With Halloween nearly on us I thought you guys might like to guess the supposed origin of the image that witches ride on broom sticks and fly through the air.



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i presume a broom vibrates in flight and its the only pleasure a ugly witch would get

am i right

npinks wrote:

i presume a broom vibrates in flight and its the only pleasure a ugly witch would get

am i right

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Ok - here's the answer ......

Quote:

Deadly nightshade (also known as Belladonna) is a plant that produces a substance that was an important ingredient in Witches brew during the Middle ages, often being equated with aggressive female sexuality. It is believed that the legend of witches riding brooms arose from the time when women would rub the Belladonna ointments on their genitals or in their vaginas with a broom handle and then masturbate. It was thought that the ingestion of these ointments would allow transvection (witches flight) to far off places. Experiments have shown that the subjective sensation of flight was a common theme with subjects under the influence of solanaceous compounds, not unlike what was reportedly experienced by witches.

A 1324 investigation into witchcraft stated "in rifleing the closet of the ladie, they found a pipe of oyntment, wherewith she greased the staffe, upon which she ambled and galloped through thick and thin, when and in what manner she listed".

A 15th century account reads: " But the vulgar believe and the witches confess, that on certain days and nights they anoint a staff and ride on it to the appointed place or anoint themselves under the arms or in other hairy places and sometimes carry charms under the hair".

So basically the witch isn't flying on the broom, she's smeared said broom handle with an halucinagenic drug and is then tossing herself off with it .....

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I found this just after my last posting, I had some recollection of a drug of somesort which looks to be called "ergot"

Quote:

During the time leading up to the witchcraft trials in Europe, the staple bread was made with rye. In a small town where the bread was fresh baked this was just fine, but as Europe began to urbanize and the bread took more time to get from bakery to grocer, the rye bread began to host a mold called "ergot.

Ergot, in high doses, can be lethal, a fact that led to the rise in popularity of wheat bread, which is resistant to ergot mold.

In smaller doses, ergot is a powerful hallucinogenic drug. And because the enjoyment of such things is not confined to this age alone, it became quite popular among those who were inclined towards herbalism and folk cures. It's mentioned in Shakespeare's plays, and turns up in virtually every contemporary writing of the witchcraft age. In particular, it is the inevitable central ingredient in the ointment that witches rubbed their broomsticks with.

You see, when eaten, there was the risk of death, but when absorbed through the thin tissues of the female genitals, the hallucinogenic effects were more pronounced with less ill-effects. The modern image of a witch riding a broomstick was inspired by the sight of a woman rubbing herself on the drug coated smooth stick of her broom, writhing in the throes of hallucinations, and no doubt, some intense orgasms as well. To her unsophisticated neighbors, such a sight would have been terrifying. The lack of an equivalent mechanism for men is one reason why "witchcraft" was seen as a predominantly female phenomenon. The addition of clothing to the witch is a modern embellishment to protect 'Family Values'."

So why the cat then? Porsche Cayenne S Diesel 66 Plate

black cats are deemed as a bad omen so i presume it has something to do with that.

then there is the Early 1600's illustration of a French witch preparing to fly. This hangs in the Witchcraft Museum in Bayonne, France. (Note the black cat at her feet).

[img]http://www.thebirdman.org/Index/Others/Others-Doc-Religion&Spirituality/+Doc-Religion&Spirituality-Witches/FindingTheFlyInTheWitches%27Ointment_files/w1.gif[/img]

Sorry I hoped you'd do better than that  Porsche Cayenne S Diesel 66 Plate

so did i

I thought at least the link to the picture would work

Pelyma wrote:

So why the cat then?

the common thread is that it all seems pussy related  Another Pommie Bar Steward down under

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Which witch is better?

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Last edited by dadanek on Sun Sep 28 2008 1:36pm. Edited 1 time in total

Or this??

Click image to enlarge

npinks wrote:

so did i

I thought at least the link to the picture would work

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