 Hello people! I'm Ginny Metherill. I am a fourth generation witch from traditional Irish stock, I'll have you know. Today's video is part of my Halloween series. In this series I'm looking at the tools that you would use in your craft, especially in the run-up to that wonderful sabbath of sourn. Or as I actually prefer to call it Halloween, I can't even spell sourn, let alone pronounce it correctly. So today's video is all about that iconic witch's tool, the broomstick. The broomstick of course is eponymous with a witch flying on it. However, I suspect that this was made up by medieval witch hunters, and slightly later on by witch hunter drennals. The first written recording of a broom being used as a form of transport, a flying form of transport, is in 1453 when a male witch under torture said this is what he did. You may have heard of the incredibly famous flying ointment, which is made from three herbs of wolf'sbane, henbane, I can't remember what the last one was from, wolf'sbane, henbane, and the black one, deadly nightshade. Gosh, my brain. This ointment has incredible psychedelic properties, and if you were to eat it and ingest it into your stomach, you'd probably throw up everywhere. And so they said that the best way to get it into your system is to absorb it through the skin. Now the skin of your genitals and your armpits is where the skin is really quite thin and will absorb this ointment easily. Well, you know, that's why they said that witches smeared it on a broomstick. I just can't believe that. It's incredibly difficult to smear it on a broomstick, to then sit on the broomstick and smear it. I don't know, why won't you just smear it on yourself? Or if you wanted to, a broomstick's quite tricky, isn't it? Why just wouldn't you use a brush? Anyway, they also apparently put it under their armpits, and so this flying ointment was absorbed in their skin and they literally flew. There is also a lot of guff in my opinion, but this is only my opinion, written about the fact that broomsticks represent the male and the female, the bristles being the womb-like structure, and the shaft being the male phallic-like structure. I think it's just a broom. If you look at witches' tools, they used what was ever around, you know, a cauldron, i.e. a pot, a broomstick, a broom, because that's what we have, and a wand, which is a stick. So I'm not really in with the, it's male, it's female, it's this, it's that. I think it's just a broomstick, and witches of old and cunning women would use it in their tools and their trade. So what would I use a new broom for? Well, quite simply for cleaning. When you sweep an area, whether it be your kitchen floor or your ritual circle, you're getting rid of dirt and debris. Dirt and debris have an affinity to hold on to negative energy. Now negative energy, if you have that within a working area, can change the outcome of your spells. I'm always saying this, you know, fuzzy spells get fuzzy results, and you don't want any negative energy hanging around into that mix. And so the ritual sweep of a broom will help clear the energy and the physical dirt from any area. I cannot recommend you clean your ritual working area before you start highly enough. Every spell you will always see me cleaning, whether it's with smoke or a broomstick. It's not really suitable to use a full styled broomstick when you're casting a circle around your table. So you could use a miniature broomstick. And here is mine. I have made it very simply from Lily and Lavender to bring both of those flowers properties into the mix. Lavender is about love, purification, ritual cleansing, and Lily is all about connecting with spirit. It is a simple task to make. I'm cutting a stem of an old Lily that has ceased flowering. I'm also cutting about five long Lavender stems. I first cut my Lily stalk to approximate size and stripped it of any leaves. I stripped the Lavender stems of their leaves and then I cut Lavender stems into equal lengths, about two thirds the size of the Lily stalk. It is then simply a matter of tying the Lavender stems around the branch of the Lily and I'm using florist wire, which you can buy in any DIY or craft shop. It is then simply a matter of trimming to size. There are a few superstitions about brooms and traditions which I thought I would share with you. If you take your miniature broomstick and hang it above your bed, it is said that this will sweep away any bad dreams that you may have. Otherwise, if you then put it under your pillow, it will sweep away all your negative thoughts. It's very good for children's cribs to hang a broomstick above them. When you first buy a new broom, the first thing you must do is sweep something into your house with it because this is sweeping in any luck. Likewise, they say, never sweep dirt and debris with your broom out of the door of a room, collected in a dustpan and brush and then dispose of it in the bin or wherever you normally dispose of it. This isn't sure that you don't sweep the luck out of the house. It is a superstitious ritual, but one that I find has some grain in truth. Brooms by default. When you use them to sweep and clean your house, they grow attached to the house. They attune with your home's energy. And so when you move, you should leave your broomstick for the next occupant and buy yourself a new broom for your new home. If you place your broomstick outside your front door, it will guard against evil spirits, so tradition states. And also, if you add a spade into that mix, then you're safe from lightning. So that's a useful tip to know. And lastly, if I want to talk about the jumping the broomstick ritual, this is a civil marriage. Charles Dickens mentions jumping the broomstick in Great Expectations, and it is mentioned in Punch Magazine, I think, Hazard and various other old publications. It was a form of civil marriage, which has obviously been taken either from the African slaves, which I'm not sure about, because the African slaves, if they weren't allowed to marry by their master, they would just jump the broom to show that they were committed to the person that they wanted to commit to. However, it is just as likely that it came from pagan practices, and hence why a hand-fasting ritual will of course include the jumping the broomstick. It was considered a civil marriage in days of yore, and so it is part of our psyche. Are you going to use your broomstick in any Halloween traditions this year? And if so, what are they? I love reading your comments, so please do leave me one. If you enjoyed this video, please like and subscribe, because that really helps my channel. Thank you so much for watching, and I'll see you in a few days.