New Forest Witches and WW2?

New Forest Witches and WW2?

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12 Responses

  1. Neil Boothman says:

    Re: new forest witches and WW2?
    Yes, I’ve heard similar tales before. I’ve also heard that the New Forest Witches allegedly performed a ritual which attempted to focus a ‘cone of power’ at Hitler’s mind. According to what I heard, the witches were required to perform this ritual naked, and an older member of the coven died shortly after, possibly due to the effects of exposure.

    You may also find this thread interesting.

  2. Ian Topham says:

    Re: new forest witches and WW2?
    Hi Karin, again, I have heard tales of witches in The New Forest using magic to defend Britain against attack during WWII.  However, I do not know of any personal accounts of this and I am not sure whether it is moer akin to a modern myth or not.  I would certainly like to believe it happened.  Does anyone know more?

  3. Red Don says:

    Re: New Forest Witches and WW2?
    Are these witches pre-dating the Alexandrian and Gardner systems then?

  4. Ian Topham says:

    Re: New Forest Witches and WW2?
    There are families that claim a heritage of witchcraft traditions pre-dating the 1960’s.  Personally, for me this is what makes these witches far more interesting.

  5. karin says:

    Re: New Forest Witches and WW2?
     i wondered if these might have been the witches gerald gardner claimed trained him, old dorothy clutterbuck and others, in the 1930s..

  6. Ian Topham says:

    Re: New Forest Witches and WW2?
    I heard the skyclad business was written in wicca as Gardner was a naturist.  I am not a witch and don’t pretend to know too much about witchcraft but I do think your probably right Ecardina.

  7. Ruis_the_elder says:

    Re: New Forest Witches and WW2?
    i have heard about this too. gardner and crowley came up with wicca i think. i must refer back to my books on this subject lol as i am eternal student;). the craft itself has many roots in the ancient past but wicca is a modern form. wiccans and witches are similar but wiccans deal with more ritual, i consider myself hedgewitch with druidic leanings:). a more simple version of the craft. As for Gardner, I have an open mind about him. There is info on this wwII and newforest coven connection but i would not be able to say if it is true or wether crowley and his mates just thought it up to draw attention to themselves. i would love to know more if anyone knows:). Old dorothy does have connections with the new forest coven as well as Highcliffe and christchurch. not much around about her though i think. she is a bit of a mystery:). there are people who claim to be hereditary witches ofc, but it has to start somewhere right?. i am inclined to agree with the lovely person who said they think that this type of witch would not be doing this type of thing.but you never know:).

  8. karin says:

    Re: New Forest Witches and WW2?

    I’m intrigued when you say there is is info on WW2 and New Forest, is this from Crowley and co?
     I hadn’t heard that Crowly and Gerald G. et al were involved, I’d only heard that it was the old blood witches participating in a great working when Britain faced her greatest hour of need. 

  9. Mauro says:

    Re: New Forest Witches and WW2?
    I have always had the suspicion Gerald Gardner may have embellished truth a little. While I do not contest the idea of a "Pagan survival" well into historical times (there are very convincing evidences it survived into the XVII century in the Venetian domains and perhaps up to the close of the XIX century in the area near Salzburg), I still believe Gardner didn’t bring up convincing evidence about the New Forest Coven. In short I agree with Ronald Hutton.
    But there’s more.
    When you attend a genuinely ancient cerimony you can "feel it out of time", even if most of time it has often been heavily modified over the centuries. The Silvesterklause of Urnasch, the Balarì of Bagolino, the bear-dances of Arles-sur-Tech and Monpantero… you don’t get the same feeling when attending a Wicca ritual. It feels for what it is: a recent religion/magic system. No offense meant, of course, there’s nothing bad in new religions.

    In Distortion We Trust

  10. Ecardina says:

    Re: New Forest Witches and WW2?
    I have better educated myself on the subject and although I was sceptical of Gardner’s claims there is a strong possibility the people he was involved were genuine.

  11. mystic says:

    Re: New Forest Witches and WW2?
     Doreen Valiente states this  incident in one of her books,  She knew some of the parcipients abut did not reveal their names.  There are many families through centuries have the Mediumship gift, but they obviously did not call it  that for  the term is mediumship is just a new term for  witchcraft.

    Witch craft is thousands of years old,  and is present in shamanism  

     

  12. WendyVan says:

    Re: New Forest Witches and WW2?
     Hello All:

    The incident was referred to in Sybil Leek’s Book, Diary of a Witch. She was an English Witch and member of the New Forest Coven which was independent of the Gardenerian and Alexandrian Traditions. I enjoyed reading her book many years ago when I was newly into Wicca. She validates that there was Witchcraft outside of the Wicca invented by Gardner, which was based on Pagan pre-Christian beliefs. I have nothing against practicing Wiccans, but in the years since I practiced that tradition primarily I’ve realized a lot of it was a reconstruction. However, one thing she talks about in her book was that the Witches of England did not have a "skyclad" tradition because it was just too cold for all of that, which makes more sense!  I am new to this site and look forward to reading more threads.
    Cheers!
    Wendy Rose