Carrizozo outlook. [volume] (Carrizozo, N.M.) 1910-1945, 1917-12-21
How the MiStLetOe
Came to Mean
Kissing

We decorate our homes with sprays
of mlstletoe Mt Christmas time, but
few of us know the history of II as II
Yuletlde symbol. Pretty girls are
kissed under II and II great deal of fun
and nonsense are carried on nprOpos of
It, but no one stops to think of how
ancient n decoration Il Is or how sacred
II was once thought to be. The ancient
Celts In their Druldlcal 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 mlstletOe was n sncred rite.
The Drulds believed that n potion
prepared from mistletoe would In
crense their ilOcks and that the plant
was n remedy against all poison. II
was believed to be II curative for many
ills, and this belief IL still To be found
In many remote places In Europe. In
Lacaune, France, for example, II Is
always administered by the nutlve
dwellers ms an nntldote for poison.
In the northeast of Scotland people
used to cut wlthes of mlstletoe at the
March full moon these they bent in
circles and kept for u year to cure
hectic feyers and other troubles. In
Sweden on midsummer eve mistlotoe
Is diligently sought after, the people
believing II to be possessed of many
mystic qualities, and that II n sprlg
Of Il Is attached to the ceiling OF the
dwelling house, the horses stall or the
cows crib, the trolls will then he pow
erless to lnjure either man or benst.
Many German peasants also consider
the mlstletoe n powerful charm against
evil spirits. A similar belief seems to
have fingered among the Romans,
When Aenens descended into Ilades
he gathered, to protect himself from
the Internal powers, a branch of mis-
tletoe, which vergil calls the golden
bOugh.
The custom Of kissing under the mis-
tletoe goes back to the days when
Thor and Odln and all the other gods
of the Northland walked and talked
with men. Bnldur, the son of Odin
and Frigga. the Apollo of Scandlna-
vinn mythology, the flaxen-hnired god
of sunshine and Its attendant bless.
lngs, was loved by all earthly and
heavenly beings snve one-LOki, the
god Of earthly fire and It's attendant
evils.
How of all the things animate and
inanlmate In the world, except the
surly mlstletoe, swore never to harm
the sun god and how Loki slew Baldur
with a branch Of It, has been told with
beautiful poetic power by Matthew
Arnold.
In Cancellation, hoping to s0othe the
passionate sorrow Of the mother, Frig-
Ga, they dedicated the mlstletoe TO her.
And now sin and sorrow had hallowed
Il for henceforth II was to grow. not
as n symbol Of bitterness and hatred,
but as n sign of tenderness and love.
But the gods decreed that II was Ia
stand for these things only so long as
II touched not Lokl's kingdom, the soil
and for this reason II Is eve seen
growing on the ground and we our,
selves always hang It high on the raft.
ers or chandeliers. And now that II
was the plant OF love, the custom arose
for enemies to become friends under
the mlstletoe; for lovers 10 pledge
their troth beneath II; and for those
who met there TO kiss as a sign Of az
%fectlonate fellowship.