Cone of Power: The Witches Who Tried to Curse Adolf Hitler

At the beginning of World War II, the world grappled with darkness and uncertainty. British and French forces had only barely survived the disaster at Dunkirk, and a Nazi invasion loomed over the British Isles. The Battle of Britain had yet to begin, but the people of England were all banding together to do whatever they could to defend their homes.

That included a secretive group of witches and occultists in Highcliffe-on-Sea, who decided to come together and do their part to defend England the best way they knew how. Meeting in a forest in August 1940, the witches launched what they called Operation Cone of Power, a magical attack on Adolf Hitler himself – even though he was thousands of miles away in Berlin. 

Gerald Gardner, a retired British civil servant and founder of a neopagan brand of Wicca that bears his name. Operation Cone of Power was organized by his coven of witches, who would meet on Lammas Day, which marks the beginning of the harvest and is one of the eight sabbats (seasonal festivals).

Gardner believed that by harnessing the collective energy of a group of skilled practitioners, they could recreate a magical assault that had been passed down through generations of witches. He wrote that English witches could create a powerful magical cone of energy capable of affecting real-world events, and had twice before. 

Witches, he believed, had intervened in the defense of England in 1588 to help the English fleet fight off the Spanish Armada. The next time they came to the defense of the Isles was in 1805, to end the threat of a French invasion led by Napoleon. 

Operation Cone of Power was intended to influence the mind of Hitler, who was conquering Europe with brutal efficiency. The witches believed that by directing their magical energy towards Hitler, they could magically weaken his resolve, cloud his judgment, and ultimately lead to his downfall. 

On Lammas Eve, shortly before midnight on August 1, 1940, a coven of 17 witches and people descended from witches gathered in the New Forest, a mystical and ancient woodland in southern England. They chose this location for its spiritual significance and the natural energy they believed it contained. In the heart of the forest, the witches formed a circle near an ancient gallows tree called the "Naked Man" with Gardner at the center and conducted their ritual.

There was no bonfire because of air raid wardens and the Nazi bomber threat, only a shuttered lantern pointing a light toward the German capital to focus the attack. The witches were totally naked (or "skyclad," in Wiccan terms) as they danced around in a spiral, building the magical energy they needed for the incantation. 

Gardner began to chant. His chants were echoed by the dancers. The assault on Hitler's mind was on. They focused their collective will, visualizing a cone of energy extending from their circle towards Hitler, enveloping him in a shroud of magical influence.

It is difficult to ascertain the tangible effects of Operation Cone of Power on Hitler or the course of World War II. The only reason to believe the spell actually happened is because Gardner himself wrote about it in three books during the 1950s. 

What is known is that Hitler and the Nazis were masters of Europe through 1941. From the Balkans in the East to France in the West, he was also allied with Fascist Italy in the South and enjoyed a nonaggression pact with the Soviet Union. Britain alone stood against him.

Those involved in the ritual claimed that they did perceive a change in Hitler's demeanor shortly after their operation. Hitler did indefinitely postpone Operation Sea Lion, the planned invasion of Britain, just a month and a half after the Cone of Power was cast. He then declared war on the United States after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He attacked the Soviets less than a year later. 

The witches took it as a sign that their magical efforts had some impact. Hitler did begin making his most egregious mistakes in the weeks and months that followed. Whether the magic was real or not, what was real was the patriotism of the Wiccans involved, who wanted to do anything they could to defend their homeland.