OCR Text |
Show " ? BENEATHMISTLETOE Kissing Custom So Old No One -i , Knows When It StartML,i i t traites With QrtatMt Nimher it Berries Favored, m KIm Must $ i So elver far aeh Berry ?. Plueked. --M (i: jAecordia to Scandinavian jaythol--'t gftVliokiclhe god of evil, was the KM sworn enemy of BaMar, the god of 'V tight, aad tried by every mean In his power, to kill blai,Bt failed be- - cause be waV Invulnerable to every ' thing that came from the earth, air, Are or water. . ., . . ' LoU at laat coacelved the Idea that the. mlatletoe, springing from neither, would serve his, purpose and, having aa arrow mads from .the w6od tIm helped Hodl, the blind god of darkv . mm, to aim It, and Baldor fell dead- shot through the heart ? l i All the goda and goddeaaea prayed ' far-his restoration to Ufa, and when A the. prayer waa granted It was da JJ need that the mistletoe should never ; Mr have power to do harm unless It .vtatMtM the earth, and the goMeffi et -tlatf wm afpelsted o guard It l&i Soma legeMa culm thai the god. -.'Vdeaa Waaed'all who pawed under the plajft MVtbkehhat'U'was'no longer , I weapon of death, but a symbol of ' r tracted a kiss from each as a propitia tion, or tha'bough should be allowed to f?ork harm. Another reason for the kissing privilege priv-ilege conferred by the plnnt Is said to be -that 'a-nlovely maiden preferred death to the kisses of an amorous old monk who pursued her, and her , tfraycrs for deliverance were answer- : , od by transforming her Into a mlstle- iV too branch and placing her In a tree. Kits For Each Berry. Tho custom of "kissing beneath tho "f t mistletoe" is bo old Hint no one knows r when It orlgtnntid ; but tthen joimfi r.t people are found s"lectlng the branches if that lintc the berries on. It Is fair to ' ' u suppose that they know a fclsa must -. ho given fo." pach berry plucked and s that the ceremony Is never complete until every berry Is off the branch. p There was once n common, though " mistaken, belief that the mistletoe grew " on onk trees only, but that was so far from true that the Druid, who held the oak as absolutely wcred hccnna they believed It to rcpreGcnt the One Supreme God, deemed the mistletoe doubly sacred If' found on one, and carefully guarded It until the sixth dny $ nfter tho first new moon of each " rear. When this time arrived, priests a, robed In spotless white, surrounded the tree and held solemn ceremonies, F among which was the sacrifice of two whlto bulls. T After the ceremonies a priest robed 'tth fa spotless white ascended the tree, Vw nd with a golden knife cat the mis JSf Uetoe and let It fall onto a white jk' rloth held by other priests. p, The branches were then formally jl. blessed and divided among the people, who believed the sprays given them to have miraculous power. alltd "All-Heal" Plant The common belief In the efficacy ,' of the plant was such that It was call " fl "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 tranches for the cure of his betrothed, who was sick unto death, but when be found It he touched the sap, while cutting the branches, and fell dead near the, tree, Indicating that the sap' 4 waa a deadly poison. Another legend accounts for the , fact that the plant la a parasite by the. rtory that the mlatletoe, original! pew aa a tree, and that the cross on which Christ waa crucified waa made frost mistletoe, wood, after which It was accursed aid condemned to never ore grew as-a tree but to exist aa - a' parasite, killing every living thing to which It became attached. ""-"The plant thrives la America from , New Jersey southward and westward, ana those who know It only an a part , ,. ,ef Christmas decorations cun have little idea of how It overruns trees tc l. Um extent of being .n nuisance. A t |