The Carlisle independent., 1917-12-20

tIi G5Fzrt mis#letoe in order that any standing beneath it might be kissed by the first person who caught her there.
 Few if any growing things are the subject of as many ancient legends, customs and beliefs as the mistletoe. The fact that the ancient Celts in their druldical religion had two great festi- vals. one in June and the other in De cember, the latter being equivalent to our Christmas. In both of these great festivals the gathering of the mistle- toe was q sacred rite.
 Piiny 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 it with solemn ceremony. This they do especially on the sixth day of the moon, because by the sixth day the moon has plenty of yigor and has not run half it's course.
 After the preparations have been made for a sacrifice and feast under the 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 a white robe, climbs the tree and with
 -i1 Ea which is caught in white cloth. Then they sacrifice the victims. praying that God may make his own gift to prosper with those upon whom he has bestowed it.
 They believe that a potion pre- pared from mistletoe will increase their flocks and that the plant is q remedy against all poison"
 It 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 mfstletoe is regarded as healing rem edy 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 a solution of it to drink as well. The Gaelic word for mistIetoe is "an t'nil ioc,' which means "all healer" and this is probably what the Druids called it in ancient times.
 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 q year to cure hec- tie levers and other troubles. In some parts of Germany the mistletoe is especially esteemed as q remedy for the ailments Of children, who some times wear it hung around the neck as an amulet.
 Iii Sweden on midsummer eve mts- tletae is diligently sought after, the people believing it to be possessed of many mystic qualities, and that if snrfg of il is attached to the ceiling of the dwelling house, the horses stall or. cows crib. the trolls" or evil spirits will then be powerless to injure either man or beast. Branches of the plant are commonly seen in farmhouses hanging from the ceiling to protect the dwellings from all harm, but es- peclally >from fire, and persons afiliet- ed with Ale falling. sickness think they can ward off all attacks of the maiady by carrying about with them knife which has a handle of mistletoe.
 4 swedish remedy for other com plaints is to hang sprig of mistletoe rouDd the sufferers neck or to make him wear on his finger a ring made from the plant Moreover they fash ion divfning 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 sundown and when it rests directly over the treasure the rod begins to move as if it were alive.
 Like their Swedish neighbors, many German peasants consider the mistle- toe 2 powerful charm against evil spir- it's.
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