There is a long line of famous witches in both history and the movies, and this list encompasses both males and females who made their mark with their witchcraft at different points in time.
The likes of Mary Sibley from Salam, Massachusetts, is listed as the most powerful witch of all time because of her mystic powers. Others like Morgan Le Fay of the Arthurian tales, Marie Laveau of New Orleans, and the biblical The Witch of Endor are equally amongst the most famous witches ever.
Famous Witches in History
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Mary Sibley
Mary Sibley existed in Salem, Massachusetts, in the late 1600s and early 1700s. Married to George Sibley, Mary was John Alden’s lover and the mother of their son.
Tagged Salem’s most powerful witch, she became a witch after sacrificing her son to the devil while he was still in the stomach.
The beautiful and ruthless enchantress was both villainess and heroine. With her position, she promoted her personal ascension in Salem as well as wreaked revenge on people whose cruelty and hypocrisy were responsible for all her struggles
2. Morgan Le Fay
Also on our list of the most famous witches is Morgan Le Fay. She is most likely a legendary figure, and she was said to be either a helpful priestess of Avalon or an evil nemesis.
While her existence has remained unproven to date, strong believers in the Arthurian legend will always see her as powerful. There are a lot of Arthurian tales that have denounced Morgana’s allegiance to King Arthur, and men have her twisted into a revengeful witch whose only wish was to destroy Arthur’s kingdom. However, there are legends that claim she was the one who lent a helping hand to Arthur in his last days by making sure he got to Avalon.
The real history of Morgan Le Fay will remain unknown, but many believe she was one of the most famous witches of all time and once had the status of a goddess.
3. Marie Laveau
Marie Laveau is dubbed the most powerful Voodoo queen of all time. Born in New Orleans as a free Black woman during the mid-1700s, she grew up to reign in Louisiana as the most popular voodoo priestess and became known worldwide, with people coming to her for advice and cures.
Even though she attended mass religiously, Maria would go home to practice her magical arts. The priestess of Voodoo was visited by all classes of people in New Orleans for magical spells.
She was a nonagenarian before her death and was buried in New Orleans’ Saint Louis Cemetery #1. Even in death, Maria’s grave is visited by many, especially on Halloween.
4. The Witch of Endor
Some of the most famous witches in history date as far back as the biblical times when the likes of The Witch of Endor reigned during the time of Samuel. The witch had the extraordinary power to communicate with the dead, and when King Saul heard of her greatness, he solicited her help to raise the spirit of Prophet Samuel to get his opinion about the battle the Israelites were fighting with the Philistines.
The Witch of Endor was only recommended to Saul after he had made several failed attempts to summon the spirit of Samuel through other great sorcerers.
5. Alison Device
In the history of England, Alison Device of the 1612 Pendle Witch Trials is considered the most scandalous. At the trial, Alison confessed to a plethora of crimes, like charming milk into butter, employing the services of a familiar to hurt her enemies, and killing innocent children.
As the prosecutors at the trial coerced these truths out of her, it was recorded as one of the most intriguing stories in history.
6. Tituba
In the history of America, the 17th century Salem Witch Trials are listed as the most famous witch trials in the entire country. The trials were triggered by a famous witch called Tituba, who was allegedly a slave, African, Native American, or a combination of the three.
Two young ladies accused Tituba of witchcraft, and in her confession, she revealed how she made “witchcakes” and how she learned about magical practices of protection from her time in Barbados. To date, the fate of Tituba after the trial was not revealed, as nothing else was recorded about her following her confession. However, many believed that another family bought her as a slave.
7. La Voisin
Also known by the moniker Catherine Monvoisin, La Voisin existed in France during the mid-1600s. A medical practitioner, she practiced midwifery, mixed potions, abortions, poisons, fortune telling, and the arrangement of black masses where her clients were given the opportunity to confer with the Devil.
The French cult, affaire des poisons, had Catherine as one of its heads, and she led them to poison some French aristocrats and had plans to poison King Louis XIV. The king’s mistress, Madame de Montespan, was among Catherine’s most famous clients, and it was because of the King’s infidelity to Montespan that she planned to poison him through Catherine.
La Voisin was arrested in the late 1670s, and in 1680, she was convicted of witchcraft and publicly burned.
8. Alice Kyteler
In Ireland, Alice Kyteler was among the women who were publicly condemned for witchcraft. Born in the later part of the 1200s, Alice lived until the early part of the 1300s. The fact that she was married and widowed four times marked the lady as very unusual.
While her fourth husband was on his deathbed, he expressed fear that he might have been poisoned, and his swansong led the man’s children and Alice’s kids from previous relationships to accuse her of killing their fathers with poison and sorcery.
As her sins piled up, Alice was accused of worshiping Satan, doing animal sacrifices, and manipulating Christians with power. Alice absconded when one of her apprentices, Petronella de Meath, confessed to witchcraft, and nothing was heard from her again.
9. Isobel Gowdie
A native of Auldearn, Highland, Scotland, Isobel Gowdie is one of the most popular witches in history who was tried and executed in 1662. She was noted for being willing to confess to witchcraft without waiting to be tortured like other witches.
In her confession, she revealed details about her coven activities, especially the part when they transformed into animals. She even claimed that the Queen of the Fairies often entertains her at her house.
10. Moll Dyer
Moll Dyer’s tale is more of superstition and lore. She lived in Leonardtown, Maryland, during her lifetime in the late 1600s. She was accused of witchcraft by her townspeople and consequently sent into exile by some men on a cold winter night. The chilling weather froze her body into a stone statue, and that was how she was found days later.
In death, Dyer’s spirit became very malevolent and started hunting the environs of her wooded cabin. There were gory tales of the woman terrorizing people who dared to come close to her property.
Famous Witches In Movies
11. Eglantine Price
Eglantine Price was seen on the set of Bedknobs and Broomsticks. A lone habitant of the English countryside, Price enlisted in witchcraft with the intention of using the magical power she would acquire to turn the tide of the Second World War in favor of Britain.
However, when her course came to an abrupt end, and her abode became a relocation point for three kids, Eglantine found herself embarking on a whole new adventure. This particular famous witch has plenty of hearts.
12. Helena Markos
Suspiria featured the character of Helena Markos. She recorded appearances in both the original Suspiria in 1977 and the movie’s remake, which was released in 2018.
Helena’s character is portrayed as a wise old witch whose power increases as she gains both sacrifices and followers.
13. Wanda Maximoff
Even before Wanda Maximoff debuted on the set of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) Comic book, fans were already aware of the fact that she also goes by the moniker Scarlet Witch.
At the initial stage, it appeared as if the MCU wouldn’t be showcasing the magical aspects of the famous witch’s origin. However, they changed their mind as the Disney Plus WandaVision series started airing.
When it comes to the movie world, Wanda is listed among the most powerful witches of our time. She can leverage her mind to move objects and has the natural capacity to plant hallucinations in other people’s minds. With her extraordinary powers, Wanda can see the fears people entertain in their minds as well as change the fabric of reality.
This aspect of her craft does not even need a focused spell to be done, she can do this all on her own. As her power increases, the witch gets more corrupt as she explores more magical powers on the set of the movie. This was what led her into a tragic figure.
14. Marnie Piper
Marnie Piper’s character was depicted on the set of the horror movie entitled Halloweentown. She is a teenager who grew up without knowing that she had mystic powers until she suddenly discovered that she was one in a long line of powerful witches.
She appeared in the Disney Channel original film that revolves around Halloweentown. The movies were four in number, and in each, she got the opportunity to broaden her knowledge about magic. With her exceptional powers, Marnie was able to assist her family in saving the day. Though there were several older witches in the movie, Marnie was among the most loved.
15. Ursula the Sea Witch
Ursula the Sea Witch is the major antagonist of the Disney Channel movie entitled Little Mermaid, and she earns a spot on our list of the most famous witches in the movies. Probably the only character in the entire Disney world inspired by a drag queen, Ursula was intoxicated by her lust for power.
She was all out to rule over Atlantica and was ready and willing to do whatever it took to take the place of Atlantica’s ruler, King Triton. In a bid to make her dreams a reality, Ursula calls on all her powers of deception, sorcery, and a lot of sass to trick Triton’s daughter, Ariel.
Ursula convinced Ariel to trade her voice for legs and went to work thwarting the princess’ attempt to procure a kiss from her love interest, Prince Eric, in a bid to ensure that she never gets her voice back.
On securing the rulership of Atlantica, Ursula went on to turn the kingdom into chaos and King Triton into a minute polyp.
Ursula’s powers do not just end at objects and people. Acquiring the triton gave her the power to alter her body size and control the weather. She worked with a couple of minions – Flotsam and Jetsam.
16. Queen Ravenna
The evil queen in Snow White and the Huntsman, Queen Ravenna, is one of the most powerful witches in movies. Both terrible and beautiful, Ravenna had the powers of dark magic at her disposal.
She could disguise herself as birds or other animals at will when faced with trouble. Queen Ravenna had the power to command a Dark Army, and with her magical mirror, she kept track of the identity of the fairest in the land just to eliminate the person.
Her obsession with beauty resulted from a spell that was cast on the queen during her formative years. The conditions of the spell state that Ravenna must drain beauty and youth from other people if she wishes to retain her own.
Because of this, she was all out to poison Snow White and eat her heart.
Famous Male Witches
17. Eliphas Levi
One of the most famous male witches is Eliphas Levi. He was knowledgeable in diverse areas of magic, which led him to author several books. He was largely responsible for several of the mystical arts we see in the world today. From Judaism and Christianity, Levi distilled belief systems like Tarot, including writings of historical alchemists. This was how he came up with a strange hybrid that is now known as “Occultism.”
He gained popularity for the work he did with Baphomet; Levi was the one who drew an image of Baphomet as a goat-headed female figure and winged creature
18. Raymond Buckland
Dubbed “The Father of American Wicca,” Raymond Buckland was greatly impressed with what is known as “modern Gardnerian Wicca”. After he hit the New World with Gerald Gardner’s teachings, Raymond refined them into his personal variation, which he called Seax-Wicca.
He is a veteran when it comes to witchcraft, and since the 60s, he has been greatly involved in covens as a leader. Raymond retired from active witchcraft in 1992, and since then, he has been working as an expert and spokesperson on witchcraft. In his home state, Ohio, Ray is still involved in a solitary version of witchcraft and has been publishing books on magic.
19. Abramelin The Mage
Abramelin the Mage was a 15th-century man listed among the most famous male witches ever, and reportedly, his true identity is lost to history. However, his legacy lives on, as evidenced by his imitators and followers.
Abraham of Würzburg described him as a powerful warlock. After learning magic under the tutelage of Abramelin, Abraham produced manuscripts of the great magician’s magical system, which later became the book entitled “The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin”.
20. George Pickingill
Another famous male witch is George Pickingill. A famed practitioner of folk magic and a cunning man, Pickingill was a 19th-century man known for his hostile demeanor, extremely long and sharp nails, and antics. Initially a farm hand, George paraded himself as a hereditary witch. He preached about his magical ancestry, which he claimed dates back to the 11th century. He also claimed to be associated with Julia Pickingill – a local lord’s magical assistant.
Today, he is recognized as a devotee of a prehistoric horned god, the first authority on magical craft and arts, as well as a recurrent ally of Satanists.
FAQ
Who Was The Most Powerful Witch Ever
The most powerful witch ever is Mary Sibley, who reigned in Salem, Massachusetts, in the late 1600s. Mary was married to George Sibley and was John Alden’s lover.