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Folklore
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Banshee
In Irish and Scottish folklore the Banshee is believed
to be a death omen who attaches herself to families,
usually those whose surnames begin with Mac. She is
thought to be a spirit of a young woman who died in
childbirth, she strikes terror into the hearts of those
who encounter her as she only manifests when there is to
be a death in the family.
There are variations in the way she appears. According
to the Irish lore the banshee is known as Bean Si and is
a beautiful young woman with long, flowing hair, wearing
a grey cloak over a white, red or green dress. Her eyes
are always red and sore from crying. In both Scottish
and Irish lore she is also known as the Bean Nighe or
‘little washer by the ford’. The Bean Nighe is thought
to signal an imminent death by washing bloodstained
clothes in the stream but, unlike the Bean Si, who is
beautiful, the Bean Nighe is evil and ugly, with just
one nostril, buck teeth, pendulous breasts and red
webbed feet.
A few banshee stories entered into American folklore
with the arrival of immigrants. One of them comes from
the American South, where a crying banshee with long
flowing yellow hair is thought to haunt the Tar River in
Edgecomb County North Calafornia.
The Banshee is described by Irish Playwright and Poet
and expert in Irish Folklore William Butler :
The banshee, a woman, and shee, is an attendant fairy
that follows old families, and none but them, and wails
before a death. Many have seen her as she goes wailing
and clapping her hands. The Keen, the funeral cry of the
peasantry, is said to be an imitation of her cry. When
more than one banshee is present, and they wail and sing
in chorus, its is for the death of some holy or great
one.
The Black Shuck
Black shuck is alleged to be a phantom dog in British
folklore that has frequently been sighted in Norfolk,
Suffolk, Essex and Devon. The common name of this
ghostly animal varies according to locality. His
appearance is often considered a death omen.
The origins of Black Shuck remains shrouded in mystery,
but the stories probably originated from the hound of
the Viking raiders god Odin and the Celtic legends of
Arwan whose hounds of hell searched for human souls.
Black Shuck is described as being black, and the size of
a very large dog, or even a small calf. It is reported
to have large saucer-shaped eyes of red or yellow. In
some instances its has been reported as being headless
or having just one large Cyclops-type eye and to wear a
collar or chain, which rattles as it moves.
The hound is said to roam graveyards and lonely country
roads, and on stormy nights its howling can be heard. It
is believed to leave no footprints, but its icy breath
can be felt. To see or even hear the phantom animal is
thought to be a foreboding of misfortune, madness or
death. In parts of Devon even speaking its name is
thought to bring misfortune.
Bogey or Bogeyman.
The bogeyman in British folklore is said to be an evil
spirit that loves to cause trouble. The Bogey is
believed to have travel alone or in groups, and in some
instances they are synonymous with the devil. Usually
the Bogey is described as big and nasty and for years
the threat of calling upon the Bogeyman was used by
parents to frighten children into good behaviour.
The precise origins of the Bogeyman legend are unknown
but it is possible that’s it came from the old Central
European gods. The Slavic for God is ‘bog’ and after
Christianity came to Central Europe and made its way to
the British Isles, many of the deities in the old
religions became transformed into evil spirits. It is
possible that the gods of pre-Christian Britain became
known as these horrible, frightening beings – bogs,
bogeys, boggles, or boggarts.
The boggart is a type of bogey hobgoblin in British
folklore with poltergeist characteristics. A boggart is
said to be helpful, but most of the time it is devious
and frightening, never appearing but playing tricks on
people such as knocking books of shelves or tripping
people up. It is also thought to punch, scratch, and
kick. In parts of Yorkshire the threat of being thrown
into the ‘boggart hole’ is still used today by parents
if their children are not behaving.
Bridge of Souls
The bridge of souls in mythology and folklore is the
heavenly road souls of the dead must travel in order to
get to the afterlife. The most common motif used for the
Bridge of Souls is that of a rainbow.
In Hawaii, Polynesia, Austria, Japan, and among some
Native American tribes, the rainbow is thought to be the
path souls take on their way to heaven, and has been
called a bridge or ladder to higher or other worlds.
The Russians call the rainbow ‘Gate To Heaven’. In New
Zealand dead Maori chiefs are believed to travel up the
rainbow to their new home. In parts of Germany and
Austria folklore suggests that children’s souls are led
up the rainbow to heaven, and in some parts of England
it is considered unlucky to point at a rainbow. People
all over the world have different ways of looking and
understanding rainbows. For some, they suggest magical
possibilities, for others a rainbow indicates that a
project is going to fail – building rainbows in the sky
– but whenever a rainbow appears, and however rationally
it can be explained as a natural phenomenon, even the
most hardened sceptic cannot help but be struck by its
beauty and magic.
Brownie
In Scottish folklore brownies are kindly spirit, also
known as bwca in Wales and the Pixies in Cornwall. When
they appear they are believed to look like small men,
about 3 feet high and are unkempt and wild in
appearance. They are said to become attached to
particular families and are happy to do chores for the
family at night.
According to lore brownies don’t like to be offered
payment for their work, either because they are too
proud or because they are passionate about nature, but
they do enjoy and expect gifts of cream and good food.
If gifts aren’t left out, or their work is criticized,
brownies are said to become mischievous and cause
trouble.
There are many different stories about the origin of the
name. One of the most plausible is that in the early
seventeenth century, when the Covenanters in Scotland
were being persecuted for their beliefs, many of them
were forced to hide in caves and secret places, and food
was carried to them by friends. They dressed themselves
in a fantastic manner, and if seen in the night they
would be taken for fairies. One band of Covenanters was
led by a hunchback called Brown who, being small and
active would slip out at night with some of the others
and bring back provisions left by their friends. Those
who knew the truth named Brown and his band the
‘Brownies’
Chiang-Shih
In Chinese folklore Chiang-Shih or ‘hoping ghost’, is a
combination of spirit monster and unburied corpse, which
vaguely resembles a Western vampire: it comes to life
and wrecks death and misfortune. The Chinese believed
that an unburied corpse was a great danger because it
could easily be inhabited by evil spirits.
Traditionally the Chinese would bury their dead in
garments that bound their legs together, so the spirit
was thought to hop instead of walk. The Chiang-Shih are
blind but intensely powerful, with great supernatural
powers, including gale-force breath, swordlike
fingernails, incredibly long eyebrows that can be used
to lasso or bind and enemy, shapeshifting powers and the
ability to fly.
The Chiang-shih is created when a person dies a violent
or painful death or when the soul has been angered
because of an improper burial or improper preparation
for burial, or when improper respects are paid to the
dead. Something even being buried in the wrong location
can cause a person to become a Chiang-Shih.
Traditionally the Chiang-Shih were believed to suck the
breath out of their victims. The main items used in
defence against the Chiang-shih are death blessings,
written on yellow paper and stuck to the forehead of the
deceased and garlic, mirrors, straw and chicken blood.
Evil Eye
The ancient and greatly feared belief that certain
people can inflict bad luck, misfortune or death simply
with a glance or intense stare. Negative energy is
transmitted to another person with a glance or lingering
look from a malevolent person.
This superstition was known as far back as 3000bc,
appearing in the cuneiform texts of the Sumerians and
Assyrians. There is also evidence that the Babylonians
and ancient Greeks believed in it. Women in ancient
Egypt would paint their eyes and lips with makeup to
keep evil eye out. Most tribal cultures are aware of it
and it is mentioned both in the Bible and the Koran.
Even today in Mexico and Central America superstitions
about the evil eye still exist.
The evil eye is said to most likely strike when an
individual is at the height of his or her happiness and
success and for some unknown reason children and cows
seem to be special targets of the evil eye. Witches,
sorcerers, magicians, medicine men and witch doctors are
said to cast the evil eye. Native American shamans often
combine the menacing look with a pointing stick, finger
or wand. A person may also be cursed with the evil eye
at birth and not know it. Pope Leo X111 was said to
possess the evil eye. Because of this those who believe
in evil eye must constantly be on their guard as a
malevolent stare could come from anyone, even a stranger
in the street
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