"They traveled through the air on broomsticks" - traditions of paschal witches' sabbaths

Easter's protective magic was especially aimed at sorcerers who were particularly active on Maundy Thursday and Easter Eve, when Jesus Christ had not yet resurrected. Central to the belief in witches were the Sabbaths, as they “traveled through the air on broomsticks, ladles and goats to specific places of gathering – be it at the Blocksberg (Brocken) in Germany, Blockula in Sweden, Lyderhorn in Norway, where the Devil held his Earthly court.

Blockula, (assumed to be a Swedish equalent to the German Blocksberg), was according to Swedish popular belief Satans domicile, where the witches were believed to be going on Maundy Thursday to feast with Lucifer, from which they returned Easter Sunday morning. The journey would be conducted on a broomstick, a green-branch, sometimes also on a farm animal, a horse or a human being. The rider often sat backwards, and the means of transport was lubricated with a kind of magic butter, which the sorceress kept in a horn. 

The witch's equipment often also included a needle, which, when stuck into a wall, for the moment created such an opening large enough to, "go through by horse and carriage." Thus it became easy for the witches to abduct children – a misdeed, which they often conducted to acquire new disciples. The witches gathered in church towers, where they scraped flakes of metal of the church bells. As they continued the ride, they threw the ore shavings into the air, shouting, "May my soul never come to the kingdom of God, until this metal makes it back to the bells!"

When arriving at Blockula they greeted Satan, whom the witches referred to as "gofar" (“good-father”) or "antifar" (“anti-father”), and presented to him the children. He signed a contract with the young ones by handshake, after which he bit them in the forehead or scratched them in the little finger, shedding the children’s blood. At last they were inscribed in a large book. After a great feast, there was music and dance, in which Satan joined in, "amused by the works of darkness." People seem to have witnessed a religious act during the travels to Blockula, whose compliance presupposed the renunciation of Christianity. 

This French engraving shows a witch's sabbath at Bloksberg. By Mikael Herr (1650)

Obviously, the fear of such a wicked act to take place was most present. Consequently, people took as much precaution as they could muster. Pieces of steel inserted over doors, beds, and barns were safety advice that kept the witches at bay. So did crosses, open fire and brooms (!). Indeed, you read correctly. Norwegian sociologist Eilert Sundt (1817-1875) has pointed out that it was common to lay a broomstick outside the front door so that people could dry their shoes on it before entering the house. "True, spruce bushes could also be used; but according to the customs, it should preferably be a broom; for over such a device, neither sorcerers nor other hostilities could cross", Sundt wrote. Such women could be recognized by throwing the broom aside with their feet before entering!

If the sorceress couldn't find a broom to ride, she took a horse, cow or goat instead, which was much worse. This was the reason why, Sundt believed, so many people put a number of broomsticks outside the kitchen or barn door on Christmas Eve and Maundy Thursday. If there was a broom outside, the witches would not make use of other entities.

Sources:

• ”Blåkulla”, in Nordisk Familjebok. Konversationslexikon och realencyklopedi. Tredje bandet. Bergsvalan – Branstad. Stockholm 1905
• Ørnulf Hodne (1999). Norsk folketro. Cappelen forlag.