Mistleoe

©Eileen Holland - www.open-sesame.com

"The day that is no day calls for a tree
That is no tree, of low yet lofty growth.
When the pale queen of Autumn casts her leaves
My leaves are freshly tufted on her boughs.
Look, the twin temple-posts of green and gold
The overshadowing lintel stone of white
For here with white and green and gold I shine -
Graft me upon the King when his sap rises
That I may bloom with him at the year's prime,
That I may blind him in his hour of joy."

- Robert Graves, The White Goddess

Viscum album
NAMES: Mistletoe - True Mistletoe - All-Heal - Heal-All - Holy Wood - Golden Bough - Druid's Weed - Witches' Broom - Wood of the Holy Cross - Devil's Fugue - Birdlime - Lignum Sanctae Crucis  - Omnia Sanantem

     Woody evergreen parasite with branching stems and grayish-green bark that grows on deciduous trees. Host trees include apple, pear, poplar, linden and oak.  It is usually found high on the tree, especially on soft-barked apple, willow and poplar trees. Mistletoe has two long, narrow, leathery yellowish-green leaves at each joint and blooms from February to May with greenish or yellow flowers.  The fruit is a small, round, transparent white berry with a black seed in viscous pulp.  The berries ripen in late fall and stay on the plant all winter.  Propagate by crushing the sticky berries against the bark of a tree.  Birds, especially the thrush, spread mistletoe by wiping their beaks on trees after they have eaten the berries.   Mistletoe grows quickly and has hard, tough wood.
    Gather branches in the fall before the berries appear.  Dry them in the shade and store in airtight containers.  The leaves can be gathered in fall or winter.

MYTH:
    Primitive Aryans considered the sun's fire an emanation of the mistletoe.
    The Eye of the Year was blinded with a mistletoe stake in ancient Europe.
    A Bronze Age burial found in England contained a skeleton covered with oak branches and mistletoe. The two plants have been associated with one another and held sacred in Britain since prehistoric times.
    Mistletoe, rare on oak trees, was considered especially sacred when found on one. Evergreen mistletoe is the seat of life of the oak, plainly visible on its bare winter branches. Mistletoe was the soul of the tree, the semen and life-essence of the oak. The Latin word viscusas well as the    Greek word ixias refer to the spermal viscosity of itsberries. These words are connected with the words visand ischu, which mean strength. Sperm was seen as the vesicle of life. Bulls were often sacrificed when the mistletoe was cut to compensate the oak god for the loss of his vigor.   The juice of mistletoe berries, seen as oak sperm when harvested from oak trees, was believed to have regenerative powers.
    Cutting mistletoe from an oak symbolized the emasculation of the old king by his successor, as Oak King gave way to Holly King each year. The old king was eucharistically eaten and the new king inherited the favors of the Goddess Mother. Robert Graves writes in Greek Myths I:
          "As an oak king with mistletoe genitals representing the thunder god, he ritually married the rain-making Moon Goddess; and then was scourged, so that his blood and sperm would fructify the earth, beheaded with an axe, emasculated, spread-eagled to a tree, and roasted; after which his kinsmen ate him sacramentally." (See also: Oak)
    Mistletoe is sacred to Manannan, and to Ischys, Asclepius, Ixion,
    Polycidus and Chylus, all personifications of the curative powers of the genitals of the oak tree.
    Mistletoe and loranthus were the regenerative herbs of Asclepius.
    Aeneas descended to the underworld to question his father holding a bough of mistletoe.
    Mistletoe was held sacred in Scandinavia, where Norse mythology insists on oak mistletoe. The sun god Baldur, god of peace, died when Loki tricked Höldur into killing him with a spear or an arrow of mistletoe. Loki had asked Frigg if all things had sworn not to hurt Baldur and she answered that a plant called mistletoe found east of Valhalla had seemed too young to swear. Loki tricked the blind god Höldur into throwing a mistletoe twig at Baldur, whom the gods had thought invulnerable. It pierced him and killed him, but he was restored to life by the other gods and goddesses. Mistletoe was then given to Frigg, the goddess of love, and all those who passed under it were to receive a kiss because mistletoe was now a symbol of love.
    Mistletoe was the sacred, holy herb of the Druids. They ascribed it to the Moon and believed it to be the essence of the oak tree god. They also considered it a phallic emblem and a universal panacea. Pliny wrote that to the Druids mistletoe, "which they call all-heal in their language...falls from heaven upon the oak." They considered it a remedy for all diseases, drinking the water in which mistletoe had been infused. They believed draughts of mistletoe cured infertility in animals. Druids sought out mistletoe on oak trees on the 6th day of the moon, when it was almost full. It was cut during the 7th month of the13-month year. The discovery of mistletoe, especially on oak trees, was an occasion of solemn worship. Barefoot and dressed in white, the Arch-Druid cut it with a golden sickle and caught it in a white cloth, after which two white bulls were sacrificed and a banquet held beneath the oak tree. Pliny wrote:
          "Having made solemn preparation for feasting and sacrifice under
          the tree, they drive thither two milk-white bulls, whose horns are
          then for the first time bound. The priest then, robed in white,
          ascends the tree and cuts off the mistletoe with a golden sickle.
          It is caught in a white mantle, after which they proceed to slay
          the victims, at the same time praying that god would render his
          gift prosperous to those to whom he had given it."
     Drayton wrote in Polyolbion (1622):
            "The fearless British Priests, under the aged oak -
             Taking a milk-white bull, unstained with the yoke,
           Then with an axe of Gold, from that Jove-sacred tree,
                          The Mistletoe cut down."
Gallic Druids used a golden sickle shaped like the moon, in honor of Diana. The reaping symbolized castration. The golden sickles were likely actually made of brass or bronze. Druids probably grafted mistletoe onto oaks from apple or poplar trees.
    In Brittany it was believed that mistletoe gave strength and courage to wrestlers and other athletes.
    In ancient times a kiss beneath the mistletoe was a pledge of love and a promise of marriage. The kiss of friendship was given beneath a mistletoe to signify truce. Enemies who met beneath a mistletoe in the forest laid down their arms, exchanged friendly greetings and kept a truce until the following day.
    Mistletoe, "neither on earth nor in heaven", is said to lose its healing powers if it touches the ground.
    It was forbidden to cut mistletoe with iron.
    Bodily misfortune was said to overtake those who cut mistletoe without sanction.
    Native Australians believed that mistletoe on sacred trees contained the souls of spirit children who were waiting to be reborn. The Aborigines of Central Australia believed that the ratapa, spirits of unborn children of the tribe, lived one each in trees, rocks and sprigs of mistletoe.
    In Japan chopped mistletoe leaves, millet and prayers were offered for a good harvest.

MAGIC:
    Regarded as a magical plant throughout history.
    Planet: Sun; Jupiter
    Culpepper says:  "That this is under the dominion of the Sun I do not question; and can also be taken for granted, that which grows upon the oaks, participates something of the nature of     Jupiter, because an oak is one of his trees."
    Element: the Spirit World
    Sex magic: Love - it is called the Lover’s Plant - berries: Aphrodisiac
    Making an engagement known by a kiss under the mistletoe augered happiness, good fortune, fertility and long life.
    Language of Flowers: I surmount difficulties.
    Symbolizes: peace - good will - the procreative principle
    Banishes evil spirits
    Heals disease
    Makes poison harmless
    Grants fertility to animals and human beings
    For: protection - health - exorcism - inner power - prophetic dreams
    Brings good luck and great blessings
    Hunting charm - hang a branch from the neck as a charm against epilepsy
    Hang it in the doorway to signal peaceful intent
    It is a bad omen if mistletoe falls from a tree
    Protects against witchcraft. In Germany it was used as a charm against witches.
    In Sweden a mistletoe besom, the broom of the thunder god, was hung up in the house as a charm against lightning.
    Swedes used mistletoe rods, after sundown, to divine treasure in the earth. The rod was supposed to quiver when it was right over the treasure.
    In Austria mistletoe was hung over the doorstep to protect people in the house from nightmares.

WHEEL OF THE YEAR:
    Station: December 23, the Birth Station of the Goddess
    Mistletoe is connected with Yule in modern times. Boughs with berries are hung in doorways at Christmas, and a man may kiss a woman if she is standing beneath it.  Mistletoe was called the Herb of Love because it permitted embrace at the holiest time of the year.
    Gathered at Summer or Winter Solstice, mistletoe was believed to reveal the treasures of the earth.
    In England it was considered good luck for the dairy to feed mistletoe to the first cow calving in the new year.
    Celts, Druids and Scandinavians gathered mistletoe at Midsummer.
    Oil of St. John was a decoction of mistletoe that had been gathered on Midsummer Eve. It was believed to heal all wounds made with cutting instruments.
    In Sweden the Midsummer mistletoe was attached to the ceiling of the house, horse stall or manger to render the Troll powerless to inflict harm on people or animals.
    The 6th day of the Moon was considered the holiest day for cutting things found growing on oak trees.

MEDICINE:*Caution: Poisonous in large doses
    Druids used mistletoe: to heal wounds - as an antidote to poison
    Acts on the central nervous system: causes numbness - slows the heartbeat - specific against epilepsy - for mental disorders - small doses stop spasms and convulsions
    Decoction of branches: diuretic - for: high blood pressure - chilblains - to relax the blood vessels
    Dried leaves and branches, macerated or extracted, for: nervous diseases - high blood pressure - hardening of the arteries
    Hot, wet poultices for rheumatism
    Used as an adjunct to traditional cancer treatments
    In Germany mistletoe was believed to be a panacea for fresh wounds
    Used in folk medicine for: migraine - vertigo - cramps - gangrene - slow digestion - menstrual problems - stitches in the side - children’s illnesses - as a nerve tonic - in liniment for stiffness - as a remedy for poison
    Tincture and lower potencies for: neuralgia - sciatica - rheumatic and gouty complaints

MODES: MODES: infusion - tincture - syrup - decoction - poultice - maceration - fluid extract - aqueous extract - medicinal wine

MAGIC:
    Element: Air
    Eastern substitute for true mistletoe