The Broom

The Broom is one of the main attributes of the archetypical witch. On Halloween no witch comes out without her broom. In Folklore the witches fly on  brooms through the night sky, or to the the sabbath.

And in folklore and folk magic the broom is surrounded by much lore.

Brooms can be used to protect the home against thieves an evil spirits, it can be used to bless, to banish negative energies or troublesome spirits. A broom that is standing before the front door is a protective amulet and something like a sign for modern witches: Hey in this house lives a witch.

But why is the broom so much connected to witches in folklore and in our modern witch archetype?

In old times a broom made from brush (and later from straw) was an everyday thing. Every household had a broom. The broom was (and is) a tool to clean the home. And the broom got a symbol for the home in general over time. But at the same time the broom is made from things that grew outside of the home, in the hedges or in the woods. So the broom is a ambivalent symbol, made from the things outside of the home (and outside the man made world) and at the same time a tool that got a symbol for the home and domestic life. The broom was also a symbol for a threshold, because with the broom the dirt was cast out of the home over the threshold. The broom stood in many homes near the hearth- another symbol strongly connected to witchcraft in folklore and the hearth had the same symbolism. It represents the home and the spirit of the home, but at the same time it is a meeting place, a doorway to the spirit world, a threshold to the world outside of the home (and a gate to the realms outside of the man made world).

And the witch herself is strongly weaved into this symbolism. She is is connected to the thresholds, between the worlds of humans and spirits, between the man made world and nature, between the village and the wilderness between life and death. So for me the Witch Queen (Goddess of witchcraft) is strongly connecteod to the broom, too. She is the mistress of all thresholds, mediating between the worlds.

On old woodcuts witches were depicted riding on brooms in their flight, but they used also other things like stangs, pitchforks or animals.

In modern witchcraft the broom can be a all-round working tool. It can be used to clean the home from negative energies and spirits, to weave protective magic around the home, to direct energies (like the wand is used in ceremonial magic), as a focal point for familiar spirits and the good spirits of the home, as a tool to evoke spirits (like the wand is used by magicians), as a tool to bless the home and to draw the witch circle (as a threshold between the worlds).

And as a tool in witches flights (the leaving of the body in mental-, astral- or etheric projections of the spirit) you can ride the astral reflection of the broom on your flights. The broom can be seen as the world tree, or as a symbol of the witches hedge. Because the broom is made from things that grew in the hedge (a symbol of the threshold between the worlds). And it can be a very protective tool in the otherworld, if you use the astral reflection of it in your flights and journeys.

I have several brooms. One broom for rites, spells and witcheries. This broom is my working tool. For me this broom has a spirit of her own, because of this i write about this broom as her- not as it. Her handle is made from alder tree, her brush is made from apple twigs, willow and birch. I use this broom in my magic, i ride her astral reflection when i leave my body, i use her as weapon in my otherworld journeys and with her i cast my witch circles. For me the broom is my main working tool when i am in my home or my garden.

Then i have a broom made from birch that stands before our front door. This broom is a amulet to protect our home and the threshold. And i have a third broom that stands near my hearth shrine in my ritual room. It is made from willow wood and willow twigs and the twigs of dogwood. I have worked the skull of a fox into this broom, twigs of thorny hedge roses, snake skin and runes. This broom protects the threshold between the mundane and spiritual realms and is a focus point of the spirits i work with. And I have several straw brooms that I use for mundane cleansing in my home.

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The Power Of The Witch Archetype

 Since the traditions of modern witchcraft came out of the broom closet, witchcraft has undergone a reinvention or a rebirth. Many modern witches shy away from the archetypical image of the witch, with her many symbols like broom, cauldron, pointy hat, black cat, toads and other nightly creatures, the famous familiar spirits, spells, hexes and curses, contact to the spirits of the dead, shape shifting into animals, the knowledge of herbs and poisons, the legendary flying ointment, meetings on crossroads and old cemeteries or the fly through the night on broomsticks or pitchforks.

Many modern witches claim that the stereotypical witch is only fantasy and that in truth witchcraft is and was different than this image.

Witchcraft evolved into a modern religion, which is a good thing. Modern witches gather on the seasonal festivals, celebrate the seasonal changes, belief in and honor the Great Goddess and the Horned God and some of these witches work positive magic- without harming or manipulating other people.

They use the the symbols of the ceremonial magic in their rites: the athame, the chalice, the wand and the pentacle. And their rituals are also influenced by the ceremonial magic in their structure.

But at the same time modern witchcraft has lost (for me personal) much of its  mystical side, a lot of the magic and its power.

The spells of many modern witches seem (to me personal) more like positive thinking with the help of some material supplies (like candles and herbs) and positive affirmations. And many modern witches don’t even belief in real magic, for them the magic, the rites and the spells are something psychological, through which them they are talking to their unconsciousness, through their spells they can work changes with their unconsciousness. This kind of magic is more a type of placebo effect sometimes.

But in the archetype of the witch, with all its many symbols, there you can find much truths about witchcraft. Our modern archetype of the witch has changed and evolved over time, the archetype of the evil witch is changing into something more positive and more ambivalent. For centuries the archetype of the witch was only seen as evil. Now in many movies, books and fantasy the witches can be supportive and good. They can be a guides for heroes, a helper in need AND someone who can also act against their enemies. And this ambivalent image of the witch is the original one. Even the most ancient witches of our culture Medea and Circe, could be helpers of the heroes, could heal and bless. But at the same time they could get a nightmare if you tried to work against them.

But you don’t have to look back into the shadows of the centuries- if you want to come into contact with the power behind the witch archetype. Our MODERN archetype is filled with many things, that can work if you use them. And when you use them- you will tap into a pattern. The broom can be a working tool in many witcheries, the cauldron can be used to empower herbal mixtures, amulets and to make potions. Even the pointy hat- that is so strongly connected to our modern archetypical witch, can be a powerful tool in your witchcraft. If you work with the symbols that are connected to the archetypical witch- you can draw power from this archetype in your rites and spells. But at the same time in our MODERN witch aretype lies the seeds of old witchcraft- there they were able to survive hidden and open to see at the same time. The symbols of the archetypical witch are telling us stories of the past, of the old witches in the villages not so long ago…

In the old times there were no books about witchcraft (exept some grimoires) and people who were drawn to witchcraft, could not learn it from books, like it is today. When people were interested in witchcraft they had to use the information they got from folklore about witches. Maybe they tried out things they heard in stories- what witches do. Stories about people that went into the night, in search for forbidden knowledge and power, about people that went out of the village, to secret places, to meet with the spirits of old and when they came back, they were changed, they got witches. And then when the inner draw of these people who wanted to be witches, was strong enough, they overcame their fear and went into the night themselves. To the old crossroads, gallows hills, burial mounds, or into the dark woods, where the veils between the human world and the other side were (and still are) more thin. If they had enough talent, will or luck, they would be able to meet a spirit and through the contact to this spirit (wich got their familiar spirit) they would learn witchcraft from this spirit- or the spirit helped to awake the witch-fire inside of them, this witch-fire lay dormant in them, sleeping in their blood, all the time and this fire drew them to their journey. And through this inner fire and the contact to the spirit(s) they got witches.

I think it is time that the modern witches reclaim the power of the old witch, the ability to make contact to familiar spirits, the dead and the spirits that surrounds us, the power to leave the body and fly through the night or to shape shift (in trance) into animals, the power to bless and to curse threw spells that make real changes- not just placebo effects. To find again the knowledge of the herbs. It is time to meet again on the old crossroads and dance with the spirits, to dig graveyard dirt on nightly cemeteries, to contact the underworld/otherworld, celebrate rites in moonlit clearings of the dark woods, with pointy hats, brooms and cauldrons that boil over a fire, or to work spells on the hearth of our home. And to meet with the Witchqueen on her crossroads in the time of the dark moons. It is time to awaken the witch-fire again…

The Archetypical Witch

The light of the full moon is illuminating the night. The moonbeams are enchanting a clearing in a dark wood. On this clearing a bonfire is burning. Over the flames of the fire, there hangs a boiling bronze cauldron. The solitary scream of an owl is cutting through the silence of the night.

On the clearing a woman is standing, clad in dark clothes, black  like the midnight in a moonless night.

In her hands she holds an old broom made from brush. On her head she has a black pointy hat, with a big brim that casts shadows over her face. You can not see her age. When someone is able to see beyond the shadows, that are veiling her face, for some she appears as ugly old hag. For some as the wise old woman, with a cunning smile and warm eyes. To some maybe even as a young, beautiful and seductive sorceress. But in reality she is ageless.

Near the feet of this strange woman three fat toads are sitting and it seems that they are watching the fire. And near this woman you can see a strange shadow, moving in the darkness. The eyes of this shadowy creature are glowing in the dark, they reflect the glow of the fire. You can see that this shadow is not a demon, but a black cat. Bats are flying around the fire and are hunting for insects, that were summoned by the light of the fire. The shapes of spirits appear for a second in the flames and in the smoke of the fire, it is like they are ensouling the fire and the smoke. But in the next moment they are gone.

The boiling in the cauldron gets louder and the witch is using the handle of her broom like a spoon, to stir her potion.

A loud laughing is haunting through the night, some crows are scared out of their resting places in the trees and are flying away from the fire. The cat makes an arching and is hissing but the witch didn’t stop to laugh. Her laughing can be heard all around the countryside.

She is the Archetypical Witch.

She is feared by many people, others are searching for her knowledge and her power, some are going to her when they need her help. Maybe to get a spell that hinders an unfaithful man from straying, or to banish an evil spirit, or to bring the luck back into a home, or to help a loved one to get healed in times of illness or maybe to curse an enemy.

When it is about these things, the people forget their fear- or overcome them and go to her.

And also when it is about the thresholds in life. At birth she is the midwife, she is guiding the elderly on their last journey while they are dying and after death she is the one that buries the corpse, she opens the doors to the light of the otherworld- if spirits lost their way after death.

In all these times the blessing of the Archetypical Witch is needed.

But many are fearing her dark side, she is the nightmare of all those people who do evil.

They are scared by her power, they are frightened that maybe she will curse them, for the evil things that they have done. And because of this fear, they are hunting her, try to control her or maybe take away her power. But the Archetypical Witch is cunning, even when her enemies are thinking that she is crazy, when they project their own shadows on her- all their fears and their own wickedness. They try to make the people believe- that she is evil and wicked- so that she gets feared also by other people.

The Archetypical witch was has never dissapeard, she was never truly beaten, nobody was able to break her. She was always there, lingering in the shadows, on the liminal places, on the crossroads, near hollow hills or gallow hill, on old cemetries and on the clearings of the dark woods, she was always was there beneath the things, in the edges and fringes and all the thresholds. She was hidden in the shadows, but always on the pulse of the things that happened.

She was waiting there, waiting that the times will change again. That the people will see more than the evil old hag in her, that the people will search again for her power and her many blessings.

She is standing on the clearing of her dark woods, in the shadows at midnight under the light of the full moon. And she looks into her potion, that is boiling in her cauldron, there she sees what once was, what is happening in the now ans what maybe will be come into being…. and the spirits talk to her through the shadows, whispering the secrets into her ears, she knows the ancient Queen of Crossroads- the Mistress Witchcraft. And she knows the Black Man of the Sabbath, the Horned Lord and Cunning Master. Through her they stayed alive too- and the Archetypical Witch brought their power and blessings into the world until this day…