#also never put pictures of the living in an altar its bad luck

[locaboa99]

Making ofrendas is nice.

Cooking for the dead is nice.

Praying to the dead and talking as if they are still with us is nice.

Celebrating the dead is nice.❤️

What's not nice is not respecting the ofrendas.

It's not nice to eat the food left out to the dead.

And it's especially not nice to think us crazy when we would rather celebrate death and do what we do as a culture.

Please respect the alters left for the dead. Pass it on to those who don't know not to be eating the food in the ofrendas. It's for the dead beloved for when they come to visit they can take it with them.

[12-3amproductions]

Top 9 Haunted Dolls that Exist (not in any specific order)

In today’s article, we will be showing you the most notorious dolls that caused paranormal activity, while also involving people. On a side note, viewer discretion is advised especially for the last doll listed. Do not look into the doll’s eyes, not even the picture.

1. Annabelle

This is the most popular doll based on it’s exposure in the movie industry. We are pretty sure that most of you would have seen her somewhere or know her from movies such as; The Conjuring, Anabelle or Anabelle’s Creation. The name Annabelle was given by a girl named Donna when her mum bought the doll from a hobby shop as a birthday gift. Soon the owner had strange occurrences happen to her whereby she came back from work only to see the doll in a different position which it was last left at. Thinking that it might due to her lack of memory, she ignored all of such occurrences and soon began to receive attacks from the doll. It was then that they found something strange about it and decided to investigate. Annabelle currently remains in the Warren’s Occult Museum, in a locked case that is ‘encrusted with holy water’.

2. Amanda

Amanda is a doll that is reportedly haunted. According to the story, Amanda was originally made by Heinrich Handwerk in 1884. She was later sold on eBay in August 2003, only to be put up for sale again after her owners didn’t want her anymore. Amanda was apparently placed on auction several times. Many people have reported on seeing Amanda move throughout their houses. One woman even reported that the doll had seemingly moved from room to room without any explanation. This doll is also believed to bring bad luck to those that she did not like. If she is happy or likes you, she would never harm you and she would just sit there and stare into space. If she ever grew tired of her current home, she would wreak havoc in the house and owners of this doll would then have to place her on auctions again. It was said that she is currently in the hands of paranormal investigators in Atlanta, Georgia.

3. Mandy

Mandy the doll was made in Germany roughly between 1919-1920 and was claimed to have supernatural powers. She was donated to the Quesnel Museum, Canada in 1991 after a string of events happened that drove her owners to insanity. It was said by the owners that they had experienced “the sound of a little girl crying coming from the basement most nights” but when one of the owners visited the basement to check, there was no child except for an open window and Mandy staring right at her. Strange things started to happen in the museum as well where the staff claimed to hear footsteps when they were alone, lunches began disappearing from fridges to be found somewhere else, and artefacts from the museum would vanish from their display locked glass cabinets and end up in a different one. There will be a detailed case study coming up for Mandy the doll so do check us out on our social media for more updates.

4. Harold

Harold the doll was claimed to have taken several lives of his owner’s loved ones. He was originally put up for an auction in 2003 and is supposedly the first haunted doll ever sold on eBay. There was a digital record test and EMF detector on Harold. Though the EMF detector had no signs of spikes, but there was a clear recording of a voice from the digital voice recorder. There will be another detail case study coming up for this one as well.

5. Okiku

The story of Okiku doll started in 1918, when a 17-year old boy named Eikichi Suzuki purchased a doll for his 2 year old sister named Okiku, as a souvenir while visiting a marine exhibition on the Japanese island of Hokkaido. The doll itself was around 40cm tall and clad in a traditional Japanese Kimono. It’s eyes are black beads set within the life-like porcelain white face and had black long hair. Eikichi knew his sister would love it so he bought it straight away. Okiku was overjoyed to see the doll and played with it everyday. Until a tragedy struck the following year when Okiku fell gravely ill and died from complications of severe influenza and fever. The mourning family placed her beloved doll on the family altar in memory of their daughter. Not long after the family placed the doll on the altar, they noticed something odd. The black hair of the doll which had originally been cropped to about shoulder length, started getting longer each day and the ends of the hair became random and haphazard in length in contrast to the straight cut it had previously. It grew all the way down and brush against the doll’s knees which caused an alarm to the family to conclude that Okiku’s spirit joined the doll. In 1938, the family moved to Sakhalin but was wary of taking the doll with them. They were unwilling to discard it so they brought it to Mannenji temple, in the town of Iwamizawa, Hokkaido, Japan. After explaining the growing hair to the priest, the priest accepted it and soon was able to see for himself the hair phenomenon. Trimming the hair became a regular chore at the temple and soon pictures of the doll with hair of various lengths were adorning the shrine where it was kept. To this day, the doll remains at Mannenji temple, housed within a modest wooden box.

6. Pupa

Pupa was given to a child in the 1920’s. She died in 2005. Pupa the doll is approximately 14 inches in height and is made from felt. The little girl who owned Pupa often said that her doll was “alive” and had a will of its own. She stated that Pupa and her would talk often throughout the years, and that Pupa held all of her secrets and even saved her life. Pupa and her owner travelled quite extensively throughout Europe and the United States. At the end of World War ll, the little girl’s grandmother passed away. As a way to remember her grandmother, the little girl sewn a button from her grandmother onto Pupa’s dress. Pupa was placed in a glass display after the owner passed away in 2005. According to the family that kept Pupa under their care, the doll does not like being confined and they had several paranormal experiences with the doll. At times, the glass cabinet were heard being tapped, like something was trying to draw their attention. The family also noticed that the doll oftenly changed it’s position within the cabinet. Sometimes her arms will be in a different position, legs crossed or uncrossed and the doll’s expression would also change over the years. Items in the case with her were also being moved around, sometimes haphazardly and at other times done with more purpose. One day someone wanted to clean the glass cabinet as it was quite filthy. They opened it up and exhaled warm air on the glass to fog it over to see the marks clearly and were shocked to find the words ’Pupa hate’ written on the inside of the cabinet. Those who have investigated Pupa say that they have recorded the doll moving. Photos and videos taken over long durations when compared, show movements of the doll easily.

7. Letta

Letta the gypsy doll was found by Kerry Walton in 1972 when he returned to his Australian hometown for his grandmother’s funeral. During this time, he decided to face a childhood fear of his by visiting an abandoned building that had scared him for years. When he went to the abandoned building, he discovered this grotesque looking marionette. Having being crept out of the place, Kerry grabbed the doll and left the building. According to psychics, the doll was made 200 years ago by a Romanian gypsy for his son who had drowned. They believed in spirit transference and dolls would act as a new home for the dead. The doll has real human hair and underneath the scalp is a likeness of a human brain. The doll was then given the name ‘Letta’ due to his European gypsy heritage and because it was said that the doll occasionally screams “Letta me out”. Nothing evil has been reported surrounding this doll in recent years and in fact, this doll was said to bring luck for Kerry as his collectibles business began to boom. Still there were unusual explanations on why it will rain when the doll was taken outside and pictures hanging on the walls might fall off if he is close to one. Dogs bark and attempt to attack whenever they are near Letta. People said that they felt afraid and sad when they see him. Letta is also supposedly capable of moving on his own, changing positions when seated and emitting a pulse while held.

8. Joliet

Joliet the doll was given to Anna’s great grandmother as a pregnancy gift from a family friend 4 generations ago, when she was pregnant with her second child. What wasn’t known at that time was that the family friend who had given Anna’s great grandmother this gift was jealous over something that nobody knows. The doll then, given out of bitterness caused tragic events to take place within the family. Anna’s great grandmother then gave birth to her child who was a healthy boy but he had passed away on the third day after he was born. Not long after the incident, she would hear a baby’s wailing cry late and night and presumed it was that of her deceased child. She did not get rid of the door as she knew that her son was trapped within it and felt that she should ‘protect him’. This cycle had repeated with Anna when she had a daughter and lost her son in three days. Anna said that her son’s cries would be added to the doll as well. This curse still goes on whereby all the sons in the family would only get to live for 3 days as a newborn before they die.

9. Robert

Robert the haunted doll was given to Robert Eugene Otto in 1906 by the Otto family’s servant who got fired due to her religious beliefs and practices that the family had heard about. The servant, originally from the Bahamas, presented Robert the doll. It was three feet tall, stuffed with straw and dressed in sailor’s suit. The face resembled Robert Eugene and had buttons for it’s eyes. Strange occurrences happened when Robert Eugene would start talking to Robert the doll and the doll would reply. At first, Robert Eugene’s parents thought that it was his son responding to the questions in another voice but later believed that the doll was actually the one speaking. The Otto family’s neighbours also mentioned that they saw shadows of a small person moving about in the windows when nobody was home and strange giggles would be heard too. The house servants of the Otto family also claimed to have seen a changes in Robert the doll’s expression, before their eyes and even the doll moving from place to place in the house when they were not looking.

Conclusion

[tipsycad147]

THE CARE AND FEEDING OF THE WITCH BROOM.

Posted on March 18, 2016 by Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

As Witches, we need to be aware of the Ancient Broom Lore that has been passed down to us from those wonderful Crones of the past.

1- Never leave home for long periods of time without telling your broom.

2- Treat your broom as you would any other member of your family, with honour, reverence, and respect.

3- Magickal Brooms are not regular cleaning brooms and should not be used for such mundane tasks.

4- Never leave your Magickal Broom outside your cast circle.

5- Speak with your broom as you would speak to other members of your family or coven.

6- Never leave your Magickal Broom outside in the weather unless you ask the Broom.

7- Oil your broomstick with every turn of the wheel.

Brooms have long been known for their magickal ways, probably due to its shape, use in purification rites and kinship with magickal wands and staffs. The common household tool has been known to be so sacred that in many parts of the world there are Broom Deities.

Sao Ching Niang – The lady with the broom who lives in the Broom Star. When there is too much rain and the crops are threatened, it is not uncommon in China to see pictures of Brooms hanging on the front door or fences to bring clear and sunny weather to the field.

As this is invoking the Great Earth Goddess herself, the Broom Star is the fertile womb of our Great Goddess, and thus, she gives us life of the fields that are represented by the Corn Fields. Hence, the broom is brought into our homes from the womb of the Goddess.

In Mexico, the Witch Goddess Tlazoiteotl is depicted riding on a broom. This symbolises the coming of the night, the dark part of ourselves, the growing darkness of the winter.

The priests in South America have been known to burn offerings of owls and snakes. These were offered at the dark moon. Through these offerings, the people were calling upon the Broom Witch to sweep away their transgressions.

My grandmother was a Broom Witch. Here are some of the old backward things that can be done with a broom. On a hot summers day, I would watch her go out on the front porch and swing the broom over her head. Grandma would just tell me to be quiet, the rain was coming. And if fact she was right. A few hours later we always had rain. So Granny would call the rain with her broom by swinging it clockwise over her head.

In turn, if it was raining too much, she would go out and talk with her broom for a while on the front porch. She would sing “Rain, rain, go away, come again some other day”. Then she would raise her broom and swing it over her head counter-clockwise to stop the rain, and again, a few hours later the rain would stop.

With some practice, I know have mastered this little broom lore spell. I find it handy to tell the broom what I want it to do before I do it, then I say my incantation and swing the broom.

THE CARE AND FEEDING OF A MAGICKAL BROOM

When you first get your broom, always greet it by rubbing your hand over the entire staff of the broom. Learn the body of your broom, inspect it’s divets and curves. Use anointing oil to open and activate your broom. A good oil is made from rosemary, thyme, myrrh and lavender in the base oil. Make this oil by the full moon and then open your broom on the first day of the new moon. When getting a new broom, it’s always good to talk with it awhile. I usually carry mine along with me in my car, and I sleep with it by my bed. Talk with your broom, it’s amazing how much these magickal tools have to say to us and how lonely they become when cast to the side. After your broom has been chosen and spoken to, then start using it to call in your circle. I point the broom in the direction that I’m casting and use this to focalise the energy. Once the circle is cast, then I lay the broom to the east to guard the entrance until my magickal work is done. I also sprinkle salt in the east over the broom to strengthen the seal, especially if I find myself doing some intense spell casting. Once I’m done with casting my magickal work, I thank my broom and lift it from east and dismiss the quarters. A broom can also be used to cast a circle in a hurry, much the same way a staff can be used. If I know I need immediate protection, I point my broom to east and cast a circle with my broom pointed to the earth, moving in a clockwise direction. This really works if you are in a hurry and need to have some sacred space like NOW. I also oil my broom handle with my anointing oil 4 times a year during each turn of the wheel. This helps recharge the broom and helps you reconnect with it. It likes to be stroked and caressed. Your broom is a sensuous creature and likes to be part of the Divine Feminine.

BROOM SPELLS

The “Come to Me” Broom Spell

On a warm night (or turn the heater up), put on some Goddess clothing (loose and feminine), put on some soothing music that makes you want to dance. Now take your broom as if it were your beloved and dance with the broom until you are flying into the arms of your beloved. Whisper this four times to yourself….

By night’s light we shine bright By sunlight we are right By days end we are together by sacred rite.

Now cast your circle by laying your broom in each quarter. Lay the broom to the east and jump clockwise over it. Lay the broom in the south and jump clockwise over it. Lay the broom in the west and jump clockwise over it. Then lay it in the north and jump over it. Once you have completed your circle, your beloved will come to you within 24 hours. Use this spell to mend fights, or if you don’t have a mate, use this to call a mate to you.

SWEEPING SPELLS AND LORE

If you feel your life is in chaos, take a look around at your front porch and front walkway. If the front walks is cluttered with leaves and dirt, then sweep your walkway and front porch clean with your magickal broom and envision that your life is in order and that all that comes to your will be clean and cleared.

When you move from one house to another, it’s always good to change your workaday broom. Either burn your old one, or make sure that it is buried with honour. Always bring a new broom into the new house, but sweep some dirt from the outside in before you sweep the dirt from the inside out. This is to bring in good luck from the beginning and not push your luck out the door.

Always hang a broom by the front door for protection. Brooms will keep the bad things out and the good things in. I have a broom at every the door of my home. I keep it in the corner. Always stand a broom on end with the brush facing up. This helps the wear and tear on the brush and it’s also said to bring love from the earth through the broomstick and given up to the heavens through the brush.

If your broom falls from your hand while you are sweeping or doing other work, make a wish before you pick it up. It’s also said that if a broom falls from it’s kept place, company is coming and it’s not good news. When you pick up your broom after something like this happens, sweep the energy out the door and bid it adue not to return again.

If you or your kin are having recurrent nightmares or night haunting s, sweep the room clockwise while stating that all that lies between here and the other world be gone and back whence you came. Hither, hither, hither gone. Hither, hither, hither gone Hither, hither, thither gone So Mote It Be.

Now stand the broom outside the bedroom door and place a piece of garlic under the bed.

HANDFASTING AND MARRIAGE BROOM LORE

As a Priestess and Wiccan Minister, I perform several Handfasting Rites per year. One of the main things I encourage Wiccan engaged couples to do is to find a broom together. This is the symbol of hearth and home. Once the broom has been found, then it is anointed as I stated above, then some of the broom brush is pulled from the stem. That brush is then woven together and placed upon the wedding altar. The broom is present during our counselings sessions and then the wife-to-be is usually the keeper of the broom until the wedding. This represents that she is the keeper of the home and keeps peace and harmony while the man goes out to work. It also means that she is the keeper of the Magickal power of the home. As it seems in these modern times that this is wrong to have such sexed roles, this is Celtic lore from more than 600 years ago.

The night before the wedding, the couple will dress the broom by weaving 3 a strand of coloured ribbon around the handle. What this represents is the inter- twining of their lives and they themselves are no longer individuals but are part of each other. The broom is then placed either standing by the altar or placed lying under the altar during the ceremony as the vows are said, the promises made, that hands fasted. They are pronounced husband and wife and the broom is then put before them as the final test of love. The couple either steps, or in the old tradition, jumps, over the broom. This is the final end of the ceremony. Then it is recommended that the couple takes the broom home and makes love with the broom under the bed. This seals the marriage.

Your broom can be your best friend and your magickal ally. Treat your broom with honour, reverence and respect and you will have a life-long companion and ritual tool.

And then there is this…….

The Broomstick

The traditional companion of the witches was the enchanted broomstick, used for their wild and unholy flights through the night and probably to some distant Witches’ Sabbat. This is one of the first images you get to see as a child and this was doubtlessly believed by the prominent rulers of Europe. The number of actual confessions of witches doing so is remarkably small. Usually confessions state that they went to the Sabbat on foot or on horseback.

Legends of witches flying on brooms go back as far as the beginning of the Common Era. The earliest known confession of a Witch flying on a broom was in 1453, when Guillaume Edelin of St. Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, stated that he had done so. In 1563, Martin Tulouff of Guernsey said to have seen his aged mother straddle a broomstick and whisk up the chimney and out of the house on it, saying “Go in the name of the Devil and Lucifer over rocks and thorns”. In 1598 Claudine Boban and her mother, witches of the province of Franche-Comte, in eastern France, also spoke of flying up the chimney of a stick. The belief of flying off through the chimney became firmly embedded in popular tradition, although only a few people ever mentioned doing so. It has been suggested that this idea was connected with the old custom of pushing a broom up the chimney to indicate the absence of the housewife. The Germanic Goddess Holda or Holle is also connected with the chimney. Other indications that lead to the popular belief that witches actually flew on broomsticks can be found in an old custom of dancing with a broom between the legs, leaping high in the air. In Reginald Scot’s book, The Discoverie of Witchcraft, published in 1584, we find a similar description:

“At these magical assemblies, the witches never failed to dance; and in their dance they sing these words, ‘Har, har, dive dive, dance here dance here, play here play here, Sabbath, Sabbath’. And whiles they sing and dance, ever one hath a broom in her hand, and holdeth it up aloft.” Scot quoted these descriptions of Witch rites from a French demonologist, Jean Bodin, who made observations of a kind of jumping dance, riding on staffs. These customs might have contributed to the popular picture of broomstick-riding witches through the air.

In 1665, from the confession of Julian Cox, one of the Somerset coven, mentioned “that one evening she walks out about a Mile from her own House and there came riding towards her three persons upon three Broom-staves, born up about a years and a half from the ground. Two of them she formerly knew, which was a Witch and a Wizard”.

History Some authors claim that the oldest known source of witches flying on broomsticks is a manuscript called Le Champion des Dames by Martin Lefranc, 1440. This might be one of the oldest images representing a hag on a broomstick, but it is certainly not the first. A wall painting from the 12th century in Schleswig Cathedral (Germany) shows the Norse deity Frigg riding her staff. If we really dig a bit deeper into history, we’ll find that from the Roman world there are reports that mention witches flying on broomsticks as well as having used ointments, as early as the first century. They were called Straight (Barn owl) and the Lamiae from Greek culture had similar characteristics.

 Later in Roman history, the goddess Diana was the leader of the Wild Hunt: “It is also not to be omitted that some wicked women, perverted by the Devil, seduced by illusions and phantasm of demons, believe and profess themselves in the hours of the night to ride upon certain beasts with Diana, the goddess of pagans, and an innumerable multitude of women, and in the silence of the dead of the night to traverse great spaces of earth, and to obey her commands as of their mistress, and to be summoned to her service on certain nights”. (See: Canon Episcopi).

Similar beliefs existed in many parts of Europe. From Norse mythology, we know that the army of women, lead by Odin (Wodan), called the Valkyries, was said to ride through the skies on horses, collecting the souls of the dead. In continental Germanic areas, the goddess Holda or Holle was also said to lead the Wild Hunt and is connected to chimneys and witchcraft. Berchta or Perchta, another Germanic goddess, which can be identified with Holda, has similar characteristics.

Again in Celtic Traditions, the Horned God Cernunnos, and/or Herne the Hunter was leader of the Wild Hunt and the Scottish Witch Goddess Nicneven was also said to fly through the night with her followers. Eastern Europe sources also have a wealth of folklore about witches flying through the air. So flying through the air, evidently, was a deeply rooted mythological theme, associated with the free roaming of the spirit, the separation of soul and body.

Symbolism The broomstick is a female and male symbol, “the rod which penetrated the bush”. Its symbolism and interpretation is therefore purely sexual.

RITUAL USE There are hints of its use as an artificial penis or dildo. In a curious old book, A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon and Cant, by Albert BarrSre and Charles Godfrey Leland (1897-1899), we are told that the slang term in those days for a dildo or artificial penis was “a broom-handle”, and the female genitals were known vulgarly as “the broom”. To “have a brush” was to have sexual intercourse. Noteworthy is the evidence from Witch trials mentioning the “cold hard member of the Devil himself”. In 1662, Isabel Gowdie, accused of witchcraft, made a confession which could suggest that some sort of artificial phallus of horn or leather may have been used:

“His members are exceeding great and long; no man’s members are so long and big as they are….(he is) a meikle, black, rough man, very cold, and I found his nature as cold within me as spring-well water…He is abler for us that way than any man can be, only he is heavy like a malt-sack, a huge nature, very cold, as ice.

Besom Chant

Besom, besom long and lithe made from ash and willow withe Tied with thongs of willow bark in running stream at moonset dark. With a pentagram insight as the ritual fire is lighted Sweep ye circle, deosil, Sweep out evil, sweep out ill, Make the round of the ground Where we do the Lady’s will. Besom, besom, Lady’s broom Sweep out darkness, sweep out doom Rid ye Lady’s hallowed ground Of demons, imps and Hell’s red hound; Then set ye down on Her green earth By running stream or Mistress’ hearth, ‘Till called once more on Sabbath night To cleans once more the dancing site.

Broomstick Or The Besom,  The broomstick has come to be the traditional companion to the witch, and the enchanted steed for her wild and unholy night-flights through the air. Even Walt Disney paid tribute to its legendary magical character, in his film “Fantasia”, when he drew Mickey Mouse as the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, with a bewitched broomstick that did its work only too well.

However, the broomstick was only one of the means witches were supposed to use for the purpose of flight. Its frequent occurrence in folklore points to the fact that it possessed some special significance. This significance is in fact a phallic one. In Yorkshire folk-belief, it was unlucky for an unmarried girl to step over a broomstick, because it meant that she would be a mother before she was a wife. Is Sussex, the May-Pole, which was itself a phallic symbol, used to be topped with a large birch broom. A ‘besom’ is a dialect term for a shameless, immoral female.

‘To marry over the broomstick’. ‘jump the besom’, was an old-time form of irregular marriage, in which both parties jumped over a broomstick, to signify that they were joined in common-law union. At gypsy wedding ceremonies, the bride and groom jump backwards and forwards over a broomstick; further evidence of the broom’s connection with sex and fertility.

In a curious and interesting old book, “A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon, and Chant”, by Albert Barrere and Charles Godfrey Leland (London, 1899 and 1897, also Gale Research, Detroit, 1889), we are told that a slang term in those days for a ‘dildo’ or artificial penis was ‘a broom handle’; and the female genitals were known vulgarly as ‘the broom’. To ‘have a brush’ was to have sexual intercourse. This throws considerable light on the real significance of the broomstick in witch rituals, and in old folk-dances, in which it often plays a part.

The original household broom was a bunch of the actual broom plant,”Planta genista”, tied round a stick. “Broom! Green broom!” was old street cry, used by vendors of broom-bunches for this purpose. The “Planta genista” was the badge of the “Plantagenet” family, who derived their name from it. They were rumoured to favour the Old Religion.

At one time of the year, the broom plant was unlucky. The old saying goes: “If you sweep he house with blossomed broom in May, you will sweep the head of the house away.” This could perhaps have some connection with old sacrificial rites at the commencement of summer. Sometimes the broomstick was regarded as having power to repel witches; perhaps with the idea of turning their own magic against them. At any rate, a broomstick placed across the threshold of a house was supposed to keep witches out.

A broomstick could also be a luck symbol. When alterations were being made to an old house at Blandford in Dorset in 1930, a broomstick was found walled up in the structure. It was recognised as having been put there for luck, and it was allowed to remain in its hiding-place. These additional meanings of the broomstick are in accord with its phallic significance. Things which are sex symbols are life symbols, and hence luck bringers and protectors against the Evil Eye.

In Reginald Scot’s “Discovery of Witchcraft” (London, 1584, and edited by Hugh Ross Williamson, Centaur, Southern Illinois University Press, 1964), he says of the witches’ Sabbats:” At these magical assemblies, the witches never faile to dance; and in their danse they sing these words, Har, har, dive divell, danse here dance here, plaoe here plaie here, Sabbath, sabbath. And whiles they sing and danse, everie one hath a broom in hir hand, and holdeth it up aloft.” He was quoting from the descriptions of witch rites given by a French demonologist, Jean Bodin. It appears from the other old description that witches also performed a kind of jumping dance, riding on staffs; and if broomsticks were used for this purpose, too, it is easy to see how this dance, combined with the witches’ experience of wild visions and dreams of flying while in a stage of magical trance, gave rise to the popular picture of broomstick-rising witches in flight through the air.

When broomsticks or besoms began to be made of more durable materials than the broom plant, the usual combination of woods for them was birch twigs for the brush, and ashen stake for the handle, and osier willow for the binding. However, in the Wyre Forest area of Worcestershire, the traditional woods are oak twigs for the sprays, which is the makers’ term for the broom part; hazel for the staff; and birch for the binding. All of these trees are full of magical meanings of their own, and feature in the old Druidic tree alphabets of Ancient Britain. The ash is a sacred and magical tree; the oak is the king of the woods; the hazel is the tree of wisdom; the willow is a tree of moon-magic; and the birch is a symbol of purification.

More Broomlore There are many beliefs based on the Broom as it made its genesis from medicine staff to symbol of Rebirth. The wedding broom represents a joining of souls working together as they jump over the Broom into their new life together. When a bride and groom moved into a new house, a new broom was be used to sweep a little dust into the door. Then this swept dust was placed onto the hearthstone to retain blessings.

Here is some of the folklore surrounding the Broom:

1) Never step over a broom laying on the floor, if you do & are unmarried you will stay that way.

2) When moving into a new home, a loaf of bread & a new broom should be sent in first for good luck.

3) It is bad luck to take a broom across the water.

4) Never lean a broom against a bed.

5) To keep a ghost out, lean a broom against the door jam.

6) To drop a broom means the company is coming.

7) To give away a used broom is bad luck.

8) A broom should never be used to sweep dust out of the front door because it sweeps the luck out with it.

9) Never sweep a house at night. It is an insult to the faeries & the spirits of the dead.

10) A broom standing outside the front door says that the lady of the house is away & the men of the house are at liberty to entertain guests. Even MORE Broom Lore……

BROOM LORE:

A broom dropping in front of the door means company before the day is over.

Always pick up, for luck, a broom that is lying on the floor or ground.

Always sweep dirt out the back door or you will sweep away your best friend.

Bad luck will befall you all year, if you sweep on New Year’s Day.

Burn up the rubbish when you sweep on New Year’s Day and you will have money throughout the new year.

Carry a broom under your arm for luck.

Carrying a broom over your shoulder will give you bad luck.

Do not sweep immediately after the departure of a guest or you will sweep him bad luck.

Dropping a broom while sweeping is the sign of a new carpet.

Hitting someone with a broom means that he will go to jail before a week has passed.

If a broom falls as you are passing it, you will have bad luck.

If a broom falls in front of you and you step on it before picking it up, you will have a “bed of sickness.”

If dirt is swept out a door before sunrise, you may expect bad luck.

If dirt is swept out of the house on Friday, the house will burn.

If someone comes in to see you and you pick up a broom and go to sweeping in front of them, that is the sign they are not wanted and you want them to go home.

If you go to someone’s house and have to step over a broom, it shows that the mistress of that household is an untidy housekeeper.

If you hand a broom through a window to someone, you may expect bad luck.

If you hit a person with a broom just before he starts “uptown,” he will have trouble before returning.

If you let a broom fall and do not step back over it immediately, someone dirtier than you will come.

If you must borrow a broom, take it without the owner’s knowledge, and you will not have bad luck.

If you must sweep on New Year’s Day, you can avert bad luck by not taking up the dirt and leaving it in a pile on the floor.

If you must sweep your kitchen after sunset, you can avert bad luck by burning the dirt.

If you step over a broom you will be arrested.

If you sweep after dark/ You will bring sorrow to your heart.

If you sweep after dark, you will sweep out the money made that day.

If you sweep in front of someone, you are sweeping them off the earth.

If you sweep under someone while he is sitting on a chair, you are giving him bad luck.

It causes bad luck to sweep a porch after dark.

It is a sign of good luck to have a broom drop in front of you.

It is a sign of misfortune, to lay a broom on the bed.

It is unlucky to borrow a broom.

It is unlucky to sweep dirt out a door at any time. Pick up the dirt and carry it outdoors for luck.

It is unlucky to sweep on Monday.

It means bad luck when a broom falls across the derail

It signifies bad luck, if you sweep under a bed on which someone is lying.

It signifies bad luck, to carry a broom through the house from the front door to the back door.

Keep the corners of your broom square or even for luck.

Lean a broom against a bed and you will be unlucky.

Lending a broom will cause you bad luck.

Let the broom rest with the straws up and you will be lucky.

Letting the sweeping edge of a broom wear off at the two corners will bring you bad luck.

Never burn up a broom; it will bring you bad luck.

Never sweep dirt out the front door; it will bring you bad luck.

Never sweep the kitchen after supper, whether daylight or dark, or you will sweep out all your money.

Never sweep your kitchen early in the morning before sunrise, or you will be unlucky.

Stand a broom on its handle and you will always be poor.

Step over a broom and you will break your mother’s back.

Stepping over a broom is a sign of slovenliness.

Stepping over a broom will bring sorrow to your heart.

Stumbling over a brook handle will bring you good luck.

Sweep after dark and you will never be rich.

Sweep dirt out of the house on Friday and it will cause you bad luck.

Sweep on the third day after Easter and you will have bugs in the house.

Sweep the top of a bed and you will have bad luck.

Sweep under a person’s feet while he is sitting in a chair and he will not grow any more.

Sweeping after dark means you will lose a friend.

Sweeping dirt over a doorstep after six o’clock in the evening will bring bad luck.

Sweeping on New Year’s Day means that you will sweep out the money made during the coming year.

Sweeping under chair upon which someone is sitting will make you unlucky.

The child who steps over a broom will get a whipping.

The one who is hit by a broom will soon be arrested.

The person under whose feet you sweep will always be poor.

The person who is hit on the top of the head with a broom will be arrested.

To avert bad luck after you have walked over a fallen broom, step backward across the broom.

To brush your boot with the broom while your are sweeping will give you bad luck for a week.

To have good luck, place the broom on its handle in a corner.

To set a broom in the corner with the brush up shows that you are an untidy housekeeper.

To step over a broom will start a quarrel in the house.

To sweep after dark will bring trouble to the house.

To sweep dirt out the door is a sign of a slovenly housekeeper.

Touching anyone with a broom while you are sweeping causes bad luck.

Walking over a fallen broom will cause you bad luck.

When a broom falls across the door, it indicates that you will walk on the strange ground.

When a small child takes a broom and begins to sweep, the company is coming.

When someone is hit with a broom, he should spit on the broom and take ten steps backwards so he will neither have bad luck or be arrested.

When you sweep after dark, you sweep away your friends and let enemies in.

You sweep away your best friend by sweeping after dark.

You will be unlucky if you do not pick up a fallen broom at once.

Your luck will be swept away, if you sweep your kitchen after sunset.

https://goodwitcheshomestead.com/2018/12/30/sacred-spiritual-nature/