| |
| | The Dark Muse |
 | | The most common and widespread myth attached to Leanan Sidhe is that she is a vampirish spirit who attaches herself to one man. To this man, an artist or poet, she appears irresistibly beautiful, and if he is seduced by her, he is ruined body and soul. |
 | | She says, "The Leanan Sidhe, or spirit of life, was supposed to be the inspirer of the poet and singer, as the Bean Sidhe was a spirit and herald of death." Yeats, however, explains the Leanan Sidhe as the spirit who inspires poets and singers, burning them up so that their earthly life is brief. |
 | | But it is not intended by this observation to confuse the higher orders of the Sidhe and all fairy folk such as the fae who come from Avalon with succubi; though succubi and fairy women were often confused and improperly identified the one with the other. |
| www.wildmuse.net /faerie/muses/leanan.html (1787 words) |
|