Fast and Easy Spells,
Charms, Crafts, and More
Later in the book there are instructions for creating elaborate and special brooms; also there are entire detailed rituals. But sometimes you just want to do something fast and easy, when you only can grab a few minutes out of your busy day or just want a small project to do either by yourself, with your kids, or with friends.
In this chapter we’ll explore some simple spells, quick crafts, and a few more bits of broomstick magick that can be done when you don’t have the time or inclination for a major project or an in-depth ritual.
There is also a guided flying meditation to take the place of the old-fashioned (and dangerous) flying ointment used by our predecessors.
Quick Spells and Charms
Handfasting Spell
Traditionally, a handfasting was something a couple could do on their own, without needing to have clergy to officiate. Most folks who do handfastings these days go for a full ritual with a high priest and high priestess and a gathering of their friends. But if you wish to make the commitment on your own, whether a permanent one or for a year and a day, as some Pagans do, you can use this spell. Alternately, you can add this to a larger ritual as you jump over the broom at the end.
Place the broom on the ground and clasp hands with your loved one. Together, say:
Charmed the broom and charmed the day
Together we jump and together we stay.
Then jump over the broom together. Don’t forget to kiss on the other side!
A Consecration Spell for Your New Broom 2
Besom of birch with willow tied
Be my companion and my guide.
On ashen shaft by moonlight pale
My spirit rides the windy gale.
To realms beyond both space and time
To magical lands my soul will sail.
In the company of the Crone all ride
This besom of birch with willow tied.
So do I consecrate this magical tree
As I will, so must it be!
“Make My Garden Grow” Spell
It is said that the ancient Pagans brought their brooms out to the fields and hopped around the space, jumping as high as they could while “riding” the broom. As high as they could jump was as high as the crops would grow. These days, you may not wish to let the neighbors see you hopping around the garden (and I don’t know about you, but I can’t hop nearly as high as some of the things I plant). So try this instead, for a modern version of this ancient fertility tradition.
Take your magickal broom out to the garden and sprinkle it with a little rainwater. (Collect the rainwater ahead of time in a bucket.) Depending on your inclinations—and possibly your neighbors—you can walk, run, or dance your way around your garden space, anointing it with flicks of rainwater off the ends of your broom as you repeat the following spell:
Grow high and strong
Grow strong and high
Reaching up into the sky
Grow! Grow! Grow!
Spell to Speak to the Dead
One of the bits of broom lore says that if you place a broom across your doorway, you can speak to your ancestors or to those you have lost. This is not something to be done lightly, and I would suggest always casting some form of protection magick before attempting to summon the deceased.
But if you wish to try it, or if you feel that someone has been trying to contact you and can’t quite get through, then lay your magickal broom across any doorway in your home and say the following:
Come in peace and come in love
And I will give my word
As long as broomstick crosses door
Here you will be heard.
A Broom Purification 3
Before dawn, take a branch from any tree. Thank the tree for its gift and leave a coin or semiprecious stone at the base in payment.
Next, obtain several brightly colored flowers on long stalks. Tie these flowers to the branch to fashion a sort of broom, then sweep the floor in every room of the house, visualizing the flowers of the broom absorbing negativity and “evil” as you work. Then, still before sunrise, leave the broom at a crossroads. Traditionally in the Southwest United States and Mexico, this ritual is repeated at the first of every month.
A Spell to Summon Rain
I tend to be leery of doing weather magick because it is messing with “big picture” stuff that could affect other people. (If you summon rain to your house, for instance, does that mean someone else doesn’t get it at theirs?) On the other hand, there is a long tradition of witches using brooms to summon rain, and if your garden is parched and dying, you may want to try this spell. If I were to do this, I would start by stating my intention of only drawing in rain if by doing so I cause no harm.
Take your magickal broom outside and swing it deosil (clockwise) around your head while saying this spell:
Rain, rain, I need you here
And with this broom I summon thee
Rain, rain, my need is great
And with this broom I summon thee.
To Banish Nightmares
Later in the book there are instructions to make a broom specifically for the prevention of nightmares, and if you have a chronic problem, you will probably want to use that approach. But if you are simply having a rough week or something is preying on your mind and causing bad dreams, here is a simple and easy charm to get rid of them.
Hang a broom over the bed. Before you get into bed at night, say:
Sweep away sorrow, sweep away fear
Keep bad dreams far away from here.
To Bless a New Household Broom
If you want to add a little magickal boost to your everyday broom when you get a new one, take a permanent marker (or a wood-burning tool if you have such a thing and are good at using it) and write on one side, going up from the bristles toward the handle: I sweep in money and luck. On the other side, going in the opposite direction, write: I sweep out negativity and ill fortune.
To Ask the Faeries to Guide You to the Perfect Tree
It is said that when witches needed to make a new broom, they would go into the woods and ask the faeries to lead them to the perfect tree from which to get their broomstick handles. If you are going to make a broom and you live near a wooded area you think might be inhabited by the Fair Folk, you can try using this charm to ask one for the favor of guiding you to your perfect broom handle. Don’t forget to bring them some kind of a gift! (A sweet treat will do, or a shiny bauble. But make sure it is something nice. The last thing you want to do is offend the Fae!)
Walk into the woods until you reach a place where you feel some sort of benign presence. Place your gift on the ground and say:
Folk most wise, folk most fair
Please help me in my quest.
Lead me to the piece of wood
That suits my broomstick best.
Close your eyes and see if you feel pulled in any particular direction, or simply keep walking and make sure you are paying close attention in case the right stick or tree happens to show up.
A Magic Broom Spell 4
The witch’s broom is as much a part of the Craft as the pointed hat or cauldron. Once charged with magical intent, the witch’s broom, or besom, can serve many purposes. It can direct energy like a wand or athame. You can even cast a circle with it. And as we’ll see here, it is perfect for protecting the home. First pluck three straws from your broom and light them like a candle. Carry them through your home like a smudge stick to clear out any negativity. For protection, sprinkle some salt near your front door, then sweep the salt away from your home. To bless a new home, anoint the tips of the bristles with a bit of honey and sweep your front porch. And if a grouch has just left your home, sprinkle some ground cloves at your front door, grab your trusty broom, and sweep his energy away.
To Sweep in Love
To bring more love into your life (but not someone specific), open your front door and sweep inward while saying the following:
I open the door to light and joy, and sweep in love
in all its positive manifestations and forms.
A Simple Cleansing Spell
If you want to give your home’s energy a quick boost and don’t have time for a major cleansing ritual, you can do this simple cleansing spell instead. Moving from room to room, sweep toward the door, visualizing any negative or stagnant energy being swept before your broom. End up at the front door, open it, and sweep all that energy out while saying:
My broom sweeps clean this house and home
My broom sweeps clean this place
With my broom I cleanse and clear
And purify this space. So mote it be.
Shake any last remnants off the end of the broom and close the door behind you decisively.
broom lore
if you want to be married,
jump over a broom nine times and it will happen within a year
Fast and Easy Craft Ideas
Broomstick Birdfeeder
As witches, our connection to nature is very important. One of the ways I try to strengthen and celebrate that connection is by feeding the birds. Not only are they beautiful and useful (they eat bugs!), it always makes my heart soar to see them and hear their musical songs.
A broomstick birdfeeder
If you don’t have a handy tree to hang a birdfeeder from, try creating this fast and easy version out of a broom. This project probably works best with an old-fashioned besom with bristles made from twigs, but you could also use a store-bought broom as long as you don’t mind the fact that the elements and the birds will eventually wear it down.
Plant your broom handle down into the dirt firmly. The bristles will provide you with places to put treats for the birds. You can hang strings of dried fruit (songbirds love fruit) or apple pieces. You can spread the bristles with peanut butter and press birdseed into it or hang balls of suet rolled in birdseed. If you are using a besom-type broom, you can probably create a small hollow in the center in which you can place a bowl that you continually refill with seeds.
Or you can hang tiny feeders filled with honey or juice for the hummingbirds. Just be prepared to add more treats over time as your feathered friends spread the word about the witch’s broomstick that magickally makes food for the birds.
Broomstick Scarecrow
If you have a garden or simply want a fun decoration in your yard, you can try making an easy broomstick scarecrow. Find some funky old clothes you don’t care about—male or female, it doesn’t matter. To create arms, nail or tie a dowel or long stick underneath where the bristles meet the broom handle, and dress the broom in those old clothes.
If you want, you can glue googly eyes and a mouth to the flat of the broom bristle, or even give it some glittery ribbons for hair. (The shiny ribbons will scare away the birds when the wind blows them around.) Plant the broom, handle down, into the ground. Instant broomstick scarecrow!
Whiskbroom Dream Catcher
Much of the lore about brooms involves their ability to aid sleep or act in a protective way to keep away nightmares or evil spirits that might disturb a sleeper’s rest. Much like a Native American dream catcher, a broom hung beside the bed is said to prevent nightmares and capture malicious energy aimed at the sleeper.
To make a quick and easy broom dream catcher, use a smaller broom such as a whiskbroom or a decorative miniature broom. Attach a premade dream catcher or create your own by making a circle out of a flexible twig or wire and then winding string, twine, or more wire back and forth across the circle to make a web. Alternately, you can make a pentacle shape in the middle or combine the web with the pentacle.
Hang the dream catcher over the handle of your little broom so that it dangles down over the bristles. If you want, you can add a few feathers or ribbons for additional decoration. Place the dream catcher broom over or next to the bed and say the sleep charm from earlier in the chapter if you want an extra bit of protection.
Easy Broomstick Gift Ideas
For the Garden Witch
What better gift is there for a witch than a new broom? And what better way to make it special than to personalize it to suit that particular witch’s interests? If you know a garden witch, consider gifting him or her with a broom that is adorned with all sorts of fun and useful items such as packets of seeds with magickal uses (hint: most herbs can be used for both magick and cooking), gloves, and small tools like diggers, tiny hoes, and bulb planters.
You can also find all sorts of gardening lore that you can copy onto decorative scrolls or colorful pieces of paper. Some of my favorite books on magickal gardening include Dorothy Morrison’s Bud, Blossom & Leaf and two books by “the Garden Witch,” Ellen Dugan: Garden Witchery and Cottage Witchery.
For the Kitchen Witch
If you want to give a special gift to a witch, a cool broom decorated with fun, useful items is a great idea. For the kitchen witch, try stringing some packets or cool containers of cooking herbs (especially those with magickal attributes) and hanging them on the broom.
You can also add a few little tools such as measuring cups and spoons, a small mortar and pestle, even a few recipes (maybe written out by hand on decorative scrolls or simply copied onto nice paper) from your favorite witchy cookbooks.
You can find recipes in my book Witchcraft on a Shoestring or try looking in a couple of my favorites: The Wicca Cookbook by Jamie Wood and Tara Seefeldt, Witch in the Kitchen by Cat Johnson, and Cucina Aurora by Dawn M. Hunt.
Broomstick Bread 5
A few years ago, I was taking a walk with my Tante Erika near her home in northern Germany. It was August, and German schools were already back in session. Tante Erika suggested we drop by the local kindergarten to say hello to a friend of hers who was teaching there. I had heard that German kindergartens were less academic than their American counterparts, but I was unprepared for the sight of twenty or so barefoot children zooming around the schoolyard, swinging from trees and baking bread over an open fire. They called it Stockbrot. Here, we call it broomstick bread. Simply take refrigerated pizza dough or dinner-roll dough, or prepare the dough according to your favorite recipe, and cut it into thin strips. Wrap each strip loosely around the end of a broomstick or another stick you have gathered outside. Hold over an open or fireplace fire about ten minutes or until golden.
Enjoy your bread warm with butter or red currant jam.
A Going-Away Broom
If you have a witchy friend or relative who is going away, you can give them the perfect gift: a new broom for their new home, adorned with memories from the old one. Pick out a broom that will suit his or her taste, and then decorate it with pictures of the two of you; if you create this broom with friends, everyone can add their own mementos.
You can also add small keepsakes from your time together such as shells gathered on seaside walks or items you might have brought back from a trip or event you spent together. If you shared an interest such as sewing, cooking, or some other hobby, add a few little gifts that represent that pastime to get them started when they are in their new home.
And why not tuck a special note (or notes, if a number of friends are doing this) into the broom, to be opened when they are far away and feeling homesick? The note can be anything from a story to a joke to a heartfelt “I’m missing you too.”
A Besom Chant 6
Besom, besom, long and lithe
Made from ash and willow withe
Tied with thongs of willow bark
In running stream at moonset dark.
With a pentagram indighted
As the ritual fire is lighted
Sweep ye circle, deosil
Sweep out evil, sweep out ill
Make the round of the ground
Where we do the Lady’s will.
Besom, besom, Lady’s broom
Sweep out darkness, sweep out doom
Rid ye Lady’s hallowed ground
Of demons, imps, and Hell’s red hound.
Then set ye down on Her green earth
By running stream or Mistress’s hearth
Til called once more on Sabbath night
To cleanse once more the dancing site.
A Get-Well-Soon Broom
When people we love are sick—whether they are battling a life-threatening illness or just the common cold—sometimes we like to give a gift that shows we are thinking of them. If you’re bored with bestowing flowers and teddy bears, you can give a get-well-soon broom instead.
Decorate the broom with healing items such as cloves of garlic (which they can use to make soup), healing herbs, soothing tea bags or bath sachets, and maybe a spell for battling illness.
You can also add small things to keep them entertained while they’re recovering: a crossword puzzle and a pencil, a miniature book to read, or even a joke or two (laughter is very healing).
And don’t forget to add a note with your well wishes. When the sick person starts to feel better, they can use the broom to sweep away the remnants of illness, hopefully forever.
A get-well-soon gift broom
A Modern Witch’s
Flying Ointment
Instead of using a traditional flying ointment made from dangerous and potentially harmful herbs, here are a couple of alternatives to bring about relaxation and gently aid the mind in letting go of the day’s tensions. You can create a dream sachet to place under your pillow in hopes of dreaming of flying. You also can make a flying potion that can be used in an aromatherapy diffuser or dabbed onto your pulse points to help calm the mind for the guided meditation that follows or for any other astral travel you wish to embark on with your metaphorical mental broom.
Flying Dreams Sachet
In a square piece of cotton or silk (or in a premade drawstring sachet bag), place a combination of any of the following herbs in dried or fresh form: chamomile, cinnamon, jasmine, lavender, mugwort, peppermint, rosemary, valerian, and vervain.
Note: You don’t need all of these, and you’ll want to make sure that whatever combination you use has a smell that you find pleasing. If you can only use a few, try lavender, mugwort, and rosemary. Be aware that valerian, while a wonderful sleep aid, has a slightly musty smell that some people find unappealing. Most of these herbs can be found in the bulk section at health food stores, in New Age or Pagan stores, or online.
Take a piece of paper and draw a picture of a broom on it or use a black marker to draw a broom on the cloth itself. Place the paper inside the sachet, and tie the sachet shut. Hold it in your hands for a moment and visualize yourself flying through your dreams.
Place the sachet under your pillow. As you fall asleep, concentrate on your intention to dream of flying.
Flying Potion
This isn’t really a potion, although it is fun to call it one. It is actually a mixture of essential oils that can be used in a diffuser or rubbed onto the skin to aid in creating a relaxed state from which you can attempt to “fly” through meditation or astral projection. (Do not ingest this potion. All the herbs in it are relatively benign, but essential oils can be quite strong.)
Essential oils are the concentrated essence of a plant, so they are especially powerful for doing magickal work. Some are more readily available than others, and a few (like chamomile) can be quite expensive. I tend to purchase larger quantities of the oils I use a lot (like rosemary) and small amounts of the pricey ones. Luckily, a little goes a long way.
To make this “potion,” you can combine a few drops of any of the following herbs (again, making sure you like the way they smell together—start with one drop of a couple of things, then add others and increase the ones you like the most): chamomile, jasmine, lavender, peppermint, and rosemary. I like to use about three drops each of lavender and rosemary, two drops of peppermint, and one of chamomile. The resulting mixture is a little spicy smelling and very soothing.
To your essential oils, you can add any base oil such as jojoba (which doesn’t go rancid if it sits around for a while) or olive oil (which most of us already have in our cupboards). If you are going to be storing some of your mixture for a while, it is a good idea to put it into a glass container that can be closed tightly, and store it in a dark place. Use a small amount of base oil—a teaspoon or so—if you will be putting the potion into a diffuser. Use a larger amount—a couple of tablespoons—if you will be applying the potion directly to your skin. Swirl the oils together to blend them.
Remember that just because something is herbal and natural doesn’t mean it can’t hurt you. Some people are allergic to even the most basic plants, like lavender, so apply a small amount to your skin the first time to make sure you don’t have any issues if you’re using herbs that are new to you.
To use the flying potion, place a few drops in a diffuser or dab onto your skin. Then meditate on flying in whichever way works best for you or follow the instructions for the guided meditation.
A Simple Guided Flying Meditation
It is said that witches used potions called flying ointments to fly on their brooms. Most likely, these were mixtures containing dangerous hallucinogenic herbs that created an altered mental state, allowing witches to feel like they were flying. Some researchers hypothesize that the flying ointments actually facilitated out-of-body travel (sometimes called astral projection), so the flight was mental rather than physical.
Either way, I certainly don’t suggest that modern witches use these kinds of flying ointments; the herbs involved can be deadly in the wrong amounts and, frankly, we don’t need to take such extreme measures to fly. (There are these things called airplanes now…) For today’s witch, I would encourage a different approach: guided meditation.
Many people use meditation to relax and center their minds and spirits—I do it myself. Guided meditation is a little bit different in that you are not trying to clear your mind but rather follow a set of instructions that direct your imagination in a particular direction. Guided meditation is sometimes used for shamanic journeying.
Witches may use guided meditation during group rituals. For instance, when celebrating the spring equinox, the high priest or high priestess might lead the rest of a coven in a meditation that has them envisioning the awakening earth under their feet sending up its blossoming energy through their bodies. My coven, Blue Moon Circle, has done this many times, and it can be very effective.
If you are part of a group, you can choose one person to read this meditation aloud while the others listen. If you are on your own, you can either make a recording and play it back to yourself or read the passage silently or out loud once you are in a meditative state.
Guided meditation is very simple, although—as with most things—some people are better at it than others, and almost everyone gets better results after some practice. Just remember that you don’t need to achieve any kind of perfection in order to have a fun and useful experience.
To begin, settle yourself in a comfortable position in a quiet room where you can be sure you won’t be disturbed for a few minutes. You may want to use a few drops of the modern witch’s flying potion from earlier in the chapter, either in an aromatherapy diffuser or in an oil you can rub into places like hands or chest, where the scent will drift up to help you be calm and relaxed.
Some people find that drumming can help them to achieve a meditative state. If this doesn’t work for you, you may want to use a drumming CD or some other calming background music. It may also help to have the room darkened.
Close your eyes. Sit for a few minutes, and breathe slowly and deeply. Follow the movement of your breath through your body, from your lungs out to your fingers and toes, and up into your head. Envision yourself standing and holding a broom—whatever kind of broom seems most magickal to you. When you are feeling as calm and centered as possible, listen to a recording of the following meditation:
There is a glittering purple mist floating around your feet. Inside the mist are sparkles of glowing silver, bits of elemental magick gathered from the powers of air. See the mist surrounding your feet, gently tickling at your toes and being absorbed into your body. See the mist flowing up through your ankles, your calves, through your knees and hips.
Everywhere the mist touches you, your body grows lighter. The glittering purple mist moves gently and softly up your back and spine, through your abdomen and chest, as you grow lighter and lighter, becoming one with the air.
The mist floats up to your neck and over your head, surrounding and filling your entire body as you grow lighter still. You grasp your broom and see that it, too, has been surrounded by glowing purple light, the tiny silver sparkles glittering like a million fireflies or a gathering of little faeries, their wings beating so fast they can barely be seen.
The broom is lighter too, almost floating out of your hands, so you sit on it, feeling the broom settle underneath you as if it is an extension of your own body. You and your broom grow lighter and lighter, glowing purple and sparkling silver, full of magickal power.
Feel yourself rising up into the air, floating effortlessly as you drift off into the night sky. See yourself flying across the face of a gorgeous golden full moon, greeting the goddess as you go. You are powerful and free. Fly through the night—lighter than air, lighter than thought—for as long as you wish.
And when it is time to come back to earth, float back down, landing as lightly as a drop of rain. Feel the purple mist slowly drain back out of you—down through your head, your chest, and your torso—slowly returning to the ground and to the magick, out through your legs and down through your toes into the ground and back to the earth. Open your eyes and be back on solid ground—for now.
real witches,
real brooms:
Heather Long
every spring, i hop over the broom as a part of my spring equinox ritual to clean away the previous year’s cobwebs of negativity, exhaustion, and unfulfilled desires.
When I leave a house, the last thing I do is sweep it out, and then I burn that broom. I always buy a new one for each house. This keeps the negativity of one home from following me to another, and I never leave it behind, so the new owners have a clean start as well.
I hang a broom over the door on a couple of nails. This came from my grandmother. We post the broom over the door to keep other people’s issues from polluting our home. Like a salt barrier, it sweeps away the dirt as guests arrive.
Heather Long
author of Earth Witches Aren’t Easy •
www.heatherlong.net
2. From Pauline Campanelli’s Wheel of the Year: Living the Magical Life (Llewellyn, 1989).
3. From Scott Cunningham and David Harrington’s The Magical Household: Empower Your Home with Love, Protection, Health, and Happiness (Llewellyn, 1983).
4. From James Kambos’s entry in Llewellyn’s 2008 Witches’ Spell-A-Day Almanac.
5. From Linda Raedisch’s Night of the Witches (Llewellyn, 2011).
6. Author unknown