| Abstrakt: |
There is a popular belief that in the early days of World War II, a coven of witches gathered in the New Forest in southern England to conduct a ritual designed to repel the threat of a German invasion. Cecil Williamson and Gerald Gardner, both of whom have demonstrated a willingness to fabricate or manipulate incidents or historical elements in their efforts to promote witchcraft, made the first public reference to the ritual in 1952. This article examines the evidence for the ritual within the context of modern Pagan Witchcraft and World War II and analyzes the evolution of the narrative from its first public appearance to the present day. The source material reviewed is primarily newspapers, magazines, and books, published during the period 1952 to 2022. The analysis of these sources provides a well-documented account of the development of the story and invites speculation about whether a witchcraft ritual at Lammas 1940 genuinely took place, or if it was simply an imaginative creation that gained traction during the years following the War. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
