From New World Encyclopedia Revision as of 23:04, 3 March 2010
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by D'Arcy Benincosa  A banshee is one of many spirits of Irish
and Scottish folklore. Banshees are common in Irish and Scottish
folk stories, and enjoy the same mythical status in Ireland as
fairies and leprechauns. The modern understanding of a banshee
as a grotesque, angry female spirit that flies in the air at
night, terrifying people with her shrieking is something of a
misnomer. The banshee is understood by the people of Ireland and
Scotland as an omen of death and a messenger from the afterlife
who would appear and wail under the windows of a house where a
person was about to die. Such tales indicate the belief in the
spirit world and the existence of spiritual beings, whether
spirits of people who have died young, or of beings entirely of
spiritual origin, who can communicate with human beings.    The
term Banshee is an Anglicization of the Irish bean sídhe or bean
sí, which tr