31 DAYS DAY TWENTY: CINNAMON BROOMS

                      A few years ago I discovered these incredible cinnamon brooms through a friend who gave me one as a gift. i love the smell of Cinnamon! It always reminds me of the holidays and baking :) These brooms are also great Halloween decorations,the smell lasts for at least a month. If you have a fireplace you can even break them up and use them as kindling for a fire.

Brooms are such a familiar image for Halloween, especially with witches. I became curious about how this came about so I did some research here is what I found:

         The very first image of a witch riding a broomstick appeared in the 15th century from the French manuscript "The Champion of Women".

Sacred midwives of Ancient Rome used brooms to sweep the thresholds of homes where they delivered babies. They believed sweeping would drive away evil spirits from mother and child.

In some parts of  Ancient England women would leave there brooms by the door to signal they weren't at home. Scholars believe the broom was a symbol of the homemaker and leaving the broom out was a source of protection for the home.In wales and among the Gypsies jumping over a broom was part of the newlywed tradition upon entering their new home. African American cultures including Slaves used this as a symbol of marriage too.

During the Salem witch trials few reports were made about witches and brooms but the image was prevalent enough to take root in our culture and now witches and brooms are now an inseparable concept.

The cinnamon broom above is form A Touch of Country magic, you can find them  HERE