The Ordway new era., 1917-12-21

beneath 1t 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
druidical 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 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 sign that the tree has
been chosen by the God himself. The
mistletoe is very rarely to be met
with, but when 1t Is found they gather
1t with solemn ceremony. This they
i 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 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 .
white robe, climbs the tree and with
golden sickle cuts the mistletoe.
| 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 1t.
'They believe that potion pre-
pared from mistletoe will increase
their fiocks and that the plant is .
remedy against all poison"
1t was believed to be q 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 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
solution of it to drink as we'll The
Gaelic word for mistletoe Is ian 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 a year to cure hec-
tic fevers and other troubles. In
some parts of Germany the mistletoe
is especially esteemed as a remedy for
the ailments of children, who some
| ! t1&n NIB
as an amulet. .e
In Sweden on midsummer eve mis-
tletoe is diligently sought after, the
people believing 1t to be possessed OF
many mystic qualities, and that II a
sprig of it 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-
| pecially from fire, and persons affiict-
J ed with the falling sickness think they
can ward off all attacks of the malady
by carrying about with them knife
which has 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 ring made
, from the plant. Moreover they fash
) ion divining rods of mistletoe or OF
, four different kinds Of wood. one Of
which must be mistletoe. The treas
r ure seeker places the rod on the
, ground after sundown and when II
, rests directly over the treasure the
rod begins to move as II 1t were, alive,
t Like their Swedish neighbors, many
t German peasants consider the mistle.
t toe powerful charm against evil sptts
e its.