The REAL Reason Witches Fly on Brooms!

Witches are often associated with flying around on brooms. But why of all things do we depict them flying on these? In this video we find out the truth!
TheoretiCole
I love my fair share of fantasy movies.
They always tend to have something in them
that makes them magical.
I'm talking about magic, sorcery,
wizardry, whatever you want to call it.
Is it just fantasy, though?
If you were caught partaking
in any of this magic in the late 1600s,
you might be considered a witch.
But if you were a witch living in Salem,
Massachusetts, you would be invited
into families, homes with open arms.
Well would you look at that!
Get in here.
We're just about to eat dinner.
I'm kidding.
You would be burned alive.
So what do you say?
You and I make things interesting?
witches have many stereotypes associated
with them.
pointy hats
with a large brim, black cats, green skin,
green goo brewing in a black cauldron and,
of course, brooms.
Now, a lot of these stereotypes
have an explanation, but some not so much
specifically why we envision
witches flying around on these bad boys.
I mean, of all things, why this?
Why not a cool wooden staff or something?
Why a household broom?
My thought is this.
I literally I have no idea.
I literally have no idea.
This is the only thing
I can literally think of.
And it's so dumb.
But witches are usually portrayed
as old, raggedy and dirty in movies.
Their homes are often
dusty, covered in cobwebs and dilapidated.
My guess is that these people were often
seen sweeping
and trying to keep after their homes.
I don't know.
I literally have no idea.
And maybe
because they were such a hated community,
whenever they were going public,
they needed some form of protection.
So why not just grab the closest thing
to the door on your way out?
Maybe a broom?
Yeah, it's definitely a wild guess,
but that's the best I can come up with.
So to get a better understanding
of the truth,
we have to take a step back in time
to 14th century Europe.
Back then, religion ruled all
Those who spoke out
against the religion or practiced others
were often seen as evil
and were sometimes.
Hey, pa
hey pa...
pa
Hey, hey.
PA pa pa pa pa pa.
Hey, what if.
What if God was actually a frog?
Wouldn't that be funny?
Many had a strong belief
that the devil himself could give certain
people power to harm others in return
for their loyalty to their religion.
This was known
as the European witch craze.
It lasted from the 14th century,
all the way up until the 17th century.
During this time, between 200,000 and
500,000 people were executed.
seriously?
Around the time the European witch craze
was coming to an end, a little town known
as Salem, Massachusetts, decided they were
going to take the reins for a bit.
In January of 1692,
two girls started behaving oddly,
having episodes where they screamed
through things, muttered weird sounds,
and contorted themselves
into strange positions.
One of Salem's local doctors
blamed it on the supernatural.
On February 29th, the girls came forward
and blamed three women.
Strangely enough,
one of these women actually confessed.
She stated.
So of course,
all three women were then placed in jail.
This then led people
to accusing everyone of being a witch.
The youngest being four years old.
Some genuinely were concerned
that their neighbor was a witch.
Others were accusing people
just because they did them wrong.
A little candlelight dinner
never hurt anybody.
Oh vanilla my favorite!
excuse me...
witch.
(distant screams)
Unfortunately, 19
people were hanged because of this.
This story led to the book
we know so well, The Crucible,
which was written in 1953
by Arthur Miller.
I feel like we've all had to read that
in high school. Right?
And for anyone watching this,
that's not yet in high school, just wait.
And if you don't have to read it, kindly
drop the name of the high school
you're going to in the comments
section below so I can call and complain
because I had to
read that *** in front of everyone!
The iconic depiction of a witch
standing over a cauldron
stirring up a green brew
actually has some truth behind it.
Yeah. No **** it's 80 degrees out.
You think I'm doing this for fun?
I'm sweating here.
Okay.
In 1976,
evidence was found that the Salem witch
trials may have begun
from an outbreak of rye ergot.
Our guide is a fungus
that can form on grains such as rye.
At this time,
bread was a major part of the diet.
The side effects from ingesting
or eating the fungus were flu like symptoms.
Oh, and the acid trip of a lifetime.
The fungus produced mind altering effects,
much like that of hallucinogenic drugs.
#halloween #witch #salem