In 1477 Antoine Rose (also known as the Witch of Savoy, France) confessed, under torture, that she regularly met with the devil. The records state:
“The first time she was taken to the synagogue, she saw many men and women enjoying themselves and dancing backwards. The Devil, whose name was Robinet, was a dark man who spoke in a hoarse voice. Kissing Robinet’s foot in homage, she renounced God and the Christian faith. He put his mark on her, on the little finger of her left hand, and gave her a stick, 18 inches long, and a pot of ointment. She used to smear the ointment on the stick, put it between her legs and say, “Go, in the name of the Devil, go!” At once she would be carried through the air to the synagogue. The pictures of witches riding on a besom are therefore a polite interpretation of the truth.”
This was the second confession on record in which a witch said he/she flew on a broom. The first being that of an accused male witch, Guillaume Edelin.
There is a FANTASTIC, but disturbing article on all of this here:
