The Wichita daily eagle., 1897-12-19


the festival had arrived
Before he ascendei the tree hymns
! were sung and prayers offered to the Su-
prene Being. while an altar was raised
on which was burned a portion OF the
bread and vine, the res- being divided
among the assisting priests. Then came
| the ascent OF the tree and the cutting OF
the missletoe by means OF golden hook
or sacred knife.
It fell into linen cloths held by those
| below. Afser the gathering, the bulls
were sacrificed. and the supreme pontiff.
| lifting ehis voice and raising his hands
to heaven. prayed that God would per-
nit His benediction TO rest upon the gift
He was about 10 hestow upon the people
| then prostra,e on the ground" The
plant was :nen distributed in small guam
titles TO the people as remedy against
| evil and a symbol and promise OF all
good. The ovate, or physician OF the
| tribe took what was needed for medicine.
while some was sent 10 he temples and
! some 20 the chieftains. who wore II round
| this is found IN places where small pieces
OF il are set in silver and worn round the
| necks OF children
| But the tree on which Ii grew, as well
! as the mistlesoe itsel;. was supposed 10
| possess unusual virtue, and having dis
| trfbuted the plant. the tree was cut down
and given in small legs to the people for
| firewood. for as long as charred portion
| remained il was endowed with virtue
and power over evil The firewood and
| mistletoe were carried home in process
sion amid shours OF JOY. incantstions and
| prayers. after which there wasrs reii-
gious feast. Of which all were at liberty
20 partake. The mistletoe thus gather
ed was hung over dwellings 20 protect
| them from harm. 10 propItiate the syl-
van deities. and TO ward of thunder. for
| nothing evil had power over The sacred
plant. In the Netherlands il Is still look
ed upon as A preventive 90 nightmare. i,
being hung over the bed for that pur-
pose. and II has been used largely in
sorcery. In Switzerland IT'S name is
''donuer besen." thunder besom." and
| there. as well ss In Sweden. it is SIN
! hung up in houses 10 protect them from
| fire
| In Wales 1t is called ''the merry tree, "
''the tree OF the high summit" he tree
Of purge gold" This latter evidently re-
fers 10 the color it attains with age, and
seems 10 De what Virgil meant by "the
golden branch through whose celestial
! powers alone man was able 20 return
from the lower world Thus. when
Aeneas wished 20 descend to the infer
nal regions in search OF his father, and
I by the help Of two mysterious doves had
| found thep liant. he. when Charon dis
puted his right TO pass.
showed the bough that lay beneath the
vest,
At once his rising wrath was hushed to
| rest,
At once stood reconcird the ruthless god!
And bowed with reverence to the golden
rod"
Again in Scandinavian legend its mys-
! tic are called into play. Here Balder.
the god of poetry and song. tells his
mother, Frigga, Of Dream fore,elling
! pending doom, Frigga invokes the pow
| ers of nature-fre. air. earth and water,
and animals and plants as welI-ex-
tracing from them a vow that they will
not harm her son. BaIder then takes
his place fearlessly amorg the battles OF
the gods, sustaining no injury, though
in the midst OF showers OF arrows. But
Loki. the god OF evil and Bakers enc
my, determined TO discover the cause Of
| his invulnerability. DISCUSSES himself as
an old woman and visits Frigys. He
! flatters her. praises her sons valor and
I good torture, and al last extracts her
| secret from chr. Sne tells him thai
nothing can harm Balder, as all the pow
ers Of nature have taken oath u do him
no hurt. There is only one little plant.
she tells him. % which she did not sp-
peal. and that was 50 Insignificant =
would be impossible for IL 10 harm her
son. Loki irquires the name e the plant
and finds IL "a feeble shoot, growing on
the bark OF the oak, with scarcely any
soil" Quiskiy ne procures some of the
mistIetoe, and. appearing before Holder.
the blind god. the god OF darkness. ~no
sits In the great assembly. says:
Why do you not contend with The ar
rows 0f Balder?'
Il am blind. ard have no arms" IS the
reply.
Then L1<i gives him sn arrow made o.,
the mistletoe. and says:
"Bslder is before thee
Holder lets go the arrow. and Bslder
falls dead.
The oak long held - place among the
mystic trees. and 60 injure one was CON
sidered an act a sscrilIge, the last ~lir-
vival Of this being expressed in the say
ing that "to cut lakewood is unfOriu-
nate" An instance is given as iate as
1867 where the cutting down o. sa oak.
20 which the mystic plant mad attached
Itself. was followed BY mos; dire con
sequences The m!s;lstOe WAS cut %
end sold 20 aDothecaries in London. but
o.. those who cut q one became Lame.
Two others each iost an eye. while the
man Wao cut down the tree broke MS
lsK.
But all legend Goes rot give tie oak
as the frst nome - thNnis7is,0e. There
we're taose who eb.ieve3 that 4 vss the
forbidien tree in the misst % the Car
den % Eden. the -ree of f1s "knoEie1ze
Il good and evil. w1iie ssll others have
claimed that it vas once a forest tree.
but the cross Aaviax been msde - is
WOOD, Il oas. since ne cruclhxlon. been
onIy A parasite. Just Ehy y has been
ecclezi icsliy nnnanfcsfe1 ard eT-
cluded from csurco decorations a. j. d.
fctlls 20 say. Tasre - an instance O.
record - - having oGcs beer .sksu in
procession a. me nizser zlssF - YORK
Casae1rs,. 5u1 .nmeSisisly ssksB out
again. Rasrsuls7a : general i15glxsnse
sn5 psndsn y sins vas givszi a. tae city
es:es Another insane = on r~coTd o,
its having once be~n found zrnonE i5e
decorations = an E1zis,3 csgrc1. but
-. - - 80 -f.~u---vsz- s--,.-,. = s..r..