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# Hallucinogenic ointments and the origin of the image of a witch on a broom
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/sushchestvuet-versiia-chto-metla-stala-odnim-iz-simvolov-vedminstva-otniud-ne-iz-za-togo-chto-ona-izdavna-vstrechalas-v-folklore-v-sviazke-s-nekotorymi-boginiami-a-blagodaria-tomu-ispol/
- Published: 2017-09-17T09:22:59.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T19:06:08.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Observations, Mores, Pop Culture, Ethnography

There is a version according to which the broom became one of the symbols of witchcraft not at all because it had long appeared in folklore in association with certain goddesses, but thanks to the use to which it was put in the fourteenth and fifteenth ce.

It was then that the mass production of various intoxicating ointments based on plants such as belladonna and on poisonous mushrooms began. The ointment was applied to the armpits and the genital area. There is evidence that women used a broomstick handle (and other sticks or tubes) coated with the potion to introduce the narcotic into the genital area. Hence the set expression: to smear the broom with ointment and ride off to the sabbath. Several 'witches' were caught doing this, and the cases are described in the literature. In time the image of a woman on a broom ceased to refer to hallucinogenic states, and only the magical connotation remained.

In this light it is, of course, interesting to reflect on male wizards who saddle a broom. Harry Potter, for instance