Beansidhe

Land of Origin: Ireland.

When she appears as a Washerwoman in Ireland (washing burial shrouds) at a river or stream, she is properly called the Bean-nighe.

Element: Water.

Appearance and Temperament: The Beansidhe (Ban-shee), or "woman faery," is another well-known and much feared Irish faery, though some might classify her as a ghost.

She is always female and always appears in a filmy, full-sized human form. Long stringy hair partially covered with a hood, and a white gown or shroud are part of her attire, as is a wet and ghost-like appearance, as if she had just been fished from a moss-covered lake.

Her appearance varies by region. In Donegal she is green-robed, and in County Mayo she is black-clad. In Cornwall she is said to have long black teeth.

Time most active: At night before a death.

Lore: The Beansidhe's keening(mourning wail) can be heard at night prior to a death, and her lamentation are still heard all over Ireland when death is near.

Usually these faeries are attached to a particular family or locale, though the latter is not so common. Many believe the Beansidhe to be attached only to the old noble families of Ireland, those of Milesian descent.

The origins of the Beansidhe have been lost in time, but it is resonable to assume that she represents a mother-form from the Irish land of the dead, Tir-na-nog.

In old Ireland Tir-na-nog was also known as the "land of women," and it was believed that upon physical death a soul was reabsorbed into the womb of the Great Mother, or into some other woman form, to await rebirth.

Some persons who have heard a Beansidhe do not report her mournful keening as being frightening at all, but oddly comforting. But the majority find her sound bone-chilling and terrifying.

Occasionally a Beansidhe is seen at a river washing the winding sheets which will soon become a shroud.

The "washer at the ford" is an old Celtic legend which stems from this belief. To see the washer meant that a major life-changing event was about to occur, and it was a fearsome sight.

If later that night any of your candles burned in a winding pattern - like a shroud - you would know that death was to visit your own household.

In Scotland she has been seen squatting near the door of the one about to die. In Cornwall she stands near the window of the one about to die and flaps her wings against the glass.

In doing this she is often mistaken for a crow, the bird associated with the Crone Goddess in Celtic mythology.

Special keening (caoine) music used at wakes in Ireland is said to have come from the Beansidhe's own lamentation.

In more modern folk stories it is said that if a group of Beansidhes are seen or heard together it means that a very great or holy person is about to die.

However, the folklore does not tell us what constitutes "greatness" or "holiness," nor does it give any example of when such a phenomenon as this as ever occurred.

Where to find Them: In the winter of Faeryland.

How to Contact: Contact not advised!

Magickal and Ritual Help: None known.