ab:besom.txt                                                           16jan90


                                Besom Chant



        "Besom, besom long and lithe
        Made from ash and willow withe
        Tied with thongs of willow bark
        In running stream at moonset dark.
        With a pentagram indighted
        As the ritual fire is lighted;
        Sweep ye circle, deosil,
        Sweep out evil, sweep out ill,
        Make the round of the ground
        Where we do the Lady's will.

        Besom, besom, Lady's broom
        Sweep out darkness, sweep out doom
        Rid ye Lady's hallowed ground
        Of demons, imps and Hell's red hound;
        Then set ye down on Her green earth
        By running stream or Mistress' hearth,
        'Till called once more on Sabbath night
        To cleans once more the dancing site."

----------
-I understand that this chant was written by Lady Tamara of the WCC.
 (However, I have no evidence for this except hearsay, and the fact that 
 the WCC appears to use it, so I may be wrong.)
-I don't have a published source for it - but it's one of those things that 
 every Witch in town seems to have a copy of.  
-There is absolutely NO reason to think of it as traditional Gardnerian or 
 Alexandrian. However, it's an example of the kind of thing that finds its 
 way into a lot of BOSs, regardless of tradition. There appears to be no 
 equivalent to this in the "standard" BOS, and some people feel a need for 
 it, so a lot of people have added this chant to their BOS.  

