#welshfolklore — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #welshfolklore, aggregated by home.social.
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Image is a Roman mosaic of a hunting dog and a wild boar. #AncientSky #BookChatWeekly #Mythology #MythologySky #WelshMythology #CelticMythology #Folklore #FolkloreSky #WelshFolklore #CelticFolklore #Wales #WelshSky #Celtic #CelticSky #KingArthur #KingArthurSky #Arthuriana #Arthurian #Animal #Dog
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Image is a photo of Glastonbury Tor #DailySpookLore #BookChatWeekly #FolkloreSky #MythologySky #CelticSky #WelshSky #SaintSky #FairySky #Folklore #CelticFolklore #WelshFolklore #Mythology #CelticMythology #WelshMythology #Celtic #Wales #Saint #Fairy #Faerie
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Spirituality & Religious Studies @spiritualityreligiousstudies.wordpress.com@spiritualityreligiousstudies.wordpress.com ·Banshees
A banshee (Bean si in Modern Irish & ben side, in Old Irish, meaning “woman of the fairy mound,” or “fairy woman”) is a female spirit in Irish folklore who heralds the death of a family member. She usually does this by screaming, wailing, shrieking, or keening. Keening is a traditional form of vocal lament for the dead in the Gaelic Celtic tradition. This is known to have taken place in Ireland & Scotland.
Banshees are strongly associated with specific Irish families. The belief is that the banshee is a family spirit attached to a particular lineage. Her mournful wail/cry is heard only by family members as a warning of an imminent death.
Another of the banshee characteristics is their unwavering attachment to certain Gaelic families such as the O’Neills, O’Brians, O’Connors, O’Grady, & Kavanaghs, among others. Some traditions hold that the banshee is the ghost. This is perhaps a mother of a famous poet/singer from the family who died tragically. In this sense, she’s an ancestral spirit tied to the bloodline & the land.
She appears or is heard only to mourn & warn the family of an impending death. Often before anyone has received news of it. This direct, specific role makes her an inherently familiar guardian or omen for that clan/family.
They aren’t family pets, the banshees presence is a known, if terrifying, part of the family’s history & destiny, linking her fate to theirs across generations.
A banshee is an autonomous entity, a powerful fairy-woman (bean sidhe) or ghost, isn’t under the control of any living person.
Sometimes she has long streaming hair, which she may be seen combing, with some legends specifying she can only be keen while combing her hair. She wears a gray cloak over a green dress. Her eyes are red from continual weeping. She’s sometimes dressed in white with red hair & a ghastly complexion.
In Ireland & parts of Scotland, a traditional part of mourning is the keening woman (bean chaointe), who wails a lament. This keening woman may be a professional, in some cases. The best Keeners would be in high demand.
Irish legends talks about a lament being sung by a fairy woman, or banshee. She would sing it when a family member died or was about to die. Even if the person had died far away & news of their death hasn’t come yet. In those cases, her wailing would be the 1st warning the household had of the death.
The banshee is also a predictor of death. If someone is about to enter a situation where it’s unlikely they’ll come out alive, she’ll warn people by screaming/wailing. This gives rise to the banshee also being known as a wailing woman. The banshee was also linked with the death coach. The banshee is said to either summon the death coach with her keening or travel in tandem with it.
When several banshees show up at 1 time, it usually indicates the death of someone holy or great. The story sometimes tells that the woman (though called a fairy) was a ghost. She’s often a specific murdered woman, or a man who passed away in childbirth.
In some parts of Leinster, she’s referred to as the bean chaointe or ban nigheachain (“little washerwoman”) or nigheag na h-ath (“little washer at the ford”). She’s seen washing bloodstained clothes or armor of those who are about to die.
In Welsh folklore, there’s also a similar being known as the cyhyraeth. The cyhyraeth gives a disembodied moaning voice before the person’s passing.
Some sources suggest that the banshees Laments only the descendants of pure Milesian stock of Ireland. The Milesians were the final race to settle in Ireland. The original belief appears to be associated with a number of ancient Irish families. According to tradition, a banshee wouldn’t lament or visit someone of Saxon or Norman descent or those who came to Ireland later.
Most, not all, of the last names associated with banshees have the “O” or “Mc/Mac” prefix. That means people with the last names of Goidelic origin. This means a family native to the Insular Celtic lands. Rather than those of the Norse, Anglo-Saxon, or Norman.
There are some exceptions to the banshee lore. A banshee may lament a person who’s been gifted with music & song.
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#AngloSaxon #BanNigheachain #Banshees #BeanChaointe #BeanNighe #BeanSi #beanSidhe #BenSide #Celtic #Cyhyraeth #DeathCoach #Gaelic #Goidelic #InsularCeltic #Ireland #IrishFolklore #Kavanaghs #keening #KeeningWoman #Milesian #ModernIrish #Norman #Norse #OBrians #OConnors #OGrady #ONeills #OldIrish #Poet #Saxon #Scotland #ScottishFolklore #Singer #WelshFolklore
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This is what I found in Hay On Wye yesterday. 2 very rare books by WJ Gruffydd, and a rather lovely spider brooch.
#Welshfolklore
#WelshMyth
#Cyfarwydd
#Mabinogi
#Rhiannon
#Sovereignty
#Druidry
#WelshPaganism -
This is what I found in Hay On Wye yesterday. 2 very rare books by WJ Gruffydd, and a rather lovely spider brooch.
#Welshfolklore
#WelshMyth
#Cyfarwydd
#Mabinogi
#Rhiannon
#Sovereignty
#Druidry
#WelshPaganism -
This is what I found in Hay On Wye yesterday. 2 very rare books by WJ Gruffydd, and a rather lovely spider brooch.
#Welshfolklore
#WelshMyth
#Cyfarwydd
#Mabinogi
#Rhiannon
#Sovereignty
#Druidry
#WelshPaganism -
This is what I found in Hay On Wye yesterday. 2 very rare books by WJ Gruffydd, and a rather lovely spider brooch.
#Welshfolklore
#WelshMyth
#Cyfarwydd
#Mabinogi
#Rhiannon
#Sovereignty
#Druidry
#WelshPaganism -
This is what I found in Hay On Wye yesterday. 2 very rare books by WJ Gruffydd, and a rather lovely spider brooch.
#Welshfolklore
#WelshMyth
#Cyfarwydd
#Mabinogi
#Rhiannon
#Sovereignty
#Druidry
#WelshPaganism -
Going down the rabbit hole about the Welsh Triads. Organizing random mythical things in threes is one of the most delightful storytelling systems I know.
#Wales #folklore #mythology #folktales #WelshFolklore #storytelling
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Welsh folklore tells us that wooden #love spoons have been carved and gifted as tokens of affection for centuries. 🌿✨ Traditionally, they feature intricate designs, with hearts symbolizing love and keys/keyholes representing 'You unlock my heart!' 🔑❤️ Each carving tells a unique story, with motifs like a Celtic knot symbolizing eternal love. Giving a love spoon was as much about craftsmanship as it was about expressing devotion! #WelshFolklore #ValentinesDay"
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This #FairyTaleTuesday
Discover the enigmatic Rhiannon, Welsh #goddess of horses and song, whose tale weaves through love, loss, and redemption according to the #Mabinogion.
Her birds sing the dead back to life and lull the living to sleep.
#WelshFolklore #Rhiannon 👸🕊️🕊️🕊️ -
A passerby once entered a ring of dancing fairies on the shore of Llyn Cwellyn and found himself transported to fairyland. Upon his return, he was heartbroken to learn that 7 years had passed, his girlfriend married another and both his parents had died in his absence. #FolkyFriday
📷: Charlie Hammond
#Folklore #Folktale #Fairies #TimeSlip #Wales #LlynCwellyn #WelshFolklore
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A Welsh fairy tale tells of a boy who, while skipping school, was invited by a pair of elves to come play in fairyland instead. However, after stealing one of their golden balls to give to his poor mother, the boy was exiled from fairyland forever. #MythologyMonday
🎨: Emily Gertrude Thomson
#Folklore #FairyTales #Fairies #Elves #Fairyland #Otherworld #Wales #WelshFolklore
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An old woman once told a family whose farmhouse was being haunted by fairies to have six of their reapers sit down at their kitchen table and eat pudding out of eggshells for harvest-dinner. This so confused and disturbed the fairies that they fled and never returned. #FolkloreSunday
📷 : CA Creative
#Folklore #Folktale #Fairies #Eggshells #Wales #WelshFolklore
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A Welsh fairy tale tells of a boy who, while skipping school, was invited by a pair of elves to come play in fairyland instead. However, after stealing one of their golden balls to give to his poor mother, the boy was exiled from fairyland forever.
#FaustianFriday #FaerieFriday #Fairies #Elves #FairyTales #Fairyland #Folklore #Wales #WelshFolklore
🎨: Emily Gertrude Thomson
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Delivery of another rare parish history this morning with an *entire chapter* dedicated to its 𝘣𝘸𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘥.
𝘉𝘸𝘨𝘢𝘯 is just one word for 'ghost' in Wales, the distinction between terms being tenuous, with angels, demons, fairies and ‘ghosts’ proper often lumped together 👻
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Here's a couple of my mixed media digital pieces that I completed this week. They are both prefixed by the series name - 'In Annwn, Everything Is Fine' (yeah, it's a play on the Eraserhead song) - The first piece is called Revival, the second, The Blessing.
#art #celfcymru #welshart #annwn #dwjlloyd #daytripart #digitalart #welshfolklore #folklore #folkhorror
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Here's a couple of my mixed media digital pieces that I completed this week. They are both prefixed by the series name - 'In Annwn, Everything Is Fine' (yeah, it's a play on the Eraserhead song) - The first piece is called Revival, the second, The Blessing.
#art #celfcymru #welshart #annwn #dwjlloyd #daytripart #digitalart #welshfolklore #folklore #folkhorror
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Here's a couple of my mixed media digital pieces that I completed this week. They are both prefixed by the series name - 'In Annwn, Everything Is Fine' (yeah, it's a play on the Eraserhead song) - The first piece is called Revival, the second, The Blessing.
#art #celfcymru #welshart #annwn #dwjlloyd #daytripart #digitalart #welshfolklore #folklore #folkhorror
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Here's a couple of my mixed media digital pieces that I completed this week. They are both prefixed by the series name - 'In Annwn, Everything Is Fine' (yeah, it's a play on the Eraserhead song) - The first piece is called Revival, the second, The Blessing.
#art #celfcymru #welshart #annwn #dwjlloyd #daytripart #digitalart #welshfolklore #folklore #folkhorror
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Here's a couple of my mixed media digital pieces that I completed this week. They are both prefixed by the series name - 'In Annwn, Everything Is Fine' (yeah, it's a play on the Eraserhead song) - The first piece is called Revival, the second, The Blessing.
#art #celfcymru #welshart #annwn #dwjlloyd #daytripart #digitalart #welshfolklore #folklore #folkhorror