“At 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.”
– Reginald Scot’s book, The Discoverie of Witchcraft, published in 1584
Pears Soap’s 1899 ad
The Witches Broom
The intoxicating lore of Witch’s tales. Legends long past but with a couple “All though’s” to the history to deserve a slow clap from all time travelers alike.
The Witch & her trusty Broom…, a vehicle to travel the nights skies illustrated for centuries to follow?… Well kind of, but the truth is amazingly better then history will let you know…
Witches going to their Sabbath (1878), by Luis Ricardo Falero
In the old days, Finding a way for witch’s to meet together with miles in between would sound like a insurmountable feat… That is if it weren’t for a witch’s trusty broom and some Flying Ointment…
The first mention of such a flying ointment can be found in the only surviving ancient Roman Novel written in Latin to survive the years “The Metamorphoses of Apuleius” which St. Augustine referred to as “The Golden Ass” originally written between 159-180 AD.
Albert Joseph Pénot, “Départ pour le Sabbat” (1910)
“On a day Fotis came running to me in great fear, and said that her mistress, to work her sorceries on such as she loved, intended the night following to transform herself into a bird, and to fly whither she pleased. Wherefore she willed me privily to prepare myself to see the same. And when midnight came she led me softly into a high chamber, and bid me look through the chink of a door: where first I saw how she put off all her garments, and took out of a certain coffer sundry kinds of boxes, of the which she opened one, and tempered the ointment therein with her fingers, and then rubbed her body therewith from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head, and when she had spoken privily with her self, having the candle in her hand, she shaked parts of her body, and behold, I perceived a plume of feathers did burgen out, her nose waxed crooked and hard, her nails turned into claws, and so she became an owl. Then she cried and screeched like a bird of that kind, and willing to prove her force, moved her self from the ground by little and little, til at last she flew quite away.”
– Lucius Apuleius. From Golden Ass, Book III, Chapter Sixteen (160 AD)
When flying ointment shows back up with the Witch’s, the broom adds to the story…
Hans Baldung-Witches Sabbath- Date 1510
Fly Away
For all the Witch’s across the land that wanted to meet on prearranged nights, the witches would brew a special Flying ointment…
The special Flying ointment was made from a base like animal fat or beeswax and plants from the Solanaceae family; plants like: belladonna, datura, henbane, and mandrake.
Other traditional flying ointment herbs that were added to the brew included opium poppy, water hemlock, monkshood, and foxglove, wormwood and yes, even Cannabis!
“The traditional English flying ointment includes: 100 grams lard, 5 grams hashish (“first quality”), handful hemp flower, handful poppy flower, pinch powdered hellbore root, and pinch ground sunflower seed.
Another European recipe calls for 3 grams annamthol, 50 grams extract of opium, 30 grams extract of betel, 6 grams cinquefoul, 15 grams henbane, 15 grams belladonna, 15 grams ordinary hemlock, 250 grams indian hemp (cannabis indica), 5 grams cantharides, gum tragacanth, powdered sugar, and any oil (olive oil recommended) or creme (lanoline recmmended).”
– From ‘The Book of Shadows’ by Gerald Gardner. Which includes multiple recipes for flying ointments, derived from older works.
Witches’ Sabbath in Paris (from a series of postcards, ca. 1910)
After the “flying ointment” was brewed, the witch’s would wait until a prearranged night to meet…
Taking off all their cloths, they would rub the hallucinogenic ointment all over their bodies…
Not quite enough of a kick to get things flying… To get to the next level of flight they would coat their broom sticks with the ointment and well,… Use them as a sexual phallic device!
Awesome delivery device attaching both the witch and the broom together in history…
early 17th century illustration of a French Witch rubbing on fly ointment preparing to ‘fly’ (hookah in background?)
I know what your thinking… No way could that witch cutout at Halloween that you see walking through the mall be a reference to the above mentioned flight…
Ahh but the history is great!…
In the 1324 trial of the Witch Lady Alice Kyteler, we find a early example of the flying broom story…
“In rifleing the closet of the ladie, they found a pipe of oyntment, where with she greased a staffe, upon which she ambled and galloped through thick and thin.”
— 1324 investigation of suspected witch Lady Alice Kyteler.
Zoom, Zoom…
Again in 1470, this method of witch flight is confirmed by Jordanes De Bergamo in his studies on witchcraft.
“But 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.”
– From the ‘Quaestio de strigis’ by Jordanes de Bergamo in 1470
first illustration of witch’s on broomsticks in Martin Le Franc’s 1440 Defender of Ladies
Ahh but the ultimate story of this incredible tale can be found by the Witch of Savoy, Antoine Rose in 1477…
Under torture, Antoine’s confession is amazing and timelessly epic!
“the Devil, whose name was Robinet, was a dark man who spoke in a hoarse voice. Kissing Robinet’s foot in homage, she renounced God and the Christian faith. He put his mark on her, on the little finger of her left hand, and gave her a stick, 18 inches long, and a pot of ointment. She used to smear the ointment on the stick, put it between her legs and say,
‘Go, in the name of the Devil, go!'”
– Witch of Savoy, Antoine Rose confession in 1477
After her Trial “the Witch of Savoy” Antoine Rose was said to be set free, having confessed…
She promptly disappeared that day, never to be seen again…
The Flying Green Penis Monster from ‘Decretum Gratiani’ with commentary of Bartolomeo de Brescia, Italy, 1340-1345
Next time Halloween rolls around and you see all those flying witches all over your favorite stores…
Go ahead, try not to think of this story…