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The Legend of Witch Bay

There’s a beautiful village in Quebec’s Eastern Townships that some inhabitants renamed Witch Bay. Is Fitch Bay really filled with dancing and twirling witches on nights when there’s a full moon and on All Hallows’ Eve?

Legend has it that at the end of the 18th century, a Native American woman named Amanda would sometimes appear from out of the shadows in the small village of Fitch Bay. She wore a dark coat and had a dishevelled appearance and tousled hair. She was considered an outcast by the villagers and sowed fear amongst some of its inhabitants. They felt she came from somewhere intangible, obscure and mystical.

She was said to possess gifts that made her able to heal the body and spirit of those who crossed her path. On nights when there was a full moon, she used herbs and plants to make miraculous potions and visited the bedsides of the sick and infirm, her bag filled with these healing remedies. Despite the help she generously provided, her disturbing looks, lame legs and her gift of premonition made her a threatening presence in the eyes of some villagers. They were scared of her healing abilities and were hostile to her each time she appeared.

Many years passed, and the lonely witch turned to the natural elements: she talked to the flowers and trees, had conversations with wild animals, danced with the stars, howled with the wolves, and communed with all the storms that darkened the sky. Witch Bay villagers sometimes witnessed Amanda’s strange habits and wrongly believed she was casting curses on them. They quickly sealed the fate of this mysterious creature. She was hanged on November 1, 1800, near the bay.

However, they didn’t realize that witches never entirely disappear. Even in death, they retain the power to perpetuate their traditions, including appointing a woman to ensure their succession…

The story says that more than a century passed before Amanda selected her worthy and unique replacement… She was born near the village that Amanda used to visit. She tried to deny her skills of divination but, in spite of herself, was guided by an indescribable force to the site of Witch Bay. Seduced by the mysterious charm of the place and overwhelmed by a sense of bewitchment, she set up shop for good in a haunted chateau in the area. She renovated the old chateau and revered it as if it had always been hers. A witness to spells and many arcane events, she devoted herself to occult rituals and secret practices. It is said she welcomed the soul of Amanda into her body where she now lived at peace with people and nature. She can still be seen sometimes, coming out of the shadows along the banks of the river or on the grounds of her chateau, a smile on her face, a transparent and dancing shadow trailing behind her…