, was alerted to the mortal danger Ciaran was in and went to warn the McAshinaghs that the boy was close to dying.  On my way, I asked the Sluaghshee from the grove near the stream to come fight for Ciaran and I called out for my sister, who is a faery-healer.  Well, when the goblins saw the Sluagshee coming, they decided the bit of food wasn't worth it and gave the boy up.  The poor little thing was near-drowned and looked past saving.  But my sister, Keena, is a skilled healer and she worked hard on the boy.  In the meantime, I had awakened the family with my cries and, discovering that Ciaran was missing, they began to search for him.  By the time they found him, Keena had him almost completely healed, just wet, shivering and tired.  The family took him home, dried him off and put him to bed. He's told them about the goblins and the battle, but they think he dreamt it all.  They believe he fell into the stream while he was sleepwalking, that the water awakened him and he pulled himself out.  They will never know how close they came to losing him.


SOBS: Well, thank heaven that there were members of the magical world who fought to save the boy.


Nightsinger: Of course!  Just as with the humans, there are some bad magical beings, but most of us are good.


SOBS: I know that you've gotten very little rest since early Saturday morning, so just a couple more questions today.  First, you talked about the Slughashee.  What is that?


Nightsinger: The Slugashee are a host of faeries.  Some bands of Slugashee are vicious and violent by nature, but the one that lives in Ghost Sprite Grove is made up of well-meaning faeries who only attack those who threaten to harm the Grove or its inhabitants.


SOBS: You mentioned that your sister is a faery.  Most people believe that Banshees are ghosts.  Are you a ghost or a faery?  


Nightsinger: I am a faery.  The word banshee actually means faery woman.  There are some human women who died young, some violently, who have stayed near their families and performed the duties of a banshee.  This might be why humans have come to believe that Banshees are ghosts.


SOBS: Perhaps we can talk about that in more detail next time?


Nightsinger: I would be happy to.


Did anything Keira said surprise you?  What would you like to ask her?

Banshee Emergency

Keira Nightsinger had wanted to do her first interview with us this weekend, but she has been called away on a family emergency.  As soon as she gets back to us and completes the first interview, we'll get it online.  We'll keep you posted!

First Banshee Interview Set

Immediately after I posted the announcement about the banshee interviews, An Gra Nightsinger contacted me to say that she wants to move the date of the first interview up.  Instead of waiting until next week, she is wants to start the interviews this Saturday.  The time hasn't been quite worked out yet, but the first interview post should be out by Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning at the latest.  Exciting!

If you have any questions you'd like to ask An Gra Nightsinger, be sure to post them in the comments section.  Thanks!

Slainte!

C.F., SOBS founder

Banshee Confidential

     Are banshees evil?  Cruel?  Predatory?  Murderous?  If you answered yes, you've been mislead by movies and television.  Unfortunately, this distorted view of banshees has become prevalent in American society.  That is why SOBS (the Society of Banshee Supporters) was formed: to help people understand that banshees are not harmful.  On the contrary, they are compassionate, caring souls who perform an important service for the families they are attached to.


     The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines banshees this way: "a female spirit in Gaelic folklore whose appearance or wailing warns a family that one of them will soon die."  This definition is accurate.  Notice that it says the banshee's appearance or wailing warns the family.  Somehow, people have come to believe that the banshees cause the person's death. This is completely false.  The banshee doesn't harm the person.  She comes to prepare the family and perhaps the person himself or herself to get ready for the inevitable.  Think about it this way.  A doctor may have to tell someone, "I'm sorry, but you have an incurable cancer."  The doctor has warned the person that he or she is going to die, but the doctor does not bring about the person's death.  The cancer does.  So cast away the thought that banshees seek people out to murder them.  There is a belief that banshees kill people with their screams.  Again, no.  The banshee's wail is not a lethal weapon; it is a cry of mourning and a song of grief.  Can you hear the compassion of these beings?  They want to prepare the family for a death and then they grieve for the person who has died.  Why have people in the entertainment industry portrayed them as evil beings who seek out victims, feed on their sadness, then murder them with a piercing scream?  In a word: money.  A thriller or a horror movie needs a villain and the misunderstood banshee has been shanghaied for this purpose.


In an effort to set the record straight and restore honor to the name of Banshee, Keira Nightsinger, who has served as a banshee for over 20 ages has agreed to be interviewed by SOBS and she is willing to share some of her diary with us.  So please come back for the next blog post as An Gra Nightsinger shares with SOBS her innermost thoughts and feelings, including how she feels about the corruption of the name of Banshee.


If you had an opportunity to interview a banshee, what would you most want to ask her?