Winter Blessings and Beauties, Day 50: Mistletoe

 

Along with Holly and Ivy, Mistletoe is one of the classic Yuletide plants with which people traditionally decorate their homes - yet it is also set apart from the others in many ways. The first difference of course is that mistletoe is a parasitic plant which draws water and nutrition from its host. It grows on a variety of different tree species but is found most frequently on apple trees, hawthorns, poplars, willows and lime. It can weaken the host tree but rarely kills it, which would after all be fatal to itself. 

The seeds are usually spread by birds either in their droppings or when they wipe their beaks on tree branches after eating the sticky berries. The seeds get stuck in crevices in the bark where they germinate, and a kind of root called a haustorium penetrates the branch, allowing the mistletoe to tap into the tree for its food and water.

Mistletoe does produce some of its own food through photosynthesis which is why its leaves are green. This is probably one reason it was seen as 'magical' and significant during Winter - like holly and ivy, it is evergreen. But it must also have seemed magical to our ancestors due to the fact that it doesn't grow in soil but seems to miraculously appear in the branches of trees, a product of neither earth nor sky. 

Understandably, as such an unusual plant, mistletoe appears in a great deal of folklore and mythology.

The 'Golden Bough' that enabled Theseus to visit and safely return from the land of the dead in Greek myth is thought to have been mistletoe. 

The Romans associated mistletoe with peace and hung it over their doorways during Saturnalia. 

In Norse myth, Balder the Beautiful God was magically protected by his mother Frigg, who extracted promises from everything living on or growing in the earth that they would not harm him, thus rendering him invincible. He seemed so indestructible that the other Gods played a game using Balder for target practice. Unfortunately Frigg had overlooked mistletoe when she wove protection around her son, either because she considered it too weak to pose a threat, or because uniquely among plants, mistletoe doesn't grow on or in the earth. The trickster God Loki (being jealous of Balder's beauty) mislead Balder's blind brother, Höd into throwing a piece of mistletoe at Balder, killing him. 

Mistletoe was seen as a fertility charm too - partly because the sticky white juice of the berries was thought to resemble semen. This, added to its ability to remain green throughout Winter suggested the plant contained a vital life-force, and this may be the origin of the custom of kissing under the mistletoe for good luck. 

All these Pagan connections were too much for the medieval Church and it banned mistletoe as a decoration in churches.

Winter Blessings and Beauties, Day 50

Mysterious, Magical Mistletoe

is there any mistletoe growing in your area? It's usually most easily spotted in Winter when there is no foliage on its deciduous host tree and its bushy growths can be seen silhouetted against the sky. In certain areas of the UK - such as Herefordshire - it is very common, but in others it is something of a rarity. 

Take a walk to see if you can spot any mistletoe growing. If not you may be able to buy some - it is often sold at this time of year as a Christmas decoration.

If you can find some, you may like to hang a sprig or two over your door like the Romans used to, as a protective charm for your household. When I do this I tie it with a piece of red ribbon and leave it up for the rest of the year, until I can replace it with a fresh sprig next Winter.