One by one, the creatures who frightened children under the cover of darkness, those proverbial “things that go bump in the night,” have been re-cast in a different mold. Self-aware werewolves depart for a self-imposed exile based on the lunar calendar.
Wizards can be ancient bearded men or fresh-faced school children, some muddied with muggle blood. Pop icons include vampires, zombies, space aliens, all reclaimed to a PR positive role in current fantasy media. Fear factor for witches, at least in Oz, apparently depends on which point of the compass they call home.
Closer to home than the back lots of Hollywood, Aroostook County has its very own witch. Natalia Bragg of Know II Bragg Farm is neither poofy prom-gown pink nor a green-complexioned goth. She looks like a 1950s-era Breck Girl portrait from the back cover of Ladies Home Journal, except that in the decades that have followed, wisdom has made her more beautiful than pretty.
It is wisdom that Natalia’s customers seek these days, visiting her in the shop on her farm in Perham, on her website, or stopping by the Presque Isle Farmers’ Market in the parking lot of the Aroostook Centre Mall parking lot on Saturday mornings. It is her wisdom that allows them to lay claim to “Old Log Drivers Products” from her apothecary.
As a traditional herbalist with generations of experimentation and hands-on learning behind her, Natalia offers “potions and lotions” for common ailments like arthritis, sinus issues, and burns. This Good Witch is walking the land, planting her herb gardens, and collecting woodland plants that will alleviate discomfort, pain, and sometimes fear. That may be the best spin this “doctor” has to offer.
The Presque Isle Farmers’ Market contact person is Gail Maynard, who operates Orchard Hill Farm in Woodland with her husband, Stan. Their phone number is 498-8541 and their email is orchhill@gmail.com.
