The Broom (Besom) —by Míchealín Daugherty The broom has long been associated with magick, especially with purification rites. I use a tiny broom to sweep the area of negativity before I draw my magick circle to begin any ritual.   The broom is so sacred to magic, that some broom deities even exist. For example, in China, Sao Ch'ing Niang, is the "Lady of the Broom," who lives on the Broom Star, or Sao Chou, and presides over good weather. The Aztecs worshipped the witch-goddess Tlazolteotl, who was usually depicted carrying or riding a broom. In her rites, priests burned black incense and laid brooms made from rushes across the fire. Owls, Snakes and the Moon were dedicated to Tlazolteotl. The Aztecs invoked Tlazolteotl to sweep away, or cleanse them, of their transgressions. If you have more than one broom in your house, one should be reserved for magick. Some broom beliefs and customs include: Always make a wish when you get a new broom; the first time you use it, the wish will come true. If a broom falls from your hands while you are sweeping, always make a wish before retrieving the broom. If you wish to be married within a year, jump over a broom nine times, consecutively. To bring rain, stand outside and swing a broom over your head whilst concentrating on rain. Crossing a spade and a broom outside your house safeguards it from enemies. Placing a broom across your doorway allows your departed loved ones to speak to you from the Other World. A small broom placed under your pillow keeps bad dreams away. Two brooms crossed, and hung over a door or entranceway, keeps negative energies from entering. Take two needles, made into an equal-armed cross and place them in a broom. Then stand the broom, bristle sides up, behind the front doorway. This practice not only guards your house from evil and from intruders, but it brings good luck as well. Step over a broomstick to dispel unwanted ghosts in your house. Sweeping the floors at night brings bad luck because it disturbs the spirits who walk the floors while those who are alive are sleeping. A besom is a specific kind of broom. Its ties are made of willow; its twigs are usually willow, birch or heather; its pole should be approximately 3 ft in length and should be made of willow, ash or hazel. A besom is a fertility symbol — the pole being male, the twigs in which it is inserted being the female part. For a hand-fasting festival, decorate a besom with flowers and ribbons. The besom or broom is then held across the circle and the new couple jumps over the broom into their new life. Even many newlyweds use this same ritual. That is, many just-married couples will lie a broom across their doorstep and jump over it to begin their new life together. This should also be done when purchasing or renting a new home. In ancient Greece, when a child was born to the house, the doorway became the object of a triple ritual: one person chopped at the threshold with an axe, another person pounded it with a pestle, and a third swept it of all negativity with a besom. A traditional Wiccan besom should be made from six different woods — birch, broom, hazel, hawthorn, rowan and willow. Hang a cinnamon broom in your kitchen (bristles pointing up) for good luck. Witches were once thought to ride broomsticks (actually, my other car is a broom — ha! ha! I saw that on a bumper sticker!). Seriously though, witches were thought to ride on broomsticks during the Sabbaths. It is now believed that witches' flights were the hallucinogenic effect of either henbane or belladonna — two psychotropic ointments that were rubbed into the skin during rituals, and often resulted in the recipient of the ointment believing he or she could fly or had flown. Because an overdose of either herb can be deadly, however, this practice is no longer done. Sources: Cunningham, S and Harrington, D. The Magickal Household: Spells & Rituals for the Home. Llewellyn Worldwide, 2003. Drury, N. The Watkins Dictionary of Magick: Magickal Formulas, Secret Symbols and the Occult. Watkins Publishing, 2005. Jones, P. and Pennick, N. A History of Pagan Europe. Routledge, 2003. Personal knowledge / traditions (Míchealín Daugherty).. West, K. The Real Witches' Year: Spells, Ritruals and Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Element: an Imprint of Harpers Collins, 2004. For more about flowers, plants and herbs, see Ireland's OWN Myths and Magic Page last updated: 19 Aug 2006 Flowers & Herbs  logo by Míchealín Daugherty   Copyright © 2006 Ireland's OWN. All Rights Reserved.