Tradition / Region: Bahamian Mythology
Alternate Names: –
Category: Mermaid
The Myth
On the quiet shores of Little Exuma lies a small beach known as Pretty Molly Bay. The sand there is pale and soft, and the water lies calm, but the place carries an old story the island has not forgotten.
Long ago, there lived a young woman called Molly. Some say she was enslaved and suffered greatly in life. One night she drowned in the waters of the bay, and after her death her spirit did not leave the place.
In one telling, Molly returned as a ghost. People claimed that on certain nights a woman could be seen walking along the shore, pale in the moonlight, wandering the beach where she died. Those who glimpsed her said she moved silently, as if still searching for something lost.
In another telling, Molly did not remain a ghost. Instead, the sea took her and changed her. She rose again from the water as a mermaid, young and beautiful, living beneath the waves of the bay. Fishermen and villagers said she could sometimes be seen in the water at dusk, watching from the shallows before slipping back into the deep.
To this day, the bay carries her name, and some who pass along the quiet beach still watch the water at sunset, wondering whether the figure they glimpse is only the light on the waves — or Pretty Molly herself, still lingering where land and sea meet.
Gallery
Sources
tastywithkc.com contributors. (2024). Legends of the Bahamas: Tales of Mythical Creatures. In tastywithkc.com, from https://tastywithkc.com/legends-of-the-bahamas-tales-of-mythical-creatures/
Interpretive Lenses
Religious Readings
- Christian Ascetic Deep Dive
Philosophical Readings
- Nietzschean Deep Dive
Psychological Readings
- Jungian Deep Dive
Esoteric Deep Dive
- Hermetic Deep Dive
Political / Social Readings
- Marxist Deep Dive
Other
- How to Invite The Pretty Molly