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Sybil Leek

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Sybil Leek
Born
Sybil Fawcett

(1917-02-22)22 February 1917
Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England
Died26 October 1982(1982-10-26) (aged 65)
Melbourne, Florida, United States
OccupationsWhite witch, antiques dealer, author, television personality

Sybil Leek (née Fawcett; 22 February 1917 – 26 October 1982) was an English witch, astrologer, occult 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.[1]

Biography

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Early life in England

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Sybil Leek was born on February 22, 1917 in the village of Normacot in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England to a comfortable, middle-class family. Her father was a Shakespearean actor turned civil engineer, who was much older than her mother.[2] She claimed to have been descended in "longest lineage in witch history" which included the historical Molly Leigh, who had been accused during the witch hunts,[3] and that her family had been involved in witchcraft since 1134.[4] According to J. Gordon Melton and Issota Poggi, Leek's claims to have been part of a coven dating to the Middle Ages are "to say the least unsupported."[5] Leek learnt about witchcraft, astrology, Yoga, eastern philosophies, occultism, and the Jewish Kabbalah mysticism from a young age.[6] Her family was friends with other people interested in the occult, such as author H. G. Wells and Aleister Crowley.[7] Crowley in particular inspired Leek to write poetry, and according to Leek, said that she was "the one who will take up where I leave off" and that she would live to see occultism "almost being understood."[8]

She attended school for only three years.[9] A few months after her sixteenth birthday, she married her music teacher, who was twenty-four years older than she was.[10] Two years later he died, 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, 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 BBC 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 eventually refused to renew her lease, prompting Leek to move away from the area and emigrate to the United States of America.[1]

United States

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When Leek moved to America, she became an astrologer, describing astrology as her "first love".[11][12] 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.[13] 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 and ritual magic.

Leek stayed with Yoga teacher and astrologist Marcia Moore while in New England, and they dedicated a circle for use for a new coven of witches in Massachusetts.[14] She was proud to have lectured in the same hall Helena Blavatsky addressed the Theosophical Society of St. Louis.[15]

According to Cassell's Dictionary of Witchcraft, Leek made a good living through her television appearances.[16]

She wrote over 60 books, including her autobiography Diary of a Witch in 1968, as well as other topics such as numerology, phrenology, astrology, and the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr.[4]

Leek became "possibly the most well-known Witch in North America" during the 1970s, and founded at least four covens.[17]

Beliefs

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

However, in 1968 she said she had "no feelings one way or the other about running around naked. People probably clutter themselves up with too many clothes anyway".[18]

Leek also believed in reincarnation.[15]

Death

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She died of cancer on October 26, 1982 at the Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne, Florida, close to where she was living in Indialantic.[4]

Selected works

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Books

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Title Year Publisher Identifier
A Shop in the High Street 1962 (UK) 1964 (US) Jarrolds (UK edition)

David McKay Company (US edition)

Diary of a Witch 1968 Prentice Hall LCCN 68--18514
The Sybil Leek Book of Fortune Telling 1969 The Macmillan Company
Numerology: The Magic of Numbers 1969 Macmillan
Phrenology: The Key to Limitless Understanding of Character and Personality as Revealed by the Configurations of the Regions of the Head 1970 Collier Books
How To Be Your Own Astrologer 1970 Cowles Book Company
The Sybil Leek's Astrological Guide to Successful Everyday Living 1970 Prentice Hall ISBN 0-13-879882-6
Telepathy, The 'Respectable Phenomenon' 1971 The Macmillan Company - Book Club edition
The Complete Art of Witchcraft 1971 a Signet Book New American Library LCCN 70--15997
The Astrological Guide to Financial Success 1972 Grosset & Dunlap
My Life in Astrology 1972 Prentice Hall Book club edition
The Story of Faith Healing 1973 Macmillan Publishing Company
Sybil Leek's Book of Herbs 1973 Cornerstone Library, Simon & Schuster ISBN 0-346-12435-2
Tomorrow's Headlines Today 1974 Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Reincarnation: the Second Chance 1974 Stein and Day ISBN 0-8128-1693-5
Sybil Leek's Book of Curses 1975 Prentice-Hall, Inc. Book Club Edition
Star Speak, Your Body Language from the Stars 1975 Arbor House ISBN 0-87795-118-7
Sybil Leek's Book of the Curious and Occult 1976 Ballantine Nonfiction ISBN 0-345-25385-X
Dreams 1976 W. H. Allen
Sybil Leek on Exorcism. Driving Out The Devils 1976 W. H. Allen
Astrology And Love. Be a Better Lover 1977 Berkley Publishing Corp.
Moon Signs: Lunar Astrology 1977 W. H. Allen ISBN 0-491-02451-7

Magazines

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Title Year Publisher
"Sybil Leek's Astrology Vol 5 #3" March 1972 Twin World Publications
"Sybil Leek's Astrology Vol 5 #4" April 1972 Twin World Publications
"Sybil Leek's Astrology Vol 5 #5" May 1972 Twin World Publications
"Sybil Leek's Astrology Vol 5 #6" June 1972 Twin World Publications
"Sybil Leek's Astrology Vol 6 #2" August 1972 Twin World Publications
"Sybil Leek's Astrology Vol 6 #3" September 1972 Twin World Publications
"Sybil Leek's Astrology Vol 6 #5" November 1972 Twin World Publications
"Sybil Leek's Astrology Vol 6 #6" December 1972 Twin World Publications
"Sybil Leek's Astrology Vol 7 #2" February 1973 Twin World Publications

References

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  1. 1 2 "BBC Inside Out – Sybil Leek; White witch". BBC. 28 October 2002.
  2. ↑ Leek, Sybil (1968). Diary of a Witch. Prentice-Hall. pp. 23–24.
  3. ↑ Leek, Sybil (1968). Diary of a Witch. Prentice-Hall. pp. 17–18.
  4. 1 2 3 Waggoner, Walter H. (29 October 1982). "SYBIL LEEK, 'ORDINARY WITCH FROM NEW FOREST,' DIES AT 65". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 3 September 2026.
  5. ↑ Melton, J. Gordon; Poggi, Isotta (1992). Magic, Witchcraft, and Paganism in America: A Bibliography. Garland Pub. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-8153-0499-9.
  6. ↑ Leek, Sybil (1968). Diary of a Witch. Prentice-Hall. pp. 24–25, 33.
  7. ↑ Leek, Sybil (1968). Diary of a Witch. Prentice-Hall. pp. 25, 28.
  8. ↑ Leek, Sybil (1968). Diary of a Witch. Prentice-Hall. pp. 29–31.
  9. ↑ Leek, Sybil (1968). Diary of a Witch. Prentice-Hall. p. 25.
  10. ↑ Leek, Sybil (1968). Diary of a Witch. Prentice-Hall. pp. 58–59.
  11. ↑ Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, Judika Iles, p. 746
  12. ↑ Leek, Sybil (1968). Diary of a Witch. Prentice-Hall. p. 168.
  13. ↑ "The G-T Big 4: To Tell the Truth (CBS Nighttime)". kinescopes.com.
  14. ↑ Leek, Sybil (1968). Diary of a Witch. Prentice-Hall. pp. 147, 150.
  15. 1 2 Leek, Sybil (1968). Diary of a Witch. Prentice-Hall. p. 190.
  16. ↑ Pickering, David (2002). Cassell's Dictionary of Witchcraft. Cassell. p. 511. ISBN 978-0-304-36562-3.
  17. ↑ Melton & Poggi, 174.
  18. ↑ Leek, Sybil (1968). Diary of a Witch. Prentice-Hall. p. 12.

Further reading

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  • Bramshaw, Vikki. Craft of the Wise: A Practical Guide to Paganism & Witchcraft. ISBN 1-84694-232-2.
  • Jones, Christine (2010). Sybil Leek: Out of the Shadows. Pendraig. ISBN 978-0-9827263-6-5.
  • The Raveness. "Molly, Sybil and Crowley" a poem from her book Lavinia: Volume one. (2006) ISBN 978-1-5023139-6-6.
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