The history of mankind is rich in myths, legends, hopes, wishes, expectations and fears. Research commissioned by BROSSAPRESS has revealed that a plethora of notions concerning brushes has evolved in many regions of Europe and other parts of the world.
Throughout history, brushes have been the object of superstition, in Greco-Roman antiquity as well as in China and Japan, where analogies to European superstitions are found, along with remarkable similarities in India, Indonesia and the Congo, not to mention the myths and superstitions of the Jamaican blacks. Ethnologists are confronted with an interesting and broad field for research.
In ancient Germany birch twigs were the main material used for making brooms and some ethnologists believe that the magic properties ascribed to the broom stemmed from the fact that the Germanic peoples believed the birch to be the symbol of their God Donar. However standardised ideology does not do justice to the complexity of thoughts underlying people's collective reasoning.
There has been widespread superstition of brooms for thousands of years. In Bohemia a broom was stood outside the front door for protection against hail and bad weather. A broom may also have been placed outside the house for protection during a storm.
In the Erzgebirge of Saxony people believed that a house was no longer blessed if a broom were left in the sitting room and, under the same circumstances, the Bavarians believed they would be unable to sleep.
In contrast, in Franconia, Hesse and Tyrolia, brooms were kept in the sitting room at all times, but people also believed a broom found lying out in the street should never be carried indoors, or else witches or a stranger many bring discord into the family. An old broom should be carried into a new home to stop one feeling homesick.
In his teachings, Pythagorus recommends never stepping over a broom. According to German popular belief, a witch would never step over a broom. Witches, it was believed, would never break this taboo, and popular belief had it that by making sure she never stepped over a boom a witch would betray herself. This is why a broom was placed outside the door of a woman suspected of witchcraft to test whether she would step over it or choose another exit. However, brooms were also thought to bring good luck. According to popular belief the act of sweeping could bring "gain". Traders would therefore frequently sweep the dust lying outside their shop inside, in the hope of making a good sale. Even the way in which the dirt was swept together was important: it had to be swept from the edge of the room toward the middle, i.e. in a "gainful" way. In the stable, the dirt was swept from the front to the back door, otherwise luck would leave it. Stairs were swept from the bottom up, to sweep blessings up into the house. In the Land of Schleswig Holstein, tradition has it that all four corners of room should be swept out on new Year's eve. Whatever is swept out of one corner is what awaits one in the coming year. Especially in difficult times sweepings, it is believed, show what the future has in store: Anyone who finds sweepings outside his door in the morning will make a large profit.
On certain nights, unmarried girls in North Germany practised "oracle sweeping". The best known date was St. Andrew's Day when a light was placed on a table one hour before midnight, and the girl stripped off her clothes, combed her hair and swept the room out backwards with a new broom from the open door toward the table. While doing this she would glance over to the table where her future husband might be seated. Her future husband may also appear in the mirror.
From the Vogtland it is known that the girl would lay the table with nine different dishes, pull a chair up to it and on the dot of midnight and say: "Dearest Saint Andrew, please let my sweetheart appear to me".
The following papers are available from BROSSAPRESS on popular traditions
Brooms as talisman
The magic power of brooms
Brooms in sacral rites
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