On Thursday night I had the opportunity to take a class in making Besoms, aka Witch’s Brooms from locally grown and foraged materials. It was taught at Allerton Park, which is a Turn of the Century historic mansion, now owned by the University of Illinois. They run a Folk School, which offers classes in the old barns and greenhouse, taught by people in the community, such as Weaving, Storytelling, Stargazing, Foraging, etc. This class was taught a woman named Remington, from Delight Flower Farm in Champaign, IL.
Remington brought a selection of dried flowers from their farm, and some locally foraged materials, including the branches used as broom handles. She covered some history of broom making, its association with women in the home, and how brooms came to be associated with flying. (Yay for hallucinations brought on by ergot poisoning/ingestion!)
She gave us each a small handout on the meanings associated with various plants, and then had us select our handles and florals. We all started with a base of Curly Dock, as a background for the other florals.
I used all of the following in my broom:
Curly Dock for deep cleansing, transformation, protection, and prosperity.
Mugwort for dreamwork, divination, protection, and cleansing.
Amaranth for healing, protection, and eternal love.
Lavender for love, protection, peace, and happiness.
Salvia for wisdom, love, and safety.
Celosia for love, strength, and vitality.
Here it is hanging in my kitchen. And yes, it is hanging over the Roomba. Maybe they’ll become friends?
We used just twine to wrap and attach the florals in class. I was a bit worried about how that would hold up over the long term, so I added a few strategic bands and spots of hot glue today, then rewrapped the tops of the stems with a jute covered wire, to hide the glue and the uneven wraps of twine.
Beautiful besom, it feels just at home.