The Story of Mistletoe
Katie Madden
An ancient Viking myth gives us some clues. The Vikings believed mistletoe had the power to raise humans from the dead. Frigga is the goddess of love and beauty in Norse mythology. Her beautiful son is eternally young, blooming like spring he is the god of innocence, beauty, joy, purity, and peace.
Frigga worries about her boy’s safety. She reasons his death would mean eternal darkness and death to the earth. Being an over protective mother, she goes to all the plants and animals as well as the elements Air, Fire, Water and Earth asking them help her protect her beautiful boy.
Instead they heckle and torment him calling him a momma’s boy. Most of the teasing is in fun but two envious villains, one of whom is mistletoe, plot to kill Frigga’s son. The villains make a poison from mistletoe berries. They dip their fatal arrow in the brew and kill the young god.
Frigga is powerless to reverse the poison because mistletoe does not have roots and therefore is not subject to her. The grieving mother cannot restore her son to life. Her despair consumes her. Wailing and crying over her son’s body her tears wash the mistletoe berries changing them from red to white. This process reverses the poison and her son is resurrected.
In jubilation, Frigga blesses the mistletoe gives it a high place of honor in the sacred oak. Delirious with relief, the goddess of love kisses everyone who comes to pay respects to the resurrected boy god. She kisses them under the mistletoe.
The Vikings weren’t the only ones to honor the parasitic plant. Britain’s druids believed it could provide fertility to humans and animals, heal diseases and protect people from witchcraft.
The medieval church tried to Christianized the mistletoe but its association with the goddess of love could not be overcome. The church forbade the use of mistletoe in any form throughout the Middle Ages. As a substitute, it suggested holly. The sharply pointed leaves were to symbolize the thorns in Christ's crown and the red berries drops of his blood. Holly became a nativity tradition.
The tradition of kissing under the mistletoe could have come from either the Viking association of the plant with Frigga, the goddess of love, or from the ancient belief that mistletoe was related to fertility.
Live mistletoe is not recommended for holiday decorations as it can be harmful to pets. However local stores are selling faux mistletoe. Look in the lawn and garden section. The power of this plant is such that even fake mistletoe will get you kissed if you stand beneath it and pucker up.
The correct mistletoe etiquette is for the man to remove one berry when he kisses a woman. When all the berries are gone, there is no more kissing underneath that plant. It is believed that an unmarried woman not kissed under the mistletoe will remain single for another year according www.howstuffworks.com.
Florida Gardener.com says mistletoe is a native of Florida. Keep your eyes open this season and you just might find the real deal hanging above you.
