Do banshees really exist?

Question

I know by legend that a Banshee is supposed to knock on your door, and if you open the door, u or 1 of ur family will die.
What if you don't open the door??????

Answer 1

No they don't. Not in the same way you or I do.

Also, Banshees scream. That is the character of Banshees. It's all about the scream. So if you hear a Banshee scream, that means you or someone in your clan is going to die.

There are fairy folk called 'Knockers'
see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knockers

I do think there are some humans that do have a certain gift for knowing things, or sensing things like when people are going to die. (other than those in the established Medical Industry)

So the Banshees myth may be based on these humans with unusually strong senses, and wisdom -the 'wise-women', or 'seers'.

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

The families who have Banshees seem to vary according to who is telling the story, and from what part of Ireland they are from.
Perhaps, this means, 'the sight' runs in families.

I've found one related story involving premonition of death, or warning of death, and knocking on a door, and the Bean-sidhe:

"A Woman near Loughrea:
There are houses in Cloon, and Geary's is one of them, where if the people sit up too late the warning comes; it comes as a knocking at the door. Eleven o'clock, that is the hour. It is likely it is some that lived in the house are wanting it for themselves at the time. And there is a house near the Darcys' where as soon as the potatoes are strained from the pot, they must put a plateful ready and leave it for the night, and milk and the fire on the hearth, and there is not a bit left at morning. Some poor souls that come in, looking for warmth and for food.

There is a woman seen often before a death sitting by the river and racking her hair, and she has a beetle with her and she takes it and beetles clothes in the river. And she cries like any good crier; you would be sorry to be listening to her."

http://www.shee-eire.com/Magic&Mythology/Fairylore/Banshee/Banshees&Warnings-L.Gregory/Page1.htm

It looks like the warnings, visions, dreams, premonitions of death, can come in many different forms or guises; and have been attributed perhaps errorneously to the Banshee.

I know the figure of the woman washing as described above, as the 'Washer at the Ford', or Badbh Catha; which I consider different from the Banshee.

You asked what would happen of you didn't open the door.
Well, you must respect the faerie folk and not opening it could be seen as disrespect, or simply as not listening to a warning. In the stories, that is shown to be very foolish. They could find other ways to tell you, or even punish you some how for not listening.

Answer 2

I don't think so,but its for each to decide.Traditionally, a banshee is a messenger of death who roams Ireland and nearby Islands…so if you’re traveling to those parts, and you hear a piteous moan late at night, beware, especially if you have an Irish heritage. According to legend, every Irish family has their very own banshee that warns them of an impending death.
But do banshee’s really exist or are they mere myth? Well people throughout history have sworn that they are real. Tales of banshees can be traced to the early eighth-century, and even today, belief in banshees is widespread in Ireland. In fact, some pictures were recently taken of a supposed "real" banshee.
Another outlandish theory is that banshee’s are the spirits of the "keeners," old women who were paid in drink to weep at the graveside of eminent figures in the community during earlier times. Though the Church didn’t approve of being associated with these women, the keener’s employment was necessary nevertheless, since a person’s status and respect was measured by how much the deceased was mourned after death.
It is thought that these keeners might have been so dutiful, that they followed the family they mourned for even after their own death.
But it’s important to remember that as fearful as the banshee is, she also has a good purpose—to assist the close family through the grieving process by allowing them to accept the upcoming death of a loved one.
Generally, the banshee is heard only by non-relatives and friends, not close family members of the dying. Even friends from a far could hear the dire mourn and could thus travel a great distance to support the family. So do they exist? ??????

Answer 3

Actually in folklore if a banshee even makes an appearance it is a sign of a death. She doesn't have to knock on the door. It is the sound of her "wailing" that is the signal. They were dressed in either red or green.

Do they really exist? There has been many documented cases of a "wailing" spirit appearing and some form of disaster occuring soon after. The Banshee is native to Ireland and was tied to only 2 families there. I don't remember the names of the families.

Answer 4

Sorry but that is not the legend. The legend is that if you hear a wailing sound, it would be the Banshee. It only screams when someone is about to die. Like in the TV show Teen Wolf, Lydia Martin is a "Screaming Banshee" and every time she screams, someone is just about to die. But I used to think that the actual Banshee kills a person when she screams, but it is only before someone is about to die. But can I ask; where did you hear that legend with the door knocking?

Answer 5

Supposedly, just before a death, you can hear the Banshee wail. That has nothing to do with a door. Banshees are part of the wonderful and very rich folklore of Ireland. It's said that if any person who has any Irish blood in him does not believe in Leprechauns, Banshees, Pookas and the rest of Ireland's folklore, than all of those creatures will die. I don't know about you, but I don't want that responsibiity, so yes, I believe in them. I will NOT be responsible for the deaths of these magical creatures.

Answer 6

My family has a knocking type banshee. Before a death members of family will hear a knock on the door at night, usually up in the wee hours and it will knock several knocks, usually 8 knocks. I have experienced this several times as well as other family members. Usually within a day, someone close or a family member will die. I heard the knock about 3 am in the hospital break room the night before my dad passed the next day. I have heard it other times and a cousin or someone I liked would pass. Its is real and doesn't usually have to be a wail or cry.

Answer 7

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.) 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.

Answer 8

Banshees really do exist.Or so says the person who has awakened me at 8am after a night of drinking. But seriously, that's why alot of superstitious people hang a piece of iron or a rowan branch over the doors of their houses.There are tons of susperstions on how to combat a banshee( including not waking her up at 8 am!!!).

Answer 9

Then maybe you won't get that FedEx delivery.

If they really exist then you wouldn't be asking under the heading of Myth and Folklore then would you?

If a banshee screams in the woods, who dies?

The only person that would know what the scream sounds like would be dead, so no one would really know what sound it makes, huh? or what it looks like, hmmmm. Can you say "MYTH"? And they have manners too. Knocking on the door? C'mon, get real.

Answer 10

I only know of the X-man Banshee & Daughter Siryn