If they were inside a house, they supposedly rose up through the chimney, though few witches brought to trial actually acknowledged doing that. Oth- er lore held that he dispensed those items only to weak witches who needed help.īefore mounting their broomsticks, witches first had to anoint themselves or the sticks with the flying ointment, a concoction that often included hallucinogenic and/or toxic ingredients. The faggot held a candle to light the way.Īccording to one folklore belief, the Devil gave every newly initiated witch a broom and flying ointment. But by the late 17th century, art showed witches riding with the faggot end up. Initially, the faggot was held down, so that the witch could sweep her tracks from the sky this is the image that has prevailed into the 20th century. The position of the faggot of twigs changed over time. By the late 16th and early 17th centuries, witches were more often shown riding either brooms or Demon- animals. The broom was not always the “steed of the Devil.” In early 16th-century German woodcuts, witches are shown astride forks, sticks, shovels and Demons in the form of animals. Jean Bodin, a 16th-century French Demonologist, maintained that only a witch's spirit could fly, not her physical body. However, not all authorities agreed that this was possible. If they wished, they could travel invisibly. English witchcraft laws never specifically outlawed flying, and brooms are mentioned only once in English witch trials.Īccused witches on trial said they were able to fly thanks to a magical ointment they rubbed on themselves or on chairs or brooms. In other lore, brooms are a natural tool for witches, in accordance with a custom of putting a broom outside a house to indicate a woman is away.ĭuring the witch hysteria, the belief that witches traveled by broom was more prevalent in continental Europe. In some lore, witches are afraid of horses and ride brooms. One is old pagan fertility rites, in which brooms, poles and pitchforks were ridden like hobby-horses in fields and in dances. There are different origins of the association of brooms with witches. A broom is a primary means of travel for witches, enabling them to travel at tremendous speed, according to lore.
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