Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1917-12-21
10y IDA M. BRUCE In Utica elobe.)

| IN NE% NllIlullCt, SbLllC CIluIllIIll
MN young lady beneath
| NNE\ bough of miStletoe in or
~ der TO win a "mistleto,
~ kiss" he is of the opinion
ina ne Is Turing the young lady into
a situation where, by the decree of al
ancient custom, she must forfeit tn,
aforesaid kiss.
| rranKneSS compels me to confeS:
that the Turing is done by the young
lady. For their Christmas parties they
secure n suspend the mistletoe ant
n Is indeed a most sedate and rather
chilling young person who will not
during the festivities, allow herself tc
De "lured' beneath the mistletoe. And
all this Is quite within her rights. II
Is a custom she inherited from ances.
tors who dwelt In Britain or Scandi.
nayla, centuries ago. Today the mis-.
tletoe and the mistletoe kiss are as.
ISOLATED only with Christmas. But,
In truth, mistletoe had Its 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 s~emibarbaric 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 a 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 maldens 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, 20 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 n among them who had
ought to do with women.
And so, through the peculiar in1u-
Of the mistletoe, the maidens
won back the young men, but the GUS
tom Of hanging up m1stletoe 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
of mistletoe, that pale-berried
parasite of the forest. One of the best
these legends Is that of Baldur. son
Wodin, In the days when those
gods are said to have walked
and talked with the mortals on earth,
did Jupiter and Apollo and Diana
md Latonia and the other gods and
yoddesses of Olympus.
Baldur was the Scandinavian god of
sunshine and summer and was nat.
lrally beloved by all except Loki, the
,od Of hearth fires. For, while the
people rushed out of doors to see Bal.
when he brought the summer sun.
hey had no use for Loki until the
lext winter, consequently Loki dis.
liked Baldur.
Mama, goddess of the blossoms and
wife of Baldur, dreamed terrible
.reams of the death of Baldur, and
he went to the great god Wodin. her
ather-in-law, and told him and he was
troubled, But messengers
'ere sent forth throughout the world