The celtic Druids, who worshipped
the Norse gods Odin, Thor and Baldur, regarded mistletoe as sacred.
Druid priests cut it from the tree on which it grew with a golden sickle
and handed it to the people, calling it All-Heal. To hang it over a doorway
or in a room was to offer goodwill to visitors. Kissing under the mistletoe
was a pledge of friendship. Mistletoe is still forbidden in most Christian
churches because of its Pagan associations, but it has continued to have
a special place in home celebrations.
Mistletoe was thought to be
sacred by ancient Europeans. Druid priests employed it in their sacrifices
to the gods while Celtic people felt it possessed miraculous healing powers.
In fact, in the Celtic language mistletoe means "all-heal." It not only
cured diseases, but could also render poisons harmless, make humans and
animals prolific, keep one safe from witchcraft, protect the house from
ghosts and even make them speak. With all of this, it was thought to bring
good luck to anyone privileged to have it.
Norsemen offer us a beautiful
symbolic myth about mistletoe. The story goes that Mistletoe was the sacred
plant of Frigga, goddess of love and the mother of Balder, the god of the
summer sun. Balder had a dream of death which greatly alarmed his mother,
for should he die, all life on earth would end. In an attempt to keep this
from happening, Frigga went at once to air, fire, water, earth, and every
animal and plant seeking a promise that no harm would come to her son.
Balder now could not be hurt by anything on earth or under the earth. But
Balder had one enemy, Loki, god of evil and he knew of one plant that Frigga
had overlooked in her quest to keep her son safe. It grew neither on the
earth nor under the earth, but on apple and oak trees. It was lowly mistletoe.
So Loki made an arrow tip of the mistletoe, gave to the blind god of winter,
Hoder, who shot it , striking Balder dead. The sky paled and all things
in earth and heaven wept for the sun god. For three days each element tried
to bring Balder back to life. He was finally restored by Frigga, the goddess
and his mother. It is said the tears she shed for her son turned into the
pearly white berries on the mistletoe plant and in her joy Frigga kissed
everyone who passed beneath the tree on which it grew. The story ends with
a decree that who should ever stand under the humble mistletoe, no harm
should befall them, only a kiss, a token of love.
What could be more natural
than to translate the spirit of this old myth into a Christian way of thinking
and accept the mistletoe as the emblem of that Love which conquers Death?
Its medicinal properties, whether real or imaginary, make it a just emblematic
of that Tree of Life, the leaves of which are for the healing of the nations
thus paralleling it to the Virgin Birth of Christ.
Later, the eighteenth-century
English credited mistletoe not withmiraculous healing powers, but with
a certain magical appeal called a kissing ball. At Christmas time a young
lady standing under a ball of mistletoe, brightly trimmed with evergreens,
ribbons, and ornaments, cannot refuse to be kissed. Such a kiss could mean
deep romance or lasting friendship and goodwill. If the girl remained unkissed,
she cannot expect not to marry the following year. Whether we believe it
or not, it always makes for fun and frolic at Christmas celebrations.
