Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1914-12-24
M|ST[ET0E HISTORY
Gathering of Plant Sacred Rite
in Druidical Religious
Festivals.
Also Considered Potent Remedy for
Ills, Belief Which Still Exists In
Some OF the Remote Places
Of Europe.

W. Yuletide symbol. Pretty
- girls are kissed under 1t and
a great deal of fun and nonsense Is
carried on apropos of it, but no one
stops to think of how ancient dec
grafton it is or how sacred it was
once thought to be.
Almost everybody has a vague
knowledge that the Druids Of old had
something to do with the gathering OF
mistletoe, but just what that some
thing was is not clear to the average
mind.
The fact is that the ancient Celts In
their druidical religion had two great
festivals, one in June and the other in
December, the latter being equivalent
to our Christmas. In both OF these
great festivals the gathering of the
mistletoe was a sacred rite.
Pliny in his Natural History" de-
scribes the ceremony. Speaking of the
Druids' worship of the oak, he says:
"They believe that whatever grows on
these trees is sent from heaven and is
a sign that the tree has been chosen
by the god himself. The mistletoe is
very rarely to be met with, but when
it is found they gather 1t with solemn
ceremony. This they do especially on
the 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 a sacrifice and feast under
the tree they hail it 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 1t.
"They believe that a potion pre-
pared from mistletoe will increase
their fiocks and that the plant is a
remedy against all poison"
1t was believed to be 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 a healing
remedy for wounds, and in Lacaune.
France. it is always administered by
the native people as an antidote for
poison. They apply the plant to the
stomach Of the patient and give him
solution of it to drink as well. The
Gaelic word for mistletoe is IAN t'nil
ioc," which means all healer.
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 mistietoe is es-
pecially esteemed as remedy for the
ailments of children, who sometimes
wear it hung around the neck as an
amulet.
In Sweden on Midsummer eve mis-
tletoe is diligently sought after. the
people believing 1t to be possessed OF
many mystic qualities, and that IL
sprig OF 1t is attached to the ceiling
Of the dwelling house. the horses stall
or the cows crib, the trolls will then
be powerless to iniure 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 a knife which has a
handle of mistletoe.
A Swedish remedy for other COM
plants is to hang sprig Of mistletoe
round the sufferers neck or to make
him wear on his finger a ring made
from the plant. Moreover they fash
ion diyining rods OF mistletoe or of
four different kinds Of wood, one OF
which must be mistletoe. The treas
ure seeker places the rod on the
ground after shutdown. and when It
rests directly over the treasure the
rod begins to move as II it we're alive.
Like their Swedish neighbors, many
German peasants consider the mistle.
toe powerful charm against evil spir-
its. A similar belief seems to have
fingered among the Romans, whose re.
ligion at a very early date was some
what similar to that Of the Druids.
When Aeneas descended into Hades he
gathered to protect himself from the
internal powers branch of mistletoe,
which Vergil calls the golden bough.