Bean Sidhe
Written and Illustrated by Reagen Dandridge Desilets
Edited by Sandie Britt
Porcupine
Publications
Anti-copyright
2012 Reagen Dandridge Desilets
Give credit, share often.
ISBN 978-1-937311-13-1
Smashwords Edition
Free Celtic Fonts at http://www.ireland-information.com/freecelticfonts.htm
Printed
with the spirit of
I dedicate this book to those that dream, to those that love, and do so with no restraints.
Keep dreaming and keep loving… always.
What is “Bean sidhe”?
Irish Gaelic bean sídhe, woman of the fairies, banshee : bean, woman (from Old Irish ben; see gwen- in Indo-European roots) + sídhe, fairy (from Old Irish síde, genitive of síd, fairy mound; see sed- in Indo-European roots).
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FOURTH EDITION
COPYRIGHT ©2000 BY HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY. UPDATED IN 2009. PUBLISHED BY
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Chapter 1 - Here and Now
Niya raced through the forest in hopes of reaching the river’s edge in time. The moon was high and full on this cloudless Sunday evening, lighting her way in the darkness. The Appalachian air was cool and crisp, filling her lungs with clean, fresh air every time she inhaled. The moonlight danced off the different color leaves of autumn, with yellow and orange shimmering like gold, providing extra light for visibility along the forest floor. There were no discernable signs of wildlife at all, so she was able to listen for her foe. For everyone else in Appalachia, it was a calm, clear and beautiful night.
But not for Niya. She was trying to stay collected and together, but the urgency in her quest kept her spirit in a sort of panic. She focused hard and held the rowan wood cross around her neck in her hand to better calm and focus her as she ran. She reached the river bank and fell to her knees, frantically searching the ground for it. After a couple of minutes, she found it – an ancient silver comb. “Yes!” she exclaimed and took off running back through the forest towards the house.
She could hear its scream and it chilled her to her core. It was the wailing she was dreading and she couldn’t tell what direction it was coming from. She cleared the woods and reached the front yard of the house. People were standing on the porch and they had this look of dread on their faces. Niya could also see from the second floor master bedroom window the worried look of Erin, Declan’s wife. She personally knew none of the faces she saw, but knew who they were. What she was about to do was for them, for Declan. He was lying in bed, dying and he had mere moments left to breathe his last breath. She had to do this to try and save him. She had determined it wasn’t his time, that he was too young and that these people needed him and she wanted to make sure they had him.
The wail came again, though this time it was freakishly loud, hurting her ears as it reverberated through her head. A girl on the porch screamed and froze in terror as the rest of them fled inside the house. Niya knew this was it, it was time. Her foe was right behind her. She took off the rowan wood cross and held it in her hand, with the antique silver comb still in the other hand. She slowly turned, eyes at the ground, as she wasn’t sure she was ready to look upon this being. She lifted her face and looked up, deeply gasping in air, until their eyes met. The face she saw was a sad and tortured face, with centuries of tear stains and eyes red as blood from eons of crying. But this was it, this creature was here to take him to the other side and Niya was not going to let it happen. She now dared to start the standoff with this creature… this bean sidhe.
Chapter 2 – Two Days Earlier…
“Hello!” Niya shouted at her friends, Rebecca and Thomas, as they hiked steadily ahead of her. “Wait up!” Niya liked getting out for a little vacation, but her friends were avid hikers that didn’t like to stop every time she wanted to photograph a bug or a twig or a mushroom or whatever she saw that she thought was a potential piece of artwork waiting for her special touch.
Thomas stopped and grabbed Rebecca’s arm as they waited for Niya to catch up. “Niya, I’m really glad you decided to get out the house, but we do have a schedule. If we don’t make these campsites before dark, we’ll be camping in unapproved, possibly already reserved, spots. We have to keep going and can’t stop every time you want to photograph something.”
“We’ll be here, backpacking these mountains, for a week. You will have plenty of time to take ya pictures,” Rebecca added. Though living in the States since childhood, Rebecca still had a hint of her Australian accent.
Niya sighed, “I’m sorry. You’re right.” The trio of friends continued to hike and Niya kept her photo sessions limited to when Rebecca and Thomas stopped for breaks. Niya’s two friends were engaged and this was their way of celebrating a romantic little trip. Niya was invited as the anniversary of her parents’ death was fast approaching and they were worried about her. She had become a reclusive person and stopped socializing with anyone; they didn’t want her to face such a terrible hardship on her own.
Despite Niya’s increasingly odd behavior, she was still a good friend. She was a person that deserved consideration and exception. They hoped getting her out and about would help her want to shake this inward behavior she’d had since her parents died almost a year ago. She was like a flower stuck in winter and they wanted the sun to shine for her again. They wanted to see her blossom and grow again.
“Ya know,” Rebecca started, “Declan lives out this way now.”
“Good for him,” Niya said, trying to act as if she didn’t care.
“Who’s Declan?” Thomas asked
“No one,” Niya replied flatly.
“’No one,” Rebecca mocked. “Just the ‘no one’ that Miss Photographer here dated all through high school. First love. Only love. True love.”
Niya stopped in front of Rebecca and retorted, “’True love’? Really, is that why we are still together? Oh wait, that’s right… We’re not still together!”
“Niya, really, mate. You take it too hard.”
“You’re right, Becks. It was true love, for me. But, not for him. No, he found someone that he truly loves and that was that.”
“Sorry, Niya,” Thomas said as the trio began their hike again. “Love can be complicated sometimes.”
“No, not really. You and Rebecca love each other. That isn’t complicated. Declan and me – well, it was more my fault. I think it could have worked but I didn’t understand love. It’s a powerful state to be in. I was jealous and possessive. I pushed him away by trying to hold on too tight. I didn’t mean to push him away.” Niya was concentrating on her footsteps, staring at the ground as she talked. Then she looked back up at her friends and winced, “I just did, in the end.”
The group of friends continued down the trail as the sun began to fall and the air began to cool. They reached their campsite for the night, right on a cool stream that led not too far down to a river. The air was cool and crisp and the sounds of the water were the best music that anything on earth could create. The ice cold water itself was healing on their tired feet. They made camp and got a fire going.
Niya grabbed her camera and announced, “I’m going to shoot some pics before it gets too dark.”
“Okay,” Thomas said. “Can you grab some more wood for the fire, too?”
“Sure thing!”
Niya stuck by the stream and reached the river. It was a beautiful scene. The landscape was elevated and the stream made a small waterfall where it emptied into the river below. She began to snap photographs of the falls and climbed down to the river bank. She was at the foot of the falls, carefully walking into the river, getting almost a fish-eye view of the waterfall to take photographs of it from a different perspective.
Suddenly the air around her grew frightfully cold. It had gotten chilly as the sun was setting, but this was something else entirely. She could see her breath in the air and she could see frost forming on the ground of the river bank. Niya began to shiver and she watched as birds suddenly left the area in a panic. She began to feel fear and panic herself, not knowing what was going on.
Niya caught the sight of something in her peripheral vision and carefully walked to the other side of the waterfall to try and get a better look. What she saw chilled her more than the sudden cold that had overtaken the area.
A white figure knelt by the river and pulled out a silver comb from the earth of the bank. After being rinsed, she proceeded to comb through her long, grey hair. She was dressed in white cloaks that were tattered and aging. Her skin was pale, really pale. Niya put her camera up to her eyes to try and see the creature even closer through the zoom lens, but nothing showed through the view finder. She lowered the camera and saw the creature again.
Niya could barely move as she tried desperately to process in her mind all that she was witnessing. She had to force herself to breathe in the ice-cold air and she had to focus hard on not letting her teeth chatter, giving her presence away to the strange being she was watching. The being finished combing her hair and set the comb on the ground next to her. Niya wanted to move closer, but when she tried to lift and set her foot back down, she found she had lost all feeling from the ice-cold water she had been standing in and stumbled onto the river bank.
Niya looked up to see if the creature had taken notice of her and became terrified when she realized the being was looking directly at her. They had met eyes and Niya saw these eyes – these blood red eyes, set deeply into tear-stained cheeks. Niya and the creature screamed simultaneously though the creature’s wail was earth-shaking; the screech nearly stopped Niya’s heart altogether. The being stood and crept backwards, slowly began to float, and then finally, disappeared into the sky above Niya.
Niya laid still on the bank, staring at the sky. After a few moments, and certain that the entity was not coming back, she looked around. The frost was gone and the air had returned to its normal temperature. She got up onto her knees and grabbed her camera from the ground.
“Iphigenia!” Rebecca called from the top of the little waterfall. “Answer me!”
“I’m fine, Rebecca!” Niya got to her feet and crossed the falls again. Thomas reached down and helped Niya back up the climb and onto the stream bank.
“What was that screaming?!?” Rebecca demanded to know while grabbing and hugging Niya.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Niya replied.
“Try me!”
“C’mon, ladies. Let’s get back to camp so Niya can get in some dry clothes and warm up by the fire.”
“Oh, I don’t have any more wood,” Niya confessed.
Thomas snickered, “It’s okay. I’m sure we’re fine.”
After Niya had a chance to change her clothes and to eat a little of the stew that Thomas had made while she was on her short photo journey, Rebecca demanded to know why she had been screaming.
“I’m not sure I should say anything,” Niya said.
“And why the bloody hell not? You scared me!”
“And that is why, Rebecca. I’m not entirely sure what I saw.”
Thomas interrupted, “Being out this far, things can play tricks on you and scare you good.”
“No,” Niya replied. “I can describe in great detail what I saw; this was no trick of sight. I’m just not sure what it was.”
“Spill it, Iphigenia!”
“I really hate it when you call me that and that’s the second time tonight you’ve used my full first name.”
“Speak, Iphigenia Duncan!”
Niya looked at Rebecca and replied with an unenthused, “Bark…”
Thomas giggled which brought smiles to Niya’s and Rebecca’s faces.
Rebecca changed her tactic. “Please? Maybe we can help you decipher what you saw.”
Niya sighed. That path worked. “Okay. But you are going to think I’ve completely lost my mind.”
Niya explained the experience to Thomas and Rebecca, who listened quietly. Niya could tell by the expression on Thomas’s face that he didn’t buy it. She was, however, somewhat surprised to see the look on Rebecca’s face.
“Becks? What do you think?”
“It’s a bean sidhe.”
“A bean sidhe? Like the screaming, wailing ghost thing from Ireland?”
“Aye yup!”
Thomas looked at Rebecca and giggled. “You say that like it’s real.”
“Oh, my love, they are quite real. I heard one the night my gran died. About six months before mum and dad moved us here to America.”
Thomas and Niya stared blankly at Rebecca.
She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Okay, I don’t like talking about this. Long story short, my ancestral bean sidhe took my gran to the afterlife. Okay? It was a terrible and sad wail that filled the night. See, we are Cavanaughs. It’s an ancient Celtic line and we have a bean sidhe that walks our dying family members to the afterlife. It can be scary to experience because it is otherworldly, but it isn’t evil. It’s quite benign.”
“So,” Niya began, “what’s with that scream? That wail? It’s so terrifying!”
“They have been crying endlessly for hundreds, even thousands of years. The wail is perfected unintentionally. You’d have one hell of a cry if you had been crying that long as well.”
Niya shuddered. “It was scary.”
The three sat in silence for a moment. Finally, Thomas broke the quiet. “So, if you saw a bean sidhe, then that means someone is dying tonight? Man, that is creepy!”
Rebecca sighed and thought. “You said she was combing her hair?”
Niya nodded, “Yeah.”
“She’s preparing. Chances are, the scheduled – um – departure will be in two more days.”
“That sucks. I wonder who it is, if we should warn them,” Niya said, her eyes looking in the direction of the waterfall.
“Well, it’s likely the family knows. Like someone is sick. If it’s a traumatic and sudden death, there is no time for a bean sidhe to prepare,” Rebecca explained. “But you said she was combing her hair, so she’s preparing. There is time.”
“It’s late,” Thomas said getting up. “The fire is dying. We should go ahead and clean up camp, put the fire out, and call it a night.” Niya and Rebecca agreed. They pretty much did so without saying another word to each other.
Chapter 3 – The Revelation
Niya was walking through the hallway at her high school in between classes. She saw Declan at his locker and happily began to head towards him. She saw the new girl, the pretty blonde, Erin Connor, walk up to him before she could reach him. She stopped and her heart broke as she saw him lean over and kiss Erin on the cheek.
Then Declan made eye contact with Niya. The look on his face scared her. His eyes were sunken and he was pale and sweaty. Then his eyes rolled back into his head and he fainted, falling into his new girlfriend’s arms. Erin began to cry, but then when she looked up at Niya, her eyes were blood red and her face was tear-stained. Her crying became the heart-stopping wail of a bean sidhe.
Niya sat straight up, nearly hyperventilating. She suddenly felt claustrophobic and struggled in a bit of a panic to get out of her sleeping bag and her tent. She rushed to the stream plunged her hands into the icy water, and splashed it on her face. The shock of the cold water took her breath for a moment, but she was able to calm down.
I wonder, Niya thought. God, please no. Don’t let it be. The idea that perhaps this bean sidhe was there to collect Declan made Niya very sad and afraid. Granted, they never worked out as a couple, but she certainly never would want him to suffer. Whatever family he had built in the ten years since high school he deserved, and they deserved him. They were too young to be dying off already.
Curiosity was getting the better of Niya now. She looked skyward and saw a bit of color in the sky, indicating that morning was upon her. She opted to walk back down to the where she encountered the bean sidhe. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to accomplish but she felt the need to try and connect with the bean sidhe on some level to discover who she was going to be escorting to the other side soon.
Rebecca and Thomas were still asleep so she grabbed a flashlight and her camera and headed back to the stream’s falls into the river where she saw the bean sidhe. Once she climbed down to the river bank, she was glad she had brought the flash light as the first rays of sun had not reached down to the embankment yet. She crossed in front of the falls as before to get to the side of the river bank were the bean sidhe was combing her hair.
“Bingo,” she said when her flash light shone on the comb. She pulled out her camera and took several pictures of the comb where it laid on the ground. Then she picked it up. It looked extremely old. It was fragile looking, but still worked, obviously, without breaking any teeth off the comb. It was silver and had a primitive looking design etched into the handle. The surface was hard, pitted, and worn. “Man, I wonder how old this thing is. It really does look quite ancient!” She placed the comb back on the ground and took a few more photos of the area.
“What are you doin’ down there?” came Rebecca’s voice from the top of the little waterfall.
Niya looked up at her. “Um, honestly? I’m not entirely sure.” She crossed back in front of the falls and climbed up to Rebecca. The sun was much higher now and there was no need for Niya’s flashlight. She must have lost track of time, but it didn’t seem like she’d been down there that long. “Becks, I had a dream last night. It was a dream that had the bean sidhe in it.”
“Oh, don’t let what you saw haunt you,” Rebecca replied as the pair walked back to the campsite.
“No, it was more than just that.” She tugged on Rebecca’s hand to stop her and they were face to face. The fear in Niya’s eyes scared Rebecca.
“What? What is it?” Rebecca asked.
Niya looked down at the ground, closed her eyes for a moment, shook her head, and then looked back up at Rebecca. “I think the bean sidhe is coming for Declan.”
Rebecca looked surprised. “What? Why? He’s our age! He shouldn’t be sick.”
“I think he is.” Niya continued to explain to Rebecca and told her the dream as the two returned to the camp to find Thomas, once again, cooking for the group alone.
He stood and sighed, “Welcome back, ladies.”
Niya smacked herself in the forehead. “Oh, no! I was supposed to cook breakfast! I’m so sorry, Thomas. I didn’t realize how long I was gone. It was still pretty dark when…”
“It’s okay,” he interrupted her. “Let’s just eat and get moving.”
There was an uneasy tension in the air, even though no one talked during breakfast or camp breakdown. Maybe that’s what the tension was – that no one was talking. The day before, everyone was friendly and chatting, but now Niya began to feel as if she’d become a burdensome third wheel. This was supposed to be a trip for Rebecca and Thomas to celebrate their engagement and now it’s turned into a babysitting job for a freak that shuns people and sees a bean sidhe. Without meaning to, she had become a problem. She decided that she needed to break away from them and try to help Declan instead. But how?
As soon as they found a spot for their first hiking break, Niya pulled Rebecca aside.
“Listen, Becks,” Niya said quietly. “I really think I need to follow this through.”
Rebecca was shocked. “No! No, you’re staying with us.”
Niya shook her head. “No, I’m not.” Rebecca started to protest, but Niya raised her hand to silence her. “No. I’ve already decided. I have to find him and see what is going on. If he really is dying, I may not have another chance.” She shrugged and said with a nervous giggle, “Maybe I will have a chance to apologize for how things ended. And maybe it is my mind playing tricks and that he’s fine. But I have to find out.”
Rebecca was sad but was able to understand why Niya wanted to do this. Like she said, perhaps she was wrong about Declan dying, but it would give her a chance to see him and apologize, finally. Something Niya had wanted to do for a long time, but never did, was say how sorry she was for her childish and selfish treatment of him. With that, Niya said her goodbyes to Rebecca and Thomas and began to back track the path they had been hiking. With this new quest, she’d not stop for photographing the forest nuances, but instead would be hiking hard to get out of the forest and back to the ranger station before dark.
Chapter 4 – The Discovery
Niya stepped out of the shower and quickly got dressed. She had left most of her things in her Jeep when she got this hotel room with the exception of her laptop and a set of clothes to get into after cleaning up. She opened her laptop and logged into the hotel’s wi-fi.
“Okay, now,” she said pulling up a search page, “Where to do I begin?” She sat staring at her screen blankly for a moment, as if the screen would tell her what to do. Niya started typing and the search results popped up. She clicked on a link to the white pages and was looking at Declan’s address. She pulled it up on a map and snorted at the realization that they were practically camping in his backyard. His property was butt up against the park they had been hiking in and his house was situated quite close to the river where she had seen the bean sidhe.
“Well this sucks. I guess it’s more than likely she was there for him.” She did another search on Declan’s name and did see an article from the local newspaper. He had been in a motorcycle accident a year ago, but he had sustained a lot of damage to his liver and kidneys. The local church had been holding a fundraiser to get money for some surgeries and a transplant, so the newspaper ran a feature on him to gain awareness and support from the community. Declan had a wife and two daughters and a son. He worked at the mill up until his accident and, by all accounts, was a well liked member of his community. This isn’t fair, she said to herself. She felt suddenly ill and a knot grew in her throat. She knew how it felt to lose family and didn’t want Declan’s family to lose him too.
Next Niya searched for information on the bean sidhe. She read all of what Rebecca had told her, but more. There was a hierarchy of them and the head being was called Morrigan. She was sometimes seen as a thunder cloud, a large raven, a maiden, a mother, or a crone. Bean sidhe are often seen combing their hair with a silver comb and it is said that bad tragedy will befall anyone that messes with a silver comb found laying around. A rowan cross necklace would help protect one from creatures of all kind and would also help to calm a bean sidhe’s scream. The bean sidhe were not necessarily spirits of other creatures, but of humans, too… ancient ancestors remaining behind to carry their descendants to the afterlife. Sometimes they are seen washing the bloody clothing of person about to die a violent death. After a few hours of reading up on the mythology, Niya found a page that listed reports of bean sidhe encounters. There was a curious entry in a church log from the 1800s. It was from the neighboring town by a family, the O’Neill clan, and Niya remembered that Declan’s mother was an O’Neill. She wondered if that was his ancestor’s tale of a bean sidhe encounter. As it was told by Mary O’Neill, wife to Duncan O’Neill:
“T’was ill o’ nyght dat nyght I saw de bean sidhe. Me Duncan been sick a long tyme since he’s tyme in de militia during de War. He’d been shot near New Orleans under Morgan’s command but survived. Not me Duncan’s brudder, William. He’d been blasted in he’s head an’ de bean sidhe came for him. Me Duncan was afeared at de sight of de t’ing. She tell him to not fear an’ dat she was going to take William to be wit’ dey ancestors on High, to be wit’ God for all tyme. He beg her o’ her name. She be Maeve – ancient bean sidhe she be. Once a queen of he’s ancestors in ancient Celt clan just after dey come to whot be later called Airlann. She was in de living as part us an’ part of de fae, so dat when she dead, she become a bean sidhe. I saw de Maeve dat nyght, dat nyght me Duncan dead. She cryed an’ cryed for him an’ for us. T’is a terrible state to have to bare dat burden of forever carrying your chil’ren to de afterlife. I was sad for me Duncan, but for our Maeve as well. I wish’d I been able to free her from her curse.”
“Huh,” Niya grunted aloud. “Okay, so they can talk and Mary wanted to free her.” Her eyes were going cross from looking at the screen and reading for so long, so she decided to take a dinner break and headed down to the hotel lobby that doubled as a small restaurant. It had quaint Appalachia fare and she opted for a pastie. As she waited for her food and sipped on a beer, Niya overhead the table next to her.
“What are we gonna do, Momma?” came the voice of a girl.
“We’ll be okay, hun, so long as we have each other,” replied a woman.
“We ain’t gonna have each other if daddy dies,” the girl said with her voice quivering.
Niya realized she was listening to Erin, Declan’s wife, and one of their daughters. Her heart completely broke. This was so unfair. They needed him. Heaven might be brighter for gaining his presence, but that would make this world dimmer, especially for his family. The woman and her daughter finished their sad conversation and their dinner, then they left. When the waitress came with Niya’s food, she asked her to sit with her for a moment because she had some questions.
“Alright, but only a moment. I have other people to tend to.”
“I understand. I lived here for a short while years ago and I went to high school here, but my folks moved a few towns over before I graduated, so I’m not entirely familiar with the people, places, and myths around here.”
“Myths, huh?” the waitress asked. “I take it you heard the wailin’ last night, too, eh? The bean sidhe is coming for Declan I think, and soon.” The waitress sighed and shook her head. Then she noticed the look of shock in Niya’s eyes. “Oh, I’m sorry. That must sound like crazy talk. Most folks stateside don’t know about bean sidhe, well, not real bean sidhe anyway. Nothing like you read in comic books. I saw ours when my granddaddy died a few years back.”
“Did that scare you?” Niya asked.
“Well, yes, a little, but they ain’t evil and they ain’t gonna hurt no one. They are like guardians, like guardian angels, just here to help us cross over is all.”
“Can they be stopped?” Niya asked pointedly.
The waitress giggled, but out of uneasiness. “Um, darlin’, you can’t stop death.”
“Yeah,” Niya replied staring at the large pastie in front of her. “Thanks for your time. And thanks for this pastie, it looks amazing!” The waitress smiled and got up to tend to her other customers.
“Can’t stop death, but can a bean sidhe be stopped?” she asked herself aloud. Time was running out. She had to think of something. She devoured her pastie and drank her beer, then retired to her room. Her eyes were so heavy that there was no way she could read or learn anything else and still retain the information. Just a nap, she thought to herself.
Niya was standing in a meadow at the top of a hill mound. The wind was strong, but not battering her. Instead, it enveloped her and caressed her skin, with her hair and dress fluttering all around her. The sky was overcast, but there was no rain. It made the air cool, crisp, and fresh. She’d never felt such amazing sensations as she took in the environment around her. This was unlike any place she’d been before and felt as if her feet were standing on part of an ancient place, once held sacred. She knew she was no longer in Appalachia.
She heard a clap of thunder and watched as part of the overcast of clouds began to roll and form into a thunder head. She stared in awe and watched as it changed shape, becoming a giant raven that flew to her, shrinking in size as it approached. It landed on the ground just in front of her and she noticed at its feet the ancient silver comb she had found on the river bank.
Caw! the raven vocalized. Caw! Caw!
“What is it, Morrigan?” Niya asked. “What can I do to help Declan?” she begged as the raven formed into a woman; cloaked as a raven, but still human in form.
Ní mór duit Maeve saor óna cinniúint. Déanfaidh Dia Declan spártha. Ní mór duit dúshlán Maeve. Léiríonn tú do ghrá na Declan agus a chur ar an áit Maeve mar an sidhe Bean na Anwell. Beidh tú go deo a dhéanamh ar a mhac agus iníonacha go flaithis Dé agus beidh tú go deo a bhaineann leo, Morrigan said to her without opening her mouth. As the wind gusted again, Morrigan shape-shifted back into the raven and flew away, leaving Niya on the hill mound.
Niya sat straight up as the sun shone through the window to where she had slept all night in bed. She was breathing deep and trying to remember what she had dreamed about. Morrigan told her what to do. What was it? she asked herself.
You must free Maeve from her destiny. He shall spare Declan. You must challenge Maeve. Show your love of Declan and take the place of Maeve as the bean sidhe of Anwell. You will carry forever his sons and daughters to Heaven and you will forever belong to them.
So that was it. She had discovered how to save Declan. He could be spared after all. She got up and walked to the mirror. Her eyes were blood shot. Well, she said to herself, I am already starting to look like a bean sidhe. Time to prepare.
She got dressed, packed up her things, and wrote a letter to Rebecca explaining everything. In the letter, she left her few belongings to Rebecca to do with what she wanted. It wasn’t much, but it did include the house that her parents had left to her when they died. She could sell it, live in it, rent it out – whatever they wanted. Then she checked out of the hotel and headed for the ranger station to leave the letter with them to give to Rebecca and Thomas when they emerged from the forest.
“What’s this?” she asked, pointing to a rack of necklaces in the small gift shop.
“Oh, rowan wood crosses and what-nots,” the ranger replied. “Locals think rowan wood has a protective power. It dates back to the Scots-Irish settlers in the area hundreds of years ago. They brought the traditions over here from their homes they left behind.”
“Great!” she walked over and grabbed one. “I’ll take it. It’s really beautiful,” she said walking back over to the ranger’s desk.
“Yes, it’s made by hand locally. The churches bless them and they bring them here. That bunch there is to help a family whose father is about to pass on. He was injured in a bad accident and never really recovered.”
“Oh, I’m definitely getting it now!” she smiled. For once, hearing about Declan didn’t sadden her, but rather encouraged her resolve. She knew what she had to do. She had to get back to that river bank and get that comb. She would use it and the cross to stop Maeve from collecting Declan, then she would offer her own life to free Maeve in exchange for healing Declan. That was the plan anyway.
Chapter 5 – Here and Now
Niya stood before the bean sidhe, clutching her rowan wood cross in one hand and the ancient silver comb in the other. She held up the comb to show Maeve and shouted, “Maeve, you have to listen to me. Stop now!”
Maeve looked down at Niya and opened her mouth, letting loose a supernatural wail. It chilled Niya, but she stood her ground.
“You don’t have to cry anymore, Maeve! Morrigan said…” she was interrupted by a cry that was more anger than sadness. It reverberated through her body and rattled her bones and shook her very soul. She gathered that Maeve wasn’t too thrilled about Morrigan’s name coming up in conversation. Maeve reached out and wrapped her fingers around Niya’s extended hand with the comb in it.
Niya and Maeve stood on a bloody battle field. It was littered with the dead, bloody and so mutilated that they were barely recognizable as human. There was a large thunder cloud, clapping one sound of thunder after another, and lightening was flashing everywhere. Niya suddenly realized this was the same hill mound she was on in her dream where she met Morrigan, who was now swirling as the clouds above them. A girl was kneeling by a woman’s body on the mound, crying and begging for her dead mother to awaken. When it was clear that the woman was dead, the young girl looked skyward and cried out, “Diabhal mé tú, Téir Abhaile Riú! Mé diabhal ort as a bheith ann agus ag cur leis an saol mo mháthair! Leat a thabhairt di ar ais dom! Le do thoil, is gá dom mo mháthair! Leat a thabhairt di ar ais i mo láthair agus a bheith imithe uainn! Bealtaine do láithreacht begone uainn do gach am!” The girl stood and shouted her curse skyward again. “I damn you, Morrigan! I damn you for being there and taking the life of my mother! You give her back to me! Please, I need my mother! You give her back to me and be gone from us! May your presence be gone from us for all time!”
With a blinding flash of lightning and a deafening clap of thunder, Morrigan stood before the girl in human form. Niya recognized the raven cloak she adorned. Morrigan spoke with her words instead of her mind this time saying, “Leanaí, beidh mé a thabhairt duit do mháthair arís. Ach ní bheidh sí a bheith a bhfuil tú sa saol seo. Beidh sí choimhdeacht tú, agus do mic agus iníonacha, aon go flaithis Dé ón nóiméad seo ar, do gach am. Beidh do deora na deora do mháthair.” Niya could understand what Morrigan was saying to the girl. Child, I will give you your mother again. But she will not be with you in this life. She will escort you, and your sons and daughters, to Heaven from this moment on, for all time. Your tears will be the tears of your mother.
And with that, Morrigan shape-shifted into a raven and flew into the storm clouds above. Niya walked to the girl and the dead woman on the ground to discover that the dead woman was Maeve. She even saw the ancient silver comb, but only now it was new and was perched in the dead Maeve’s hair, holding it out of her face as she fought. This was how Maeve died and had become a bean sidhe. Her daughter, in her grief, cursed Morrigan, who in a sense cursed Maeve to try and comfort the little girl. Niya looked back at the bean sidhe, Maeve.
Maeve said to her, “Cogadh thug mise le mo chinniúint. Cogadh cursed mo iníonacha agus mo mhac do gach am. Toisc mé ag gabháil i gcogadh i gcoinne an natives Éireann thug mé seo ar mé féin. Shealbhú mé an bhuairt agus an tasc seo a dhéanamh liom.” Again, Niya understood her words. War brought me to my fate. War cursed my daughters and my sons for all time. Because I engaged in war against the natives of Airlann I brought this on myself. I hold this grief and this task with me.
“You don’t have to do this anymore, Maeve!” she shouted over the sounds of the storm. Rain began to pour on them and the gruesome battlefield they were standing on. “You must go on and be with your daughters and sons now. I will bare this burden for you!”
“Uimh Is é seo mo chinniúint féin. Chruthaigh mé an mhallacht mar gheall ar vanity agus foréigean.” No. This is my own destiny. I have created this curse because of vanity and violence.
“Forgive yourself, Maeve! Move on, now! I will take your place and carry the Anwells to meet you in Heaven!” There was a sudden flash and-
-Maeve the bean sidhe and Niya were standing once again in Declan’s yard, with terrified family watching. It was now storming here as well, just as it was on that ancient battlefield.
Maeve asked, “Cad a theastaíonn uait le haghaidh mar íocaíocht d'íobairt?” What do you wish for as payment of your sacrifice?
“Declan,” Niya said. “It’s already being granted. Just agree to let me take your place.”
“Beidh tú a thabhairt do shaol le haghaidh an saol mo mhac, Declan?” You will give your life for the life of my son, Declan?
“Yes! I love him, Maeve. I always have. I want him to have his life and to have his family. Don’t grieve his daughters and son like your daughter grieved for you when she cursed Morrigan!”
Maeve embraced Niya and declared for all dimensions to hear, “Glacaim leat mar iníon le mo clan. Tá do bhronntanas de do shaol le haghaidh an saol mo mhac, Declan, bronntanas a tugadh ar an ghrá purest. Cosúil leis an grá mo iníon. Tá tú, Niya, mo iníon. Mar mo iníon, tá do ainm láithreach Angusina le do rogha ceann amháin go bhfuil a shábháil mo mhac agus a shábháil dom.” I accept you as a daughter to my clan. Your gift of your life for the life of my son, Declan, is a gift given of the purest love. Like the love of my daughter. You, Niya, are my daughter. As my daughter, your name is forthwith Angusina, for your one choice has saved my son and saved me.
With this the skies cleared. The sun shone brightly and Angusina opened her eyes. She was floating just above the ground, the tall grass tickling her feet. She turned to the house and saw Declan’s daughter, the one in the restaurant the day before, approaching her. Declan had survived the ordeal and was beginning to wake up again.
The girl looked at Angusina and said, “Thank you.” Angusina lowered herself to the ground and knelt to the young girl, who looked just like Maeve’s daughter, tears and all. The girl fiddled with the white dress Angusina was adorned in. Angusina began to silently cry, tears of joy sliding down her cheeks.
She smiled at the girl and told her, “Ghlac mo iníon, tá a fhios go mbeidh mé go deo a bheith ag faire ar do athair agus do mháthair, tú féin agus do mhac agus iníonacha. Tóg do chompord i mo láthair aige nuair a bhíonn tú chun freastal do sinsear ar neamh. Tóg an adhmaid caorthann cros a chur i gcuimhne duit ar eagla riamh dom.” The girl nodded as she understood what Angusina was saying to her. My adopted daughter, know that I will forever be watching for your father and your mother, you and your sons and daughters. Take comfort in my presence when you are to meet your ancestors in Heaven. Take this rowan wood cross to remind you to never fear me.
The girl took the cross from her. Angusina was still clutching the silver comb that once was Maeve’s, but now was hers. She rose as the girl walked back to the house, putting the rowan wood cross around her neck. As Angusina lifted to the sky, she saw Maeve meeting her many generations of descendants; only this time there was laughter and cheering, no more cries and wails. Declan would be there someday, too, but today was not that day.
Afterword
The Myth and Legend of the Bean Sidhe
Overall, the bean sidhe (also bean si and banshee) is considered to be either a fairy or an ancestor spirit that guides the dying to the afterlife. Descriptions range from a young woman, to a mother, to an old woman (representing the three parts to the life cycle of a woman) typically dressed in white or gray, sometimes in green. She’s described as crying and wailing for the dead and, because of this, her eyes are red and bloodshot, her face oftentimes is streaming and/or stained with tears. She has long, white or gray hair and is sometimes seen combing her hair. In Ireland, if you find a silver antique comb on the ground, do not touch it, as it belongs to a bean sidhe. Some believe tragedy will befall the one that disturbs a bean sidhe’s comb, but that is not the common story told of the bean sidhe.
Naturally, I took some creative license with the legend of the bean sidhe, such as the idea of taking time to prepare to guide a dying person to the afterlife. I have not found such a tale in all my research on these beings and their legends. I just added that into the story as I wrote it to give a deadline to the events – a timeline, a goal, if you will. Also, there is nothing documented of someone offering themselves as a sacrifice to save the life of the soon-to-be dead person by switching places with a bean sidhe.
More on the Bean Sidhe
From Jones’ Celtic Encyclopedia:
Bean Sídhe
Also: banshee (E), bean nighe (S), benshee
Irish: "woman of the sídhe" (fairy hill)
A figure from Irish folklore, the bean sídhe is a fairy woman who foretells the death of a family member. To hear her keening is a sign that a member of your family will die that night. According to folklore, she is usually dressed in a gray cloak and green dress, and her eyes are red from weeping. If one were to catch a bean sidhe, the person could force her to tell him who will die.
The modern American concept of the bean sídhe is usually derived from the 1958 film Darby O'Gill and the Little People, wherein the bean sídhe is a frightening figure who can steal a person's soul away. However, this is not the original meaning of the bean sidhe, but a confusion with the theme of the Wild Hunt.
The concept of the bean sidhe is that she is a fairy woman associated with a certain family (clan). Her keening is meant to sing the soul to the Otherworld. In the time of Druidism, she may have originally been a house spirit, like the Roman lares. A lar was a deceased ancestor who was protector of the family; there is some speculation that the origin of the Tuatha Dé Danann may be found in ancestor worship. That is, this is a "fairy woman", but properly translated, she is a woman of the hills, specifically, the sídhe--the burial mounds found throughout the British Isles. As such, the origin of the bean sídhe may have been a sort of ancestor worship, later mutated into "fairies" or supernatural gods.
The concept of a bean sídhe can also be found in Irish mythology, such as the stories of "Oisin in the Land of Youth" (Fionn Cycle) or "The Adventures of Connla" (Cycle of the Kings). A fairy woman--often the daughter of Manannán mac Lír--comes to a hero and sings him away across the ocean to the Otherworld. He follows her to the various otherworld islands (Tír na nÓg, Mag Mell, Emhain Abhlach)--usually not returning. This can also be seen in the death of King Arthur, who was brought to Avalon by Morgan le Fay. Like the common bean sídhe, these fairy women sing to the dying and bring them to the "other side."
JONES CELTIC ENCYCLOPEDIA, MARY JONES © 2004,
HTTP://WWW.MARYJONES.US/JCE/BEANSIDHE.HTML, TEXT USED HERE WITH PERMISSION
Another great compilation of Celtic and pre-Celtic mythos is the 53 minute documentary Glenafooka: Glen of the Ghost. Produced and directed in 2000 by Mary Sue Connolly of Black Witch Films and distributed by Icarus Films, New York.
BLACK WITCH FILMS: HTTP://WWW.WIX.COM/MARYSUSIE/BLACK-WITCH-FILMS#!__PAGE-1
ICARUS FILMS, NEW YORK: HTTP://ICARUSFILMS.COM/NEW2006/GLEN.HTML
Themes and Meanings in the Story “Bean Sidhe”
I chose particular character names based on meanings. In fact, Anwell is a Welsh name, not an Irish name that is associated with having a family bean sidhe. Names typically associated with the bean sidhe are the O'Gradys, the O'Neills, the O'Briens, the O'Connors, and the Kavanaghs (WIKIPEIDA: BANSHEE, HTTP://EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/BANSHEE#HISTORY_AND_MYTHOLOGY). In the story, Rebecca is a Cavanaugh and Declan’s mother is an O’Neill. Erin, Declan’s wife, is also of ancient Irish ancestry as her maiden name was Connor, as in O’Connor.
There isn’t much mention of the bean sidhe having a name of their own; however, I’ve added it for several reasons. One of those reasons is to identify what bean sidhe is in charge of the Anwells (Delcan’s branch of the O’Neills), which was Maeve, and the other is to note which one is in “charge” of all the others, that one being Morrigan.
On that note, Maeve is the name I chose for the Anwell’s bean sidhe. It’s a well known name and can mean either “intoxicating” or “queen”. As we saw in the flashback, Maeve was indeed a queen of her people and led a battle while settling in Ireland. She was defeated. Morrigan is a long time name associated with a goddess of Celtic mythology and that is why I’ve chosen that name for the leader of the bean sidhe. In myth, Morrigan can appear as several things, including thunderclouds and ravens, so I felt that would be appropriate to bring into this story as well. Niya’s bean sidhe name becomes Angusina which means “one choice”. This is highly symbolic of her making this one choice to become a bean sidhe, releasing Maeve, in exchange for Declan’s life and health.
Niya is short for Iphigenia, which is Greek for “sacrifice”. Duncan is a well known Scottish/Gaelic name that means dark warrior or dark/brown-haired warrior. The surname Duncan’s motto is “Disce pati” meaning “Learn to suffer”. So Niya’s name basically describes her: a brown-haired warrior (facing the supernatural beings) that will sacrifice herself and will learn to suffer for all eternity as an escort for the dead to the afterlife. She has already had some training in the idea of suffering; she lost her one true love because of her own immaturity and then she lost her parents. She had already become a social recluse, keeping contact with only one person, Rebecca, who is about to be married and move on with her own life.
Declan is Gaelic for “full of goodness” and Anwell is Welsh for “beloved”. The motto for the surname Anwell is “Virtus vera nobilitas” which means “Virtue is true nobility”. This also describes Declan, just as Niya’s name describes her. Declan is a good man and people are loyal to him. He is beloved by all his family, Niya, and even the family bean sidhe, Maeve, and to an extent the lead bean sidhe, Morrigan. Otherwise, why would such a deal have been allowed on the part of the bean sidhe? They, too, see his noble and virtuous life and agree that it not right that his life be ended so prematurely.
Technical Stuff
I had to use an online translator to help with the Irish language within this story. I had to change sentence construction and use synonyms for a lot of the words and phrases, but did the best I could to match up the language. I know that the sentences may not be entirely accurate, but they are close enough for the points in the plot to be made.
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I hope that you enjoyed this little tale of love and sacrifice and that you learned a little about the Celtic culture and about yourself in general. Please check out my blog at http://RedDesilets.wordpress.com.