National Geographic
From shadowy figures lurking in ancient forests to spectral apparitions haunting midnight dreams, witches have long captivated human imagination. Though modern depictions often cast them as charismatic figures, their historical counterparts once inspired genuine fear and unease across cultures. Discover the stories of five witches whose chilling legends reveal the deeper fears and beliefs of the societies that created them.
(Disney+’s Agatha All Along begins streaming on September 18.)
Yamauba—the treacherous mountain crone
Living in the remote mountains of northeastern Japan, Yamauba first appears as a seemingly frail old woman but can abruptly transform into a nightmarish figure with horns, snake-like hair, and a second mouth on top of her head, which she uses to devour her prey. Some legends even claim she can deflect bullets and cast darkness. But what makes her story truly unsettling is the myth’s possible origin.
(These Japanese mythical creatures were born from disaster.)
Nyri A. Bakkalian, a novelist and historian specializing in Japan’s Tohoku region, says Yamauba’s myth may be rooted in historical practices of sacrificing elderly villagers during famine. “In places like rural Tohoku where crop failures in the early modern era were common, stories of angry spirits could be a response to elderly women being led into the woods to die,” she says.
This 19th century surimono (woodblock print) by Totoya Hokkei shows Yamauba, a mountain witch from Japanese folklore known for her magical powers and enigmatic nature. She is often depicted as a solitary figure with the ability to both aid and obstruct travelers.
Artwork from HIP, Art Resource, NY
Skin-changing witch—slippery master of mischief
In African American communities, such as the Gullah Geechee in the Carolinas, there are tales of individuals being ‘ridden’ by malevolent forces. Among the most feared figures is the skin-changing witch or boo hag, known for shedding her skin and slipping through tiny openings like keyholes to invade homes and compel people to commit misdeeds.
(Witch hunt tourism is lucrative. It also obscures a tragic history.)
In the 1950s, Mississippi storyteller James Douglas Suggs shared one such tale with folklorist Richard Dorson, now archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Despite the witch’s frightening powers, the story often has a humorous twist. In Suggs’ version, a man foils the witch by sprinkling salt and pepper on her skin, leaving her to cry, “Skin, don’t you know me?!”
Chedipe—India’s vampire witch
Legend has it that when Chedipe, a fearsome witch from the Godavari River region of India, enters a home, she first renders everyone inside unconscious. Once they are helpless, she deliberates on the most horrifying ways to torment them.
Her repertoire of terror includes draining blood from their toes, tearing out their tongues, or inserting burning sticks with occult flames beneath their skin. The Indian witch may also have sex with the sleeping married men of the house, sowing psychic seeds of distrust in their wives’ minds and feeding on their resulting, inexplicable sorrow.
(The bloody legend of Hungary’s serial killer countess.)
Devendra Varma, a 20th-century researcher of Gothic literature, says that tales of Chedipe could have traveled to Europe through the Silk Road and inspired depictions of vampires as sexual creatures as seen in John William Polidori’s The Vampyre or Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
La Lechuza—the fearsome owl witch
In northern Mexico, La Lechuza—“The Owl”—is a witch who transforms into a colossal owl, sometimes sporting a human face. Her origins vary widely: she might have struck a pact with demonic forces or used magic to inhabit a giant bird, harnessing its power to control the weather. Regardless of her origin story, La Lechuza is notorious for preying on inebriated men during the night. She is said to either carry them off to her nest for a gruesome feast or kill them instantly with a touch of her cursed feathers.
However, in recent years, women and queer people started reclaiming La Lechuza as a symbol of strength. Jeana Jorgensen, author of Folklore 101: An Accessible Introduction to Folklore Studies, says that “people who don’t conform to traditional gender roles often embrace the identity of a witch as a positive one,” especially when they face injustice or lack protection through conventional means.
This color lithograph of Baba Yaga from the 1902 Russian fairy tale ”Vassilissa the Beautiful” depicts the legendary Slavic witch flying through the forest on her mortar and pestle.
Artwork from Archives Charmet, Bridgeman Images
Baba Yaga—The Slavic guardian of life and death
Baba Yaga is a formidable figure wielding power over life and death in Slavic folklore. In some tales, she represents winter and the end of the harvest, embodying the inevitability of decay and transformation. In others, she oversees the boundary between the living and the dead. Yet, Baba Yaga is not merely a figure of fear. Depending on how one approaches her, she might offer wisdom or magical aid.
Often depicted with iron teeth, one bony leg, and partial blindness, this ancient witch lives in a hut that stands on chicken legs, which resembles a coffin and is adorned with human bones.
Some interpretations suggest that the hut’s design, with its chicken legs, represents an ancient connection to nature and its wild, untamed aspects, says GennaRose Nethercott, folklorist and author of the Baba Yaga novel Thistlefoot.
“Baba Yaga is also a return to nature,” an embodiment of a great power that allows us to explore an awe-inspiring world beyond our own “through the safe veil of fantasy,” she says.
