Broom Making: Woven Whisk Workshop

Have you ever thought about making your own besom or broom? Making brooms by hand is a way to recover an ancient craft and tradition. Join Brenda Vynalek, artist and weaver, and learn to make a traditional woven whisk besom, also known as a witch's broom, using natural materials, simple hand tools, and a bit of creativity and magick. You'll learn the step-by-step process of weaving and creating your broom and will make your very own whisk broom from start to finish. You'll leave this workshop with your hand-held whisk broom, decorated with dried flowers and other items you choose that are meaningful to you, crafted with love and intention, and perfect for incorporating into your daily cleaning rituals. During the workshop, we’ll discuss how brooms are used in folk magick, and what they represent in various practices.⠀⠀

• In magickal traditions, besoms, or brooms, are used to sweep the energy of a space clear and guard it. They hold a protective vibration that keeps everyone in the space safe.
• Besoms are excellent tools for this grounding and protection and are often hung in the home or over doorways to rid negativity and bad energy.
• Leading up to Samhain, the ancient Celtic new year celebration of ancestors, brooms are used to sweep dust and dirt in the home; they also hold significance on a related symbolic level—we sweep away all the old energies that no longer serve us to bring in the new year.⠀

Event Details:

• Sunday, October 8th from 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
• Where: Private Residence in East Haddam
• $45 investment for the workshop
• $15 for the custom kit. Participants will purchase the kit separately from Brenda at the class. Please bring $15 cash to pay for your kit. You can also Venmo Brenda the $15 (@Brenda-Vynalek)
• This workshop is limited to 10 women and is non-refundable.

About our Facilitator: Brenda Vynalek has been weaving and creating since childhood. She loves incorporating natural fibers in her work—everything from horsehair and feathers to leaves and vines. Using natural fiber sources and their energies, with intention, creates a beautiful object that can bring you peace and harmony in their making and enjoyment.

What You Can Expect

• We will create a personal woven whisk broom and decorate it with findings from our nature walk and any additional charms, crystals, and symbols that are meaningful to you.
• Brenda has put together a custom-made broom kit, cleansed with incense, especially for Friends of the Forest. NOTE: Participants will purchase the kit separately from Brenda at the class. Please bring $15 cash to pay for your kit. You can also Venmo Brenda the $15.
• We will have an assortment of fibers, shells, beads, horse hair, dried flowers and herbs, bells, feathers, pendants & charms, crystals, lace, leather & more for you to decorate/personalize your broom. (all crystals are cleansed and charged).
• Please bring any special items (charms, crystals, fabric, feathers, etc.) that are meaningful to you to incorporate into your broom.
• Light nibbles and herbal tea will be served throughout the workshop. Please feel free to bring water or snacks to share with the group.
• Connection with like-minded women.
• No experience necessary!