Why Do Witches Fly on Brooms?
@Ruby3881 (1963)
Canada
April 3, 2016 8:36pm CST
One of the most common ways to depict a witch is flying on a broomstick. The image is so deeply rooted in our culture that the creators of Harry Potter and Practical Magic have found creative ways to incorporate the broom into their universes.
In the NeoPagan community, there is a whole branch of humour devoted to brooms: bumper stickers that say the driver’s “other car” is a broom, signs indicating where the “broom parking” is, jokes about how the vacuum has replaced the broom, and so on.
Whether it’s a Quidditch match or a scene involving someone’s dust buster, the broom and the witch are inseparable.
But why?
First, the reason that witches were depicted flying on brooms. This is a tradition that comes from rituals that encourage fertility and abundance. Witches would go out into the fields to perform a kind of sympathetic magic, aimed at showing the crops how high to grow. They would ride their brooms like hobby horses, jumping up high to encourage an abundant harvest for the community. Seen in the moonlight from far away, it could appear as if the Witches were indeed flying.
Accused witches during the Inquisition were often asked under torture about flying to a meeting with the devil. While we now know that most of the accused probably had nothing to do with Witchcraft, the church was probably aware that some Witches did practise a form of flying – but perhaps they didn’t understand what was really going on!
Many early Witches were midwives and herbalists who had knowledge of both helpful medicines and potent drugs and poisons. Some plants are potent psychotropic drugs that can produce the feeling of flying. And sometimes Witches would create an ointment that included a number of these substances, and with the help of this ointment they could “fly” out of their bodies. This was a form of astral projection, used for ritual and magical purposes. Of course there was no need to fly to any meeting with Satan, because Witches don’t believe in him!
Image: OpenClipartVectors/Pixabay/CC0
16 people like this
17 responses
@Ruby3881 (1963)
• Canada
5 Apr 16
@seren3 Well hello there! I didn't know you were on MyLot. It's lovely to see you again 
Yes, we were taught that the witch hunt was quite an industry. In a lot of cases, the accused were women without male relatives (vulnerable women) and some of these did own property that someone else wanted. But there was a whole industry of magistrates, witch finders, jailers, torturers, coffin makers and so on, that was fuelled by the witch trials. A lot of people were making money, and they had a vested interest in the trials continuing.
Yes, we were taught that the witch hunt was quite an industry. In a lot of cases, the accused were women without male relatives (vulnerable women) and some of these did own property that someone else wanted. But there was a whole industry of magistrates, witch finders, jailers, torturers, coffin makers and so on, that was fuelled by the witch trials. A lot of people were making money, and they had a vested interest in the trials continuing.5 people like this
@Ruby3881 (1963)
• Canada
5 Apr 16
@TheHorse I'd say that anyone who was different would be vulnerable to accusations of witchcraft during the Inquisition, but most likely a lot of people were accused by a neighbour who had an eye on their property, or someone who felt slighted and wanted revenge. Accusing someone else was also a way to avoid being accused. So often people would point fingers and name names, out of a sense of self-preservation. It worked for some, but even the accusers were not immune.....
2 people like this
@Ruby3881 (1963)
• Canada
7 Apr 16
@TheHorse I wrote a post looking at naming (mostly "Witch" vs "Wiccan") that you might find interesting.
I was pretty sure I commented elsewhere with an answer to your specific question, though I can't find it at the moment.
Here's the most concise way to put it:
Some (probably many, maybe even most) people who identify as Witches or Wiccans think of it as a religion or a spiritual path. They tend to share a certain core of common beliefs in such things as animism, pantheism, and usually polytheism with a focus on at least one male-female pairing who are celebrated through a ritual cycle of eight holidays. Sharing this set of core beliefs means these people would be accepted as part of the greater contemporary Pagan ("NeoPagan") community - though not everyone who fits the description will necessarily choose to identify as Pagan.
So many Witches and Wiccans are Pagans, and will self-identify as such. I do. But there are a very large number of other Pagan paths (Druidry, Asatru, native American religions, various shamanistic religions, Santeria, Voudon, etc.) whose followers are NOT Witches or Wiccans.
If you were to create a Venn diagram of Pagan paths, there would be an intersection for Witchcraft and Paganism, with a great many Pagan paths falling outside the intersection and a great many practitioners of the Craft inside it. But there would also be those Witches who fall outside the intersection, and some outside of religion altogether.
The short answer we often give is most Witches are Pagans, but not all Pagans are Witches 
How did Witchcraft come to be called Wicca? And why do some Witches call themselves Wiccans? The religion today known as Witchcraft or Wicca is a Pagan...
@shaggin (71666)
• United States
4 Apr 16
Very interesting all that you have written here. My daughter and I just finished reading the whole Harry Potter series recently. We loved it. We are reading one of the small additional books by the same author Magical beasts and where to find them. It talks about most of the creatures we hear about in the series.. and more. My daughter likes it but I am pretty bored by it. Good thing it is a short story as it will be done soon.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (71666)
• United States
5 Apr 16
@Ruby3881 yes I agree J.K. Rowling is so talented. I saw at the library a series of books about Nicolas Flamel. I wanted to start that series with my daughter but she doesn't want to. I took a picture of the book that day at the library actually so I could remember the series. I am on my ipod right now. When I get on from my phone next time I will post the photo to show you.
1 person likes this
@Ruby3881 (1963)
• Canada
4 Apr 16
JK Rowling is a very talented author. There are dozens upon dozens of references to mythology and folklore in the Harry Potter books. Some people have even written books to help us track down and understand all those extra layers of content in the stories. They really are very rich...
2 people like this
@crazyhorseladycx (39515)
• United States
4 Apr 16
most interestin' indeed. the aunt 'twas a witch fer sometime, though ne'er used a broom to fly nor e'en clean with, lol.
2 people like this
@Ruby3881 (1963)
• Canada
4 Apr 16
@wangbaoling A spiral dance is a sacred ritual that honours what Disney has so charmingly put as "the circle of life." It can be danced quickly or slowly, but essentially it is a long chain of people who spiral inwards from the outside of a circle to the middle. When the lead dancer gets to the center she turns the dance around, which creates this really neat effect of people spiralling inwards and outwards at the same time, facing each other.
It's difficult to explain, but this video gives a good idea of how it works. The group in the video are contra dancers and not Witches, but this was the video that showed the movement best. The first few moments you can't see what's happening, but then you'll start to see the spiral:
Bill Fischer calling his famous spiral dance at the Worcester Contra Dance on February 11, 2012. Great live music was provided by Riverbend and Friends. http...
1 person likes this
@Ruby3881 (1963)
• Canada
7 Apr 16
There is an Italian figure, the Befana, who is an old Witch flying on a broomstick on the night of Epiphany. She is a little like Santa Claus
There are some really cute images of her online.
There are some really cute images of her online.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Three Befane with their brooms In Italian folklore, Befana (pronounced [be'fa?na]) is an old woman who delivers gifts to children throughout Italy on Epiphany Eve (the night of January 5) in
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (159058)
• Boise, Idaho
7 Apr 16
It is rather odd, if not a bit funny, how many wrong interpretations have come about on this subject.
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (159058)
• Boise, Idaho
7 Apr 16
@Ruby3881 ...Oh, yes they can sure do all of that.
1 person likes this
@cupkitties (7421)
• United States
4 Apr 16
I think there may be some connection with cranky house wives. That's where the broom comes into play of course. Occasionally some guys will complain about their"witch" of a wife too.
1 person likes this
@Ruby3881 (1963)
• Canada
4 Apr 16
@Shavkat Many stories like that are rooted in a given community ostracizing or marginalizing people who are somehow different from the majority. It may be they held onto an older culture or religion, or it may just be that these are older women who have no family.
Sometimes the people who are featured in these stories do turn against their former society. But when they've been persecuted for simply being different, who can blame them?
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
5 Apr 16
I am always fascinated by people's beliefs and I find that having a belief is important and I agree that we are all much ore alike than people would like to believe. My grandson is descended from one of the "witches" killed in Salem Ma.
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
5 Apr 16
@Ruby3881 Oh I know about that we have visited Salem several times. They whole town rather celebrates it past and present.
1 person likes this
@Ruby3881 (1963)
• Canada
5 Apr 16
I know a Pagan whose family comes out of Salem. He's very proud of that association. I also have some dear friends who several decades ago trained with Laurie Cabot, the official Witch of Salem. She's an actual Witch, but she also has a whole chamber of commerce, tourism type thing going on.
1 person likes this
@cmoneyspinner (9221)
• Austin, Texas
6 Apr 16
Your post is a good write-up and explanation. But do you know that for all these years of hearing that witches fly on their broomsticks, I never thought to ask why because I never believed they did it anyway. Figured it was made up by some imaginative individual, got turned into a tradition, and the origins of how it all started got lost in the translation.
What bothers me is that TODAY in other countries (not the Western nations, I don't think), people are still being accused of witchcraft and are being brutalized for it, to the point that innocent children are accused and harmed. What's worse is the “authority” or government or law enforcement does not stop these murderous acts.
Don't you think if the accused could fly away on brooms, they would?!
Why stay there and let somebody kill you or your child?!
1 person likes this
@Ruby3881 (1963)
• Canada
4 Apr 16
I am a Harry Potter fan, but I probably wouldn't use "Potterhead." I am also a bona fide Witch 
@Ruby3881 (1963)
• Canada
4 Apr 16
Actually, I find most people today are very accepting and often want to know more when they learn I'm a Witch.
We make a point of not proselytizing, so I will share general things in public (like this post) but I won't strike up a conversation with anyone about the Craft unless they've asked about it. I do sometimes end up having some very pleasant interfaith discussions, and people are often surprised to discover that their beliefs and mine are not so different after all.
We make a point of not proselytizing, so I will share general things in public (like this post) but I won't strike up a conversation with anyone about the Craft unless they've asked about it. I do sometimes end up having some very pleasant interfaith discussions, and people are often surprised to discover that their beliefs and mine are not so different after all.
@Macarrosel (7498)
• Philippines
4 Apr 16
I don't know why witches fly on brooms. Well, I drive a car when I travel. Maybe witches drive cars for a change...hahaha. Have a nice day Kyla!
1 person likes this
@Ruby3881 (1963)
• Canada
4 Apr 16
Well this one doesn't, but that's for medical reasons. Most others do drive these days
@Hannihar (129470)
• Israel
9 Oct 17
thank you for the information on why witches fly. It was very interesting.
