Witches have always been depicted as ugly hideous beings that could cast spells on people and turn themselves into animals, such as black cats. We also know them as women that ride on broomsticks through the night sky with the moon at their backs. Why? How did it come to be that witches were immortalized with broomsticks? Has anyone ever seen a witch actually flying around? More than likely they have not.
The truth of the matter is in no way pretty, nor is it G rated. Long ago witches could have been considered the hippies of their time. They believed in using herbal medicine to cure many different types of ailments. At the same time they also believed they could cast spells upon people with the same theory. Hence the term witches brew for the concoctions that were created by them. Some of the main ingredients in these concoctions were animal body parts and organs as well as plants and plant extract. Soon it was discovered that certain plants could give a person a sense of euphoria when it was ingested, such as jimson weed or deadly night shade.
As the practice became more popular it was discovered that there was a down side. If too much of one plant was ingested through the stomach at once the results could be fatal. Soon witches realized that it could be ingested through various glands in the human body foregoing the metabolizing effect from the liver. They soon began creating creams and "ointments" from the plant extracts and rubbing them in their armpits and vaginas.
Witches then began to cover broomsticks with these creams and ointments. They would then straddle the staff and rub it on their vaginas, taking them to state of euphoria so that they appeared to be dancing or riding on their brooms. Depending on the amount that had been absorbed onto their body they may have felt as if they were indeed, flying.
We can look back through ancient art history and find paintings that lean towards this theory. There are several paintings that depict witches in the nude with their broomsticks. One painting in particular depicts an entire room of witches dancing around a room with their broomsticks, completely nude.
Luckily, we have evolved over time and now simply view witches as ugly women who have black cats and warts on the end of their noses, using their brooms only for the purpose of transportation.
