Broom

The broom is most commonly connected to witches and known to wiccan’s as the besom. It  is a tool used to ritually clens the home or space where a circle will be cast clensing the area of any negative psychic energies.
       In the Old Religion, as in organizations like the Masons, the use of ordinary working items were used as symbolism in many rituals and meetings. Probably, without a doubt, the most least understood, yet most well known, is that of the broom. From ancient times the broom was a symbol of domestic order and domestic bliss. It was a powerful symbol as the woman's preeminence at the time was still in the fore front. It was expected that when women would arrive at their meetings (now called Sabbats or rituals) they would be expected to carry the symbol of their position - the broom.
    When women went to any meeting of any sort, regardless of whether it was a ceremony or not, they were expected to bring their symbol of position - the broom. Upon arrival at a meeting, they would display the "staff of office" (the broom) and turn the broom like a hobby horse and enter the sacred space ridding their brooms. So yes, Pagans and Witches do ride upon brooms - just not as most would think. Even today the hobbyhorse toys are derived from these very rituals.
    But this was only one of the two parts that the simple straw broom played in our origin. The second use of the broom as a symbol was during the "harvest" ritual when the women would hold it over their crops and implore the deities to make the crops grow to the height of the broom.
    Other than those two important symbolic uses, the broom has no other history in Paganism or Wiccan. Although, there is nothing magical about a straw broom, the symbolic meaning remains true with many that follow the Old Religion. In many homes you will find a straw broom of some sort hanging upon a wall representing the domestic bliss they pray for every day.