Besom's are used to clear negative energies from your magickal space or home. There are many traditions associated with the witches broom. 

On Imbolc we use it to swep the house clean of neg energies and at handfastings the couple jumps over it and whoever lands first is said to be in charge of the relationship etc...

Materials: 

4ft dowel- 1" in diameter

or a tree branch of

the same approximate size
 
Ball of Twine
 
Scissors,
 
Straw,

Thin Willow Twigs,

Broom Corn

Pliable Herb Stock 

(Have fun with this  use herbs that smell good like cinnamon etc... tie silk ribbons associated with the current holiday to the base and lace up the handle.) 

Take the straw or other herb stalk that you have chosen and soak overnight in luke warm salted water. The water swells the stalk slightly for bending without breakage, and the salt dispels former energies.

When ready, remove stalks from the water and dry for just a bit. Not too much or the stalk will stiffen up, again. Place the dowel on a table where you have room to work.

Start lining the stalks along the dowel, about 3 inches from the bottom, moving backwards. Begin binding the stalks to the dowel with the twine. Tie very securely.

You may add as many layers as you like, depending on how full you want the Besom to be. When stalks are secure, gently bend the top stalks down over the binding.

When all have been bent over, secure the stalks again with more twine a couple of inches under the first binding. Allow to air dry for a day or two.

The dowel can then be stained, painted, or carved into to make personal. Remember to concentrate and charge at the next full moon.

What Does A Witch Do With Her Broom

She sweeps the floor with it, of course!

Perhaps because witches were so often women, the traditional tools of housewifery have all found a place in the casting of spells.

Cooking herbs are also healing herbs. You could put a charm into the yarn you spun, or stitch a spell into the fabric of a shirt, or change the luck at the table, by washing joy into the dishes- and I don't mean the detergent.

Cleaning the home is important. Dirt and dust harbor germs, clutter confuses the mind. When you clean your home you are performing a magical service for your family- every time.  

After you have swept the dirt from the floor, use your broom to sweep unwanted energy away. This is important if you are going to raise a Circle in the room. Start in the center of the room. Sweep across your body, from left to right.

Step back on your right foot, so that you've turned a little towards your right, and sweep again. Step back on your right foot again, and sweep. You are moving in a clockwise circle. When you have completed the small circle in the center of the room, step forward and begin to sweep in ever-widening circles, always to your right, till you reach the edges of the room.

You are creating a magic circle of protection, sweeping the room free of any malign spirits or influences. You can see that the dirt has to be swept up first- because you are not sweeping into heaps to be picked up, you are dispersing to the outside edges..The dirt would be piled up against the walls!

 **DEOSIL

Is the direction the world turns, if you were looking down at it from the North Pole. It is the direction the hands move on a clock.

For most magical purposes, we move in harmony with the Earth. When we call the quarters, we begin in the *East*, then face *South*, then *West*, then *North* - clockwise.

**WIDDERSHINS

Is anti-clockwise, the opposite way that the world moves. We don't move widdershins very often. Sometimes you might end your circle widdershins. If you were casting a spell against the disease of Cancer, you might 'move against the world', because cancer is an excess of life.

Most of the time, though, you can find a way that your desire is in line with the natural laws. You have a much better chance of achieving your desire, when you are not fighting the universe.