Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1914-01-02
The LEGEND OF
The MISTLETOE,

"HE hanging Of the mistletoe at
this coming Christmastide in.
vites the usual tour across the
mystic, musty pages Of the
cast. This branch of the holidays
decoration treasures within 1t sweets
that to the young people are most
tempting 1t was the same ten centu.
ries ago, and 80 1t will be for centuries
to come.
While their iadyships were waiting
And their lordships were debating
There were other gonuhectiorS- going on
II Is hardly worth while stating
That acoustic osculating
Baptized that British Christmas before
dawn.
The sacredness of the mistletoe has
always been respected, particularly by
the Britons and the Scandlnavians. II
was part Of the religion Of the
druids, and they regarded 1t with the
utmost veneration, but restricted their
worship Of 1t to the plant when found
growing on the oak. The oak was the
favorite tree of their divinity. Tulane,
which the books say appears to have
been the same as the Phoenlcian god
Baal. or the sun, was prayed to under
different names by the early pagans.
At the period Of the winter solstice,
which was about Christmas time,
great festival was celebrated In honor
of Tulane. When this anniversary ar
rived the Britons, accompanied by
their priests. the druids, went forth
with glorious pomp and jollity to gath
er the mistletoe, which they believed
70 possess wonderful curative powers.
With them they took two white bulls
and sometimes human beings to be
sacrificed
Upon finding the oak with the mis-
tletoe clinging to It the chief druid.
clad In white, the emblem of purity,
assembled the tree and with golden
knife cut the vine. AS 1t fell It was
caught In the folds of the robe of an.
other priest Then the bulls and some
times the humans were offered to Tu-
tame. and various festivities followed.
The mistletoe thus gathered was cut
Into small portions and distributed
among the people. who hung It over
the entrances to their dwellings, to
notify the sylvan delties that they
were welcome to shelter during the
season of frost and cold.
These rites were retained throughout
the Roman dominion In Britain anS
for long while under the Jules. Sax
ons and Angles.
The most beautiful legend regarding
the mistletoe and the one from which
1t derives It's mystic powers is of Scan
dinavian origin. Bladder, the god of
poetry and eloquence and second son
OF odin and Freja, had a dream in
which II was lntimated that he would
be killed In battle He communicated
this dream to his mother. who was
very fond OF him, and she. TO protect
him, invoked the powers Of nature--fire,
earth, air and water-as wen 81 sn,.
mails and plants and obtained an oath
from them that they would a., poIdey
no hurt With his invulnerali,,tv 40.
snred, as he thought he entarad tho
combats OF the gods and was tary ,uc.
cessful In staying all who a. mo FOR.
ward TO engage him. They st.ro,, bir,
80 'us' arrows nut ne pincied them
out and derided his antagonIsts as
they fell MORALLY wounded besoro MIN.
WIS "pout tilne LOT Ioke, his arch
enemS, TO challenge him or ST. Tar the
ignominy of cowardice, but H. was
a schemer
- su,seu niuseir as am old wo
s n ""., determining TO discover the
800 ~ o"Iuer lmmnniF from
ed the mother with eOmplime nry re.