By Michael Riley, reporter for the Local Journalism Initiative
Kissing under mistletoe has been around for hundreds of years, but the plant itself has quite a bit of history, as well as being a way to steal a kiss from someone trapped under its leaves and berries. From a herbal health-enhancing tonic to the romantic slant the plant ultimately took on in the holiday tradition, let’s take a look at how mistletoe views have progressed over time.
The word mistletoe comes from a defunct Anglo-Saxon dialect. Birds love the berries of a mistletoe plant, and these ancient Anglo-Saxons, having noticed that mistletoe often begins to grow from bird droppings on tree branches, used the words for manure “mistel” and twig, “tan” came together to form “misteltan”. , “Which eventually became” mistletoe. “It is also known as birdlime, all-heal, golden bough, drudenfuss, iscador, and devil’s fuge. There are approximately 1,300 varieties of mistletoe worldwide.
While birds love mistletoe berries and bees, butterflies and other insects consume the nectar, humans should not consume mistletoe as it is poisonous. Containing a protein called phoratoxin, eating mistletoe berries won’t kill you, but they will make you quite sick, causing drowsiness, blurred vision, diarrhea, vomiting, and seizures.
Mistletoe was used by the ancient Greeks who thought it cured everything from spleen disorders to menstrual cramps. The Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder believed that the plant worked as a balm to combat epilepsy, ulcers and poisons. Today, it is still used in some parts of the world to fight colon cancer as an accompaniment to scientific therapies. According to NationalGeographic.com, it has been used in this way since the 1920s and is prescribed by doctors in Europe. At the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, in 2015, doctors were conducting the first rigorous intravenous testing of the effects of mistletoe in American cancer patients.
The mistletoe, the plant, is actually a parasite, or more accurately a hemi-parasite. That means that they obtain part of their energy through sunlight through photosynthesis and the rest of their energy through their host plant or tree, through a connective appendage called the haustorium, through which it obtains water and nutrients from your guest. While they can thrive on such disparate hosts as pine trees or cacti, the mistletoe plants we associate with Christmas generally stick to large deciduous trees like oak trees.
The romantic overtones associated with mistletoe began with 1st century AD Celtic Druids administering mistletoe to humans and animals alike to restore their fertility. They saw it as a sacred symbol of liveliness and vivacity, because it flourished and remained green even in winter, and did not grow from roots in the ground. When they found it growing on their most sacred tree, the oak, they considered it the soul of the tree. On the sixth night of the new moon after the winter solstice, the Druid high priest would climb the tree and pull out the mistletoe with a golden sickle, and the worshipers would catch him with their robes, as it was unlucky for him to touch the mistletoe. Earth. They would also wear mistletoe charms for good luck and protection from evil, and they would hang it on their doors so that only happiness could enter the home.
Norse mythology tells another facet of mistletoe folklore. When Baldur, the son of the god Odin, was haunted by dreams of his own death, his mother Frigg, the goddess of love, assured an oath from all the plants and animals of the natural world that they would not harm him. However, Frigg forgot the mistletoe, so the god Loki made a mistletoe arrow and was able to kill the invincible Baldur. The goddess of death, Hel, brought Baldur back to life and, overcome with joy, Frigga ordered the mistletoe to produce white berries as a reminder of her tears. In addition, he promised a kiss to everyone who passes underneath.
By the 18th century, the mistletoe’s association with fertility and vitality had been widely incorporated into Christmas celebrations, having been viewed in that way throughout the Middle Ages. The tradition of kissing under mistletoe seems to have started among servants in England before gaining popularity among the middle classes. As part of this tradition, men were allowed to steal a kiss from any woman trapped under the mistletoe and to refuse was considered bad luck.
The first clear historical reference to stealing kisses under the mistletoe was from the book Sleepy Hollow and The Headless Horseman, written in 1820 by Washington Irving, who wrote “the mistletoe, with its white berries, hung, to the imminent danger of all the pretty servants “Charles Dickens also mentions kissing under the mistletoe in The Pickwick Papers, published serially in 1836 and 1837.
There is actually a proper etiquette dating back to ancient times about kissing under mistletoe. In Decking the Halls: The Folklore and Traditions of Christmas Plants, published in 2000 by Linda Allen, it was said that the gentleman was to pluck a berry from the mistletoe plant while kissing a lady on the cheek. A kiss was allowed for each berry plucked. However, most people just steal a kiss from under it and never touch the berries.
So this holiday season, go out and find mistletoe, hang it in the driveway of your house or apartment, and “steal” a kiss (with the other person’s permission, of course) while the Burl Ives Holly song plays. Jolly Christmas play background;
“Oh ho, the mistletoe, hanging where you can see it. Someone is waiting for you, kiss her once for me. “
Reference-ygknews.ca