The broomstick may have been an applicator
One explanation for the image of a witch straddling a broom is that the stick served as a tool for applying a drugged ointment. In accounts of European witchcraft, these preparations were said to contain plants such as henbane or belladonna, which can cause powerful changes in perception. Rather than simply rubbing ointment onto the skin with a hand, a person could smear it on a stick and use the stick to apply it to the body.
Some later retellings make the method specifically vaginal. That detail is often repeated as the origin of the broomstick image, but the historical evidence does not establish one simple, universal practice—or a single moment when the image began.
Why the story involved “flying”
Certain plants contain chemicals that can cause delirium, vivid sensations, and distorted perceptions. A person affected by them might feel as if they were moving or flying, even while physically still. That gave later writers a possible bodily explanation for tales of witches’ journeys through the air.
The ointments were not harmless shortcuts to a supernatural experience: plants such as belladonna can be poisonous, and their effects are unpredictable. The important link is between a reported application method, altered sensation, and stories that turned those sensations into flight.
From practical tool to familiar image
Brooms were ordinary household objects, so they made an instantly recognizable prop for stories about women leaving domestic life behind and taking to the sky. The image likely grew through several layers of folklore and writing, rather than from a clearly documented medieval custom. The memorable twist is that the broom may have begun not as a vehicle, but as a way to put the supposed flying ointment where it could be absorbed.
