Legends persist of British magicians and witches using spells to prevent invasion by sea. Dr John Dee was credited (erroneously, after his time) with raising the storm that scattered the Spanish Armada. #FolkloreThursday

Gardner claimed that witches 'raised the great cone of power' to prevent Hitler crossing the sea and landing on British shores, 'just as their great-grandfathers had done to Boney and their remoter forefathers had done to the Spanish Armada'. #FolkloreThursday

The legend of 'Operation Cone of Power' lingers on, despite the lack of supporting evidence for it. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/86145/operation-cone-power-when-british-witches-attacked-adolf-hitler #FolkloreThursday

One aspect of the legend is that some of the witches (who allegedly worked naked, because they had to or the magic wouldn't work) suffered from exposure as a result of the cold weather and died as a result, laying down their lives for the security of Britain. #FolkloreThursday

No evidence of any such heroic deaths has ever been found, however; researcher Philip Heselton did a lot of work trying to find such evidence, but as yet has found nothing conclusive on this point. #FolkloreThursday

From Wikipedia: '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, & 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)...

& a blacksmith, Charles Loader (1864–1940), whom he speculated were involved in the rite.'