Witches Ride Broomsticks to Fly

The airborne symbol of magical transgression and power.

Details

According to European witchcraft beliefs primarily from the 15th to 18th centuries, witches were believed to achieve flight by straddling household broomsticks transformed through magical means. This supernatural mobility allegedly worked through several processes: applying “flying ointments” made from psychoactive herbs to either the broom or the witch’s body; chanting specific incantations; invoking demonic entities for levitation assistance; or activating innate magical powers that interacted with the broom’s symbolic structure. Flight was thought to allow witches to attend distant sabbats (secret nocturnal gatherings), commit mischief, infiltrate homes through chimneys, and spy on communities from above.

The broom—a tool strongly associated with women’s domestic labor—became a potent symbol when reimagined as a vehicle for nighttime transgression, both physically and socially. Its dual symbolic associations with household containment and phallic imagery further heightened its power in the popular imagination. Contemporary accounts claimed witches anointed broomsticks with salves containing ingredients like belladonna, henbane, or datura—plants known for their hallucinogenic and deliriant properties. These substances may have induced visions or out-of-body sensations interpreted as real flight.

Historical Context

This iconic flight belief evolved under specific cultural and social conditions:

Witch trial records across Europe contain frequent reports of broomstick-facilitated travel to sabbats.
The association between women, household implements, and transgressive magical mobility played into broader anxieties about female agency and subversion of patriarchal norms.
The psychoactive properties of “flying ointments” were documented in early modern herbal and demonological texts, sometimes collected under duress during interrogations.
The merging of domestic labor objects with supposed demonic practices helped authorities frame witchcraft as both supernatural and a betrayal of societal order.
Similar beliefs about supernatural flight appear in global magical traditions, though the broomstick image is uniquely European in its origins and cultural embedding.

This mobility mechanism became one of the most enduring and symbolically charged accusations during the height of European witch persecutions, especially targeting women whose roles or behaviors deviated from social expectations.

Modern Relevance

Although the literal belief in broomstick flight has faded, the image endures as one of the most iconic symbols of witchcraft. Depictions of witches flying across the moon on broomsticks remain common in Halloween media, fantasy fiction, and popular culture. In feminist interpretations, the broomstick has been reclaimed as a symbol of empowerment, representing female autonomy, sexual freedom, and defiance of societal constraints. The enduring image of broom-riding witches reflects how charged cultural symbols can outlive the literal beliefs that birthed them, continuing to evolve and resonate within new frameworks of meaning.

Sources

Harner, M. J. (1973). “The Role of Hallucinogenic Plants in European Witchcraft.” In Hallucinogens and Shamanism. Oxford University Press.
Purkiss, D. (1996). The Witch in History: Early Modern and Twentieth-Century Representations. Routledge.

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