The Penn's Grove record., 1911-12-15

consider that you were perpetuatlng
one of the most hallowed n exalted
of religious ordinances handed down
through the ages in rendering sucn
tender homage to this orphan plant
of %wondrous BIRTH"
and would it not surprise you TO
learn that our very word marry
and that our most impassioned OF the
graces of Terpsichore-the waltz
are additionally enmeshed in the can
ny tendrils of the pearly-berried mis-
tletoe?
The mistletoe is a freak plant, a
parasite or excrescence. In its EN-
bryonic period it is said to defy the
laws of gravitation by pushing Its
radicles in the opposite direction to
the generality of plants. Not only its
berries but it's leaves grow in clusters
of three united on n stock, hence
its sacred place in religious rites as
q symbol of the Holy Trinity.
1t was believed by the Druids and
other ancient sects in northern and
western Europe that any tree to
which the mistletoe attaches itself is
selected by God himself for special
favor, and that all that grows on 1t Is
sent direct from heaven.
Contrary to the general belief, it is
found more rarely on the oak tree
than on the apple, ash, elm, poplar,
willow and hawthorn, and 1t is due to
this scarcity that it was vested with
exceptional reverence when discovered
clinging to the sacred tree Of the
Druids-a name derived from the
Greek word drus, or druce, meaning
an oak.
Says Pliny: when it (mistletoe
growing Upon an oak) is discovered 1t
is treated with great ceremony. They
called it by a name (guthil, or gutheyl
good heal), which in their language
signifies the curer of all ills" After
they have well and duly prepared
their festival cheer under the tree,
they bring hither a milk-white COW
and a bullock, hitherto unyoked; then
the priests in white vesture climb into
the tree and prune off the sacred herb
with a gold hook, bill or sickle, the
branches falling beneath into a white
sagum sheet. They must never touch
the ground. The common people re
main at a distance, formed in a circle
while the priests approach with trem
bling 1--WE the bloody victims, which
were carried around the omen fire
After this the animals are slaughtered
as a sacrifice-doubtless to the god
dess of fecundity, for the mistletoe II
a symbol of the prolific.
In the myths of all nations we FIND
a holy tree" a world tree" Among
the Druids, as well as among othe,
creeds, this tree was the oak; and |
It a very interesting thing to know
that our word church-from kirk
finds its root in quervus, the generit
name for the oak. This tree wa
cherished as the mother and nurse o
man, and was supposed to be tn
dwelling place of the food-dispensini
god. The ominous rustling of tn
leaves and the mysterious notes o
the feathered songsters signalized tn
presence of the divinity to the awe
struck votaries who consulted the In
dwelling oracle, burning odoriferou
fumes in homage. The Dodoneal
oak and its oracle are celebrated Il
epic, myth and story, its mystic ritua
being z~ealously perpetuated by tn
Druids. They danced circular dance
in consecrated groves, and the rem
nants Of an old chant still preserve
by the Celts-Hey Derry Down Deg
"in a circle the oak moves around
reveals the archtype of our moder
waltz.
Another reminder that "the grove