The Witches Tool Box: The Besom

by Mariana


The Witch’s Broom or Besom has a long history in folklore and usage. In popular culture it has been associated with the Halloween Witch, flying across the starlight sky upon her magical broomstick, which I believe is a metaphor for astral projection. It is tool that can be taken for a common household object, one that would not condemn a witch when being caught practicing witchcraft could cost you dearly.

The besom was traditionally constructed of Ash (protection) for the handle, Birch twigs for the bristles (purifying), and Willow (Sacred to the Goddess). Nowadays, people make their besoms of all different kinds of materials, using the correspondences of the materials to their specific intentions for the particular besom they are crafting. The besom also contains the symbolism of polarity in that the phallic shaft represents the God, and the bristles, when inverted represent the Goddess.

In ritual, the consecrated besom can be used to sweep away any negative energies, either in addition to the use of burning incense, or in place of burning incense if a smoke free environment is required. One can bless a household besom with certain qualities that one wishes to bring to the household when doing the actual mundane act of sweeping; however once consecrated for ritual use, that particular besom may only be used in ritual and not for practical household chores.

In addition to using the besom to sweep away energy, the witch can use the besom to sweep in desired energies as well. For instance, if one wanted to bring prosperity into his or her home, he or she could recite incantations for prosperity while sweeping prosperous energy into the home.

In elder days, the women took their besoms out in the fields in the Spring, and rode them around, dancing through the fields and jumping as high as they could to ensure that the crops would grow at least as high as they jumped. (hence another name used for a besom is hobby horse). It is traditional to name your besom as you would name a horse as well. They danced in the fields and jumped as high as they could, as their jumping indicated the height that the crops were to grow to.

The most well known use for the besom aside from sweeping energy about is to represent the threshold of the home in hand fasting rituals. The couple jumps the broom not only to symbolize the beginning of their life as a couple, but also for luck, fertility, and the woman’s transition from maiden to mother.

Other folkloric use for the besom was to have peaceful sleep and to keep away nightmares; the besom may be placed under the bed. Likewise, if one was to be away from home, the besom would be placed in the bed to ensure that no malevolent energies came to reside in the bed while one was away. Additionally, a besom placed in front of your home could indicate that you do not want to be disturbed or that nobody is at home.

Besoms are available nowadays in many pagan shops and online stores; however it has always been a desire of mine to create my own besom. In my research I found that it is not difficult to do, and I look forward to creating one in the near future, perhaps as a group activity with my coven.