Just as cats are intricately bound up with the image of the witch, so is the broomstick. Widely believed to be the witch’s favourite mode of transport, the broomstick serves as both vehicle and tool.
Or does it? Just why is this humble household item so common among depictions of witches?
I do think the broomstick enjoyed a makeover with the Harry Potter phenomenon, turning it into a piece of sporting equipment through the invention of Quidditch.
But as Halloween draws closer, and broomsticks starting quivering in anticipation, let’s have a look at the folklore around them.
Hit ‘play’ below to listen to this podcast episode, or keep reading for the post!
Become a member!The Broomstick as Transport
Unless I’ve missed a memo or two, it’s unlikely that witches actually flew to sabbats on broomsticks. Some speculate that witches used a so-called ‘flying ointment’ to induce hallucinations or transcendental experiences. I’m pretty sure a lot of non-witches also did that in the 1960s but you don’t see them demonised by popular culture.
Anyway. Most believe that deadly nightshade, wolfsbane and henbane make up flying ointment. Each of these shockingly toxic plants could produce sensations of flying.
Over time, the belief that witches consorted with Satan mixed with the image of the old lady sweeping her floor. The broomstick became a method of transport. Perhaps someone discovered the idea of ‘flying ointment’ and took it literally. I read a book years ago (sadly, I forget which one) that claimed the witches smeared this ointment onto the broomstick itself to enable actual flight.
The Naughty Side of Broomsticks
I should note, and look away now if you’re squeamish, that there is a second link between the broomstick and flying ointment, proposed by The Atlantic.
Taking such a potent mix of hallucinogens internally causes a whole range of unpleasant side effects, including nausea and vomiting. Absorbing them through the skin gave the best experience and skipped these side effects.
The armpits and the genitals proved to be the best places to apply the ointment to get the strongest results. You can work out for yourself why the handle of the broom might make a good applicator for such ointment.
The first known reference to flying broomsticks comes from a confession made by a male witch in 1453. Guillaume Edelin made the confession under torture so I doubt its veracity.
The Broomstick Around the House
Broomsticks were more commonly used around the house. Some modern witches still use broomsticks to cleanse their ritual spaces, sweeping away negativity before they cast their circle.
As a result, there are several broomstick superstitions around cleaning.
- Don’t use a brand new broom to sweep dirt out of the house. Sweep something in from outside first.
- Likewise, clean indoors before you use a broom to sweep outside.
- Need to sweep under someone’s feet? Tell them you’ll dance at their wedding, or you’ll pass on bad luck.
- Don’t sweep after sunset. You might sweep away happiness or annoy a wandering soul.
- If you move house, leave the old broom in your old house because brooms get attached to houses. Buy a new one in your new home. (Apparently, this only applies to brooms used for cleaning. Those used for magical purposes are quite happy to move house).
I can’t find anything to suggest these same superstitions apply to vacuum cleaners so you should be okay with your Dyson.
The Broomstick As Protection
Yet despite their negative connotations as the best way to travel for witches, the broomstick also acts as a protection device around the home.
- Cross a broomstick and a spade outside your front door to protect against lightning strikes.
- Put a small broom under the pillows of children to protect them while they sleep.
- Hang a broomstick on the bedroom door to sweep away nightmares.
- Cross two brooms and hang them on the door to guard the house.
- Put a broomstick across a doorway if you want to speak to the dearly departed. They’ll be able to communicate as long as you leave the broom where it is.
- Lay a broom across the doorway to keep evil out.
Hopefully, you’re starting to realise just why so many people would have broomsticks around their house. I assume the ‘cleaning’ properties of the broom lend themselves to the idea of ‘sweeping away’ anything negative.
I also hope you’ve noticed the fundamental problem with the idea of witches using broomsticks. If witches were considered evil in days gone by…and a broom across the doorway kept out evil…why would witches ride them through the night sky?
Jumping the Broom
Broomsticks also feature within some marriage customs.
According to Alan Dundes, it was a Welsh gypsy tradition for couples to jump over a broom placed in a doorway to get married (1996: 327). If they wanted to end the marriage, they jumped backwards over the broom and out of the house. As long as the same witnesses were present, the marriage was considered dissolved.
It reflected a belief in the southern Tyrol region that newly married couples had to step over a broomstick when they first entered their home together (Dundes 1996: 327). For Dundes, it reflected the belief that stepping over a broomstick warded off evil demons.
In 18th century England, a ‘broomstick marriage’ referred to a ceremony of doubtful validity. That said, no actual proof exists of people jumping over broomsticks as a form of civil marriage. The term meant ‘sham marriage’ but it’s possible that later generations took the term literally.
A reference to such a marriage pops up in Great Expectations, so it’s likely that contemporary readers recognised it as an informal agreement between a couple.
Jumping the broom also appeared in the 1840s and 1850s, where slaves used it as a marriage ceremony if they weren’t legally allowed to marry. The custom saw a resurgence after the publication of Roots in 1976. Dundes points out there isn’t much evidence for the custom in African societies, seeing it instead as an antebellum custom (1996: 326).
The association between brooms and witches saw ‘jumping the broom’ adopted as a wedding custom by some Wiccans.
Yet in Yorkshire, young girls watched where they put their feet. If they stepped over a broom, they’d become a mother before they became a wife.
Do you know any broomstick customs I haven’t covered here?
The popularity of religions like Wicca have rehabilitated the broomstick. Some might still associate the broom with ‘evil’ witches like the Wicked Witch of the West. But Rowling’s decision to turn it into sports equipment for Quidditch see hundreds of kids every year take ‘flying lessons’ at Harry Potter days.
Question is…what do you use your broom for? Let me know below!
Become a member!References
Campanelli, Pauline (2014), Ancient Ways: Reclaiming Pagan Traditions, Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn.
Campanelli, Pauline (1988), Wheel of the Year: Living the Magical Life, Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn.
Dundes, Alan (1996), ‘”Jumping the Broom”: On the Origin and Meaning of an African American Wedding Custom’, The Journal of American Folklore, 109: 433, pp. 324-329.
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Last night,in the middle of the night, a broom was leaning against my side of the bed where I get up. It was not there when I went to sleep. My arm was brushed against it and it was cold so I woke up and there it was. I freaked me out so I played in down beside the bed. I was scared seems creepy. What does it mean?
Ooh that does sound strange. Where do you normally keep it?
It’s not a good sign dear is all I remember. Sorry
I make my flying ointments out of belladonna, mandrake and wolfsbane. Just sayin’….
Do you grow them yourself?
Also, excellent surname 😉
I have a some besom folklore to go with yours. If you are moving to another home/ house leave your besom at the old house, IF you can not tak the besom oyt of the house through a different door, window, etc..
Always leave some money in the old housr ( no matter how small).
When moving leave your dishrags on the old house.
Keep ALL magickal besom’s upright ( bristles up ward) or the magick will drain out.
Thank you for adding those!
Someone on one of my podcasts ventured a variation:*
The interviewer said that her studies led her to the conclusion that the flying broomstick myth that:
When women were experiencing what we would now call Seasonal Affective Disorder, they would see the local cunning woman. They would smear something containing mandrake on the women’s broomstick and the psychoactive substance(s) gave the women the emotional strength to make it through the winter.
*She stated it as fact. I can’t remember which programme it was but my memory suggests it covered several topics with several people so could be Start the Week or Midweek**
**Gave up Midweek to make room for another podcast that I wanted to listen to
New witch here. When you say place a broom across the doorway, is that inside or outside? Above or below? And when we hang them outside a door crossed with a spade, bristles end up or down? I want to hang them everywhere inside and out. Is that crazy talk? I just want to make sure I’m doing it correctly and mainly for protection. Thank you so much for your guidance.
I took some classes from Liberty University, they taught the courses from a Christian point of view. In the ethics class I took ,they taught us that couples in the far out areas would jump the broom as a ceremony between the families. Then they would marry before God when the traveling apostle/preacher came through their town. According to the author of the text, this was taking place during the”Bible” times, aka the first and second centuries.