The New Forest Coven - British Witches during World War 2

I just came across this historical account, and to be honest, I've never heard of this collective up until an hour ago. Has anyone else?

It all begins with a man by the name of Gerald Gardner, an English Wiccan elder who was initiated into the Coven some time in 1939 after moving to Christchurch, Dorset, England. Gardner was a previous member of the Rosicrucian Order Crotona Fellowship, but left after a time due to the order "lacking genuine esoteric knowledge" the same year (1939).

There's plenty of theory to sift through in regards to the true origins of the New Forest Coven, but what really catches the eye is something by the name of Operation Cone of Power. This occurence, as explained by Gardner himself, occurred in August 1st, 1940, near the town of Highcliffe-on-Sea on England’s southern coast. The aim of this type of ritual magic was to influence the High Command of Nazi Germany and prevent them from invading Britain. The magical ritual, Gardner claimed, took place inside a Forest, and involved the members of the Coven raising a Cone of Power which they directed toward Germany and focused on sending the message into the minds of the German leaders that they would not be able to cross the English Channel. The after effects of the ritual is as follows:

Gardner also noted that several of the older and frailer practicing Witches died after practicing the ritual, something that was confirmed by Louis Wilkinson, who claimed that it was because they had performed the ritual naked, without goose grease on the skin to keep them warm, and that as such they had contracted pneumonia. Investigating these claims, Heselton found two locals who died soon after the ritual: a reporter, Walter Forder (1881–1940), and a blacksmith, Charles Loader (1864–1940), whom he speculated were involved in the rite.

Two things interest me about this. One, the Cone of Power is a separate ritual in and of itself.

The cone of power is a method of raising energy in ritual magic, especially in Wicca. The cone of power is visualized as a cone of energy that encompasses the circumference of the magic circle of Wiccans and tapering off to a point above the group. As a group, the cone is formed by the Wiccans standing in a circle, sometimes holding hands, and focusing on a single point above the group and in the centre of the circle. They then dance, drum, chant, or perform various other ritual gestures, in order to raise the energy and extend it upwards. When the state that these actions create has reached a peak, the ritual leader will signal the group and the energy is released upwards and the cone is “sent” towards the goal. This is called "Raising the Cone of Power".

Two, Gardners account was widely accepted as true up until the 1970s. Here's where it gets weird.

Amado Crowley, who claimed to be the son and spiritual successor of infamous British Occultist Aleister Crowley. Amado claimed that the incident Gardner describes is actually based on a ritual his father performed in Ashdown Forest, Sussex, in May 1941, which involved a detachment of Canadian soldiers dressed in robes and, depending on the source, either a dummy dressed in a nazi uniform seated on a throne or a symbolic aircraft “flown” down a wire stretched between a church and a tree. According to Amado, the purpose of this ritual was to lure Hitler’s deputy, Rudolf Hess, to Britain. On May 10, 1941, Hess took off from Germany in a Bf-110 fighter aircraft and crossed the North Sea to Scotland. After becoming lost and running out of fuel, he bailed out and parachuted to the ground in South Lanarkshire, where he was swiftly captured by the British authorities. Hess claimed he was flying to meet with the 14th Duke of Hamilton, whom he believed to be a prominent leader in the British anti-war movement, in order to negotiate peace with Britain. However, the true reason for Hess’s flight has never been fully revealed, and following his conviction on war crimes charges at the Nuremberg Trials, Hess was given a life sentence in Berlin’s Spandau Prison, where he died – the facility’s only prisoner for 20 years – in 1987.

Amado Crowley further claimed that his father’s ritual was actually part of a larger British Intelligence plot known as Operation Mistletoe, cooked up by none other than Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond. At the time it was well-known that several members of the Nazi inner circle were fascinated by the occult. A particular devotee was Reichsfuhrer SS Heinrich Himmler, who founded his own pseudo-teutonic cult at Webelsburg Castle and allegedly sponsored various expeditions to recover mystical relics like the Holy Grail. Though Adolf Hitler regarded Himmler’s beliefs as bizarre and nonsensical, he himself was also known to engage in magical thinking. Throughout his political career Hitler had been the victim of numerous failed assassination attempts, and his near-miraculous survival lead him to view himself as an agent of providence, destined to succeed in all his endeavours. Falling somewhere between Hitler and Himmler was Rudolf Hess, whose belief in astrology is known to have influenced his choice of May 10 for his mysterious flight to Scotland. Aleister Crowley believed that these beliefs could be exploited, writing to the Director of Naval Intelligence in 1941 that: “If it is true that Herr Hess is much influenced by astrology and Magick, my services might be of use to the Department in case he should no be willing to do what you wish.”

But while Aleister Crowley’s plan involved directly influencing the Nazi leadership using magic, Ian Fleming’s Operation Mistletoe was far more elaborate. According to author Richard Spence, Fleming and Crowley recruited two SS officers codenamed Kestrel and Sea Eagle and brought them to Ashdown Forest to participate in various occult rituals. The officers then returned to Germany, reporting that the neo-pagan Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was alive and well among the British establishment and waiting to seize power once peace had been established. The aim of the ruse was twofold: first, to frighten the superstitious Germans into thinking they were being attacked by British witchcraft; and second, to convince Nazi Party leaders like Hess that a large underground anti-war movement existed in Britain and that peace – and even an alliance against Soviet Russia – could be brokered between Britain and Nazi Germany. This occult angle was supplemented by an elaborate campaign of misinformation aimed at convincing Hess that this fictional movement was lead by the Duke of Hamilton, who was waiting to meet with him at Dungavel House in Scotland. According to this account, the setup worked perfectly, and Hess flew right into Fleming’s trap.

But as compelling as this story is, it is likely no less fictional than any of Fleming’s James Bond adventures. According to historian Ronald Hutton of Bristol University, while Aleister Crowley kept extremely detailed diaries, they make no mention of any wartime rituals or even of Crowley having a son or working for British Intelligence. While Crowley did offer his services to the Naval Intelligence Division in September 1939, two weeks after the declaration of war, this offer was ultimately turned down. Furthermore, no corroborating evidence exists for the existence of Operation Mistletoe or any similar operation, leading most historians to conclude that this was a postwar fabrication. Until the relevant Government documents – if they exist – are declassified, the truth of the matter may never be known.

Reading Material

Thoughts?

a reply to: Walpurgisnacht

It is based upon the books The Magic Bedknob; or, How to Become a Witch in Ten Easy Lessons (1943) and Bonfires and Broomsticks (1947) by English children's author Mary Norton.
Bedknobs_and_Broomsticks

She began working for the War Office in 1940 before the family moved temporarily to the United States. She began writing while working for the British Purchasing Commission in New York City during the Second World War. Her first book was The Magic Bed Knob; or, How to Become a Witch in Ten Easy Lessons, published by J. M. Dent in 1945.[6] Its sequel Bonfires and Broomsticks followed two years later and they were re-issued jointly as Bed-Knob and Broomstick in 1957. The stories became the basis for the 1971 Disney film Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
Mary_Norton_(writer)

Good read

Cheers

SPAM

this sort of thing is frustrating cuz so long ago and so poorly documented.
I wonder if German witches participated in the war effort (and on which side)

similar tale in the novel 'Declare' by Tim Powers. speculates USSR power based on a captured djinn (Genie) and the Brit operation to destroy it.


here is pic of USA witchcraft that helped win the war

originally posted by: rigel4
Good read

Cheers

WW2 history is so expansive, especially the occult side of it. I keep learning new things everyday it seems.

Read a fair bit about the rise of Wicca and the stuff they got up to in the war, might even be a few threads on here about it if I recall correctly.

originally posted by: Coelacanth55
this sort of thing is frustrating cuz so long ago and so poorly documented.
I wonder if German witches participated in the war effort (and on which side)


here is pic of USA witchcraft that helped win the war

I think the most common story of "German" Witches stem from stories of the Thule Society and Maria Orsic.

If life has taught me anything, it is that anything is possible. Prepare for a wild read, haha.

Here's some reading material.

Though, again, the story lacks an acceptable level documentation and is quite... eccentric.

The only thing I could find on the Thule Society or 'Vril' come from rather fringe-like blogs. Nothing too solidified, unless others are willing to give it a shot.