The witch’s flight
‘Decoctions of hallucinogenic plants such as henbane, belladonna, mandrake, datura, and other plants of the Solanaceae family were central to European witchcraft. All of these plants contain hallucinogenic alkaloids of the tropane family, including hyoscyamine, scopolamine, and atropine—the last of which is unusual in that it can be absorbed through the skin. These concoctions are described in the literature variously as brews, salves, ointments, philtres, oils, and unguents. Ointments were mainly applied by rubbing on the skin, especially in sensitive areas—underarms, the pubic region, the forehead, the mucous membranes of the vagina and anus, or on areas rubbed raw ahead of time. They were often first applied to a “vehicle” to be “ridden” (an object such as a broom, pitchfork, basket, or animal skin that was rubbed against sensitive skin). All of these concoctions were made and used for the purpose of giving the witch special abilities to commune with spirits, transform into animals (lycanthropy), gain love, harm enemies, experience euphoria and sexual pleasure, and—importantly—to “fly to the witches’ Sabbath”.’
From <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_witchcraft#Hallucinogens_and_witchcraft>
Witches and brooms: (From madeintransylvania.wordpress.com) “The history of the the traditional broomstick is closely tied with the “Witches Broom” of “Olde” wives tales. In early Middle Ages, many clerics had thought that witches didn’t exist – it was in fact heresy to believe that they did as it attributing divine power to a human. However, by the late Middle Ages, especially after the plague, witchcraft began to be prosecuted. During the Medieval times it became common folklore in Eastern Europe that witches used the broomsticks to fly through the air and travel great distances in short periods of time. There a few different theories trying to explain the link between broomsticks and the witches of old….” See more at: https://madeintransylvania.wordpress.com/2012/06/13/a-history-of-the-witch-and-her-broomstick/ (IA.)
