The Nevada County picayune. (Prescott, Ark.) 190?-current, 1918-12-19
BENEATH NISTLETOE
Kissing Custom So Old Nc One
Knows When 1t Started.
Branches With Greatest Number Of
Berries Favored, as Kiss Must
Be Given FOR Each Berry
Pluckec.

TEIGNtL.
According to Scandinavian mythoi-
oey. Loki, the god Of evil. was the
sworn enemy ~ Baldar, the god OF
light. and tried BY every means in
his power to Kill him. but failed be
cause he was invunerable to every
thing that came from the earth, air,
Are or water.
Loki at lust conceived the idea that
The ymistletoe, sprtnging from neither
would serve his purpose and, having
an arrow made from the wood he
Lclped Hold, the blind god of dark
ness. to aim it. and Baldur fell dead
shot through the heart.
All the gods and goddesses prayed
for his restoration to life. and when
the prayer WAS granted it was de-
| creed that the mistletoe should never
more have power to do harm unless IT
touched the earth, and the goddess OF
love was appointed to guard it.
Some legends claim that the god
dess kissed all who passed under the
plant as token that 1t was no longer
weapon of death, but symbol OF
love. while others assert that she eX-
tracted ii kiss from each as a proptia-
ton, or the bough should be allowed to
work harm.
Another reason fer the kissing priv.
i1ege conferred by the plant is said to
he that a lovely maiden preferred
death to the kisses of an amOrouS old
monk who pursued her, and her
prayers for deliverance were answer
ed by transforming her into a mistle.
toe branch and placing her in a tree.
Kiss For Each Berry.
The custom of kissing beneath the
mistletoe" is so old that no one knows
when it originated but when young
people are found selecting the branches
that have the berries on. it is fair to
suppose that they know kiss must
be given for each berry plucked and
that the ceremony is never complete
until every berry is off the branch.
There was once a common, though
mistaken, belief that the mistletoe grew
on oak trees only, but that was so far
from true that the Drulds. who held
the oak as absolutely sacred because
they believed 1t to represent the One
Supreme God. deemed the mistletoe
! doubly sacred if found on one. and
carefully guarded it until the sixth day
after the first new moon of each
| year.
When this time arrived, priests
robed in spotless white, surrounded
the tree and held solemn ceremonies,
among which was the sacrifice of two
white bulls.
After the ceremonies a priest robed
in spotless white assembled the tree,
and with a golden knife cut the mis-
| tletoe and let 1t fall onto white
cloth held by other priests.
! The branches We're then formally
blessed and divided among the people,
who believed the sprays given them
TO have miraculous power.
Called "AlI-Heai" Plant.
The common belief In the efficacy
/ Of the plant was such that 1t was call
10 "all-heal;" but according to an old
| legend, a certain lover searched many
days for a specimen growing on an
oak tree, that he might secure its
ranches for the cure of his betrothed,
who was sick unto death. but when
he found 1t he touched the sap, while
cutting the branches, and fell dead
near the tree. indicating that the sap
was a deadly poison.
Another legend accounts for the
fact that the plant is a parasite by the
story that the mistletoe, originally
grew as a tree, and that the cross on
which Christ was erucifed was made
from mlstletoe wood. after which II
was aceursed and condemned To never
more grow as tree but to exist as
Il parasite, killing every living thing
70 which II became attached.
The plant thriVes in America from
New Jersey southwark and westward.
ana those who know 1t only as part
of Christmas decorations can have
little idea of how 1t overruns trees TO
/ the extent of being a nuisance.