Hanging mistletoe over a room access during the vacation season is a tradition around the world . But have you ever intercept to think about the story behind it ? Where did it fall from ? Why do wekissjust because we ’re stomach underneath some particular shrubbery ?
In this clause , you ’ll determine out how the flora Old World mistletoe grows and how it spreads . You ’ll learn about ancient mass ’s intellect of biology and how they put it to use in their stories and myth . The next time you resist under mistletoe , you ’ll have a new understanding of this intriguing plant life .
Now let ’s hop-skip into history . The word " mistletoe " is gain from the Anglo - Saxon Logos , " mistel " ( dung ) and " tan " ( twig ) –misteltanis the Old English interlingual rendition of mistletoe . It ’s thought that the industrial plant is name after wench dung on a branch [ source : mwrop.org ] .
One of the beliefs in the early centuries was that mistletoe grew from birds . People used to believe that , rather than just passing through birds in the chassis of seeds , the mistletoe plant resulted from birds landing in the outgrowth of trees .
So how did this works become entwined withChristmas ? The December holiday has assimilate a wide of the mark grasp of customs duty and custom from many cultures , and mistletoe is one of them . For representative , one French custom held that the cause mistletoe is venomous is because it was growing on a tree diagram that was used to make the crown of thorns on which Jesus was crucified . Because of its presence , the story run that the plant was anathemize and denied a place to inhabit and grow on Earth , incessantly to be a sponge [ source : Saupe ] .
Characteristics of Mistletoe
Mistletoe is aparasitic plantthat grows on tree , peculiarly hardwood trees like oak andapple . Aparasiteis a flora or animal that postulate another plant or animal to survive . As Old World mistletoe grow on a tree it use its roots to invade a tree diagram ’s bark , which allow mistletoe to assimilate the tree ’s food . Sometimes , mistletoe can harm a Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and induce deformities in a tree diagram ’s branches , but ordinarily it does n’t kill its horde . If the host go , the Loranthus europaeus die . Phoradendron flavescensandViscum albumare the mintage assort with Christmas .
Mistletoe can produce its own food byphotosynthesis(autotropic ) , and exist on its own , but it prefers to grab water and nutrients from its emcee tree ( heterotrophic ) . It ’s common for a mistletoe plant to grow on top of another mistletoe plant . If that happens , researcher from the University of California , Riverside foundthat the mistletoe plant may " share the tree diagram " and rely more on photosynthesis for food to minify the harm make to the master of ceremonies tree diagram .
Mistletoe is easy to tell apart in the winter because its leaves stay fleeceable all twelvemonth long . In the United States , it grows in tropical and subtropical part ( from New Jersey to Florida ) . Mistletoe has pointy , green , leathery leave , with waxy Charles Edward Berry that are either red or white . The works ’s heyday can be a wide variety of colors , from bright red to chickenhearted to green .
skirt eat the berries that maturate on mistletoe and eventually leave their droppings at their favorite hangout spot — a tree branch . The droppings arrest seeds that sprout roots into the tree offshoot . The birds also aid pass around the seminal fluid by wipe their beaks on the tree bark to clean off the viscid seeds after they ’ve consume . The seeds are unenviable because of the juice inside the berry . This stickiness help the seeds last out in the tree diagram rather than falling to the dry land . Within six workweek , the Old World mistletoe industrial plant begins grow , although it read several years to bloom .
Mistletoe Myths
raft ofmythssurround Old World mistletoe . For example , Vikingsdating back to the 8th century believed that mistletoe had the power to raise humans from the dead , relating to the Resurrection of Christ of Balder ( also known as Baldur or Baldr ) , the god of the summer sun .
Balder had a dream that he was going to die . His female parent , Frigg , the goddess of married couple and birthrate and wife of Odin , was excited about his dream and said that if he died , everything on Earth would die . To ensure her son ’s safety , Frigg go away to all the elements — air , fire , water and dry land , as well as to all of the fauna and plant — and asked them not to kill Balder . In much the same way that a child would be tease these years if their female parent ask kid not to pick on her child , Balder was rag and had thing thrown at him . It was thought that , because of his female parent ’s might , he was resistant to damage .
Balder ’s only opposition , Loki , find a loophole in Frigg ’s request for her son ’s safety : Loranthus europaeus . As we know , it grows on the tree diagram it bind itself to , and therefore has no roots of its own and could not be affected by Frigg ’s petition . Loki made a poisoned flit with mistletoe and fob the blind brother of Balder , Hoder , into shoot the arrow that killed Balder .
For three days , all the elements tried their hard to bring Balder back to life but flush it . Finally , the tears that Frigg cried for her dead boy convert the red mistletoe berry to livid , raising Balder from the deadened . Frigg then reversed mistletoe ’s bad report and kissed everyone who walk underneath it out of gratitude for getting her son back [ author : Reshetiloff ] .
The Miracle Worker
Another myth in mistletoe ’s past comes from Britain . In the first century , the Druids in Britain conceive that mistletoe could do miracle , from provide fertility to humans and animals to healing disease and protect mass from witchcraft .
The Druids would bring down mistletoe off oak Tree in a particular ceremonial occasion five sidereal day after the Modern moonshine follow thewinter solstice . The Druids believe that the false mistletoe would become contaminate if it touched the ground , so they used a special white cloth to catch it . The Druids then give two white bulls while prayer were articulate , and priests yield out the Viscum album sprig to the people , who believe they would then be keep back safe from malign spirits and storms [ seed : Reshetiloff ] . Modern Druids still regard mistletoe as special .
Kissing Under the Berries
Mistletoe is also said to be a sexual symbolization , because of the consistency and gloss of the berry succus as well as the feeling that it is anaphrodisiac , the " soul " of the oak tree ( or other tree ) from which it grows . The line of descent of the custom of kissing under the Viscum album is vague . However , the custom may have stemmed from either the Viking association of the flora with Frigg ( the goddess of marriage ) or from the ancient opinion that mistletoe was related tofertility . Another explanation for the tradition is that it stem from the festival of Saturnalia , a democratic mid - December celebration in ancient Rome [ source : BBC.com ] .
The correctmistletoe etiquetteis for the person giving the kiss to off one berry when they plant a osculation . When all the berries are gone , there ’s no more kissing permitted underneath that plant .
Legend has it that a duo who kisses underneath mistletoe will have good lot , but a span neglecting to perform the ritual will have high-risk portion . Specifically , it is trust that a pair kissing under the false mistletoe control themselves of marriage and a foresighted , happy living , while an single person not kissed under the Loranthus europaeus will stay individual for another year .
Want some more mistletoe lore ? At one point , maidens may have been encouraged to target a sprig of the plant under their pillow at night in the same manner a fry places his or her lose tooth in prevision of a sojourn from the tooth queen . rather of exchanging dentition for money , however , the twig of mistletoe allowed women to dream of their future dear . Burning a mistletoe plant was also think to foretell a char ’s marital bliss , or miss thereof . A mistletoe that burned steadily vaticinate a level-headed marriage , while volatile flame may have doomed a womanhood to an ill - suit partner .
While mistletoe is widely viewed as a symbol of erotic love and fertility , it also symbolize pacification . Ancient tales secernate of enemy who come across each other underneath trees expect mistletoe . The foeman lay down their arm , embrace and agree to a truce until the next mean solar day [ source : Perry ] . This act of good will is yet another hypothesis for why we buss under mistletoe : abstaining from violence and exchanging salutation under the plant life may have cue the custom of kissing .
