Banshee

Banshee
Powers and Abilities	Piercing scream Telekinesis
Vulnerabilities	Celtic sigil trap Gold blade
Appearance	Female with dark flowing hair, pale skin, and sunken eyes that is dressed in blood-red robes.
Episode(s)	11.11 Into the Mystic

Banshee Also Banshi and Benshee, Irish and Scottish in origin. A female death omen spirit that manifests to herald approaching death with wailing. The word is derived from the old Irish ben sidhe, a woman of the fairy mound, or woman of the fairy mound, but it is translated by different scholars in a variety of ways, including Female Fairy, Angel of Death, Lady of Death, Woman of Peace, White Lady of Sorrow, Nymph of the Air, and Spirit of the Air, amongst others. Many people have described the terrible wail, which precedes a death, and certain families are traditionally believed to be followed by the Banshee. The word is sometimes also used to denote assort of demon, but in Nordic folklore the banshee is always benevolent. The banshee of legend is actually a disembodied soul, either of someone who in life was strongly attached to the family or who hated all its members. So, if she loves those whom she call, the wail is soft, tender, soothing chant, intended to either give notice of death's proximity or reassure the one destined to die, or to comfort the survivors. But if instead the Banshee during her life was a enemy of the family, the wail is more like the scram of a fiendish ghost, a demonic howling of delight over the coming fatal agony of one of her foes. – Pad of Definitions (1.01 Pilot), Official Website

Characteristics

Banshees can be benevolent or malevolent creatures, that are tied to fairy lore. Benevolent banshees are known to cry out as a warning to a person's impending death. Malevolent banshees appear as females with dark flowing hair, pale skin, and sunken eyes, dressed in blood-red robes. Malevolent banshees target the vulnerable; they use their piercing scream to drive their intended victims mad, forcing them to bash their heads in to get rid of the sound.

Powers and abilities

• Electromagnetic Interference – The presence of a banshee can cause the lights in the area to flicker.
• Flight – Banshees can travel through mist, allowing them entry into most places.
• Macroglossia – Banshees have a long tongue which allows them to feed on their victims brains, after their piercing scream has caused them to crack their own skulls, allowing easy access for the banshees to feed.
• Piercing scream – Banshees can produce a high-pitched scream that causes their intended victims to bash their own heads in to relieve themselves of the pain. Babies can be rendered deaf through exposure to the banshee's scream.
• Telekinesis – Banshees can use telekinesis to subdue their victims.

Weaknesses

• Celtic sigil trap – A variation of the Celtic trinity knot; two sigils must be drawn at the opposite ends of each other. Once blood is used to activate one of the sigils, the banshee will be pulled to the other like a magnet, trapping it.
• Celtic spells – A mixture of rosemary, sage, oregano, coriander, tea, yarrow powder, and a handful of chicken bones, along with the blood of the person performing the spell, can banish a banshee.
• Gold blade – Simple contact with pure gold can burn a banshee. Piercing its heart with a pure gold blade will kill it.

Episodes

1.14 Nightmare

Sam tells Dean about his vision which includes a "dark shape" stalking Roger Miller. Due to finding nothing at Roger's apartment, Dean wonders if whatever they are hunting is connected to the Miller house, but Sam assures him it is connected to the family, possibly a vengeful spirit. Dean agrees it could be a possibility as there are things that are known to latch onto families and follow them for years. Sam mentions angiak and banshees as examples of this.

3.02 The Kids Are Alright

While telling Sam about Lisa Braeden, Dean reminds him of a five-day road trip he took while Sam and John were in Orlando dealing with a banshee.

Apocrypha

Supernatural: Nevermore

In the first installment of the Supernatural novel series, Nevermore, while solving the Edgar Allen Poe case, the boys also have to tangle with a banshee for one of Ash's friends. However, she didn't want vengeance, she wanted justice. So Sam and Dean lay her to rest by making her killer confess and leaving him for the cops. They don't burn her body so as not to destroy the evidence. Unlike canon Banshees, this type of Banshee is depicted as a ghost. At the end of the novel, she is shown to still be haunting Ash's friend, but having achieved peace since she got justice. As a result, she decides to harmlessly remain unless a Reaper comes for her. In Supernatural: Bone Key, she is mentioned to have not acted up since.

Supernatural: John Winchester's Journal

The Banshee

Banshees are death omens, but they might also harm their own. John describes them as either dressed in white or in a sheet or burial gown, and they come in the form of a beautiful woman, a matron, or a hag - these stages correspond to the stages of womanhood (John thinks this might also have to do with the age of the person who's going to die). The banshee can be seen at rivers, washing bloody clothes.

The Black Annis (one-eyed, features of a demon, claws, blue face) was said to hide in an oak; she was a cannibal who preferred children. The Baba Yaga (a Russian Banshee) lives deep in the forest in a magical hut. While the Baba Yaga also eats children, she's also supposed to be a source of magical help.

Supernatural: Bobby Singer's Guide to Hunting

The Banshee of Ashland

Beneath the moon's bright eye/
A woman softly sings/
A warning to those who dwell/
In the land of those not yet dead/
Heed her voice/
Or raise your iron/

In the book, Bobby hunts a Banshee, called the Banshee of Ashland, which is luring people to their deaths. The Banshee is killed when Sam plays her own song back at her, but she is actually working for the deity Oblivion.

Banshees in Lore

The story of the bean-sidhe began as a fairy woman keening at the death of important personages. In later stories, the appearance of the banshee could foretell death. Banshees were said to appear for particular Irish families, though which families made it onto this list varied depending on who was telling the story. Stories of Banshees were also prevalent in the West Highlands of Scotland.

The banshee can appear in a variety of guises. Most often she appears as an ugly, frightening hag, but she can also appear as a stunningly beautiful woman of any age that suits her. In some tales, the figure who first appears to be a "banshee" is later revealed to be the Irish battle goddess, the Morrígan. The hag may also appear as a washer-woman, or bean-nighe (washing woman), and is seen washing the blood stained clothes or armor of those who are about to die. 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.

The most famous banshee story is the Brother Grimm fairy tale Hänsel and Gretel, in which two children walk into the woods where they are caught by an old hag, who prepares to eat them.