Martin Anton Delrio describes this in the Hexentraktat Disquisitionum magicarum libri sex from 1599 as following:
WITCHES BROOMSTICK ORIGIN WINDOWS
The witch left her house through doors, windows or the chimney to go to their meetups. The believe was not limited to broomsticks, but extended to animals, sticks or "ofengabeln" (fireplace poker). Minor edit: originated -> likely originatedĮdit 2: Again, a regrettably rotten source, but this is one of the Bodleian copy's (non-frontispiece) illustrations depicting a flying witch. Great hour of radio including interviews with all of the primary researchers involved. But it actually works the same way it was a kind of moral panic, and people were suspected and accused of communism.”Īs far as I understand, the text of the manuscript will be made available online once the transcription and translation has been finished, but that hasn't happened yet.Īdditional source: A CBC radio documentary called Tinctor's Foul Manual. The kind of moral panic we might compare it with in our own times, to get an idea of how such things might work, would be the McCarthy communist witch-hunts. “The best description that covers it all is a kind of collective moral panic. “We’re not talking about little village things where one person is condemned because of hexing someone’s cow-we’re talking about an entire city in panic,” Gow said. The original meaning of the phrase “witch-hunt,” which we use casually today, was occasioned by one of the largest mass murders in European history. The manuscript was written around the time of one of the first mass witch-hunting trials in Europe. “This is one of the very first times that this idea is translated into an image.” And they fly home in the morning on their brooms. Gow says the piece would probably have depicted witches “flying to some kind of a meeting at night, where they pay homage to the devil, and they dance, feast, drink and have sex. Andrew Gow was one of the primary researchers working on the book. The following is from a news release (not the best source, I know) from the university when the book's existence was revealed. Unfortunately, frontispieces for old manuscripts were often cut out of codexes to be sold or displayed separately, and while other copies of the text have the frontispiece intact, Alberta's is missing. The other three are held by the University of Brussels, the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, and the Bodleian.īesides being old and cool, the Invectives had had a frontispiece that is believed to have the first depiction of witches flying on broomsticks. There are only four copies known to have survived, the earliest of which (however implausibly - and I'm allowed to say this because it's my home university) is held at the University of Alberta, in Edmonton. In the manuscript, witches are called Waldensians, which is nominally a breakaway sect of Christians, but the manuscript makes it quite clear that it is referring to quite literal demon-spawned evildoers. The Invectives Against the Sect of Waldensians is a Burgundian manuscript dating from around 1460 that details a history of witches and witchcraft and methods for detecting and hunting down witches. Use the 3 nails to secure the broom above your door.I can't give a proper answer to when the idea of witches flying on broomsticks originated, but I do know where the iconography likely originated. Position your broom above the door in such a way that the bristles align with the direction the door opens. Close your door so that you are on the outside of your home. Next, grab your step ladder, hammer, and nail.
I humbly show this energy out of my home so that the Earth may recycle it anew.” Repeat, aloud or in your mind, “I rid my home of all negativity. Once you have sprayed the door from top to bottom, use your broom on the doorframe to make sweeping motions towards the outside of your home.I send all negative energy back to the Earth, so that she may recycle it anew” as you spray. Repeat, aloud or in your mind, “I cleanse my home of all impurities. Open your door and begin spraying it with the cleansing spray. Place all of these items within reach of your front door.Purifying spray, such as sage, palo santo, or rosemary.A small broom (can be handmade, with any adornments you so desire).
This is a cleansing and consecration ritual for hanging a broom over the door to ward off unwanted energy. Rituals are a great way to set these intentions, and to send energy towards your goal, need, or desire. Like any magick, hanging a broom above the door is only as effective as your intention.