Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1914-12-24
MISTLETOE HISTORY
Scattering Of Plant Sacred Rite
In DruidlCal Religious
Festivals.
Also Considered q Potent Remedy for
IIIe, q Belief Which still Exists In
Some Of the Remote Places
Of Europe.

A XSh BpT0yb Oh mibtiolV0 ~ NAAaSS
Ia mas time, but few OF ui
NW4W know the history Of It as o
N.Y. Yuletide symbol. Pretty
80 girls are kissed under 1t and
a great deal OF fun and nonsense is
carried on apropos Of 1t. but no one
mtops TO think OF how ancient dec
grafton It 10 or how sacred 1t was
once thought to be.
Almost everybody has vague
knowledge that the Druids OF old had
something to do with the gathering OF
.,uistIetoe, but Just what that some
thing YVES 10 not clear to the average
mind.
" aThe fact IL that the ancient Celts In
their druidical religion had two great
Festivals, one in June and the other In
.December, tho latter being equivalent
~ our Christmas. In both OF these
Ereat festivals the gathering OF the
Snistietue was q sacred rite.
Pliny In his Natural History" de-
-ncribes the ceremony. Speaking Of the
>-Druids' worship Of the oak. he says:
~sThey believe that whatever grows on
these trees is sent from heaven and Is
n sign that the tree has been chosen
nv the god himself. The mistletoe Is
vory rarely to be met with, but when
n IL found they gather 1t with solemn
reremony. This they do especially on
che sixth day Of the moon, because by
the sixth day the moon has plenty OF
vigor and has not run half its course.
"After the preparations have been
made for q sacrifice and feast under
che tree they hail 1t as the universal
healer and bring to the spot two white
bulls whose horns have never been
bound before. A priest clad in white
robe climbs the tree and with golden
sickle cuts the mistletoe, which Is
caught in a white cloth. Then they
sacrifice the victims, praying that God
may make his own gift to prosper
with those upon whom he has be-
slowed It.
'"They believe that a potion pre-
pared from mistletoe will increase
GuGlI HOCkB duu Lu0J bnO PAAAb ~ -
remedy against all poison"
It was believed to be a remedy for
many ills, and this belief is still to be
found in many remote places in Eu-
rope. In Holstein, for example, the
mistletoe is regarded as healing
remedy for wounds, and in Lacaune,
France, 1t is always administered by
che native people as an antidote for
poison.
In the northeast Of Scotland people
used to cut withes Of mistletoe at the
March full moon; these they bent in
circles and kept for year to cure hec-
tic fevers and other troubles. In some
parts of Germany the mistletoe is es-
pecially esteemed as remedy for the
ailments of children, who sometimes
wear 1t hung around the neck as an
amulet
In Sweden on Midsummer eve mis-
8letoe is diligently sought after, the
people believing 1t to be possessed Of
gmany mystic qualities, and that II a
mprig OF it 10 attached to the ceiling
sDf the dwelling house. the horses stall
or the cows crib, the trolls will then
be powerless to injure either man or
beast Branches Of the plant are com.
monty seen in farm houses hanging
from the ceiling to protect the dwell
ings from all harm, but especially from
fire, and persons afflicted with the fall
ing sickness think they can ward off
all attacks of the malady by carrying
about with them knife which has
handle of mistletoe.
like their Swedish neighbors, many
German peasants consider the mistle-
toe powerful charm against evil spir-
ats. A similar belief seems to have
fingered among the Romans, whose re,
ligion at q very early date was some
what similar to that of the Druids.
Whan Aeneas descended into Hades he