Thomson
Hand Made
Custom Brooms

The Celtic Flyer

$400.00 Includes tax and shipping.

Traditional Besom Broom History:

In Ireland, the besom, or witches broomstick, was sometimes called a “Faery’s Horse.” Today, “jumping the broom” has become an important aspect of Pagan Handfastings, symbolizing the transition from the Maiden phase of life to that of the Mother. It also became a symbol of Samhain because of its fertility symbolism. The broomstick is a phallic symbol used by female witches in fertility rites, and it is from this idea that the witches of Halloween ride broomsticks. The sweeping end was traditionally made of herbs.

Traditionally, the broomstick is made of a limb from an ash, hazel or pine tree. The World Tree, which connects the world of the living and various realms of spirits, can be identified with the Yggdrasil of Norse Mythology, the Sacred Ash upon which Odin hung crucified for nine days and nine nights before receiving the Sacred Runes. It can also be recognized as the May Pole entwined with ribbon in the spring, and it is also the Witch’s Broomstick at Halloween.

Using this broomstick, or Faery’s Horse with its shaft of ash, the Witch traditionally rides up the chimney of her hut and over the Moon to the spirit realms on Halloween night.

Besoms are quite often seen in shops, but these differ from the Wizarding besom in one important respect. Shop bought brooms nearly always have a metal binding and a cheap machined handle. A traditional besom is constructed purely of natural materials gathered from the local area.

The material for the brush is the most varied part of a besom, and there is much regional variation here. In many parts of Scotland heather is used.

The Handle is ‘handmade’ from hazel, ash or pine, which has been cut and allowed to mature for up to 18 months. Once ready to use it is stripped of its bark and honed into shape by hand. Birch is used to form the broom head which is cut in the sap free months and stored in airy, damp free conditions for up to 18 months. The brooms should last a good while if stored in the correct conditions. The besom itself takes only a short while to make, but the preparation takes a whole year to complete.

• Some folklore of the besom an old English Saying: “Buy a broom in May, and you will sweep your friends away.”
  
• In Welsh Tradition among the Gypsies, there was an old custom of the broomstick wedding. The couple solemnized their rites before witnesses by jumping over a broom placed in a doorway, without dislodging it. To dissolve the marriage, they had to reverse the process, jumping backwards out of the house, over the broom, before the same witnesses.
  
• An old Yorkshire belief: should a young girl inadvertently step over a broom handle she will become, a mother before she becomes a wife.
  
• In Sicily, on Midsummer’s Eve, a broom is placed outside the home to ward off any wickedness that might come knocking.
  
• Never sweep after the sunset, or fear chasing away happiness or hurting a wandering soul.
  
• Brooms laid across the doorways are believed to keep evil out.
  
• Never use a broom when there is a dead person in the house.
  
• Never bring old brooms into new houses, as a broom becomes attached to houses so, leave the old one behind.
  
• Never walk on a broom.
  
• Never use a broom to sweep outside the house, unless the inside of the house is cleaned first.
  
• If you sweep under someone’s feet tell them that you will dance at their wedding. Otherwise they will have bad luck.
  
• A new broom should sweep dirt out of a house only after it has swept something in.