Sybil Leek (''née'' Fawcett; 22 February 1917 – 26 October 1982) was an English

witch Witchcraft is the use of magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Enc ...

astrologer Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions ...

occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...

author and self-proclaimed psychic. She wrote many books on occult and esoteric subjects, and was dubbed "Britain's most famous witch" by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Personal life

Sybil Leek was born on 22 February 1917 in the village of Normacot in

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...

, Staffordshire, England to a comfortable, middle-class family. She claimed to have been descended from the historical Molly Leigh, who had been accused during the witch hunts. In her book ''The Complete Art of Witchcraft'', pg 21, she calls this 800 year family beneficial relationship with 'our ancient Celtic form of Witchcraft' and occultism. At the age of 16 she married her music teacher, though he died two years later, whereupon Leek returned to live with her grandmother, quitting the Witchcraft research association. She later stayed with an acquaintance in Lyndhurst, in the New Forest, and claimed to have spent some of the following years living amongst the New Forest gypsies. When she was 20, Sybil returned to her family, who had now moved to the edge of the New Forest. She opened three antique shops; one in Ringwood, one in

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, and one in the New Forest village of Burley. She soon moved to Burley herself, into a house behind the shop Lawfords of Burley. Her eccentric habits as a self-described witch soon resulted in problems. Media interest grew, and Sybil became tired of the attention from news reporters and tourists. Chris Packham, in a

article about her, quoted a contemporary saying, "people either thought she was a bit of a joke or a fraud." Although the village itself benefited from the extra tourism and visitors, some were unhappy with the extra traffic and noise. Her

landlord A landlord is the owner of property such as a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate that is rented or leased to an individual or business, known as a tenant (also called a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). The term landlord appli ...

eventually refused to renew her lease, prompting Leek to move away from the area and emigrate to the United States of America.

United States

When Leek moved to America, she became an astrologer, describing astrology as her "first love". In April 1964, an American publishing house wanted Sybil to speak about her new book ''A Shop in the High Street'', and she was invited to appear on '' To Tell the Truth'', a TV programme in the States; her appearance occurred on 13 April 1964. She took the opportunity to go, and flew to New York City, where she gave many interviews. While in New York, she was contacted by Hans Holzer, a parapsychologist, who invited her to join him investigating hauntings and psychic phenomena. They went on to do numerous TV and radio programmes on the subject. She would later move to Los Angeles, where she met Israel Regardie, an authority on

Kabbalah Kabbalah or Qabalah ( ; , ; ) is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of Mysticism, mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ...

and ritual magic.

Contrasts with other witches

Sybil Leek was strong in the defence of her beliefs, and sometimes differed with, and even quarrelled with, other witches. She disapproved of nudity in rituals, which is a requirement in Gardnerian Wicca, and she was strongly against the use of drugs, and she contrasted with most other witches in that she did believe in cursing. She also claimed to have had an

out-of-body experience An out-of-body experience (OBE or sometimes OOBE) is a phenomenon in which a person perceives the world as if from a location outside their physical body. An OBE is a form of autoscopy (literally "seeing self"), although this term is more common ...

. Her student Christine Jones stated that Leek "mixed truths with untruths liberally, causing great harm as she went".

Death

She died of cancer on 26 October 1982 at the Holmes Regional Medical Center in

Melbourne, Florida Melbourne ( ) is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is located southeast of Orlando, Florida, Orlando along Florida's Space Coast, named because of the region's proximity to Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center. The city ...

Books

Magazines

References

Sources

*Bramshaw, Vikki. ''Craft of the Wise: A Practical Guide to Paganism & Witchcraft''. . * * The Raveness. ''Molly, Sybil and Crowley'' a popular poem from her book ''Lavinia : Volume one''. (2006) . * Leek, Sybil, ''Diary of a Witch'' (Prentice-Hall, 1968).

External links

Sybil Leek Memorial Page

BBC article on Sybil Leek

---- {{DEFAULTSORT:Leek, Sybil 1917 births 1982 deaths English astrologers 20th-century British astrologers English occult writers People from Longton, Staffordshire English psychics New Forest folklore Deaths from cancer in Florida Women mystics Writers from Staffordshire