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Operation Cone of Power: The Making of a Modern Legend

  • 24/09/2024
  • 18:00-19:30
  • online talk

Operation Cone of Power: the Making of a Modern Legend

A Folklore Society online talk by

Dr Julia Phillips (University of Bristol)

Tuesday 24 September 2024, 18:00 BST

An illustrated examination of the legend about witches fighting a secret battle to defend Britain against Nazi invasion at Lammas 1940.

Witchcraft during World War II: there is a popular belief that, in the early days of World War II, a coven of witches gathered in the New Forest to conduct a ritual designed to repel the threat of a Nazi invasion.

‘On the night of the first of August (Lammas), 1940, when an invasion of Britain seemed imminent; then an extraordinary summons was sent out to members of the Southern Coven of British Witches. It brought seventeen men and women to a clearing in the New Forest.’

So began an article that appeared in Illustrated magazine on 27 September 1952, which is the earliest known version of a story that has become so popular that millions of references can be found online.

Evidence for the narrative is primarily newspapers, magazines and books published during the period from 1952 to the present day. This presentation will review the evidence within the context of everyday life during World War II and the emergence of modern Pagan Witchcraft in the 1950s, chronicling the development of this extraordinary story.

Julia Phillips is Hon Senior Research Associate at the University of Bristol. She received her PhD for her research examining how witches and witchcraft were featured in newspapers in Victorian Britain. Her primary research interests are the study of witchcraft in the nineteenth century and the development of modern Pagan Witchcraft in the twentieth century.

Tickets £6.00 (£4.00 for Folklore Society members with the Promo Code: log in to https://folklore-society.com/members-only to get the promo code) from: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/operation-cone-of-power-the-making-of-a-modern-legend-tickets-991152161797?

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