Banshee's

magnumlady

Hi all, this is a bit of a strange question but has anyone ever heard a banshee?
We heard something very stragne a few weeks ago, like a cross between a woman screaming and a bird crowing. It was around 1.00am and it didn't sound like anything we'd ever heard before. Friends have suggested it could have been an animal but it really didn't sound like anything 'normal'. Also as we opened the window it got louder and nearer and I would guess if it was an animal we were making such a racket that it would have run away.

solas

did anyone die?
The banshee is associated with particular Irish families and who is usually only seen or heard as a warning or omen before a death.

[Jackass]

well i wouldn't want to poor water on any theroy of what it could be, but i live close to the city center, and often here the screams of foxes, which is very simular to what you have described, a cross between a female screech and a type of crow, was it in small bursts a few seconds/minutes apart as apposed to a lengthy scream or in rapid sucsessions? Could be anything to be honest, but that would be my guess...i only started to notice the noise about 2 years ago, and it freaked me out! Sounded like a woman being attacked or something! When i said it to my Dad, he just told me it was foxes calling.

Zillah

Have you ever heard cats readying for a fight? it's the freakiest sound I've ever heard. Like a cross between a woman and a baby screaming horribly...shudder.

If no one died then it wasnt a banshee. Also, Banshee are known to circle the house of the one to die.

It should also be noted that they are merely a portent, they arent considered to be a cause of death, merely its harbinger.

solas

Not to have you worrying, as its been three weeks and all is well, I'd think it more likely to be a fox mating call.
<edit> she sounds more like christina aguilera when doing her warbly wuh-oh-oh's..apparantly.

projectmayhem

i remember as a kid in primary school we saw a steel hair-brush with lumps of hair lying there. we came to the conclusion there were banshee's around....

random

Zillah

solas wrote:

its been three weeks and all is well

I'm so confused. Your not the thread starter and it was only started yesterday evening...

I have no idea whats going on.

solas

phlematic wrote:

I'm so confused. Your not the thread starter and it was only started yesterday evening...

just working with the information thats already been given.

magnumlady wrote:

We heard something very stragne a few weeks ago,

Just realised now that I said three weeks ago, apologies for any confusion, I usually interpret "a few" to mean three..

magnumlady

Thanks for all your replies. Its not cats fighting, I have 2 and have heard them fighting many times.
Someone else said it could be a fox but wouldn't it have run away when we opened the window, not got nearer?
The noise went on for about 20 minutes, like a constant noise (a really creepy noise). No one belonging to me died, although I did read in a book that the banshee can also come to a house where a person used to live, and our house is over 100 years old.
Although now I come to think of it about a week later, there was a crash just passed our house and a lad died (wonder if its connected?)

solas

I don't think anyone here can tell you if what you heard was the banshee or not, all they can do is offer suggestions as to what they think it could be (and whether they believe in such things or not)
If you want to attach meaning to what you heard then thats really up to you at the end of the day.

Zillah

magnumlady wrote:

Although now I come to think of it about a week later, there was a crash just passed our house and a lad died (wonder if its connected?)

If you're willing to believe in the possibility of an Banshee then it was one. If not then a coincidence. Personally, I find it to be an...unlikely...coincidence.

magnumlady

I think you are probably right that it was a coincidence. I just hope I don't hear the noise again, if I do I'm going to record it.

bus77

projectmayhem wrote:

i remember as a kid in primary school we saw a steel hair-brush with lumps of hair lying there. we came to the conclusion there were banshee's around....

random

Story has it, if you bring home the banshee's hair brush. The banshee will come looking for it. The procedure for returning the brush, is to open the window and drop it out.



ohh yeah, I almost forgot. dont leave your hand out the window too long or the banshee will rip your arm off

Zillah

magnumlady wrote:

if I do I'm going to record it.

Excellent. This is a very good attitude.

stevenmu

magnumlady wrote:

Although now I come to think of it about a week later, there was a crash just passed our house and a lad died (wonder if its connected?)

I think that in terms of Banshee lore you only hear her if you're going to be personally affected, or possibly only if it's you yourself that is going to die, I'm not sure. So in theory you could walk past a house with someone inside who is dying and can hear the Banshee's wail but you wouldn't hear a thing.

<edit> altough there's so many different versions of Banshee storys that it's hard to know what's 'true' and what isn't </edit>

magnumlady

I always thought that if you heard the banshee then it was someone belonging to you that died. But then I got a book out of the library and read that there were so many different theories and that it could be connected with someone that used to live in the house.
Funny enough I woke up in the middle of the night and realised that the poor lad that died up the lane, his uncle used to live in our house. Probably just my mind working over time but strange at the same time.

Zillah

MagnumLady wrote:

Funny enough I woke up in the middle of the night and realised that the poor lad that died up the lane, his uncle used to live in our house.

Oh for the love of God. It's this sort of ridiculous coincidence* that causes folktales to begin in the first place!! That's uncanny.

*I hope

magnumlady

Its something to talk about though isn't it ;-)

Chinafoot

speaking of banshees.....i was up in my sisters house last week and her fiance was telling me a story about when he was younger. he said he was about 10 and he heard this horrible sound out the back garden. he looked out the window and he saw a really ugly old decrepit looking woman combing really lank grey hair. he said to his mam "who is that woman on the wall?" and his mam just grabbed him and pulled him away from the window. a few days later his uncle who was living with them at the time died.

he told me another story about a friend of his who was walking along the river bank in their town. theres this log that goes across the river and his mate who was 23 at the time was walking past it. he said he heard the horrible screming sound and when he looked there was an old woman sitting on the log combing her hair. when he looked at her she stopped combing and threw her comb at him (apparently legend has it that this means you are the one who will die)......the next day his twin brother died in a car crash. apparently this guys mother had also seen a banshee when she was younger and her fatehr died shortly afterwards. guess its in the family name.

my sisters fiance swears that this is all true and hes really a very cynical person when it comes to ghosts and stuff....but he believes that this was definitely a banshee. strange eh?

magnumlady

Wow that is spooky!

Shrimp

Lookily I'm half irish Also sometimes fox's make crazy noises....

Talliesin

phlematic wrote:

It's this sort of ridiculous coincidence* that causes folktales to begin in the first place!!

That and the washerwoman at the ford appearing before people and telling them how a battle is going to go

Nevyn

Folk lore and fairy tales while they made have been made more off and
gotten twisted over time they all hold a nugget of truth.

There are more death omens then just the Bean Sidhe, there is the dark/black
dog, the knock at the door, and the death coach.
Most are said to be attched to family with old royal irish blood.

parasite

invariably, it's the wind making the howling sound rather than a fox say :rolleyes:

Pink Bunny

I think that banshee's only visit the houses of certain Irish families. I read somewhere there was even a list of family names that the souls of the banshees are tied to and if they felt close to the ancestors then they would cry in sorrow, but if they hated your ancestors then they would scream in delight. So chances are, unless you are tied to a narrow list of familes, the banshee wouldn't bother much with you.

[Jackass]

peachypants wrote:

speaking of banshees.....i was up in my sisters house last week and her fiance was telling me a story about when he was younger. he said he was about 10 and he heard this horrible sound out the back garden. he looked out the window and he saw a really ugly old decrepit looking woman combing really lank grey hair. he said to his mam "who is that woman on the wall?" and his mam just grabbed him and pulled him away from the window. a few days later his uncle who was living with them at the time died.

he told me another story about a friend of his who was walking along the river bank in their town. theres this log that goes across the river and his mate who was 23 at the time was walking past it. he said he heard the horrible screming sound and when he looked there was an old woman sitting on the log combing her hair. when he looked at her she stopped combing and threw her comb at him (apparently legend has it that this means you are the one who will die)......the next day his twin brother died in a car crash. apparently this guys mother had also seen a banshee when she was younger and her fatehr died shortly afterwards. guess its in the family name.

my sisters fiance swears that this is all true and hes really a very cynical person when it comes to ghosts and stuff....but he believes that this was definitely a banshee. strange eh?

heh, that's a cool story (got goose bumps ), so they are ugly old women? i used to think they were a wolf type creature that walked on hinde legs, lol, don't know where i got that from! Intersting to also hear about Irish royal blood being the link to banshees. I also heard they only cry out to a familly member of someone who's going to die a violent/untimely death as opposed to a natural one?
If the weeping for familys they like story, and crying for joy at people who didn't is commonly believed...then who are the banshee's believed to be? Witches from somewhere in Ireland? please elaborate people...very interesting thread

Sorry for the spelling of the word banshee...i don't know the proper way.

Nevyn

Currently we use the word Benshee, but more correctly it should be
Ban Sidhe. It means Woman of the Sidhe , or the fairy folk or Thuatha De Dannan.

There are two school of tought on the pronoucation of Sidhe, if is is done
harshly like sHeee it is an insult to them and at one time using the
word Sidhe in it's self is seen as bad manners.
So it should be pronouced softly glossing over the d.

Talliesin

Thaed wrote:

There are two school of tought on the pronoucation of Sidhe, if is is done
harshly like sHeee it is an insult to them and at one time using the
word Sidhe in it's self is seen as bad manners.
So it should be pronouced softly glossing over the d.

I tend not to use the word Sidhe or Fairy at all, referring to them as the Gentry.

akari no ryu

Talliesin wrote:

I tend not to use the word Sidhe or Fairy at all, referring to them as the Gentry.

Fear of the name only increases fear of the thing itself
I tend to refer to them as blighters but how and ever.
There are far more than two ways of pronouncing the word Sidhe,
there is Sheed, Shee duh (very slender uh sound), Shee, Shee thu (which is the one I would use)
but regardless, it's merely the tuiseal ginneadach of si.

Talliesin

akari no ryu wrote:

Fear of the name only increases fear of the thing itself

I don't fear it, I'm just mindful of etiquette.

akari no ryu

Talliesin, I was quoting harry potter. I was not being serious.

joe.

I've heard a banshee and my father dies a while afterwards of a long sickness. My surname is O' **********. One of the names it supposedly goes to. There are 5 names I think. O' Neill , O' Connor and O' Sullivan the 3 that I remember.

http://www.irelandseye.com/animation/explorer/banshee.html

The bean-sidhe (woman of the fairy may be an ancestral spirit appointed to forewarn members of certain ancient Irish families of their time of death. According to tradition, the banshee can only cry for five major Irish families: the O'Neills, the O'Briens, the O'Connors, the O'Gradys and the Kavanaghs. Intermarriage has since extended this select list.

Whatever her origins, the banshee chiefly appears in one of three guises: a young woman, a stately matron or a raddled old hag. These represent the triple aspects of the Celtic goddess of war and death, namely Badhbh, Macha and Mor-Rioghain.)The Banshee She usually wears either a grey, hooded cloak or the winding sheet or grave robe of the unshriven dead. She may also appear as a washer-woman, and is seen apparently washing the blood stained clothes of those who are about to die. In this guise she is known as the bean-nighe (washing woman).

Although not always seen, her mourning call is heard, usually at night when someone is about to die. In 1437, King James I of Scotland was approached by an Irish seeress or banshee who foretold his murder at the instigation of the Earl of Atholl. This is an example of the banshee in human form. There are records of several human banshees or prophetesses 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, the keen is experienced as a "low, pleasant singing"; in Tyrone 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.


But other links on that page also have links to lepruchan watches!!! I know what I heard

Also I remember a fruit bowl on top of television in the kitchen that just smashed into tiny pieces all over the room with us all in it. It could well have been the vibrations of sound coming from tv. Maybe all coincidence maybe not

Talliesin

akari no ryu wrote:

Talliesin, I was quoting harry potter. I was not being serious.

Ah right. In some other cases though she's perfectly correct (the bit about laughing at boggarts has more than a grain of truth to it, it's easier to resist a psychic attack if you can give a good hearty laugh).

Kernel

I don't mean to be insulting or condescending, but surely you all realise that this is pure speculation, and that you are taking legends (from mankinds simpler times on face value). You are all believing in this 'ancestral spirit' or whatever, without any evidence whatsoever, and taking it as fact.... Sorry, but I just can't do that. There is no basis for such an entity, except from myths.. in which case, there are also leprechauns and fairies.

There should be some degree of healthy scepicism and common sense?

Talliesin

Kernel wrote:

I don't mean to be insulting or condescending, but surely you all realise that this is pure speculation,

Really? Who sold me this physics book with the atomic weight of Banshees in it? I want my money back!

Kernel wrote:

in which case, there are also leprechauns and fairies.

Ah, I've a lot more personal experience with fairies than I have with banshees, so in this case I do have evidence. Not evidence that I can reproduce in any manner, and hence no reason why you should believe in them, but it's perfectly sensible for me to believe in them.

Kernel wrote:

There should be some degree of healthy scepicism and common sense?

Yes. However, I don't think any of the people here are preschoolers or from a pre-Enlightenment culture. We can pretty much take the fact that there isn't enough evidence to consider the existence of Banshees proven to any extent as read.

Kernel

Talliesin wrote:

Ah, I've a lot more personal experience with fairies than I have with banshees, so in this case I do have evidence. Not evidence that I can reproduce in any manner, and hence no reason why you should believe in them, but it's perfectly sensible for me to believe in them.

You may say that Talliesin, and I've no doubt that you believe it, but that doesn't make it real. What personal experience do you have with fairies? I am open minded, and curious, but I also need to be convinced of paranormal phenomenon before accepting them - by definition, they are not phenomenon which fit into what is percieved as normal, so must be questioned. I also accept that the human brain controls our entire perception of reality, but what makes your perception any more than a fantasy?

Talliesin wrote:

Yes. However, I don't think any of the people here are preschoolers or from a pre-Enlightenment culture. We can pretty much take the fact that there isn't enough evidence to consider the existence of Banshees proven to any extent as read.

So why do you accept them as a reality? I'm not trolling or trying to offend here, I just don't accept the existence of Banshees or fairies. I could, of course, be totally wrong though.

Talliesin

Kernel wrote:

but I also need to be convinced of paranormal phenomenon before accepting them

I suggest you don't accept them so.

Kernel

Talliesin wrote:

I suggest you don't accept them so.

Right, that's real convincing then... thanks.. does anyone want to talk about *real* paranormal phenomenon in here then?

EDIT: BTW I'm the messiah, worship me and send me all your money.

Nevyn

Ack here we go again

Hello Kernel
< kernel added to list>

there are losts of places in the forum where we have already debated what you can prove and what people believe.
If you cant believe with out hard data from an repeatible experiment that is fine
but there are people who have had experiences that are subjective personal and
to them undenible. So there has to be respect on bothsides.

if the topic or tone in this thread cleared labled 'Banshee', is not to your liking
why not start one on *real* paranormal topics ?

Kernel

Thaed wrote:

Ack here we go again

Hello Kernel
< kernel added to list>

there are losts of places in the forum where we have already debated what you can prove and what people believe.
If you cant believe with out hard data from an repeatible experiment that is fine
but there are people who have had experiences that are subjective personal and
to them undenible. So there has to be respect on bothsides.

Hi Thaed, I'm not familiar with any previous debates on this, and I'm not one of those overly cynical people asking for irrefutable scientific proof of every single point, but it would be nice to have some proof of the big issues before we accept them as truth (eg. the existence of banshees). Otherwise this isn't a paranormal forum, it's a mythology forum (of which there already is one).

If I understand you correctly, you say that if people had experiences subjectively and personally, of which they believe fully, then they are to be taken at face value by us?

I could also say that people with mental disorders (eg. schizophrenia) can also have experiences very real to themselves, but completely untrue and without basis in reality (whatever reality is). I just don't think that talking about delusion is worthy of a paranormal forum. A psychology forum perhaps, to understand delusion, or as mentioned, the mythology forum if people want to state 'facts' about banshees appearing to certain irish family names... But here?

People have ridiculed my belief in UFO phenomenon for example, but I can at least provide some kind of tangible evidence, even if only eye witness accounts from reputable sources, radar tracking, physical trace evidence on ground etc. I myself have even seen something in the sky which was inexplicable to me (certainly not a plane or helicopter due to movement). Have you ever seen fairies and banshees? Why then do you choose to believe in them as real?

stevenmu

I'm not very familiar with the banshee legends but afaik if someone did have conclusive proof they wouldn't be in much of a position to share it with us That leaves 3 simple choices

• Believe the legends
• Believe there's something behind the legends but it's maybe misinterpreted
• Believe it's all a load of bunk

Kernel wrote:

There is no basis for such an entity, except from myths.. in which case, there are also leprechauns and fairies.

That's highly flawed logic, one legend being true does not in anyway prove that all legends are true. Similarly one legend being false does not mean all legends are false. Take the bible as an example, there are some elements of the bible which are undoubtedly true, does that mean that everything is and that we should take it all as gospel (sorry, couldn't resist) ? Similarly there are some parts which are more than likely false, most priests will even admit that and say that the moral of an entry is what's important. Does that mean it's all false ?

Kernel wrote:

I also accept that the human brain controls our entire perception of reality, but what makes your perception any more than a fantasy?

You are very right there, all of our perceptions of reality are controlled by our brains. Perhaps as an exercise you should ask yourself what makes your perception any more than a fantasy. You might rationalise that your perception is grounded in logic and science, but you have to remember that your logic and science are based on interpretations by your brain to and grounded in your perceptions.

Kernel

stevenmu wrote:

I'm not very familiar with the banshee legends but afaik if someone did have conclusive proof they wouldn't be in much of a position to share it with us That leaves 3 simple choices

• Believe the legends
• Believe there's something behind the legends but it's maybe misinterpreted
• Believe it's all a load of bunk

I'd like to believe option 2 (and I usually do), that there is something there. I like to think I have an open mind, but I can't swallow everything without questioning.

stevenmu wrote:

That's highly flawed logic, one legend being true does not in anyway prove that all legends are true. Similarly one legend being false does not mean all legends are false. Take the bible as an example, there are some elements of the bible which are undoubtedly true, does that mean that everything is and that we should take it all as gospel (sorry, couldn't resist) ? Similarly there are some parts which are more than likely false, most priests will even admit that and say that the moral of an entry is what's important. Does that mean it's all false ?

Yeah, I know it was flawed logic, in that context, it's Monday, and I'm having trouble with hammering out my thoughts (damn limiting brains! ). The point I was trying to allude to was that one shouldn't accept myths and superstitions without at least questioning them, because if we accept them all without question, then we accept them all, whether true or not (since we don't require proof). Naturally, some may be true and others may be false.. or all may be true or all false.

stevenmu wrote:

You are very right there, all of our perceptions of reality are controlled by our brains. Perhaps as an exercise you should ask yourself what makes your perception any more than a fantasy. You might rationalise that your perception is grounded in logic and science, but you have to remember that your logic and science are based on interpretations by your brain to and grounded in your perceptions.

I have thought a lot about that Steven, and it is not an easily digestible thought (if thoughts can be digested!...). When you start thinking like that, it opens more questions than it solves, but I believe that it is a path that we all must go down, an evolutionary step perhaps, to question our existence and our own perceptions of reality itself. I think this has the answer to many paranormal questions, and I also think it is an important topic, which has a scientific basis. Like it or not, we are tied to science and logic.. an imperfect tool it may be, but it is the only tool we have to decypher the 'universe', it is how we have evolved, and what we are.

Nevyn

Kernel I Think you are klinking slightly or would you be trying to cry Wolfie ?

stevenmu

Kernel wrote:

I'd like to believe option 2 (and I usually do), that there is something there. I like to think I have an open mind, but I can't swallow everything without questioning.

2 is what I tend to go for too, the trick is to ask the right questions. Generally trying to find proof is fruitless, if there was much proof going around there wouldn't be many posts on the 'paranormal' forum. I've found it's better to try and find out what people believe and why, the answers are less definitive but I find that I learn much more that way.

Kernel wrote:

Yeah, I know it was flawed logic, in that context, it's Monday

We all have trouble with them.

Kernel wrote:

I have thought a lot about that Steven, and it is not an easily digestible thought (if thoughts can be digested!...). When you start thinking like that, it opens more questions than it solves, but I believe that it is a path that we all must go down, an evolutionary step perhaps, to question our existence and our own perceptions of reality itself. I think this has the answer to many paranormal questions, and I also think it is an important topic, which has a scientific basis. Like it or not, we are tied to science and logic.. an imperfect tool it may be, but it is the only tool we have to decypher the 'universe', it is how we have evolved, and what we are.

It's something I think about a lot too, I generally don't get anywhere doing it, or if I do it's something completely different to what I came up with the last time
The thing about science is that if it could explain paranormal phenomona then it would have done so by now. Some of the best abstract thinkers who have ever lived are currently working on understanding what existence is right now and they can't. I don't think that this is because of any limitations of their abilities but rather a limitation of their tools. Science in it's current incarnation is not able to explain everything so really it either has to be discarded or reinvented to allow it to encompass the things it needs to. I'd be inclined to go for the second option, but this encompasses the first too, because if you carry over any previous assumptions then you're not really reinventing it at all.



(the idea of reinventing science is nothing new, it's commonly referred to as a paradigm shift by philosophers of science)

*Page*

fairy's do exist

Zillah

*Page* wrote:

fairy's do exist

Explain please.

hada

A past teacher, and now a close friend of mine, a history lecturer in galway, being a very very credible source told me a story about a banshee.

Around the time his father was dieing, naturally all the family had come back to the home house. Well my friend and his family were all downstairs when they heard an awful screech outside. They presumed it was a car outside or something of the sort, and thought nothing of it. Naturally enough, his father passed shortly after that.
It was not until one or two weeks after his fathers death that he mentioned to his uncle that he and his brothers and sisters had heard an awful sound before his fathers death. The uncle, surprised (he and his family were in another town at the time my friend and the rest of his family heard the sound) said he too had heard an awful screech at that same time a few weeks back..

Take what you can from that friends..

On another note, Ciarán (my friend) and his family are quite famous archeologists/historians and he has told me many many stories of people who have contacted their family looking for them to trace back the historys of houses that they believe to be haunted and are currently living in. He has seen an awful lot of strange stuff in his time I believe..

walt0rr

If it's the same Ciarán I'm thinking of he is a bearded man from Ennis who used to teach in Flannan's. Would never have thought of him as the superstitious type.
And, yeah, I've heard all of these stories before. My father is from the sticks of way out in west Clare and I've heard many stories about the 'wailing' of the banshee. I am more inclined to believe in the cat/fox theory though.

Zillah

It's not really a good idea to post peoples full names in public.

madison 1

im lost for words , may be they do still wander around.

JoeCashin

magnumlady wrote:

Hi all, this is a bit of a strange question but has anyone ever heard a banshee?
We heard something very stragne a few weeks ago, like a cross between a woman screaming and a bird crowing. It was around 1.00am and it didn't sound like anything we'd ever heard before. Friends have suggested it could have been an animal but it really didn't sound like anything 'normal'. Also as we opened the window it got louder and nearer and I would guess if it was an animal we were making such a racket that it would have run away.

It might be just a fox on the prowl, looking for some chicks!