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Abesom (/ˈbiːzəm/) is abroom, a household implement used for sweeping. The term is mostly reserved for a traditional broom constructed from a bundle of twigs tied to a stout pole. The twigs used could bebroom (i.e.Genista, from which comes the modern name "broom" for the tool),heather or similar. The song "Buy Broom Buzzems" fromNorthern England refers to both types of twig. From the phrasebroom besom the more commonbroom comes. In Scotland and Bulgaria, besoms are still occasionally to be found at the edge of forests where they are stacked for use in early response to an outbreak of fire.
As a result of its construction around a central pole, the brush of the besom is rounded instead of flat. The bristles can be made of many materials including, but not limited to straw, herbs, or twigs. Traditionally, the handle is ofhazel wood and the head is ofbirch twigs. Modern construction uses bindings of wire and string (instead of the traditional splitwithy) and the head is secured by a steel nail instead of a woodendowel.
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A number of different recipes for "flying ointments" have survived from theearly modern period,[1] some of the constituents of which not only have hallucinogenic properties but are fat-soluble and could have been absorbed transdermally. Certain researchers have speculated that the stereotypical image of the witch "flying" astride the broomstick of a besom may derive from traditions concerning the use of broomsticks or otherstaves by women to apply psychotropic ointments to theirvaginal oranalmucosa.[2][3] The active ingredients inflying ointments were primarily plants in the nightshade familySolanaceae, most commonlyAtropa belladonna (deadly nightshade) andHyoscyamus niger (henbane), belonging to thetropane alkaloid-rich tribeHyoscyameae.[4] Other tropane-containing, nightshade ingredients included the famous mandrake (Mandragora officinarum),Scopolia carniolica andDatura stramonium, the thornapple.[5]The alkaloidsatropine,hyoscyamine andscopolamine present in these solanaceous plants are not only potent (and highly toxic) hallucinogens of thedeliriant class, but are also fat-soluble and capable of being absorbed through unbroken human skin.[6][3]Another ingredient listed frequently in the various flying ointment recipes is the even more toxicAconitum napellus, which has (among others) the English common namewolfsbane (i.e. "slayer of wolves").[1]
InRussian culture, the besom orvenik (Russian:веник) has historically had both good and bad connotations. It was seen as a place behind or under which adomovoy would hide,[7] and similarly to the broom it was sometimes associated with the occult. However, it also sometimes served as a protectiveamulet, as well as a tool forfortune-telling.[7] A venik was also often not thrown away, instead being ceremonially burned duringMaslenitsa.[7] The venik's cultural significance extends outside Russia: inOdesa Oblast,Ukraine, a large venik statue (six metres tall) was erected to commemorate the 620th anniversary of the foundation ofSavran, a settlement in the area, which was recognized as the largest venik monument in the world.[8]
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