The cone of power is a practice in Wicca and related modern witchcraft in which a group standing in a ritual circle raises what practitioners describe as energy, through dance, chant, breath or visualization, and directs it toward a shared purpose. It is closely associated with Gerald Gardner and his story that witches raised such a cone in 1940 against a Nazi invasion of Britain.
Cone of Power at a glance
| Tradition | Wicca and modern Neopagan witchcraft |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Gerald Gardner and the New Forest coven |
| Best-known story | "Operation Cone of Power," said to have been worked in 1940 against invasion |
| Typical methods | Circle dance, chanting, drumming, breathwork, visualization |
| Setting | Inside a cast ritual circle, often at a sabbat or esbat |
| Later popularizers | Doreen Valiente, Starhawk, Janet and Stewart Farrar |
What the cone of power is
In Wiccan belief, a ritual circle is a sacred space that contains and concentrates the energy participants generate. Raising a cone of power means building that energy to a peak and then releasing it toward a goal, such as healing, protection or the success of a community project. Practitioners often visualize the energy as a cone rising from the circle, with its base on the ring of participants and its point above the center.
The cone is understood by practitioners as a collective act: individual effort merges into a shared current that is said to be stronger than any person working alone. Whether any external force is produced is a matter of belief; there is no scientific evidence that such rituals have physical effects, and many modern witches also stress the psychological and communal value of the practice.
Gardner and the 1940 story
Gerald Gardner, the retired civil servant who publicized Wicca in the 1950s, gave the cone of power its most famous story. In Witchcraft Today (1954), he wrote that witches in England had worked rituals to turn back invaders, naming the Spanish Armada, Napoleon and Hitler. According to Gardner's account, his New Forest coven met in the woods in 1940, when a German invasion seemed imminent, and raised a cone of power to send the thought that Hitler could not cross the sea. He claimed the effort was so draining that some elderly participants died soon afterward.
The event later became known as "Operation Cone of Power." Historians, including Ronald Hutton and Philip Heselton, have examined it; the story rests largely on Gardner's own testimony, and details such as date, place and participants cannot be independently confirmed.
How the practice is described
Published Wiccan and witchcraft sources describe several common elements:
- Movement. Participants dance or walk around the circle, often holding hands and gradually speeding up.
- Sound. Chants, drumming or the repeated names of deities help build intensity.
- Focus. The group holds a shared intention or image of the goal.
- Release and grounding. At the peak, a leader signals the release, and participants then "ground" by touching the earth, eating or resting.
Writers such as Doreen Valiente, Janet and Stewart Farrar and Starhawk, whose The Spiral Dance (1979) influenced feminist and eclectic witchcraft, all discussed energy raising, and each tradition has its own style.
Roots and influences
Scholars see the cone of power as a modern synthesis rather than an unbroken ancient rite. Its elements draw on nineteenth-century ideas of subtle forces such as animal magnetism, on ceremonial magic's use of the protective circle, and on the work of occultists like Dion Fortune, who organized her own "magical battle of Britain" meditations during the Second World War. Folk circle dances and earlier ideas about witches' gatherings, including those popularized by Charles Godfrey Leland and Margaret Murray, also shaped how Gardner and his successors imagined the witches' rite.
Ethics and intention
Modern Wiccan writers usually frame energy raising within an ethical framework. The Wiccan Rede, "An it harm none, do what ye will," is widely cited as a guide, and many traditions teach that energy should be raised for healing, protection, blessing or community purposes rather than to control others. Some also refer to a "threefold law," the belief that whatever a practitioner sends out returns multiplied, though not all witches accept it.
Groups typically agree on the purpose before the rite so that everyone works toward the same aim, and many require the consent of any person who is to receive healing. Teachers also warn against exhaustion: the emphasis on grounding afterward reflects the experience, reported by practitioners, that intense ritual can leave people drained. Critics outside Paganism note that such effects are well explained by physical exertion and emotional intensity.
Legacy in modern Paganism
The cone of power remains one of the most recognizable ideas in contemporary witchcraft and appears in ritual handbooks, fiction and film. Many covens and open Pagan gatherings raise energy together at seasonal festivals. The 1940 story, meanwhile, has become part of the self-understanding of British Wicca: a tale of witches acting for their country in a moment of danger. Historians treat it as an important piece of the religion's founding narrative, whatever actually happened in the New Forest that year.
Related entries
Frequently asked questions
What is a cone of power in Wicca?
It is a ritual technique in which a group inside a cast circle raises what practitioners believe is energy, using dance, chanting, drumming or visualization, and then releases it toward a shared goal such as healing or protection. The energy is often pictured as a cone rising from the circle. Its effects are a matter of religious belief rather than scientific evidence.
Did witches really raise a cone of power against Hitler?
Gerald Gardner claimed that his New Forest coven did so in 1940, and he referred to such rituals in Witchcraft Today (1954). The story, later called Operation Cone of Power, rests mainly on Gardner's own account. Historians consider it an important part of Wiccan tradition but cannot independently verify its details.
Is the cone of power an ancient practice?
Most scholars see it as a modern development. It combines ceremonial magic's ritual circle, nineteenth-century ideas about subtle forces, folk circle dance and twentieth-century occult writing. Gardner presented Wicca as ancient, but historians such as Ronald Hutton have shown that its rituals as practiced today were largely shaped in the mid-twentieth century.
Sources and further reading
- Cone of power · Wikipedia
- Wicca · Wikipedia (Italian)
- Ronald Hutton, The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft (1999) · Oxford University Press
This entry replaces an article from the original Mystica encyclopedia (online since 2001). It was rewritten from the sources above by The Mystica Editorial Team under our editorial standards. Last reviewed: September 30, 2026.