The Benson signal., 1917-12-29

w hW@@k chalance, some charming
MHW young lady beneath a
NKl& bOugh of mistletOe in Or
&SNAn, der to win a "miStletOe
N%ssss'Esc 60 kiss he is of the opinion
that ne Is Turing the young lady into
situation where, by the decree of an
ancient custom, she must forfeit the
aforesaid kiss.
FrankneSS cOmpels me to confess
that the Turing is done by the young
lady. For their Christmas parties they
secure and suspend the mistletoe and
she is indeed most sedate and rather
chilling young person who will not,
during the festivities, allow herself to
be "lured" beneath the mistletoe. And
all this is quite within her rights. 1t
Is custom she inherited from ances-
tors who dwelt in Britain or Scandi-
nav1a, centuries ago. Today the mis-
tletoe and the mistletoe kiss are as
sOciated only with Christmas. But,
in truth, mistletoe had it's significance
centuries before the birth in Beth
lehem which gave us Christmas.
Scandinavians claim that miStletOe
customs originated with them, but
there is an English legend antedating
those of Scandinavia, which tells how
the girls of semibarbaric Britain, in
the golden age of the Druids, did them
selves hang up boughs of mistletOe
and lure young men into their en-
brace.
According to this legend Chelm, an
ancient high priest, had great temple
in the forest where he taught young
men to become priests. So popular
did this temple become that half the
young men Of the countryside were
leaving their homes and people, and
becoming Druid priests.
There was great need of the young
men in the camps to hunt and fish and
to plant, and, above all, there were so
many more maidens than young men
left that they decided something must
be done to reclaim them. The girls
sought an ancient witch and asked her
help.
"Pick yonder mistletoe that grows
without roots upon the trees, go to
the edge of the forest round about the
tree temple of Chelm and hang it
there all around and about the forest.
Stand in waiting there, well hidden,
until the young men coming forth from
the forest each night to bring food to
the temple, are under the mistletOe,
then step forth. They will clasp you
and kiss you whereupon do you scream
right Justify and the young men shall
be yours"
How the Girls Won Back the Men.
The maidens followed this advice
and hung the mistletoe in festoons
about the edge of the forest. Stand
ing under it, the young men felt i'm
PEELED to kiss the maidens who stepped
forth to greet them. The maidens,
as instructed, screamed Justify and
Chelm and other Of the old Druid
priests rushed forth, fearing their
young men were being murdered.
When the good old Druids saw the
young men embracing the maidens
they drove them away, for they would
have no one among them who had
ought to do with women.
And so, through the peculiar infiu-
ence of the mistletoe, the maidens
won back the young men, but the GUS
tom of hanging up mistletOe was kept
up. Later after the introduction Of
Christianity, the custom was added to
the Christmas festivities.
Christmas Festivities.
From Scandinavian mythology comes
the weird but interesting story of the
origin of mistletOe, that pale-berried
parasite of the forest. One of the best
of these legends is that of Baldur, son
Of Wodin, in Hhe days when those
strange gods gre said to have walked
as did Jupiter and Apollo and Diana
and Latonia and the other gods and
goddesses of Olympus.
BaIdur was the Scandinavian god of
sunshine and summer and was nat
urally beloved by all except Loki, the
god of hearth fires. For, while the
people rushed out of doors to see Bal
dur when he brought the summer sun,
they had no use for LOki until the
next winter, consequently Loki dis
liked Baldur.
Mamma, goddess of the blossoms and
wife of Baldur, dreamed terrible
dreams of the death of BaIdur, and
she went to the great god Wodin, her
father-in-law, and told him and he was
greatly troubled. But messengers
were sent forth throughout the world