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Transvection

Term used to indicate the claim of witches flying through the air on a broomstick, but also on a distaff, a shovel, or an animal. The term was originally used in a religious sense for the transportation of saints, such as St. Joseph of Copertinn. There were some seventy aerial flights claimed, but from the sixteenth century onward the flight of witches was also described as transvection.

The flight of witches was achieved with a magical flying ointment. However, if the witches heard the sound of church bells while flying to the Sabbat, they might be grounded. It is likely that the special ointments used to assist transvection may have had a hallucinatory effect, giving the illusion of traveling through the air. Such ointments could have produced experiences akin to astral projection or out-of-the-body travel.