Besom

Besom

A witch’s broom or besom is a very important tool.   One of the most important ways to prepare ritual space is to prepare you space.  One way to do this is to sweep away negative energy.   Doing this not only prepares the ritual space but also the practitioner.    The Besom dates back to ancient Egypt.  The besom (pronounced beh-sum) was once a wooden staff with a fan of feathers.  Used for protection and purification purposes, a magick broom is made of straw or grass tied around with  a leafy branch of pine, oak, fir, lavender or rosemary.  It is used to clean your ritual circle of unwanted energies.  Called the “Faery’s Horse,” your magick broom can be used for astral traveling.   They can also be placed above your doors to ward against unwanted guest or energies.  There is also the tradition of jumping the broom where the bride and groom jump the broom to begin their new life at a handfasting.  Another tradition involving Besoms or a witch’s staff involves the ride-pole dance where riders would straddle them and jump high to encourage crops to grow.  Many believe this is where the myth of witches flying started.   Different kinds of brooms are used for different things.  For example, hawthorn besoms are best for handfasting.  Oak besoms can be used as a powerful tools for personal protection and to draw in ancestral energies and knowledge.

“Making a Besom”

If you would like a Besom of your own, they are fairly easy to find in craft stores, country markets, or folk art fairs. You can also invest your energies into making one, a good idea if you wish to use it in place of a Wand or other ritual tool.

To make a Besom you will need a four-foot dowel one inch in diameter, a ball of twine, scissors, and straw or other long strands of pliable herbs.

Take the straw, or another herb you have chosen for the bristles, and allow them to soak overnight in warm, lightly salted water. The water softens the straws to make them pliable, and the salt soaks out former energies.

When you are ready to make your Besom, remove the straws from the water and allow them to dry a bit, but not so much that they lose the suppleness you will need to turn them into your Besom.

Find a work area where you can lay out the length of your dowel, and begin lining the straws alongside the dowel. Starting about three inches from the bottom, lay the straws, moving backward, along the length of the dowel. Begin binding these to the dowel with the twine. You will need to tie them very securely. You can add as many layers of straw as you wish, depending on how full you would like your Besom to be.

When the straw is secured, bend the top straws down over the twine ties. When they are all gently pulled over, tie off the straws again a few inches below the original tie. Leave the Besom overnight to allow the straw to dry.

The dowel part of the Besom can be stained, painted, or decorated with Pagan symbols, your Craft name, or any other embellishments you choose. Dedicate your finished Besom in your Circle as you would any other ritual tool.

(The above “Making a Besom” is quoted directly from Edain McCoy’s book “The Sabbats: A New Approach to Living the Old Ways”, page 36, Llewellyn Publications, 1994.)

“Chants”

References

The Witches Broom http://hearthmoonblog.com/the-witchs-broom/

Edain McCoy’s book “The Sabbats: A New Approach to Living the Old Ways”