Why we kiss under the mistletoe

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mistletoe 7Mistletoe is less familiar here in Canada than in England and other parts of Europe where every house likes to have a sprig or two for people to kiss under over the Christmas holidays.

In Britain, there is actually a special market in Tenbury Wells in Worcestershire where mistletoe is sold. It is considered the “mistletoe capital of Britain”.

Botanically, the plant is classified as “hemi-parasitic” which means it attaches itself and grows in the canopy of trees and shrubs. It flowers from February to April, producing insignificant white flowers, followed by white berries in fall.

ask-mb-mistletoeThe name “mistletoe” started in reference to European mistletoe (Viscum album), the only species native to Britain. It has smooth-edged oval evergreen leaves and produces clusters of small waxy white berries. In ancient times, the berries were seen as a symbol of virility.

Seed is spread by birds and the plant grows out of their deposits in the branches of trees.

The tradition of kissing under mistletoe is a European one, although there are actually more species of mistletoe in the tropics and subtropics.

Why do we kiss under the mistletoe?

The tradition is thought to have started with a Scandinavian myth.

Baldur the Beautiful, god of light and spring, was troubled by dreams that his life was in danger.

486px-MistletoeInSilverBirchHis mother Frigga, goddess of love, travelled over the world asking everything from earth, air, fire and water to promise not to hurt her son. Unfortunately, she forgot to ask mistletoe not to harm him.

Loki, god of fire, was jealous of Baldur, and cunningly used a dart poisned with mistletoe to kill him.

The tears of Baldur’s mother became the white berries of the plant and she decreed that mistletoe would never again be used as a weapon and that she would place a kiss on anyone who passed under it.

Although it is a poisonous plant, mistletoe does have a long history of being used for medicinal purposes in various cultures.

Hippocrates in ancient Greece is thought to have used it to treat heart and circulation disorders as well as arthritis and neurological problem, such as epilepsy.

In the early 1900s, Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner thought that mistletoe might contain some anticancer properties and tests were done using a preparation made from mistletoe with some reported successes.

Today, however, clinical evidence of mistletoe’s effectiveness for treating cancer is not conclusive, although Australian researches have found that extract from mistletoe growing in ash trees has been effective in the treatment of colon cancer.

