3/11/2023 0 Comments Witch on broomstick![]() ![]() Well, one supposedly effective way of applying the flying salves was to smear the ointment on broom handles before straddling them. In fact, these visions were often so vivid, that the women really believed that they had flown off to Sabbats, and this is why many of them actually confessed to witchcraft. When these flying salves were applied to the skin, they could produce incredibly powerful hallucinations of strange beasts and out-of-body sensations. Often they would mix these plants with grease or oil to create ointments known as flying salves. In their role as healers, witches had access to and knowledge of plants such as deadly nightshade and mandrake which contained alkaloids, chemicals with a powerful effect on the nervous system. They really believed that they had flown off to diabolical orgies. Incredibly, when prosecutors put this accusation to “witches,” many admitted to it. They, it was claimed, would use this humble cleaning apparatus to journey to orgies known as Sabbats, where they would frolic with demons and beasts. It was during this period that witches were first accused of flying around on broomsticks. In fact, the hysteria over witchcraft and black magic didn’t die down until the eighteenth century. The fear of witchcraft became so strong, that a mere accusation, even from a child, could lead to arrest. Over the next three centuries, hundreds of thousands of women were executed as witches. As their old-fashioned, pagan-oriented beliefs threatened the authority of the Catholic Church, the Church stoked up the fear that these healers were dabbling in black magic. Starting in the mid-1300s, however, according to Penny Le Couteur and Jay Burreson, in their book, Napoleon’s Buttons, society began to clamp down on these healers. ![]()
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