Johanna Hobson says you can buy a broom at Coles or you can make a better one yourself – and she would know, her Bendigo store has begun running witchcraft classes.

“The classes are only small. We like to keep things intimate,” she said.

The series of workshops at Johanna's Gifts & New Age store explored everything from runes and pentagrams to casting circles and spell casting. They had a particular focus on magic and white magic in particular.

Mrs Hobson said the focus was on healing, empowering, creating positive energy and ensuring good luck.

“It’s all positive. We are not doing anything negative like banishment, ouija or voodoo,” she said.

Workshop presenter Gaye Washington said there was growing interest in witchcraft, with a number of stores in town offering workshops as well as useful tools like candles and crystals.

Although as far as she knew, hers was the only workshop in which people could build their own broom.

Ms Washington said brooms were important to witches, even if they were not used for flying. 

Her broom was called Dina. Mrs Hobson named hers Lola, after a treasured pet who past away last year.

“Brooms are a witches best friend. The bristles should always be pointed down, but they should be pointed upwards on the full moon to be recharged with positive energy,” She said.

Ms Washington said she had been known to put the broom by the front door after negative guests had left to help cleanse the building.

But brooms were also important tools for the crafting of spells because they could purify a room before magic was performed.

Ms Washington said a witch hoping to cast a spell to bless a loved one – say, help someone fight cancer or get through a bad breakup – could “cast a circle.”

After cleansing the space, the circle caster would carefully lay down crystals to the north, south, east and west, give a prayer to the gods to “open the quarters,” then step into the circle.

“After the blessing it is important to close the quarters. If not, well that’s bad luck. So it is important to know what you are doing,” she said.

And the stakes could be quite high if a spell was performed incorrectly because it could lead to a strong streak of bad luck.

“People have consulted witches who’ve told them they would have bad luck, and they have come to me trembling,” she said.

Bree Clohesy was one woman attending the workshop last Wednesday. She had been a pagan on and off since leaving high school.

“For me this is about furthering my understanding of my practice, getting a refresher on information I already know, talking to people with a common interest and engaging in my practice with a community,” she said.

“I see it as a lifestyle, so witchcraft for me can go into everything from cooking a meal to choosing where I live and helping my friends,” she said.

“Depending on which planets are ruling, there might be times when I may need to be aware I might not be making the best decisions. I might need to find out the best times for making changes.”

She made a habit of following the phases of the moon, Sabbaths and changing seasons.

Ms Washington said witchcraft meant different things to different people. Where Ms Clohesy saw it a lifestyle choice, others said it was a religion, others as a way to heal or to gain confidence.

Bronwyn Griffith said part of the appeal was the sense of sisterhood.

And, as Ms Washington said, witchcraft was also about having a whole lot of fun.

For more information, call Johanna's Gifts & New Age store on 5463 5444