Scientists have meters, sailors have fathoms. Even megalith-builders have megalithic yards. (The New Age-y ones do, anyway.)
What about witches?
My friend and colleague Frebur Hobson recently suggested that we of the Black Pointy Hat needed a unit of measure to call our own. Like most good ideas, it seems utterly obvious…once someone else has thought of it.
Enter the broom (br). Measuring in at four feet English, it can be used for pretty much any metric, witchy or non.
Personally, I think it’s brilliant. Who carries a ruler around with them, much less a yardstick?
But a broom, now, well…there’s pretty much always one to hand, for rough and ready measuring, especially among folks of our kind.
A magic circle? Two brooms, and a bit.
A football (US) field? 90 brooms.
A mile? 1320 br.
Me, I really like being a broom-and-a-half (1½ br) tall.
Best of all, it’s a unit that every witch instinctively understands. Tell her that the clearing is 13 brooms across, or the Stonehenge trilithons six brooms high, and she’ll know just what you mean.
Read More
English