History of Mistletoe
The mistletoe, native to the forests of Northern Europe, is a parasite implant on deciduous and evergreen trees which produces yellowish flowers and waxy white berries. Its closest relative in North America has yellowish flowers and waxy white berries, and is also commonly known as mistletoe. Notably, it is the official floral emblem of the State of Oklahoma.
The name mistletoe came about from two Anglo – Saxon words: mistel which means dung and tan which means twig. And so, mistletoe quite literally means dung on a twig. Mistletoe infers that life can spring up from dung. This leeching plant grows and thrives on the dung of birds on the branches of trees. As a result, mistletoe became the symbol of vivacity and fertility.
The Christmas and New Year tradition of embracing for the bashful and kissing for the brazen under a sprig of mistletoe dates back to olden Britain. Also, it was prevalent among the Druids who were the learned class of the Celts.
The Druids celebrated the beginning of winter ( winter solstice ) by collecting mistletoe and burning it as a sacrifice to their pagan gods. To ensure a year of good faith, peace, and familial harmony, they hung sprigs of mistletoe around their homes. Twigs of the evergreen displayed visibly outside their homes welcomed relatives, friends, neighbors and weary travelers and the mistletoe within encouraged them to embrace shamelessly. Feuding parties or foes who happened to meet under trees that contained mistletoe were required to lay aside their weapons and settle their differences.
The Druids believed that the mistletoe had healing properties. It was often prescribed for female infertility and as an antidote for poisons of all kinds. The gathering of mistletoe was a ceremony by the highest priests using gold knives. Such a carefree rite of harvesting mistletoe is dramatically portrayed in Bellinis opera Norma.
The Celtic Druids were not the only people who ascribed so many marvelous attributes to the mistletoe, the Scandinavians, who called it mistilteinn; also believed that it was the plant of peace, the plant of hope and the plant of harmony. The Scandinavian lore claims that the mistletoe belonged to Frigga, the Scandinavian star of inclination, and the embracing and kissing custom is thought to have come from this notion.
Mistletoe was also used for a decorative green in the Roman Empire during their feasts of Natalis Solis Invicti and Saturnalia. Due to its ties to idolatrous festivities, the Church banned the use of mistletoe when Christmas on December 25 was officially recognized as the birth of Christ in the the fourth century.
As an alternative to the mistletoe, the holly was ironically proposed even thought it too had strong associations with atheist rituals. Nevertheless, the hollys white flowers were to signify the purity of Christ, the acerbic leaves were to symbolize the thorns in Christs crown and the red berries as drops of His blood. Thus, the Holly became a Nativity tradition, but, surprisingly enough, the churchs ban on mistletoe which was in effect throughout the Middle Ages still persists today.