The broom or “besom” is used for cleansing ritual areas, hence the term “making a clean sweep”. In handfasting rituals, couples often jump over the broom if they want children. (If you don’t want children, DON’T JUMP! The combination of the “brush” and the handle are a very powerful fertility symbol.) Many Witches have a broom-brushy side up-by their door to protect the home from unwanted outside energies.

Me personally I have a Cinnamon broom that I’ll be hanging on Imbloc by our front door. Not only does it smell WONDERFUL…but for me it wards away the negative energies. I’m a complete cinnamon addict…lol Now some people like to make them by hand…others like to buy them. As always it’s personal preference.

So I decided to post two crafts today. This one is for Making a Besom.

Materials:
You are going to need a 4 ft. dowel about 1 inch in diameter. A ball of twine, scissors and straw or other pliable herb stock

You want to take the straw or herb stock you’ve chosen and soak it overnight in luke warm salted water. I tend to use Sea Salt but that’s a personal preference. The reason you are doing this is the water is going to soak into the straw and make it swell up. That will make it easier to bend without it breaking. You are using the salt to dispel any of the energy that was attached to it and cleanse it. When you are reasy remove the stalks from the water and let them dry for a little bit. Not too much though because you don’t want them to break when you bend them.

Place the dowel rod on the table and start lining the stalks along the dowel about 3 inches from the bottom, moving backwards. Start binding the stalks to the dowel with the twine and tie securely. At this point it’s up to your discretion on how many layers you want to do. This is your Besom. The more layers the fuller it will be.

When your stalks are secure bend the top stalks down over the binding. When you have bent it all over secure it again with more twine a couple inches under the first binding. Allow to air dry for a day or two. Then the dowel can be stained, painted, whatever you want to do to make it personally yours.

Remember to concecrate and charge your Besom at the next full moon.