In 1477, Antoine Rose, known as the Witch of Savoy, confessed, again under torture, that “the Devil, whose name was Robinet, was a dark man who spoke in a hoarse voice. And how might such a ointment be best applied to those delicate mucous membranes? From the 15th century records of Jordanes de Bergamo:īut the vulgar believe, and the witches confess, that on certain days or nights they anoint a staff and ride on it to the appointed place or anoint themselves under the arms and in other hairy places.Īn early 1600s illustration of a French witch preparing to fly, ointment in hand, from the Museum of Witchcraft in Bayonne, France.Įven more telling is a quote from a 1324 investigation of suspected witch Alice Kyteler: But among the other ways to ingest a hallucinogenic drug besides swallowing it is through the mucous membranes, such as under the armpits, through the anus, or for women, through the mucous membranes of their vaginas. However there is a problem with drinking such a potent witches brew, chief among them that it can make the drinker quite sick, and could even be deadly. Hans Baldung Grien or Grün, “Witches’ Sabbath” (1510), woodcut (via Wikimedia)

Among other readily accessible hallucinogenic plants were henbane, deadly nightshade, mandrake, and, according to Johann Weyer in his 1563 Praestigiis Daemonum, these were all principal ingredients in any witch’s “flying ointment.” With effects on humans similar to LSD, ergot was a powerful hallucinogen. First among these was the rye mold containing ergot fungi. In medieval Europe there were a number of hallucinogenic plants in fairly easy supply. The use of hallucinogenic plants for shamanic purposes goes back to prehistory. But just what were these witches actually brewing up? Well, around the same time as the first reports of witches flying broomsticks is the mention of “flying ointments.” But there is another possibility, a more literal and much saucier origin story of the witches riding their broomsticks.įrancisco Goya, “Witches’ Sabbath (The Great He-Goat)” (1821-1823), oil on canvasīesides riding on broomsticks, the second most iconic image of a witch is of old hags brewing up a witches brew, the old “double, double toil and trouble” of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, written in the early 1600s. (A tradition related to the jumping of the broom wedding traditions.) Reginald Scot’s book, The Discoverie of Witchcraft, published in 1584, described these festivals as such:Īt these magical assemblies, the witches never failed to dance and in their dance they sing these words, ‘Har, har, divell divell, dance here dance here, plaie here plaie here, Sabbath, Sabbath.’ And whiles they sing and dance, ever one hath a broom in her hand, and holdeth it up aloft.Ĭombine pagans, brooms, phallic fertility symbols, and jumping into the air, and you have all the ingredients you need for the myth of the flying witch. There was also once a common pagan fertility ritual where poles, pitchforks, and brooms (basically, phallic objects in general) were piloted through the fields with people jumping as high as they could to entice the crops to grow to that height. The first known reference to witches flying on broomsticks was confessed by a suspected male witch, Guillaume Edelin of Saint-Germain-en-Laye near Paris, while he was being tortured in 1453. Scary for any patriarch! It wasn’t just women, however. The broom was a symbol of female domesticity, yet the broom was also phallic, so riding on one was a symbol of female sexuality, thus femininity and domesticity gone wild. What follows is mildly NSFW.įor a long time the common answer to the question of why witches flew on broomsticks was relatively straightforward if a bit broad. While the image can be found pasted in elementary schools throughout America, the story of why witches look the way they do, and why they fly on broomsticks, is a racier, lesser-known tale. Silhouetted against the moon, pointy hat pushed back by the wind, the witch on her magic broomstick is an iconic image, ubiquitous during the Halloween season. 1324 investigation of suspected witch Lady Alice Kyteler. In rifleing the closet of the ladie, they found a pipe of oyntment, wherewith she greased a staffe, upon which she ambled and galloped through thick and thin. Witches were almost always portrayed naked until the 1900s. Luis Ricardo Falero, “The Witches’ Sabbath” (1880), oil on canvas (via Wikimedia)

Witches broomstick origin