October 22, 2024 • 53 mins
Spooky October continues on Supernatural Girlz with author Steven Rolfes sharing the history of the Banshee, Japanese Ikiryo, and the Death Hag of Wales.
Steven Rolfes is the author of many books on Ohio & Cincinnati including Supernatural Lore of Ohio. He has been published in many magazines and hosts a summer radio program telling ghost stories.
Steven Rolfes is the author of many books on Ohio & Cincinnati including Supernatural Lore of Ohio. He has been published in many magazines and hosts a summer radio program telling ghost stories.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
Arch angels, ghosts, and Bigfoot. Oh why, it's just another
night for Supernatural Girls and real stories, real answers to
life's biggest supernatural mysteries. And now for another exciting interview
with paranormal experts from this world and others. Here's your host,
paranormal researcher Patricia Baker on the One the Only Supernatural Girls.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Welcome everyone to another exciting episode of Supernatural Girls. I'm
your host, Patricia Baker, and unfortunately my co host p
K will not be joining us this evening because she's
not feeling well. So we hope to see your next week.
So PK, we're sending you lots of love and light
and prayers and hoping that you're feeling better this evening
(01:11):
and we miss you. We're left without any numerological direction
for the coming week, so you're going to have to
make up for it the next time you're here. I
know we all want to hear what's happening because we're
so close to the election and all kinds of things
are popping. So can't wait for you to come back.
(01:31):
So feel better, get well soon. So tonight we have
I have by myself a fascinating guest. He is the
author of a new book, and it is called Beware
the Banshee's Cry.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
There it is.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
It's a very fascinating book, and it's about a subject
that's quite terrifying, because nobody wants to meet a harbinger
of death, and yet we all do. Eventually, we all
face the equalizer of dying, and we all have our
own way of meeting that messenger. So Stephen Rolfus has
(02:14):
taken on the mission of explaining to us all about
the banshees and these messengers of death.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
What are they?
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Where do they come from? What countries? I guess it's
very country specific. So this is something that I am
so excited to hear about. And I read through the
book as quickly as I could because I am so
excited to hear more about this. Again, it's something we
all face, and yet it's something nobody really wants to face.
(02:46):
So let me tell you a little bit about our
guests this evening. So Stephen Rolfus is the author of
many books on Ohio and Cincinnati, including Supernatural Lore of Ohio.
He has been published in many magazines and also hosts
a summer radio program telling ghost stories that sounds like
(03:07):
so much fun. So he is the author, as I mentioned,
of the new book Beware the Banjies Cry, which is
published by Llewellyn, and Steven's here with us right now,
so I'm going to bring him on the show. Steven, welcome,
Thank you, great to be here. It's great to have you.
You took on a quite a topic here. What was
(03:28):
it that made you want to write about this?
Speaker 4 (03:31):
Well, Celtic mythology is an area that tends to be
overlooked a great deal. I mean, every school child knows
about the Greek and Roman myths, they know about Zeus
and Apollo, they probably know about the Scandinavian Teutonic myths
(03:54):
of Odin and Thor. But when you ask someone about
Celtic mythology, gee, everyone would just give you a blank look.
And actually this lore is incredibly rich. Every bit is
wide and varied, as we find in other cultures. And
(04:16):
of that you have the most brightening, terrifying Denisen of
the other world, the Banshie. So it's fun time looking
looking for the Banshie.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Well, and we are in spooky October for our supernatural
girls entire months. But again, this is a topic that
a lot of people don't really want to hear about,
but yet it's fascinating. And now you are not of
Celtic origins, so you're stutomic. Yes, so this is not
(04:52):
something from your genealogy that you would have ever experienced,
but you were drawn to it.
Speaker 4 (04:59):
Oh. Absolutely. Of course other cultures have these harbingers of
death as well, including us Germans. We have what is
called the visa Frau the white woman. Huh. You can
well imagine being a tall, ghostly woman dressed in white
(05:21):
kind maybe like a bride holding a candle, gliding down
the hallway of an old German manner as the thunderstorm
rages outside, and to see her means that someone in
the family is about to leave this world. Wow.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
We just got a message from one of our listeners, Joe,
who said he's of celt origin, so this is going
to be a particular interest to him and other members
of our audience. Yes, this is not something that you
look forward to seeing, especially if you know what you're
looking at. Like if you have this information about the
banshee or the white woman in Germany or.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
The ikiro in Japan.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
They're all there to let us know somebody's about to
pass and it is.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
Right?
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Is it always family related? Somebody in the family when
you see.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
It must be someone in the family that the banshee
is connected to. They will not cry for anyone else
except there is one exception. There's always an exception ray banshee,
but there is one and I forget which county it's in,
(06:42):
but she sits on a rock near a road and
sometimes she will cry out, and she's crying out for
someone who is a prisoner in the workhouse. Oh, I
like this. This means that even the most forgotten then
(07:03):
forlorn person, they don't leave without at least a little
bit of respect of the banshee m saying goodbye.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
That's really nice. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
And also my understanding from your book is it's sometimes
the banshee lets out this this very attention getting horrifying screen.
But other times it's more of a lament, right, just
a song, kind of a song.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
It can be two ways. Sometimes it is absolutely grating,
like you know, nails on a chalkboard. Yeah, it's just
been described as being like the screeching of a cat.
In fact, there is a case from County Rosscoleman where
(07:56):
and This is a modern case where a brother and
sister after dinner, they're sitting in the kitchen, just chit
chatting away, nothing going on, and they hear this cat
screeching outside, and they say, and the brother gets upset
watch this, and he goes over to the door and
(08:18):
he opens the door, looks at the dog and says,
go get a boy, and the dog just looks up.
You out your mind? Any idea? What's out?
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Yeah? I forget it.
Speaker 4 (08:34):
At that point they listen a movie that's not a
cat and they slam the door. But sometimes that's true.
It is beautiful. Sometimes even accompanied by an Irish harp.
I love the sound of an Irish harp and they
(08:55):
will sing a lament and old Irish tune. And one
of the members of the family is about to leave
this world, such as what happened with doctor Kennerley, who
was a nineteenth century poet in Ireland. His little brother
(09:19):
was lying in bed about to leave the world. He
was dying, very sick, and the medical doctor was there,
some other man. Friends of the family were there and
they examine him and they said, well, now you just
rest here. We're going to go over here and talk
for a moment. So they walked across the room and
(09:43):
as they did, they heard this beautiful singing outside. You
would have thought that Kirsten Flagstead was out on the lawn.
And they talked to each other. Yes, he's not going
to last much longer. And one of the people, obviously
(10:03):
not from around there, said, well, I have to say,
that's the most beautiful singing I've ever heard, and I've
been in every concert hall in Europe and I've never
heard singing like that. Well he didn't know, you you won't.
That was a banshee. At that point, Doctor King of
(10:24):
Lee said, oh, and he ran back to the bed
and his little brother was gone, you know very Oh,
I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
No, I just wanted to know your thoughts on this,
because then what is the real purpose? Is it just
to warn the family so maybe they can get they
can say they're goodbyes to the person who's ill or injured.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
What is the reason for this?
Speaker 4 (10:54):
Once again we come down to two different lines of thought.
One of them is that, yes, when it's singing and
beautiful and lovely, it is an ancestor of the family
who is trying to help one of her descendants pass
(11:18):
from this world. To the next to make it smooth.
But if it is screeching and catlike, it is someone
from the past who is who does not like the family,
who hates the family, and she is just taking great
(11:40):
delight and saying, ha, you're gonna die, You're coming to
the bail, you'll be with me. We've seen this number
of castes in the past where lords of a cast
of a manner took advantage of young women of the
(12:08):
peasant class, if your pardon the expression, and later on,
should they happen to marry this person, then that person
will come back and definitely take the light in saying
it's exit time.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
Wow, that's it. It's all folks. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
One of our listeners, Joe, is saying that we tells
we carved turnips and they were way more scary. So
I didn't know that turnips. That's quite interesting to carve
something that's small.
Speaker 4 (12:51):
Pumpkins are an American variation on the old summon traditions.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Well, I have a story I want to share with
you and the listeners about meeting death. And I didn't
meet a banshee. But what happened was I had two
dogs and one of them passed away, and I was
devastated because, as I always am, when any pet dies,
it rips my heart out. And Death came to visit
(13:28):
and said to me, your other dog is going to
die soon too, and he was an older dog. We
had rescued him from my mother in law who was
unable to care for him. And my husband and I
adored this other dog as well. So I said to Death,
(13:51):
you can't take him right now, you just can't. I
can't handle it, and you can't take him. And so
he said, all right, and that was the end of
the conversation. And my dog, his name is Micah. He
was sixteen and a half years old. He lived for
another two and a half months, by the grace of Death,
(14:15):
who gave me that gift, and he passed away with
me beside him. So that was my experience with death,
and I was very grateful because my heart was so
broken over the loss of Zoe, my other dog, and
I really didn't think I could handle it if Micah
(14:37):
was taken so close to Zoe's death.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
So anyways, that was my experience.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
That sounds a great deal like modern Greek folklore, not
ancient Greek myth, but modern Greece with the character of
Kron now Kroen, we know from ancient times was the
fairy man of the dead, but in modern times he
(15:09):
has become the grim Reaper himself, and he would occasionally
show small bits of mercy. But when it's time, it's time,
and you may get a small extension for humans or dogs,
I guess, but it's definitely going to happen.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
And yeah, well that's very interesting.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
I'm going to have to read up more about that mythology.
It was a positive experience, as positive as it could
be and some.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
I'm glad to get that insight from you. Thank you.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
I have an interesting story that's not in the book
because I read it years ago, and I mean I've
read thousands of books over the years, but it concerns
a family in Massachusetts, modern family, and one day a
(16:12):
German shepherd dog that no one had ever seen, no collar,
tag or anything, just came by the household and started
playing with the children. And the children and the family
loved it, except for the grandmother. The grandmother was Irish
and she was from the Emerald Dial and she wanted
(16:34):
nothing to do with the hound, and they loved the dog.
Then one day, the dog just vanished. No one knew
what happened to him, and they found out that same
day that a relative in Ireland had passed away. That's
when the grandmother said, you idiots, that dog was a bansheet.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Oh my goodness. So they could create on an animal form,
how fascinating.
Speaker 4 (17:06):
There's a case from right here in Cincinnati, and I
believe eighteen ninety two of a bansheet taking the form
of a black cat fitting enough, especially at Halloween, right
and it went to the city hospital and it would
go into this strained screeching in a kind of a fit.
(17:32):
And then as soon as the fit was over, the
attendant would receive word that someone on one of the
wards had just died.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Wow. Well, and animals do know, apparently, I mean just
innately know when someone is about to pass. There was
a book written by a doctor I forget what it was,
was making rounds with and then it was the cat's name.
And he would make his rounds with this cat in
a nursing home. And when the cat would go into
(18:06):
someone's room and just curl up on the person's.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Bed, I mean some trouble.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
I keep we keep going to the dark side. Oh,
I don't know why my internet is doing something strange,
but anyways, that's so. That's also fascinating with the German shepherd,
that it could take on the appearance of a dog,
and then the grandmother knew that it was in fact
(18:43):
of anchie warning the family.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
Well, she had grown up with the lore. Now that
reminds me a great deal of an entity from Scandinavia
back in the time of the Vikings. And it's called
and I'll probably must pronounce it a field ju. And
these would sometimes take the form of animals. And there
(19:11):
is a case from back in ancient times of an
eight year old boy went into a house and of
course he was running. You find an eight year old
boy that does not run somewhere, and he comes in
and there was like an old uncle sitting there. Well,
(19:34):
all of a sudden, the boy just falls over, laying
smack on his face, even though there was nothing there
for him to trip over, and the old man starts
laughing like crazy. Well, the boy leaves angry, but later
(19:55):
on he asks his uncle, why did I trip There
is nothing there? And he said, you did not see it.
Your build you in the form of a little white
bear cub had come in with you, and as soon
as he saw me, he stopped right in front of
(20:16):
you and you tripped over him.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
Oh my goodness. It's so much that we don't see.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Our spectrum is so limited, and certainly it's I don't know,
tell me what your thoughts are on this one, because
it seems like in times long ago people were more
attuned to these kinds of things. I mean, we're tuned
to our iPhones, right, you know, but we're not attuned
to these things that appear and disappear from one dimension
(20:45):
to another. It's something that we're really missing out on.
Even though some people can see them. Some mediums, if
you had great mediums on the show, can see lots
of things, but overall it's not a part of our
daily life. We've let that in the past.
Speaker 4 (21:03):
Well, I think here you are giving into shamanism, and
certain people are born with this power to see the
spirit world, and they are trained sometimes to enhance this
so that they can help their society. And this goes
(21:25):
in a great deal. If you're into the lay theory,
which I certainly am of. Why you have the stone circles,
the standing stones, the barrows, and such throughout the Celtic world.
These are what you call spirit paths. And there is
(21:46):
even a case from Ireland of a man who built
his house on a spirit path and some of the
neighbors who knew better said, none of you can't do that,
and we're going to have trouble, and no, that's nonsense,
that's old wives tales. Well, wouldn't you know he had
(22:10):
all kinds of poltergeist activity going on in this house.
He was steeing lights, he was seeing figures walking about,
and of course things were moving eventually, and there are
photographs of this. I've seen them. He had to go
out with a mallet and just bang the side of
(22:33):
his house and made a big opening so that he
is no longer blocking this spirit path or lay line
as we call them nowadays.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Wow, that's fascinating. Now, and you talk about two in
your book, the fairies. Yes, are the connected to the fairies?
Speaker 3 (22:56):
Is that why?
Speaker 4 (22:57):
That's what their name means? It is actually see the
term banshee that we use, that I use simply for convenience.
That's the worst word for it. There's like almost twenty
other words for it, mostly variation of beIN she she
(23:19):
being the fairy mound, being the woman, so it means
a woman of the mound, a woman of the fairy mound.
And we find that there are a lot of similarities
with fairies. The fairy itself is not a good term
(23:40):
or the gentry. I prefer to call them the she
those who dwell in the mound. Fairy just is a
euphemism meaning the fair ones. In other words, leave.
Speaker 3 (23:53):
Me alone, okay.
Speaker 4 (23:55):
And banshee's are often seen wearing cloaks fairy color, very
very often green, and also you find black, white, and
blood red.
Speaker 3 (24:11):
Gosh.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Yeah, I was just trying to imagine how the banshee
fits in to the fay, because I know we've had
a lot of guests on the show talked about their
experiences with the fee and never heard them mention the
banshee as a part of that collective.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
So this is all new to me.
Speaker 4 (24:31):
Anyways, Well, I can I can throw you another curveball here.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
Good.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
Besides being just a common garden variety fairy, there is
a great deal of evidence to indicate that banshees or
some banshees, are ancient goddesses, Celtic goddesses from Christian area
(25:01):
who have remained in the Ireland and let me see
I should have them. Yep, got them right here my
cheat sheet. A couple of famous banshees are. One of
them is called Ana. Now Ana, if you're familiar with
(25:25):
Celtic myth, he was the goddess of summer, of warm,
beautiful days, of fertility, of the land, of animals, of people,
and she became connected to the Fitzgerald and the Okara families.
(25:47):
And there's a number of myths about Ana that I
have in the book. There's also the goddess Cloth, the
goddess Abeel who loves the rich harp uh Cleona, and
I have an incredible story about her in the book.
(26:07):
And one more goddess, And I bet you can guess
who I'm talking about.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
Who tell me?
Speaker 4 (26:16):
The Dark War death goddess Morgan, Yes, yes, who is
actually three separate goddesses, Nimon, Macha and Balb and they
would become combined together like on a Saturday morning cartoon
(26:37):
show and become this horrific death goddess Morgan. And that's
how she That is the one who appeared to the
greatest irishman who ever lived, and that would be Coucherlane
the great warrior from ancient times, and I talk about
(27:01):
his death in you know, in the book, I should
mention that not only d Banshi's cry out and screech.
Sometimes you will see them in running water up to
(27:21):
their knees and they will be washing bloodstained clothing and
the water is turning scarlet about them from all the
gore coming off of the clothing. Whoever's clothes those are,
that is the person who is going to die. Oh my,
(27:44):
that's how it appeared. She appeared to kucher Lane incident.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
Whose clothes was she washing at that point? Were they his?
Speaker 4 (27:53):
They were his? Yes? He was walking towards the battle
and he had the druid kath Bad walking with them,
and they saw the saw her out in the water,
and kath Bad said, do you see that little hound?
Do you see who's clothing? Shoes washing? That's your armor.
(28:17):
If you go into this battle, you will not survive time.
We must turn around and leave kuche Lane run away
from a battle to save his own neck. Now that
that beagle's not hunting.
Speaker 3 (28:31):
Not right right? Right?
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Oh my goodness. And that was gonna be my next question.
Because the bandshe is creating a warning for people, and
I was wondering that very thing. Does it give people
a chance to turn around and go in a different
direction which saves their lives.
Speaker 4 (28:53):
I have never seen a case where the banshee was thwarted.
Their word is final.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
So when they start washing those clothes or screeching or
singing that lullaby, it's too late.
Speaker 4 (29:12):
It's done for somebody in the family. Right now. There
is a case that I have in the book of
a family and don't my notes over there, but the
heck in some county in Ireland. And this is a
modern case where the family heard the bansheet and they're
(29:36):
sitting up and they're wondering they can't get to sleep.
Who in the family, because we're all healthy, all of
our close relatives are healthy. And luckily they stayed healthy
because that night their house caught on fire.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
Oh mys, the banshet had warn them about the fire.
Speaker 4 (29:59):
Yeah, they had fallen in the sleep. Uh, they would
have they would have probably all died.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
Yes, exactly.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
So that's a time when they were warned and they
were able to save their lives and get out of
a burning house.
Speaker 4 (30:13):
Yeah. The only case like that I was able to find.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
Yeah, because it does seem to me Evan She is
such a powerful, powerful image and experience. It feels like
there's got to be more to what the van She
can offer.
Speaker 4 (30:30):
So, of course we don't really know what goes on
beyond the veil, but yes, I believe they do have,
you know, a function beyond just announcing death. For example,
a Maay for years way into the Christian period was
(30:54):
still connected with fertility, and there were rituals near the
area of Laugre where they would meet on a hill
side at Samain in fact our modern Halloween, and all
(31:15):
of the people would have a torch, and when the
ceremony was concluded, each person would take that lit torch
and run off in different directions and they would go
by all the different farms and thus take the energy
from the ferry mound to these different farms so that
(31:40):
the crops could grow and the livestock would prosper.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
Yes, yeah, that see, that makes a lot of sense
to me, because any anything that has that goddess energy,
that connection to life and death, the earth, the sky,
there has to be more, you know, to this whole thing.
Talk to us, if you would, about the Japanese banshee ah.
Speaker 4 (32:09):
The equitol the what is essentially the ghost of a
living person. That see I just wrote this about today.
That's Scotland and Wales. H here we are. Just give
(32:31):
me a month, I'll get this together. Yes, you read
about this in the Tale of the Gangee, the great
classic from Japanese literature. It's not the most readable thing
to a modern audience, and it's huge, but you do
(32:52):
find the equitor appearing in the pages of that great work.
It is essentially the ghost of a living person. And
this has been seen throughout the ages in Japan and
back into this Samurai are era, the Warring States era,
(33:17):
and when you see this, you know the person is
soon to die. And it has been related that during
the Second World War, many times a family in Japan
would be sitting at home one night, maybe they just
finished dinner. All of a sudden, here is their son
(33:41):
or their husband standing in the house with them, wearing
his uniform and just kind of looking around. Then he vanishes.
At that point, the family knew that he would never
(34:02):
come back alive.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
So that was their message.
Speaker 2 (34:06):
And it always shows up in the form of the
person who is going to.
Speaker 4 (34:10):
Pass in the exact form.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
Yes, and Japanese culture, as I understand, is very very
intertwined with the paranormal. They really respect it and have
a deep understanding of all of this, whereas in America
I feel people still are dismissing this a little bit,
but not in Japan.
Speaker 4 (34:33):
Well, you have to say, in modern Japan, and this
is from what I've read, that I had not been
there myself, my family has and I couldn't go. I
wanted to. Oh, but modern Japan has become very separated
(34:57):
from its spiritual paths, especially with Shintoism. There are many
different aspects of the supernatural in Japan. For example, and
(35:17):
since you took me off guard, I have absolutely no
proper names. But they had to get rid of an
entire office building because they had built it over the
tomb of an ancient samurai, a very mighty samurai whose
name I did not remember at all, And they had
(35:41):
all kinds of trouble in that building, and you know,
the poltergeist activity, lights and so on. Finally, and there
are also a lot of fires that broke out mysteriously.
If you read the Unfortune, you know that's a of
a psychic attack. Finally, they decided, okay, no we gotta,
(36:06):
we gotta get rid of this. They tore down an
entire office building and erected this beautiful Shinto temple to
how's the remains of this ancient samurai? And I wish
I could have gone to Tokyo because I would have
so loved to visit that place.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
Yes, but again, that to me says a lot about
how connected some Japanese people still are to their roots
with all of this, you know, connection to the other
side and the I mean, it's it's really sad to
hear how modern Japan has moved so far away from this.
Speaker 4 (36:53):
Yeah, I'm afraid they've taken after us, and in many
ways we've lost so much connection to the spiritual realm.
And I guess it takes someone like Mothman to come
around and remind us, Hey, there's something beyond what you
see right in front of you on your phone.
Speaker 2 (37:15):
Man, I'm so glad Stephen that you brought up. Mockman
is my favorite. I love Mothman. I think Mockman is
just it is the bomb. I mean, I love Mockman's stories.
I please you went there, you went to.
Speaker 4 (37:37):
I went to Point Pleasant, West Virginia, which makes Mayberry
look like a megalopolis. It's really like a two street town.
And I went to the museum. I have my picture
taken in front of the statue and my friend Doug
Weiss and I we made a video of our visit
(38:02):
and you can find that on the YouTube channel Beagle
Rampant One Word. And Yeah, they have a great gift shop,
and of course I had to buy stickers. I had
to buy yes shirt, John Keel's book I bought that.
(38:25):
I love Point Pleasant. I got to go back.
Speaker 2 (38:29):
Yeah, I mean the story is quite remarkable. Now, let
me ask you your opinion, because, as you know, there's
a couple of opinions about Mothman. Number one, did Mothman
cause this bridge to collapse? Or was Mothman kind of
like a banshee warning these people about the upcoming collapse
(38:51):
of this bridge.
Speaker 4 (38:53):
I believe that Mothman was like a banshee. The one
who caused the bridge collapse was a Native American chieftain
called Chief Cornstalk. Chief Cornstock had been involved in military
activity against the white settlers and did not do too well,
(39:19):
and he actually placed a curse on this area. They
built a bridge. Mothman appears in sixty seven or sixty six,
and right after that the bridge collapsed right before Christmas,
a horrible tragedy. And after that you didn't see too
(39:44):
much of Mothman. Occasionally there are sightings, but it's nothing
like the big flapback in the late sixties.
Speaker 2 (39:55):
Yes, and they had some very credible witnesses to Mathmaan
and some of them with Mothman flying alongside their car
and things like that. But from the accounts that I read,
nobody was harmed by Mothman.
Speaker 4 (40:11):
No, don't believe they were scared to death in that car,
a fifty seven Chevy, which back in the sixties seems
like everybody had a fifty seven Chevy, and they were
reaching speeds up to one hundred miles an hour. This
(40:33):
thing was flying over the top, scratching into the roof
of the car. So those skeptics who liked to say
that Mothman was just a heron or something, well, you
show me a heron who's going to be flying at
one hundred miles an hour and scratching the heck out
(40:55):
of a classic car.
Speaker 2 (40:56):
Yeah, exactly. Oh my goodness, Well, I love moth Man.
I think it's just one of those incredible creatures and
again it didn't harm anybody. The only story that I heard,
and I don't know if you heard this one also,
and I think it was on I think it was
Paranormal Witness, which is one of the best, in my opinion,
(41:18):
docuseries on the paranormal. They got stories nobody else got,
and they did a good job with them. But there
was a couple that went to visit this area and
it was they went to visit an area that had
I don't want to say minds, but it was like
bunkers area called Yes. So they went there, but they
(41:43):
were kind of taunting mothmn. So they went in and
I did their saying and said, yeah, you know, if
you're real all that, you know Fony maloney that if
I were Mothman, I wouldn't like it either. And apparently
Mothman followed them home and some very unusual things happen,
(42:03):
some strange things that were thrown onto their bathroom wall,
and phone calls, very strange phone calls with all kinds
of static. They could never figure out where they were
coming from. They ended up leaving the house and I
haven't heard about a part two other than they thought
that mothman even followed them beyond that. But the thing is,
(42:25):
you don't poke the bear, right.
Speaker 4 (42:28):
Well, unless your hobby is goosing a heel of monster, No,
I would not. Don't mess with it.
Speaker 2 (42:36):
No, I mean, these are creatures we absolutely have no
understanding of, and they obviously have abilities that we don't
have and we don't understand. So why why would you
taunt something like that? It just doesn't didn't make any
sense what they did, and I think they realized that
(42:56):
as well, but it was too late.
Speaker 3 (42:59):
That me.
Speaker 4 (43:02):
Back to the banshee again. Banshees, for some reason have
one possession, which is a comb, and sometimes they'll sit
on a windowsill, which in Ireland is very deep, and
they comb their hair while they're crying out. And there
are folk tails in Ireland concerning some drunken man who
(43:26):
will come up behind a banshee, grab the comb and
go running off, only to be chased by the banshee.
Usually the way these tails end is that they put
the family who is ready to kick his butt unendingly
(43:47):
put the comb in a iron tong from the fireplace
and they put it underneath the door. And then all
of a sudden, what and the Banshee has her home back,
and she also has half of the iron tongs. They
have a souvenir to take to the pubs. Show the
(44:08):
boys down there. You may have been told when you
were a little girl that if you find a comb
on the ground, don't touch it.
Speaker 3 (44:19):
Oh, I have not heard that, but it makes sense.
Speaker 4 (44:23):
Yes, in Ireland, every little girl, even in these modern times,
there's going to be a grandmother and old aunt say,
won't you ever pick up a comb you find she'll
come looking for it.
Speaker 3 (44:37):
Yeah, no, you don't want that.
Speaker 4 (44:40):
Yeah, don't believe in finders keepers.
Speaker 2 (44:42):
No, No, all these stories are just so fascinating, Steven.
I can see what threw you in to writing this
great book. We should show everybody the book again and
beware the Vanshee's cry. And there it is great, great book.
And I don't know I have to say this. I
(45:03):
don't know why, but there's a light flashing behind me.
I don't know if you've seen that while we were talking.
It's been going on and up there is no light there.
I just want to tell everybody there's no light back there,
and all the lights in the in this room are
just constant light. So I have not seen this before,
and Steven, I think it's because of you.
Speaker 4 (45:26):
Oh well, that's wonderful to know.
Speaker 2 (45:28):
Okay, and this incredibly interesting topic that you've brought to
us tonight. I mean, this is just fascinating. And so
you're going to go back to see math Man.
Speaker 4 (45:40):
They have tours uh huhh that actually go into the
tnt Era area and they show you where everything happened. Yeah.
I'm definitely planning on spending a few shekels and taking
that tour. U.
Speaker 3 (46:01):
Yeah, because you're not that far away from it, are you.
Speaker 4 (46:04):
Well, I'm on one side of Ohio. Okay. This is
right across from Marion, Ohio, which is on the east.
Speaker 3 (46:13):
Side, so it's across the state.
Speaker 4 (46:18):
Yeah. Then you just across the new and hopefully much
former bridge. Yeah, you're in Point Pleasant.
Speaker 2 (46:27):
Yeah exactly. Well, Now, wasn't there something also about the
bridge that it had been it hadn't been maintained properly.
Also there were some defects. Surprised, Yeah, because I think
that was part of the problem with the defects in
the bridge. They didn't really find until after this tragedy occurred,
(46:49):
and there were quite a few cars on that bridge.
Speaker 4 (46:53):
Yeah, and it was right before Christmas. There were a
lot of people who died in that tragedy, and they
had gone over to Marion to do some Christmas shopping
and a lot of these presents floated up, and we're
floating on the water. I mean, can you imagine more
(47:14):
horrific stuff?
Speaker 2 (47:16):
And how sad? What a terrible scene for everybody to
have to live with it. I know it took them
a long time to get those cars out and horse
bodies and everything else. So it was a very very
sad thing to happen right before the Christmas holiday.
Speaker 3 (47:31):
Just awful.
Speaker 2 (47:32):
But yeah, I see, I'm with you. I think that
Mothman was more in the Banshee role for that. I can't,
you know. And I try to tune in to Mothman energy.
I don't pick up anything that's cruel or nefarious.
Speaker 3 (47:49):
I really don't.
Speaker 2 (47:50):
Something that's more curious, you know, A curious nature is
what I find.
Speaker 4 (47:56):
Now. I imagine you've read John Keell's book on.
Speaker 3 (48:01):
That Man much better than that movie.
Speaker 4 (48:03):
Yes, yes, okay, the movie not so good, but John
Keel's book is very detailed. Also talks about a lot
of mysterious men driving around the famous m ibn in
(48:23):
Black m I think that's pretty much where all that
started was back with the moth Man.
Speaker 2 (48:32):
That's interesting because the men in Black, nobody that's been
on our show anyways has ever come up with a
clear explanation of what these men in black truly are.
But they're very creepy and pale skin and no hair.
Speaker 3 (48:48):
No eyebrows.
Speaker 2 (48:51):
They draw them in I guess, so sometimes they look
like they have IROs, but they excuse me, they don't.
But then they follow people around who have these UFO
experiences and try to threaten them. And I know, I
do know somebody who was threatened by a men in
black situation where an airline pilot, this is many years ago,
(49:11):
had given him a video that he took of a
UFO with aliens that you could clearly see the aliens
and it was right outside his airplane cockpit window. So
he gave the tape to my friend, who was a producer,
and the next thing that happened was my producer friend
(49:32):
was visited by a van. Men in black came out
and said, if you ever air that, you will never
see your son again. And he had a young son
who was eight or nine years old, and so he
took the tape and he locked it away. I don't
think he's ever shown it. So he was so afraid
for his son's life, which is understandable. It's a terrible
(49:53):
thing to be threatened like that. He's not the only
one who's been threatened that way, but certainly it gives
you pause if your father and somebody comes up to
you and says something like that.
Speaker 4 (50:04):
Yeah, that's about as subtle as a train wreck.
Speaker 2 (50:07):
Yeah, it is a train wreck waiting to happen if
you air that thing. So I don't know, but all
of this it seems to if you have some type
of a fabric where it all comes together, and you've
added a really important piece with your book. So it's great.
Thank you so much for writing, you know, for coming
(50:29):
on the show. What is your next book going to be?
Speaker 4 (50:33):
Well, it's not been accepted by the publisher yet, but
I will give you a free little preview. It is
called The Twisted Road to the Borgo Pass. Oh, and
it's of course about Dracula, yes, and how book came
(50:55):
to be written. And I'm getting all kinds of gestures
from the other room saying, now, why did you just
do that? Again I said that.
Speaker 2 (51:08):
Yes, well, hey, you know what, Dracula has never lost
its appeal ever, I mean keeps coming.
Speaker 4 (51:15):
Out, never once out of print, never since eighteen ninety seven.
Speaker 3 (51:21):
That says a lot.
Speaker 4 (51:23):
Yes, where it came from you won't believe.
Speaker 3 (51:27):
Oh gosh it.
Speaker 4 (51:28):
Actually, well, I'm going to get more gestures here. But
came from a volcanic explosion.
Speaker 3 (51:38):
Really, Oh my godness.
Speaker 4 (51:41):
You got to get the book down to find out.
Speaker 2 (51:43):
No, I know, my god, Well, I better get published
right away. That's all I can tell you, because now
I'm on the edge of my seat waiting to read this.
So so good for you. You found another incredibly fascinating topic
that has a wide appeal that really does I hope.
Speaker 4 (52:00):
So yes, I haven't talked to Luellin about it yet.
Speaker 3 (52:06):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (52:06):
Well, I really hope Llewellyn sees the wisdom of publishing that,
and if not, you should contact me and I'll put
you in touch with somebody who will publish it, because
I think it's a fabulous idea really, and you're a
great writer. I mean, your writing is very captivating and
it really drew me in to read this book. So
I'm thrilled that you've come on the show tonight for
(52:28):
Spooky October.
Speaker 3 (52:29):
This has absolutely great, yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 2 (52:35):
So please stay in touch because I want you to
come back and talk about drug cue and let's hear
what really went on way back when and how this
came to be.
Speaker 3 (52:47):
So this is great. Well, thank you so much Stephen. Again.
Speaker 2 (52:50):
The book is called Beware the Banshees Cry and it
is by our guest tonight, Stephen Rolfus and Stephen thanks again.
This has been fantastic. Can't thank you enough.
Speaker 4 (53:03):
Well, thank you so much for having me. It was
a great time.
Speaker 2 (53:07):
It's total pleasure. Really, it was such a pleasure. Thank you,
Thank you. Happy Halloween and everybody will be back next
week with another great show. Until then we will see
you on the Blue Highway. Good Night everyone,
Arch angels, ghosts, and Bigfoot. Oh why, it's just another
night for Supernatural Girls and real stories, real answers to
life's biggest supernatural mysteries. And now for another exciting interview
with paranormal experts from this world and others. Here's your host,
paranormal researcher Patricia Baker on the One the Only Supernatural Girls.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Welcome everyone to another exciting episode of Supernatural Girls. I'm
your host, Patricia Baker, and unfortunately my co host p
K will not be joining us this evening because she's
not feeling well. So we hope to see your next week.
So PK, we're sending you lots of love and light
and prayers and hoping that you're feeling better this evening
(01:11):
and we miss you. We're left without any numerological direction
for the coming week, so you're going to have to
make up for it the next time you're here. I
know we all want to hear what's happening because we're
so close to the election and all kinds of things
are popping. So can't wait for you to come back.
(01:31):
So feel better, get well soon. So tonight we have
I have by myself a fascinating guest. He is the
author of a new book, and it is called Beware
the Banshee's Cry.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
There it is.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
It's a very fascinating book, and it's about a subject
that's quite terrifying, because nobody wants to meet a harbinger
of death, and yet we all do. Eventually, we all
face the equalizer of dying, and we all have our
own way of meeting that messenger. So Stephen Rolfus has
(02:14):
taken on the mission of explaining to us all about
the banshees and these messengers of death.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
What are they?
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Where do they come from? What countries? I guess it's
very country specific. So this is something that I am
so excited to hear about. And I read through the
book as quickly as I could because I am so
excited to hear more about this. Again, it's something we
all face, and yet it's something nobody really wants to face.
(02:46):
So let me tell you a little bit about our
guests this evening. So Stephen Rolfus is the author of
many books on Ohio and Cincinnati, including Supernatural Lore of Ohio.
He has been published in many magazines and also hosts
a summer radio program telling ghost stories that sounds like
(03:07):
so much fun. So he is the author, as I mentioned,
of the new book Beware the Banjies Cry, which is
published by Llewellyn, and Steven's here with us right now,
so I'm going to bring him on the show. Steven, welcome,
Thank you, great to be here. It's great to have you.
You took on a quite a topic here. What was
(03:28):
it that made you want to write about this?
Speaker 4 (03:31):
Well, Celtic mythology is an area that tends to be
overlooked a great deal. I mean, every school child knows
about the Greek and Roman myths, they know about Zeus
and Apollo, they probably know about the Scandinavian Teutonic myths
(03:54):
of Odin and Thor. But when you ask someone about
Celtic mythology, gee, everyone would just give you a blank look.
And actually this lore is incredibly rich. Every bit is
wide and varied, as we find in other cultures. And
(04:16):
of that you have the most brightening, terrifying Denisen of
the other world, the Banshie. So it's fun time looking
looking for the Banshie.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Well, and we are in spooky October for our supernatural
girls entire months. But again, this is a topic that
a lot of people don't really want to hear about,
but yet it's fascinating. And now you are not of
Celtic origins, so you're stutomic. Yes, so this is not
(04:52):
something from your genealogy that you would have ever experienced,
but you were drawn to it.
Speaker 4 (04:59):
Oh. Absolutely. Of course other cultures have these harbingers of
death as well, including us Germans. We have what is
called the visa Frau the white woman. Huh. You can
well imagine being a tall, ghostly woman dressed in white
(05:21):
kind maybe like a bride holding a candle, gliding down
the hallway of an old German manner as the thunderstorm
rages outside, and to see her means that someone in
the family is about to leave this world. Wow.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
We just got a message from one of our listeners, Joe,
who said he's of celt origin, so this is going
to be a particular interest to him and other members
of our audience. Yes, this is not something that you
look forward to seeing, especially if you know what you're
looking at. Like if you have this information about the
banshee or the white woman in Germany or.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
The ikiro in Japan.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
They're all there to let us know somebody's about to
pass and it is.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
Right?
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Is it always family related? Somebody in the family when
you see.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
It must be someone in the family that the banshee
is connected to. They will not cry for anyone else
except there is one exception. There's always an exception ray banshee,
but there is one and I forget which county it's in,
(06:42):
but she sits on a rock near a road and
sometimes she will cry out, and she's crying out for
someone who is a prisoner in the workhouse. Oh, I
like this. This means that even the most forgotten then
(07:03):
forlorn person, they don't leave without at least a little
bit of respect of the banshee m saying goodbye.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
That's really nice. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
And also my understanding from your book is it's sometimes
the banshee lets out this this very attention getting horrifying screen.
But other times it's more of a lament, right, just
a song, kind of a song.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
It can be two ways. Sometimes it is absolutely grating,
like you know, nails on a chalkboard. Yeah, it's just
been described as being like the screeching of a cat.
In fact, there is a case from County Rosscoleman where
(07:56):
and This is a modern case where a brother and
sister after dinner, they're sitting in the kitchen, just chit
chatting away, nothing going on, and they hear this cat
screeching outside, and they say, and the brother gets upset
watch this, and he goes over to the door and
(08:18):
he opens the door, looks at the dog and says,
go get a boy, and the dog just looks up.
You out your mind? Any idea? What's out?
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Yeah? I forget it.
Speaker 4 (08:34):
At that point they listen a movie that's not a
cat and they slam the door. But sometimes that's true.
It is beautiful. Sometimes even accompanied by an Irish harp.
I love the sound of an Irish harp and they
(08:55):
will sing a lament and old Irish tune. And one
of the members of the family is about to leave
this world, such as what happened with doctor Kennerley, who
was a nineteenth century poet in Ireland. His little brother
(09:19):
was lying in bed about to leave the world. He
was dying, very sick, and the medical doctor was there,
some other man. Friends of the family were there and
they examine him and they said, well, now you just
rest here. We're going to go over here and talk
for a moment. So they walked across the room and
(09:43):
as they did, they heard this beautiful singing outside. You
would have thought that Kirsten Flagstead was out on the lawn.
And they talked to each other. Yes, he's not going
to last much longer. And one of the people, obviously
(10:03):
not from around there, said, well, I have to say,
that's the most beautiful singing I've ever heard, and I've
been in every concert hall in Europe and I've never
heard singing like that. Well he didn't know, you you won't.
That was a banshee. At that point, Doctor King of
(10:24):
Lee said, oh, and he ran back to the bed
and his little brother was gone, you know very Oh,
I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
No, I just wanted to know your thoughts on this,
because then what is the real purpose? Is it just
to warn the family so maybe they can get they
can say they're goodbyes to the person who's ill or injured.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
What is the reason for this?
Speaker 4 (10:54):
Once again we come down to two different lines of thought.
One of them is that, yes, when it's singing and
beautiful and lovely, it is an ancestor of the family
who is trying to help one of her descendants pass
(11:18):
from this world. To the next to make it smooth.
But if it is screeching and catlike, it is someone
from the past who is who does not like the family,
who hates the family, and she is just taking great
(11:40):
delight and saying, ha, you're gonna die, You're coming to
the bail, you'll be with me. We've seen this number
of castes in the past where lords of a cast
of a manner took advantage of young women of the
(12:08):
peasant class, if your pardon the expression, and later on,
should they happen to marry this person, then that person
will come back and definitely take the light in saying
it's exit time.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
Wow, that's it. It's all folks. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
One of our listeners, Joe, is saying that we tells
we carved turnips and they were way more scary. So
I didn't know that turnips. That's quite interesting to carve
something that's small.
Speaker 4 (12:51):
Pumpkins are an American variation on the old summon traditions.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Well, I have a story I want to share with
you and the listeners about meeting death. And I didn't
meet a banshee. But what happened was I had two
dogs and one of them passed away, and I was
devastated because, as I always am, when any pet dies,
it rips my heart out. And Death came to visit
(13:28):
and said to me, your other dog is going to
die soon too, and he was an older dog. We
had rescued him from my mother in law who was
unable to care for him. And my husband and I
adored this other dog as well. So I said to Death,
(13:51):
you can't take him right now, you just can't. I
can't handle it, and you can't take him. And so
he said, all right, and that was the end of
the conversation. And my dog, his name is Micah. He
was sixteen and a half years old. He lived for
another two and a half months, by the grace of Death,
(14:15):
who gave me that gift, and he passed away with
me beside him. So that was my experience with death,
and I was very grateful because my heart was so
broken over the loss of Zoe, my other dog, and
I really didn't think I could handle it if Micah
(14:37):
was taken so close to Zoe's death.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
So anyways, that was my experience.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
That sounds a great deal like modern Greek folklore, not
ancient Greek myth, but modern Greece with the character of
Kron now Kroen, we know from ancient times was the
fairy man of the dead, but in modern times he
(15:09):
has become the grim Reaper himself, and he would occasionally
show small bits of mercy. But when it's time, it's time,
and you may get a small extension for humans or dogs,
I guess, but it's definitely going to happen.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
And yeah, well that's very interesting.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
I'm going to have to read up more about that mythology.
It was a positive experience, as positive as it could
be and some.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
I'm glad to get that insight from you. Thank you.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
I have an interesting story that's not in the book
because I read it years ago, and I mean I've
read thousands of books over the years, but it concerns
a family in Massachusetts, modern family, and one day a
(16:12):
German shepherd dog that no one had ever seen, no collar,
tag or anything, just came by the household and started
playing with the children. And the children and the family
loved it, except for the grandmother. The grandmother was Irish
and she was from the Emerald Dial and she wanted
(16:34):
nothing to do with the hound, and they loved the dog.
Then one day, the dog just vanished. No one knew
what happened to him, and they found out that same
day that a relative in Ireland had passed away. That's
when the grandmother said, you idiots, that dog was a bansheet.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Oh my goodness. So they could create on an animal form,
how fascinating.
Speaker 4 (17:06):
There's a case from right here in Cincinnati, and I
believe eighteen ninety two of a bansheet taking the form
of a black cat fitting enough, especially at Halloween, right
and it went to the city hospital and it would
go into this strained screeching in a kind of a fit.
(17:32):
And then as soon as the fit was over, the
attendant would receive word that someone on one of the
wards had just died.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Wow. Well, and animals do know, apparently, I mean just
innately know when someone is about to pass. There was
a book written by a doctor I forget what it was,
was making rounds with and then it was the cat's name.
And he would make his rounds with this cat in
a nursing home. And when the cat would go into
(18:06):
someone's room and just curl up on the person's.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Bed, I mean some trouble.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
I keep we keep going to the dark side. Oh,
I don't know why my internet is doing something strange,
but anyways, that's so. That's also fascinating with the German shepherd,
that it could take on the appearance of a dog,
and then the grandmother knew that it was in fact
(18:43):
of anchie warning the family.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
Well, she had grown up with the lore. Now that
reminds me a great deal of an entity from Scandinavia
back in the time of the Vikings. And it's called
and I'll probably must pronounce it a field ju. And
these would sometimes take the form of animals. And there
(19:11):
is a case from back in ancient times of an
eight year old boy went into a house and of
course he was running. You find an eight year old
boy that does not run somewhere, and he comes in
and there was like an old uncle sitting there. Well,
(19:34):
all of a sudden, the boy just falls over, laying
smack on his face, even though there was nothing there
for him to trip over, and the old man starts
laughing like crazy. Well, the boy leaves angry, but later
(19:55):
on he asks his uncle, why did I trip There
is nothing there? And he said, you did not see it.
Your build you in the form of a little white
bear cub had come in with you, and as soon
as he saw me, he stopped right in front of
(20:16):
you and you tripped over him.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
Oh my goodness. It's so much that we don't see.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Our spectrum is so limited, and certainly it's I don't know,
tell me what your thoughts are on this one, because
it seems like in times long ago people were more
attuned to these kinds of things. I mean, we're tuned
to our iPhones, right, you know, but we're not attuned
to these things that appear and disappear from one dimension
(20:45):
to another. It's something that we're really missing out on.
Even though some people can see them. Some mediums, if
you had great mediums on the show, can see lots
of things, but overall it's not a part of our
daily life. We've let that in the past.
Speaker 4 (21:03):
Well, I think here you are giving into shamanism, and
certain people are born with this power to see the
spirit world, and they are trained sometimes to enhance this
so that they can help their society. And this goes
(21:25):
in a great deal. If you're into the lay theory,
which I certainly am of. Why you have the stone circles,
the standing stones, the barrows, and such throughout the Celtic world.
These are what you call spirit paths. And there is
(21:46):
even a case from Ireland of a man who built
his house on a spirit path and some of the
neighbors who knew better said, none of you can't do that,
and we're going to have trouble, and no, that's nonsense,
that's old wives tales. Well, wouldn't you know he had
(22:10):
all kinds of poltergeist activity going on in this house.
He was steeing lights, he was seeing figures walking about,
and of course things were moving eventually, and there are
photographs of this. I've seen them. He had to go
out with a mallet and just bang the side of
(22:33):
his house and made a big opening so that he
is no longer blocking this spirit path or lay line
as we call them nowadays.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Wow, that's fascinating. Now, and you talk about two in
your book, the fairies. Yes, are the connected to the fairies?
Speaker 3 (22:56):
Is that why?
Speaker 4 (22:57):
That's what their name means? It is actually see the
term banshee that we use, that I use simply for convenience.
That's the worst word for it. There's like almost twenty
other words for it, mostly variation of beIN she she
(23:19):
being the fairy mound, being the woman, so it means
a woman of the mound, a woman of the fairy mound.
And we find that there are a lot of similarities
with fairies. The fairy itself is not a good term
(23:40):
or the gentry. I prefer to call them the she
those who dwell in the mound. Fairy just is a
euphemism meaning the fair ones. In other words, leave.
Speaker 3 (23:53):
Me alone, okay.
Speaker 4 (23:55):
And banshee's are often seen wearing cloaks fairy color, very
very often green, and also you find black, white, and
blood red.
Speaker 3 (24:11):
Gosh.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Yeah, I was just trying to imagine how the banshee
fits in to the fay, because I know we've had
a lot of guests on the show talked about their
experiences with the fee and never heard them mention the
banshee as a part of that collective.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
So this is all new to me.
Speaker 4 (24:31):
Anyways, Well, I can I can throw you another curveball here.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
Good.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
Besides being just a common garden variety fairy, there is
a great deal of evidence to indicate that banshees or
some banshees, are ancient goddesses, Celtic goddesses from Christian area
(25:01):
who have remained in the Ireland and let me see
I should have them. Yep, got them right here my
cheat sheet. A couple of famous banshees are. One of
them is called Ana. Now Ana, if you're familiar with
(25:25):
Celtic myth, he was the goddess of summer, of warm,
beautiful days, of fertility, of the land, of animals, of people,
and she became connected to the Fitzgerald and the Okara families.
(25:47):
And there's a number of myths about Ana that I
have in the book. There's also the goddess Cloth, the
goddess Abeel who loves the rich harp uh Cleona, and
I have an incredible story about her in the book.
(26:07):
And one more goddess, And I bet you can guess
who I'm talking about.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
Who tell me?
Speaker 4 (26:16):
The Dark War death goddess Morgan, Yes, yes, who is
actually three separate goddesses, Nimon, Macha and Balb and they
would become combined together like on a Saturday morning cartoon
(26:37):
show and become this horrific death goddess Morgan. And that's
how she That is the one who appeared to the
greatest irishman who ever lived, and that would be Coucherlane
the great warrior from ancient times, and I talk about
(27:01):
his death in you know, in the book, I should
mention that not only d Banshi's cry out and screech.
Sometimes you will see them in running water up to
(27:21):
their knees and they will be washing bloodstained clothing and
the water is turning scarlet about them from all the
gore coming off of the clothing. Whoever's clothes those are,
that is the person who is going to die. Oh my,
(27:44):
that's how it appeared. She appeared to kucher Lane incident.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
Whose clothes was she washing at that point? Were they his?
Speaker 4 (27:53):
They were his? Yes? He was walking towards the battle
and he had the druid kath Bad walking with them,
and they saw the saw her out in the water,
and kath Bad said, do you see that little hound?
Do you see who's clothing? Shoes washing? That's your armor.
(28:17):
If you go into this battle, you will not survive time.
We must turn around and leave kuche Lane run away
from a battle to save his own neck. Now that
that beagle's not hunting.
Speaker 3 (28:31):
Not right right? Right?
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Oh my goodness. And that was gonna be my next question.
Because the bandshe is creating a warning for people, and
I was wondering that very thing. Does it give people
a chance to turn around and go in a different
direction which saves their lives.
Speaker 4 (28:53):
I have never seen a case where the banshee was thwarted.
Their word is final.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
So when they start washing those clothes or screeching or
singing that lullaby, it's too late.
Speaker 4 (29:12):
It's done for somebody in the family. Right now. There
is a case that I have in the book of
a family and don't my notes over there, but the
heck in some county in Ireland. And this is a
modern case where the family heard the bansheet and they're
(29:36):
sitting up and they're wondering they can't get to sleep.
Who in the family, because we're all healthy, all of
our close relatives are healthy. And luckily they stayed healthy
because that night their house caught on fire.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
Oh mys, the banshet had warn them about the fire.
Speaker 4 (29:59):
Yeah, they had fallen in the sleep. Uh, they would
have they would have probably all died.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
Yes, exactly.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
So that's a time when they were warned and they
were able to save their lives and get out of
a burning house.
Speaker 4 (30:13):
Yeah. The only case like that I was able to find.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
Yeah, because it does seem to me Evan She is
such a powerful, powerful image and experience. It feels like
there's got to be more to what the van She
can offer.
Speaker 4 (30:30):
So, of course we don't really know what goes on
beyond the veil, but yes, I believe they do have,
you know, a function beyond just announcing death. For example,
a Maay for years way into the Christian period was
(30:54):
still connected with fertility, and there were rituals near the
area of Laugre where they would meet on a hill
side at Samain in fact our modern Halloween, and all
(31:15):
of the people would have a torch, and when the
ceremony was concluded, each person would take that lit torch
and run off in different directions and they would go
by all the different farms and thus take the energy
from the ferry mound to these different farms so that
(31:40):
the crops could grow and the livestock would prosper.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
Yes, yeah, that see, that makes a lot of sense
to me, because any anything that has that goddess energy,
that connection to life and death, the earth, the sky,
there has to be more, you know, to this whole thing.
Talk to us, if you would, about the Japanese banshee ah.
Speaker 4 (32:09):
The equitol the what is essentially the ghost of a
living person. That see I just wrote this about today.
That's Scotland and Wales. H here we are. Just give
(32:31):
me a month, I'll get this together. Yes, you read
about this in the Tale of the Gangee, the great
classic from Japanese literature. It's not the most readable thing
to a modern audience, and it's huge, but you do
(32:52):
find the equitor appearing in the pages of that great work.
It is essentially the ghost of a living person. And
this has been seen throughout the ages in Japan and
back into this Samurai are era, the Warring States era,
(33:17):
and when you see this, you know the person is
soon to die. And it has been related that during
the Second World War, many times a family in Japan
would be sitting at home one night, maybe they just
finished dinner. All of a sudden, here is their son
(33:41):
or their husband standing in the house with them, wearing
his uniform and just kind of looking around. Then he vanishes.
At that point, the family knew that he would never
(34:02):
come back alive.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
So that was their message.
Speaker 2 (34:06):
And it always shows up in the form of the
person who is going to.
Speaker 4 (34:10):
Pass in the exact form.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
Yes, and Japanese culture, as I understand, is very very
intertwined with the paranormal. They really respect it and have
a deep understanding of all of this, whereas in America
I feel people still are dismissing this a little bit,
but not in Japan.
Speaker 4 (34:33):
Well, you have to say, in modern Japan, and this
is from what I've read, that I had not been
there myself, my family has and I couldn't go. I
wanted to. Oh, but modern Japan has become very separated
(34:57):
from its spiritual paths, especially with Shintoism. There are many
different aspects of the supernatural in Japan. For example, and
(35:17):
since you took me off guard, I have absolutely no
proper names. But they had to get rid of an
entire office building because they had built it over the
tomb of an ancient samurai, a very mighty samurai whose
name I did not remember at all, And they had
(35:41):
all kinds of trouble in that building, and you know,
the poltergeist activity, lights and so on. Finally, and there
are also a lot of fires that broke out mysteriously.
If you read the Unfortune, you know that's a of
a psychic attack. Finally, they decided, okay, no we gotta,
(36:06):
we gotta get rid of this. They tore down an
entire office building and erected this beautiful Shinto temple to
how's the remains of this ancient samurai? And I wish
I could have gone to Tokyo because I would have
so loved to visit that place.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
Yes, but again, that to me says a lot about
how connected some Japanese people still are to their roots
with all of this, you know, connection to the other
side and the I mean, it's it's really sad to
hear how modern Japan has moved so far away from this.
Speaker 4 (36:53):
Yeah, I'm afraid they've taken after us, and in many
ways we've lost so much connection to the spiritual realm.
And I guess it takes someone like Mothman to come
around and remind us, Hey, there's something beyond what you
see right in front of you on your phone.
Speaker 2 (37:15):
Man, I'm so glad Stephen that you brought up. Mockman
is my favorite. I love Mothman. I think Mockman is
just it is the bomb. I mean, I love Mockman's stories.
I please you went there, you went to.
Speaker 4 (37:37):
I went to Point Pleasant, West Virginia, which makes Mayberry
look like a megalopolis. It's really like a two street town.
And I went to the museum. I have my picture
taken in front of the statue and my friend Doug
Weiss and I we made a video of our visit
(38:02):
and you can find that on the YouTube channel Beagle
Rampant One Word. And Yeah, they have a great gift shop,
and of course I had to buy stickers. I had
to buy yes shirt, John Keel's book I bought that.
(38:25):
I love Point Pleasant. I got to go back.
Speaker 2 (38:29):
Yeah, I mean the story is quite remarkable. Now, let
me ask you your opinion, because, as you know, there's
a couple of opinions about Mothman. Number one, did Mothman
cause this bridge to collapse? Or was Mothman kind of
like a banshee warning these people about the upcoming collapse
(38:51):
of this bridge.
Speaker 4 (38:53):
I believe that Mothman was like a banshee. The one
who caused the bridge collapse was a Native American chieftain
called Chief Cornstalk. Chief Cornstock had been involved in military
activity against the white settlers and did not do too well,
(39:19):
and he actually placed a curse on this area. They
built a bridge. Mothman appears in sixty seven or sixty six,
and right after that the bridge collapsed right before Christmas,
a horrible tragedy. And after that you didn't see too
(39:44):
much of Mothman. Occasionally there are sightings, but it's nothing
like the big flapback in the late sixties.
Speaker 2 (39:55):
Yes, and they had some very credible witnesses to Mathmaan
and some of them with Mothman flying alongside their car
and things like that. But from the accounts that I read,
nobody was harmed by Mothman.
Speaker 4 (40:11):
No, don't believe they were scared to death in that car,
a fifty seven Chevy, which back in the sixties seems
like everybody had a fifty seven Chevy, and they were
reaching speeds up to one hundred miles an hour. This
(40:33):
thing was flying over the top, scratching into the roof
of the car. So those skeptics who liked to say
that Mothman was just a heron or something, well, you
show me a heron who's going to be flying at
one hundred miles an hour and scratching the heck out
(40:55):
of a classic car.
Speaker 2 (40:56):
Yeah, exactly. Oh my goodness, Well, I love moth Man.
I think it's just one of those incredible creatures and
again it didn't harm anybody. The only story that I heard,
and I don't know if you heard this one also,
and I think it was on I think it was
Paranormal Witness, which is one of the best, in my opinion,
(41:18):
docuseries on the paranormal. They got stories nobody else got,
and they did a good job with them. But there
was a couple that went to visit this area and
it was they went to visit an area that had
I don't want to say minds, but it was like
bunkers area called Yes. So they went there, but they
(41:43):
were kind of taunting mothmn. So they went in and
I did their saying and said, yeah, you know, if
you're real all that, you know Fony maloney that if
I were Mothman, I wouldn't like it either. And apparently
Mothman followed them home and some very unusual things happen,
(42:03):
some strange things that were thrown onto their bathroom wall,
and phone calls, very strange phone calls with all kinds
of static. They could never figure out where they were
coming from. They ended up leaving the house and I
haven't heard about a part two other than they thought
that mothman even followed them beyond that. But the thing is,
(42:25):
you don't poke the bear, right.
Speaker 4 (42:28):
Well, unless your hobby is goosing a heel of monster, No,
I would not. Don't mess with it.
Speaker 2 (42:36):
No, I mean, these are creatures we absolutely have no
understanding of, and they obviously have abilities that we don't
have and we don't understand. So why why would you
taunt something like that? It just doesn't didn't make any
sense what they did, and I think they realized that
(42:56):
as well, but it was too late.
Speaker 3 (42:59):
That me.
Speaker 4 (43:02):
Back to the banshee again. Banshees, for some reason have
one possession, which is a comb, and sometimes they'll sit
on a windowsill, which in Ireland is very deep, and
they comb their hair while they're crying out. And there
are folk tails in Ireland concerning some drunken man who
(43:26):
will come up behind a banshee, grab the comb and
go running off, only to be chased by the banshee.
Usually the way these tails end is that they put
the family who is ready to kick his butt unendingly
(43:47):
put the comb in a iron tong from the fireplace
and they put it underneath the door. And then all
of a sudden, what and the Banshee has her home back,
and she also has half of the iron tongs. They
have a souvenir to take to the pubs. Show the
(44:08):
boys down there. You may have been told when you
were a little girl that if you find a comb
on the ground, don't touch it.
Speaker 3 (44:19):
Oh, I have not heard that, but it makes sense.
Speaker 4 (44:23):
Yes, in Ireland, every little girl, even in these modern times,
there's going to be a grandmother and old aunt say,
won't you ever pick up a comb you find she'll
come looking for it.
Speaker 3 (44:37):
Yeah, no, you don't want that.
Speaker 4 (44:40):
Yeah, don't believe in finders keepers.
Speaker 2 (44:42):
No, No, all these stories are just so fascinating, Steven.
I can see what threw you in to writing this
great book. We should show everybody the book again and
beware the Vanshee's cry. And there it is great, great book.
And I don't know I have to say this. I
(45:03):
don't know why, but there's a light flashing behind me.
I don't know if you've seen that while we were talking.
It's been going on and up there is no light there.
I just want to tell everybody there's no light back there,
and all the lights in the in this room are
just constant light. So I have not seen this before,
and Steven, I think it's because of you.
Speaker 4 (45:26):
Oh well, that's wonderful to know.
Speaker 2 (45:28):
Okay, and this incredibly interesting topic that you've brought to
us tonight. I mean, this is just fascinating. And so
you're going to go back to see math Man.
Speaker 4 (45:40):
They have tours uh huhh that actually go into the
tnt Era area and they show you where everything happened. Yeah.
I'm definitely planning on spending a few shekels and taking
that tour. U.
Speaker 3 (46:01):
Yeah, because you're not that far away from it, are you.
Speaker 4 (46:04):
Well, I'm on one side of Ohio. Okay. This is
right across from Marion, Ohio, which is on the east.
Speaker 3 (46:13):
Side, so it's across the state.
Speaker 4 (46:18):
Yeah. Then you just across the new and hopefully much
former bridge. Yeah, you're in Point Pleasant.
Speaker 2 (46:27):
Yeah exactly. Well, Now, wasn't there something also about the
bridge that it had been it hadn't been maintained properly.
Also there were some defects. Surprised, Yeah, because I think
that was part of the problem with the defects in
the bridge. They didn't really find until after this tragedy occurred,
(46:49):
and there were quite a few cars on that bridge.
Speaker 4 (46:53):
Yeah, and it was right before Christmas. There were a
lot of people who died in that tragedy, and they
had gone over to Marion to do some Christmas shopping
and a lot of these presents floated up, and we're
floating on the water. I mean, can you imagine more
(47:14):
horrific stuff?
Speaker 2 (47:16):
And how sad? What a terrible scene for everybody to
have to live with it. I know it took them
a long time to get those cars out and horse
bodies and everything else. So it was a very very
sad thing to happen right before the Christmas holiday.
Speaker 3 (47:31):
Just awful.
Speaker 2 (47:32):
But yeah, I see, I'm with you. I think that
Mothman was more in the Banshee role for that. I can't,
you know. And I try to tune in to Mothman energy.
I don't pick up anything that's cruel or nefarious.
Speaker 3 (47:49):
I really don't.
Speaker 2 (47:50):
Something that's more curious, you know, A curious nature is
what I find.
Speaker 4 (47:56):
Now. I imagine you've read John Keell's book on.
Speaker 3 (48:01):
That Man much better than that movie.
Speaker 4 (48:03):
Yes, yes, okay, the movie not so good, but John
Keel's book is very detailed. Also talks about a lot
of mysterious men driving around the famous m ibn in
(48:23):
Black m I think that's pretty much where all that
started was back with the moth Man.
Speaker 2 (48:32):
That's interesting because the men in Black, nobody that's been
on our show anyways has ever come up with a
clear explanation of what these men in black truly are.
But they're very creepy and pale skin and no hair.
Speaker 3 (48:48):
No eyebrows.
Speaker 2 (48:51):
They draw them in I guess, so sometimes they look
like they have IROs, but they excuse me, they don't.
But then they follow people around who have these UFO
experiences and try to threaten them. And I know, I
do know somebody who was threatened by a men in
black situation where an airline pilot, this is many years ago,
(49:11):
had given him a video that he took of a
UFO with aliens that you could clearly see the aliens
and it was right outside his airplane cockpit window. So
he gave the tape to my friend, who was a producer,
and the next thing that happened was my producer friend
(49:32):
was visited by a van. Men in black came out
and said, if you ever air that, you will never
see your son again. And he had a young son
who was eight or nine years old, and so he
took the tape and he locked it away. I don't
think he's ever shown it. So he was so afraid
for his son's life, which is understandable. It's a terrible
(49:53):
thing to be threatened like that. He's not the only
one who's been threatened that way, but certainly it gives
you pause if your father and somebody comes up to
you and says something like that.
Speaker 4 (50:04):
Yeah, that's about as subtle as a train wreck.
Speaker 2 (50:07):
Yeah, it is a train wreck waiting to happen if
you air that thing. So I don't know, but all
of this it seems to if you have some type
of a fabric where it all comes together, and you've
added a really important piece with your book. So it's great.
Thank you so much for writing, you know, for coming
(50:29):
on the show. What is your next book going to be?
Speaker 4 (50:33):
Well, it's not been accepted by the publisher yet, but
I will give you a free little preview. It is
called The Twisted Road to the Borgo Pass. Oh, and
it's of course about Dracula, yes, and how book came
(50:55):
to be written. And I'm getting all kinds of gestures
from the other room saying, now, why did you just
do that? Again I said that.
Speaker 2 (51:08):
Yes, well, hey, you know what, Dracula has never lost
its appeal ever, I mean keeps coming.
Speaker 4 (51:15):
Out, never once out of print, never since eighteen ninety seven.
Speaker 3 (51:21):
That says a lot.
Speaker 4 (51:23):
Yes, where it came from you won't believe.
Speaker 3 (51:27):
Oh gosh it.
Speaker 4 (51:28):
Actually, well, I'm going to get more gestures here. But
came from a volcanic explosion.
Speaker 3 (51:38):
Really, Oh my godness.
Speaker 4 (51:41):
You got to get the book down to find out.
Speaker 2 (51:43):
No, I know, my god, Well, I better get published
right away. That's all I can tell you, because now
I'm on the edge of my seat waiting to read this.
So so good for you. You found another incredibly fascinating topic
that has a wide appeal that really does I hope.
Speaker 4 (52:00):
So yes, I haven't talked to Luellin about it yet.
Speaker 3 (52:06):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (52:06):
Well, I really hope Llewellyn sees the wisdom of publishing that,
and if not, you should contact me and I'll put
you in touch with somebody who will publish it, because
I think it's a fabulous idea really, and you're a
great writer. I mean, your writing is very captivating and
it really drew me in to read this book. So
I'm thrilled that you've come on the show tonight for
(52:28):
Spooky October.
Speaker 3 (52:29):
This has absolutely great, yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 2 (52:35):
So please stay in touch because I want you to
come back and talk about drug cue and let's hear
what really went on way back when and how this
came to be.
Speaker 3 (52:47):
So this is great. Well, thank you so much Stephen. Again.
Speaker 2 (52:50):
The book is called Beware the Banshees Cry and it
is by our guest tonight, Stephen Rolfus and Stephen thanks again.
This has been fantastic. Can't thank you enough.
Speaker 4 (53:03):
Well, thank you so much for having me. It was
a great time.
Speaker 2 (53:07):
It's total pleasure. Really, it was such a pleasure. Thank you,
Thank you. Happy Halloween and everybody will be back next
week with another great show. Until then we will see
you on the Blue Highway. Good Night everyone,
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