From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A broom is a cleaning tool consisting of stiff fibers attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. It is thus a variety of brush with a long handle. It is commonly used in combination with a dustpan.
(video) A Japanese construction worker cleans up his construction site with a Japanese broom.
The word "broom" derives from the name of certain thorny shrubs (Genista and others) used for sweeping.[1] The name of the shrubs began to be used for the household implement in Late Middle English and gradually replaced the earlier besom during the Early Modern English period. The song Buy Broom Buzzems (by William Purvis 1752 - 1832) still refers to the "broom besom" as one type of besom (i.e. "a besom made from broom") Flat brooms, made of broom corn,[2] were invented by Shakers in the 19th century.[3] A smaller whisk broom or brush is sometimes called a duster.
One source states that the United States had 303 broom factories by 1839 and that the number peaked at 1,039 in 1919. Most of these were in the Eastern U. S. During the Great Depression, the number of factories declined to 320 in 1939.[4] Oklahoma became a major center for broom production because broom corn grew especially well there. The Oklahoma Broom Corn Company opened a factory in El Reno, Oklahoma in 1906, a year before statehood. Faced with competition from imported brooms and synthetic bristles, most of the factories closed by the 1960s.[4] Today, brooms are also commonly made with synthetic bristles. Another common type is the push/pull broom, consisting of a wide brush with short bristles, to which a broomstick is attached at an angle in the center of the brush.
Brooms in wider culture[edit]
A common broom used in Hainan Province, China
"Big Sweep", sculpture at Denver Art Museum, Colorado
In the Gospel of Luke 15:8 "The Parable of the Lost Coin", the broom is mentioned: "Suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?"
The first known reference to witches flying on broomsticks dates to 1453, confessed by the male witch Guillaume Edelin.[5] The concept of a flying ointment used by witches appears at about the same time, recorded in 1456.
Poets use the broom in metaphor making. In one of Emily Dickinson's poems Mother Nature, Nature ". . .sweeps with many colored brooms, and leaves the shreds behind. . ."
The Métis people of Canada have a broom dancing tradition. There are broom dancing exhibitions where people show off their broom dancing skills. The lively broom dance involves fast footwork and jumping.[6]
In Jainism, monks and nuns have a little broom with them, in order to gently brush aside ants and small animals, to avoid crushing them. This is an act of non-violence to the small animals.[7]
An African American wedding tradition incorporates the use of the broom. The custom is called "jumping the broom". The custom originates in marriages of slaves in the United States in the 19th century, but its revived popularity among African Americans is due to the 1976 novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family.[8]
During World War II, American submarine crews would hoist a broom onto their boat's fore-truck when returning to port to indicate that they had "swept" the seas clean of enemy shipping.[9] The tradition has been devalued in recent years by submarine crews who fly a broom simply when returning from their boat's shake-down cruise. This tradition no doubt stems from the action of the Dutch admiral Maarten Tromp who tied a broom to his main mast after defeating the British admiral Robert Blake at the Battle of Dungeness in 1652. This has often been interpreted as a message that he would "sweep the British from the seas". This story remains unsubstantiated,[10] but may have its origin in the tradition of hoisting a broom as a sign that a ship was for sale, which seems more likely as Tromp had captured two of Blake's ships in the battle.[11]
in sports
Curling broom
In baseball, when the home team is close to accomplishing a sweep (having won the first two games of a three-game series or first three games of a four-game series), some fans will bring brooms to the ballpark and brandish them as a way of taunting the visiting team. (Examples: Arkansas vs LSU- 2011; Red Sox v. Yankees—May 13–15, 2011 and June 7–9, 2011)
In broomball, broomsticks have their heads removed and are used to push a ball into a goal, on an ice surface. The game is similar to hockey, except players do not wear skates.
Magic[edit]
In the context of witchcraft, broomstick is likely to refer to the broom as a whole, known as a Besom.
In The Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the West used a broomstick to fly over Oz. She also used it to skywrite "Surrender Dorothy" above the Emerald City. The Wizard commands Dorothy and her three traveling companions to bring the Wicked Witch's broomstick to him in order to grant their wishes. Dorothy carries it to the Wizard with the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion after the Wicked Witch's death.
In the movie Fantasia, Mickey Mouse, playing The Sorcerer's Apprentice, brings a broom to life to do his chore of filling a well full of water. The boom overdoes its job and when chopped into pieces, each splinter becomes a new broom that flood the room until Yen Sid stops them. This story comes from a poem by Goethe called "Der Zauberlehrling" ("The Sorcerer's Apprentice"). The Disney brooms have had recurring cameos in Disney media, mostly portrayed as janitors, albeit not out of control or causing chaos such as in the original appearance.
In the movie Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (film), There is a Wizarding Game called Quidditch where players use their broomsticks to fly around a field and shoot goals. Harry Potter (character) plays the game also. Broomsticks are also a form of transport which wizards and witches use.
In Swaziland, witches broomsticks are short bundles of sticks tied together without a handle.[12]
In many belief systems, household items have their own set of magical properties. Quite possibly, few things are as magical as the basic broom. Long known as one of the most popular tools in a witch’s magical arsenal, the broom has a lengthy and complex history of folklore, legend, and mystery behind it. Let’s look at some of the many stories about the broom.
The Broom as a Magical Tool
The besom, or broom, is used for sweeping a ceremonial area out before ritual. A light sweeping not only cleans the physical space, it also clears out negative energies that may have accumulated in the area since the last cleaning. The broom is a purifier, so it is connected to the element of Water. It is not uncommon to meet witches who have broom collections, and it is fairly easy to make your own besom if you don't wish to buy one. The traditional magical formula includes a bundle of birch twigs, a staff of ash or oak, and a binding made from willow wands.
Jumping the Broom
Along with the popularity of handfasting ceremonies, there has been a resurgence in interest among Pagans and Wiccans in the idea of a "besom wedding". This is a ceremony also referred to as "jumping the broom". Although typically this is seen as a ceremony derived from the slave culture of the American south, there is also evidence that besom weddings took place in some parts of the British Isles.
Make Your Own Besom
The besom is the traditional witch's broom. It's associated with all kinds of legend and folklore, including the popular notion that witches fly around in the night on a broomstick. In addition to being good for playing Quidditch, the besom is a great addition to your collection of magical tools -- it's used in many traditions as a method of cleansing or purifying a space.
Broom Folklore in Rural Cultures
The broom is one of those tools that most people have in their home - whether they’re a witch or not! In many rural cultures, the broom has become a source of legend and folklore. Here are just a few of the many beliefs people have about brooms and sweeping.
James Kambos says in Llewellyn’s 2011 Magical Almanac, “When misfortune was thought to have entered a home, one old German custom was to sweep the home, thus sweeping away any negativity. Each family member would grab a broom and begin sweeping. Starting at the center of the home, they’d sweep outward toward all exterior doors. As they swept, they’d open the front and back doors and sweep out the negativity.”
In the Appalachian region of the United States, many customs were brought over from Scotland, England and Ireland. It is believed that laying a broom across your doorstep will keep witches out of your house. However, be careful - if a girl steps over a broom by accident, she’ll end up becoming a mother before she gets married (this belief may have originated in Yorkshire, as there are similar warnings in that area).
People in parts of China say that a broom should only be used for household chores like sweeping because it is so strongly tied to the household spirits. It shouldn’t be used for playing or whacking people with, because that is offensive to the household entities.
There’s an old tale in the Ozarks that you should never sweep a house while there’s a dead body in it - although one would assume that if there’s a dead body in the house, you’ve got other things on your mind besides housecleaning.
Some African tribes believe that men should leave the house while women are sweeping. The reason? Because if they are accidentally struck by the broom, it could render them impotent - unless they take the broom and bang it on the wall three times (some legends say seven times).
A besom broom is the kind of broom traditionally associated with witches, and is one of the tools commonly used in the practice of modern Wicca. It is a traditionally-constructed broom made of a bundle of twigs tied to a central stouter wooden pole.
In the Middle Ages, witches would prepare a “flying ointment” (also known as “green ointment”) to aid them in their journey, the recipes for which usually had a base of either Belladonna (Nightshade) or Mandragora, both highly psychoactive drugs producing visions and encouraging astral projection, mixed with clove oil (which is known best for its anaesthetic properties). Thus, the generally accepted theory about the origins of witches flying on brooms is based in a ritual involving a psychoactive drug trip: as the ointment was rubbed all over the body using the broom (particularly on the forehead, wrists, hands, feet, under the arms or between the legs), it gave a sensation of flying. The witches mounted broomsticks and would leap around the fields, smeared with the flying ointment, to "teach" the crops how high to grow, and the ointment would give them imaginary "trips" and the feeling of having flown distances.
Despite the association with women, the first known case of claiming to have flown on a broomstick was actually confessed by a French male witch, Guillaume Adeline, in 1453, although there are prior records of witches flying on sticks or poles or similar objects. French and German illustrations from as early as the 15th Century show witches flying on broomsticks, or sometimes on pitchforks. Warlocks, the male equivalent of witches (usually in the pejorative sense of Europe's Middle Ages), are historically often described as riding pitchforks instead of the broomsticks of witches.
A modern Wiccan besom generally consists of an ash or hazel stave handle with bristles made from birch twigs (although the bristles can also be made of many other materials, including straw, herbs or other twigs), tied on using thin pieces of willow wood, all traditional and sacred woods. It is generally used to purify and protect, and to ritually cleanse a circle-casting area before magic is performed by symbolically sweeping away negative energies and astral build up. The High Priestess or High Priest walks clockwise, tracing the ritual circle and sweeping with the broom, usually a few inches off the ground.
The besom is sometimes thought of as masculine in nature, due to its phallic shape and symbolism, but its 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 also an important part of Wiccan handfasting (marriage) ceremonies in some traditions, and the couple may jump over the besom (or over a small bonfire) during the ceremony.
"Jumping the broom", as part of an unofficial or non-Church marriage ceremony, is also a 19th Century African-American tradition that has stood the test of time in America and seems to be rising in popularity again after a major decline due the association of slavery. It was possibly based on an old Roma tradition, and was also practiced in medieval England (hence the phrase "married over the besom").
An upward pointed besom (bristles up), especially over or near a doorway, is also supposed to help protect the house from evil spirits or negative energies and, in the same way, a broom is sometimes laid at the opening of some covens' rossets. A broom was also traditionally placed under a bed or a pillow to protect the sleeper.
The broom stick was an important fixture in ancient homes through out Europe. Most homes were made of wood, straw and dirt floors. The only way to keep a home clean was to sweep out the old.
This concept is even documented in the Bible.
In Isaiah 14:23 (KJV translation) I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts.
In Luke 15:8 "The Parable of the Lost Coin": "Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?"
One of the earliest forms of the broom is known as the Besom Broom. They were made of twigs tied to a handle. The bristles can be made of various materials such as straw, herbs, or twigs. The shaft is round to represent the branch of a tree. This associates the broom with the Tree of Life which was an important symbol in ancient pagan Europe. Traditionally a Besom broom is made from hazel wood and the bristles are birch twigs.
These brooms were often found just inside a dwelling hanging with bristles up to ward off evil spirits, negative energies and to protect the home and all who dwell within it. It could also be found hanging over a door with the bristles facing in the direction of opening of the door.
They were relatively inefficient as a cleaning implement and needed constant repair or recreation. Today Besom Brooms are still crafted and sold at garden centers as an outdoor broom. You can also find decorated and scented versions (ie: cinnamon besom brooms) in craft stores for indoor decorations.
The brooms relation to sweeping away negative energies and use for protection makes it a wonderful tool for magikal practices and rituals. Consequently it wasn't a big leap for European pagans to use the broom as a tool.
The Witches Broom
The traditional Witch's Broom is made of an ash handle and bristles from birch twigs. The twigs are tied onto the handle with thin pieces of willow wood. There have been a few written accounts of early Witch's decorating their brooms with flowers of the season tied on with some type of decorative string or later using colored ribbon. A practice that is continued today by modern Witches.
Early Celtic pagans associated the broom with Faeries, possibly because of it's relation to the wood and a common belief in forest sprites. Some stories tell of a Witch entering a forest and asking the Faeries to lead her way to the perfect tree where she can collect a staff for a broom. The idea is to enlist the help of the magikal folk and ensure the enchantment of the broom once it has been fashioned.
The Witch's broom is one of the few tools that is seen as a balance of Divine forces. It is both part of masculine energies (the phallic handle) and female energies (the bristles). Because of this, the broom was and still is commonly used in Handfasting rituals (marriage ceremonies). It is also used as a gate or door before a ritual space. A witch would draw a magikal circle, enter the circle and then place the broom over the doorway to keep out unwanted energies or people as an example.
While being used for clearing an area for ritual work was the earliest use for a broom, it became an important tool for Witch's during The Burning Times of Europe. During this era Witches would use a broom to hide one of their most important tools, the wand. It is also a tradition that brooms have been used by some as receptacles to harbor a particular spirit temporarily. This could be done to remove an unwanted spirit from one area and then release it far away in another place. Or it could be used to utilize the energy of a spirit for a specific spell when the broom is used as a wand.
A few ancient brooms have been discovered to have hidden compartments in the handle. These small hidden places held combinations of herbs, oils, feathers and a variety of other things thought to be part of a ritualistic spell. The hidden concoctions added to the energy of the intent that the broom was to be used for.
The Flying Broom
This early association of broom to tree also associates it with the element of air and therefore has power over spirits. Thus it's common use as a tool for flying. In both historical and modern images a female witch can be found on a broom silhouetted by the full moon behind her.
Although most associate being a witch with women, it's a label that applies to both sexes. The first 'official' record that documents the claim of flying on a broom stick was recorded in 1453. The claim was made in a confession by a male witch named Guillaume Edelin.
There have been earlier documents recanting stories of Witches flying on a variety of sticks. Such as decorated walking sticks, limbs from a tree complete with it's leaves, or just a stick alone. These stories include details of magikal flying ointments being applied to these tools in order to give them flight.
In both ancient Witchcraft and Shamanistic practices the use of these ointments was most probably what gave the impression of Witch flight. Ointments and potions for flying were most likely a variety of hallucinagenics that assisted a Witch in visualizing a flight upon the broom. This is not uncommon for early spiritual journeys. Using peyote and other hallucinagenics is well documented and utilized by Native American cultures for spiritual travels.
These special 'trips' were controlled methods to quickly reach a state of altered awareness. From there a Witch could astral project with the image of flying on a broom to anywhere within their known Universe. The use by witches of flying ointments was first described, according to known sources, by Johannes Hartlieb in 1456. It was also described by the Spanish theologist Alfonso Tostado in Super Genesis Commentaria (Venetia, 1507), whose commentary tended to accredit the thesis of the reality of the Witches' Sabbath.
Today using these types of potions and ointments are not recommended or encouraged. Flying journeys instead are suggested through deep meditation and astral projection. These methods are not just safer, but they also provide the practitioner with more control and the ability to remember more of the journey itself.
I am sure that you all have seen the picture of a witch sitting on a broom flying over the Moon. The Besom or Broom is one of the tools used in witchcraft and both its power and use are tremendous. The magic broom is a tool that was made either by the practitioner or for the practitioner from the branch and twigs of the tree of his/her choice. Your favorite tree or the branch and twigs of a tree that corresponds to your qualities can be used to make a besom. Please be aware to always leave an offering to the tree and ask for its permission before you proceed cutting a branch or twigs from it. If you don’t have a specific tree that you feel associated with, in ancient grimoires the description that it is given is to use the branch of the ash tree for the broomstick and birch twigs for the brush.
After you have collected the twigs and branch the broom should be activated in a ceremony. On a Full Moon (especially if it is on the month of your birthday or near a Sabbat) ask the Gods to bless and consecrate the twigs and branch and honour the trees that you have taken the materials from as you will share a special bond from now on. Once this is done bind the twigs with the branch and ask the Gods to bless your magical tool to be put in good use. Then personalize your broom, carve symbols, both magical and personal, that will reflect the bond you share with your tool, you can attach ribbons with specific colours or add little bells and feathers on it, the choice is yours. Once this is done you can further activate the tool by passing a drop of your blood (alternatively use your saliva) over the symbols on the broomstick and the brush. Then take a deep breath and blow on the brush so that your broom will always fly with you. Grasp the stick, kiss it and raise it towards the Moon, stating that your work is now done and that this is your magical broom. Ask the Gods to bless you and your tool and thank them for their love. Your magic starts weaving and your work is done, you know have created a powerful tool for you to use.
What is the use of the besom?
A besom or broom can be used for different purposes. One of its apparent uses is that it can consecrate your magical space before casting a circle or doing magic. It will instantly remove all negative energies from that place. In addition, if you feel that your home is filled with negative vibes, then grab a handful of salt, throw it on the ground and start brushing with your broom. All negative energies will be removed. In addition, if you feel that you are a target of demonic or psychic attacks when you sleep, then place it under your bed as it will create a magical barrier and protect you effectively from these attacks. If you wish to protect your house from unwanted magic, guests (physical or spiritual) or gossip then place the broomstick across the main windowsill or the front door or across the boundaries of your property. As a note of advice always speak to your broom and ask it to help you to fulfill your purpose, believe me it will maximize its power.
Folk magic says that if a besom falls down for no reason then expect an unexpected guest. In addition, the broom was used as a marriage charm and this custom has its origin many hundreds of years ago. If you have a special partner and you would like to be bonded even more then lay the broom on the floor facing each other grab both your hands with your partner’s hands forming a circle between you. Then raise slightly your left hands bonded together slightly and place it a bit above your right hands that are bonded together forming the symbol of eternity then together on the count of three jump the broomstick together. “Jumping the broomstick” was a traditional common law-marriage in Britain for many years. If it was performed in front of a witness and it was said that the couple will be married for a year and a day, enough time to find out if marriage is your cup of tea before you move on to a handfasting ritual
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