Mistletoe (viscum album)

The evergreen mistletoe plant with its succulent white berries is a parasite most commonly found growing on apple trees but also on other deciduous trees such as hawthorn and rowan. The word mistletoe comes from the Old English words "mistel" and "tang" – meaning "dung" and "twig" – because people had noticed that mistletoe grew on trees where there were plenty of bird droppings.
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Mistletoe was recognized by the Druids as a magical plant. According to tradition they would only cut the mistletoe with a golden sickle and made sure it never touched the ground by placing a white cloth under the tree to catch the magic prunings. Oak trees also featured in Druidic ceremonies and when a mistletoe plant was found growing in an oak it was thought to have especially strong magical powers. Unfortunately we now have no idea what the druids thought the mistletoe plant was capable of.

Mistletoe’s traditional magical properties include the ability to drive away witches, get rid of fleas in your bed and prevent faeries from stealing your children. Norse legends also celebrated mistletoe as a plant that brings love into a household. The story goes that the goddess Freya had a baby boy called Balder whom she loved deeply. She became obsessed by his safety and made all the plants and animals in the world swear they would never harm him. Unfortunately she forgot to ask the mistletoe. Only one god, named Loki, noticed the omission and he stored the information away for the future. As Baldur grew older the gods were amused by the way missiles thrown at Baldur would swerve away and miss him. It became a game to throw things at the growing lad and watch them fall harmlessly to the ground.
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One god was not amused by the boy’s popularity. Loki was jealous and looked around for a way to do the boy harm. He carved a spear tip from the mistletoe plant and mounted it on a stout ash stave then placed the spear in the hands of Baldur’s blind brother Hadr and encouraged him to throw the spear at Baldur. Hadr at first refused to throw the spear saying that he had no wish to throw anything at Baldur whom he loved dearly. Loki wore him down with his persistence and eventually the blind lad threw the spear which struck Baldur and killed him instantly. Freya was horrified and commanded that the world would turn to winter and stay that way for ever. She only relented when the other gods brought Baldur back to life.

The mistletoe was then banished to grow only in high places away from the meddling hands of dangerous fools like Loki. Freya then commanded that henceforth it would always bring love rather than death to the world and that people passing underneath the plant should embrace.

It became a custom in the middle ages for soldiers seeking a truce to meet under a sprig of mistletoe to discuss terms.

The tradition of kissing under the mistletoe is much later in origin and has some strange quirks that need to be observed if you want to get the best from your sprig of mistletoe. It is important that the first kiss under the mistletoe is not between a man and his wife. Traditionally the first kiss should always be between people with different hair colour and like holly and ivy, in some places it is considered unlucky to bring mistletoe into the house before Christmas Eve. Perhaps the most important rule is that each time a kiss is taken under the mistletoe a berry should be picked from the sprig. When all the berries are gone then the kissing has to stop. Shame! .
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on seasonal kissing