What does the broom symbolize in witchcraft?

What does the broom symbolize in witchcraft?

So she can fly around. silly

http://www.google.com/images?q=Picture+of+witch+on+her+broom&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=THVLTKOsNIzQsAPTxKFJ&sa=X&oi=imag e_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCgQsAQwAA&b iw=786&bih=402

Phallic symbol.

Witchcraft its self. We do not call it a broom any more. It is now called a Besom.

Probably just a childish symbol.

Medieval literature on witches (which is based in superstition and legend)?and notes from witch trials (also based in superstition)?report that witches rode to witch?s Sabbaths on either bun wands (bifurcated tree branches), pitchforks, or brooms (also called besoms). In some accounts, the poles of the brooms, pitchforks, etc were said to be smeared with an anointment that gave the rider the idea that he or she was flying (from which we get the idea of witches flying on broom sticks). Eye witnesses report that the person only wobbled or collapsed. That is, the ointment was an hallucinogenic substance, absorbed through the skin. The person straddling the broom went on a shamanic "trip" but not physically.

In Celtic and other folk traditions (not "witchcraft" exactly), brooms symbolized sexual union and was used for fertility luck (newlyweds would jump over a broom to help ensure luck and fertility. Also, African-American slaves, who were not allowed to legally marry, would jump a broom as part of a makeshift marriage ceremony. This custom of broom jumping as part of a marriage ceremony is still practiced by some American Blacks and also my some modern Pagans. Decorative brooms are made for the purpose.) They also were used to both literally and symbolically clean space. It was a very common symbol of domesticity, the hearth, and home and thus of folk magic related to women and the home.

PhilosophyAngel gave a good response, but to expand on that... the ointment may have been applied to the broom and "straddled" in order to literally apply the ointment to very sensitive and absorb ant skin. The broom handle was a convenient applicator to reach otherwise hard-to-reach places... (I don't like to think about that too much, Lil!!)

Also, the symbolism of the broom itself as an object signifies the union of male and female. The handle could clearly be a masculine phallic symbol while the brush could clearly be a feminine tonic representation. These two parts may even have been made with woods or herbs that had gender associated with them (broom herbs might have had a feminine association while the tree the handle came from might have had masculine associations.) In that case, jumping over the broom could be seen as a symbolic sex act (consider that during the jump, the broom is sort of between the couples legs) or an emblem of the unity of the couple as a male/female unit.
-Scarlet