12. Laurie Cabot
Famously known as the “Official Witch of Salem”, Laurie Cabot who ranks 12th in our list of most famous witches in history, is a modern-day witch who is largely responsible for popularizing witchcraft in the United States and gave the religion a whole new perspective. As the founder of ‘Cabot Science Tradition of Witchcraft’, Laurie was aware of her psychic gifts and was very fond of witches from a very young age; she spent the majority of her time by herself studying religion at the library, and this, over time, attracted a staff member who opened her eyes to witchcraft and the paranormal. The library staff member later revealed herself as a witch and eventually introduced her to two other witches who aided in teaching Laurie everything she needed to know about witchcraft and craft practices before initiating her into the craft.
Not wanting to upset her father who was conformed to science and therefore did not believe in witchcraft, Laurie maintained her passion for science as well as witchcraft and used it as the foundation of her methods of witchcraft, the occult, and the paranormal; hence, the birth of ‘Cabot Science Tradition of Witchcraft’. She has since devoted her entire life to building a good reputation for herself—giving back to her community, as well as striving to make witchcraft recognized as a legitimate religion, and has even gone so far as to host an annual festival known as the ‘Witches Ball’, and founded an institution that she called ‘The Witches League of Public Awareness’ to defend the civil rights of witches and encourage them to stand up for their equality. Her hard work and good deeds in her community earned her the historic award known as the Patriot’s Award. The Governor of Massachusetts honored Laurie with this award in 1977 for the work she did in her community with children who had special needs and has since been proclaimed the ‘Official Witch of Salem’. This was the very first time that a witch was openly acknowledged for their good works by someone of such a high political status and in turn serves as a testament that not only do witches deserve a place in this world, but they are far from the evil we tend to associate them with. And now, let’s see who else we have in our list of most famous witches in history.
