Flying Brooms

Of course, talking about brooms wouldn’t be complete without flying brooms, the best known of any broom! Who hasn’t seen the Wicked Witch of the West “sweep” the air with her evil broom with a flourish that brought fear to the hearts of the most intrepid children, or held their breath as Harry Potter and his friends careened wildly in a broom sport, Quidditch.

Of course, flying brooms are not a reality. Yet witches and brooms are firmly rooted in our culture, as witnessed every year at Halloween from coast to coast!

Why do witches have brooms? The history of brooms is filled with them…the emergence of witches with flying brooms began around the 16th century. No one knows for sure, but pagan rituals in ancient times included fertility rites that included people riding farm implements, sticks and brooms in the fields.  Probably has more to do with the fact that brooms were objects associated closely with women in the most general of ways.

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Photo Credit: RonnieHall via photopin cc