Broomsticks
The fantasy image of the witch riding around on her broomstick is actually based on fact. Broomsticks were common ritual instruments in Western European fertility rites. People rode around fields, women on brooms, men on pitchforks, jumping high in revelry to encourage the crops to flourish. The pitchfork, the male tool, would eventually be identified as among the devil's attributes.
Why a broom? It symbolizes the perfect union of male and female energies, with the stick representing the male force plunged into and attached to the female straw. Vestiges of the broom's role in fertility magick survive in the handfasting custom of jumping the broomstick.
In Ancient Greece, the broomstick was considered an attribute of Hecate, Matron of Witches and Midwives. It became, for a time, the professional emblem of midwifery, similar to a barbershop pole or pawnbroker's balls.
The use of broomsticks is not restricted to European magick. The symbol arose independently in Mexico as well. The conquistadores, familiar with these images from home, were shocked by images of Tlazolteotl, fierece Aztec spirit of love and witchcraft, riding on a broomstick, naked but for jewelry and a conical bark hat, accompanied by raven and owl familiars