THE BANSHEE

The Banshee is a fairy, a figure of folklore found mainly in the Celtic regions, primarily Ireland and the Western Highlands (spelt Bean-sidhe). She is the harbinger of doom, usually death. She howls at dusk outside the house of someone who is going to die, and is often attatched to a particular family, though this may be a late addition of royalty trying to claim special treatment. In some variants of the myth even the sound of her wail can drive the listener insane. For obvious reasons she is feared, but in a strange sort of way also welcomed. Sometimes it is better to know that death is coming so the family can be prepared. In this picture she has the accoutrements of the dark side. Poison ivy grows around the symbolic portal between life and death where she stands. On the right-hand column there is a hag-stone, a stone through which nature has made a hole. If a person looked through that hole they could see the fairy world. At her feet, at the base of the left-hand column are a collection of pills and tablets. Symbolic of modern death- through drugs overdose or medical assistance. Both sides are reflected as she herself is a dual-natured character.

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All images and text Copyright © 2003 Caroline Blackburn.