Raymond
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Witchs' Tools 2Yes, Witches do use Brooms!
In the craft when used as ritual tools the broom is usually called a besom, (pro: BEZ-UM).
Besoms are traditionally constructed made of a bundle of twigs tied to a stouter pole. They are still made today and sold at garden centres as an outdoor broom.
As a result of its construction around a central pole, the brush of the besom is rounded instead of flat. The bristles can be made of many materials including, but not limited to straw, herbs, or twigs. Traditionally the handle is of hazel wood and the head is of birch twigs.
Modern construction uses bindings of wire and string (instead of the traditional split withy) and the head is secured by a steel nail instead of a wooden dowel.
An upward pointed besom (bristles up), especially over or near a doorway, will help protect the house from evil spirits or negative energies.
A besom is one of the main tools used in Witchcraft. A traditional Witch's besom is an ash stave handle with bristles made from birch twigs. These twigs are tied on using thin pieces of willow wood.
It is used primarily to cleanse the ritual area before circle casting.
As a tool, the besom is usually thought of as masculine in nature due to its phallic shape and symbolism. However the besom's components are of both masculine and feminine orientation. The handle, an ash stave, is masculine in nature while the birch used for the bristles is thought of as feminine in nature.
The besom is an important part of handfasting (marriage) ceremonies in some traditions. The couple jumps over the besom during the ceremony known as 'jumping the besom'.
The generally accepted theory about the origins of witches and flying with their brooms is based in a ritual involving a psychoactive drug trip. The witches would prepare a flying ointment to aid them in their journey. There are many recipes for this ointment all having a base of either Atropa belladonna or Mandragora officinarum, both highly psychoactive drugs producing visions and encouraging astral projection.
The ointment was rubbed all over the body using the broom with a personal account given by one witch who described the act of rubbing the ointment on her hands and feet which gave a sensation of flying.
Witches mounted broomsticks and would leap around the fields, smeared with the flying ointment, to "teach" the crops how high to grow. The ointment would give them imaginary "trips" so they thought they flew distances.
If you ever see a besom leaning at an angle at somebody's front door be sure not to knock on the door.
A leaning besom at the door is an indication that a Witch lives in the house and he/she is currently busy in magickal work and won't be best pleased if disturbed.
You have been warned.
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