Evergreen Mistletoe Decor

The winter has a radiant soft glow of the white snow on barren trees surrounding empty frozen lakes. But that's just it, it seems bare from short glances, there isn't much color, especially without the light when one is living around or 'above' the 55° latitude line, whether it's near the Northern Arctic Circle in the Southern Antarctic. Either way you may only get one to three hours of daylight, and then clouds above the snow flurries coat the rest in a grey fog. What's really magical is when, in the midst of snowflakes and the stifling silence you see a peaking green, a hint of red, calling attention to a tree branch. It's special, it's calming, it makes you glad that the world's not quite dead.

The frozen world isn't the only area where nature and color is celebrated. While not having the same winter weather connotations, the people of Egypt would often bring nature into the household. Obviously the evidence of this is most readily seen in temples, palaces, and tombs (since they are most likely to survive the centuries), but these demonstrate the hard work that is put into everyday lives, and the value of its beauty in their afterlife. Extra color can always help too when you're basically surrounded by desert.

Holly, ivy, pine and fir tree boughs, and mistletoe are the most commonly used while decorating for winter celebrations because of their evergreen-ness, sometimes symbolizing eternal life and fertility, particularly the sprigs of mistletoe. They appeared in ancient celebrations around the world, a much easier feat when a closely connected collection of species grow naturally in tropical and temperate ecosystems around the world. The mistletoe 'genus' itself is a semi-parasitic plant, called hemiparasites, that are important aspects of the forests that they grow in.

Because I grew up in a house with wiley cats, my parents never hung mistletoe because of its toxic effects. I was confused as to why people kissed underneath collections of the plant, seemed counterintuitive, just a weird tradition that I only ever saw in movies. Even mythologically speaking, I had always heard that mistletoe was the weapon that Loki used to kill Baldr. While the tale I originally heard is not wrong, just like so many other mythological stories, they have innumerable variations with lead ins from all the cultures that influenced the stories' origin and evolution. The stories and traditions that we know are from somewhere obscure, whether they were long told tales of gods or an importance based on how they were used, but first I'll cover a bit of the ecological significance.

Ecology

There may be a common misconception that mistletoe berries are red, but they're white (though sometimes it varies based on the particular species, see Viscum cruciatum on Plants of the World Online), holly plants are the red berries in Winter-time decorations. This could just be my projecting assumption when I see various articles and pictures online explicitly explaining the differences. The color differentiation, however, does appear in the mythological context, but I'll cover that in the next section.

Holly vs. Mistletoe by Hinderence on Deviantart <https://www.deviantart.com/hinderence/art/Holly-vs-Mistletoe-271630244>

The English word for the plant, 'mistletoe', is derived from a defunct Anglo-Saxon dialect. It derives from the two words, the older form of 'mistle' and the Old English word 'tān' meaning twig. 'Mistle' is the common Germanic connection from the Old High German mistil, the Middle High German mistel, the Old English mistel, and the Old Norse mistil, all of which means dung (Barth, 2017; Grimm & Grimm, 2015). This origin is believed to be based on the ancient peoples noticing that mistletoe generally sprouts from bird droppings on tree branches, and grew into the collection of twig[s] "tan". The words were conjoined, and the mashup of "misteltan" evolved overtime into the modern 'mistletoe' (Barth, 2017).

The berry seed has evolved to be eaten by birds and tree-climbing animals so the when excreted by any of these animals the sticky seeds will cling to the branches near the tops of the bushes, or their preferred base, trees. As the semi-parasitic plants grow, the specialized shallow roots, called "hastorium", absorb food, minerals, and water from the base plant, while also producing their own food through photosynthesis in their evergreen leaves (Mistletoe fact from a Smithsonian botanist, 2016). As the plant still uses the sun, it most commonly and heavily grows in tropical and the subtropical climates. Mistletoe is able to, and does, grow almost everywhere around the world. Varieties of the genera taxon grow naturally in the Americas, the British Isles, Africa, Europe all the the way to Asia, Australia, and New Zealand ("Viscum cruciatum", 2018). Because "mistletoe" is a general name for a collection of the parasitic plants in the taxonomic order Santales, to be more specific the main mistletoe species used in Christmas decorations are limited and mostly stick to the varieties that were found in Europe and England, which connects much more directly to the folklore that inspired the modern-day traditions.

1. American Mistletoe (Phoradendron flavescens) by Mary Vaux Walcott, 1923. (Image courtesy Smithsonian American Art Museum)

2. Viscum album English: Mistletoe, growing on an apple tree in Essex, England Deutsch: Weißbeerige Mistel (Chilepine, 2007)

3. European mistletoe (Viscum album) attached to a common aspen (Populus tremula) (2004)

Norse

Stories

When researching this topic, the main mythological context I could find is the story of the death of Baldr from Norse mythology, and it's been written about to death [see websites in 'Further Reading' for, well further reading]. So, I will quickly summarize the straight story: Baldr is described as a perfect god, a god of fertility, and yet purity, light, and the summer sun. This major story begins with Baldr have prophetic dreams of his death. His mother Frigg/Friga (Odin's wife) not wanting her favorite son to die, went to everything in existence (purportedly) to obtain a promise from each thing to never harm Baldr.

"The second son of Odin is Baldur, and good things are to be said of him. He is best, and all praise him; he is so fair of feature, and so bright, that light shines from him. A certain herb is so white that it is likened to Baldr's brow; of all grasses itis whitest, and by it thou mayest judge his fairness, both in hair and in body. He is the wisest of the Æsir, and the fairest-spoken and most gracious; and that quality attends him, the none may gainsay his judgements. He dwells in the place called Breidablik, which is in heaven; in that place may nothing unclean be[.]" - Brodeur's translation ("Gylfaginning XXII")

Everything except mistletoe, who's argued to have been either too young or because it did not grow up from the ground, but the original reason for this oversight is generally unknown and has been largely speculated upon (Culum, 1920; Kaplan, 2012). While at a typical Æsir feast, most of the gods are "playing the game" of throw the everything at Baldr because nothing can hurt him anymore. Loki, in his trickster nature, is pissed off, maybe a bit jealous, and wants to mess everything up. He either shiftships or illusions himself into an elderly woman and talks to Frigg about how Baldr could be immune to all damage. Frigg, in a 'not smart' moment, tells old lady Loki that she got promises from everything except mistletoe to never harm Baldr. With this fascinatingly specific information old lady Loki fashions an arrow/spear made of mistletoe (or the point coated in the berries) and gives it to Hö𝜕r (Hod), Baldr and Thor's blind brother. After presumably moping in a corner because he's missing out on all the weapon destruction fun, old lady Loki hands him the weapon and points Hö𝜕r in Baldr's direction. As can be expected, the mistletoe kills Baldr after piercing his heart, as was also foreseen by the Völva (as relayed in the Völuspá as part of the Poetic Edda). In stanza 32, the Völva says that she had seen the fate of Baldr as "the bleeding god":

Henry Adams Bellows translation:

"I saw for Baldr, | the bleeding god,

The son of Othin, | his destiny set:

Famous and fair | in the lofty fields,

Full grown in strength | the mistletoe stood.

- (Bellows, 1923).

- Bulfinch, T. (1883). 

1. Balder slain by the mistletoe spear, depicted in an Icelandic Saga - In Árni Magnússon Institute in Iceland/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain. Ólafur Brynjúlfsson. Sæmundar og Snorra Edda.

2. An architectural representation of the Norse story of Mistletoe: Loki shoots Balder with an arrow made of Mistletoe .

After Baldr's death is when the story variations can really split. In some versions Loki gets caught immediately, while in others he gets away until in later myths he admits his misdeeds. Either way, the resulting punishment is being chained to a large rock and having snake venom drip into his eyes. Luckily for Loki, his wife holds a bowl over his face, catching the venom, until she had to leave to empty the bowl. Going back to the 'favorite' characters, either Frigg is able to bring her son back from Hel after three days (may be a Christianized change) or the more common version of not succeeding in resurrecting him. In this version Frigg travels to Hel, both to the place and to the goddess of death who rules over the place, and begged that she should free her son. Hel agreed, on one condition. Everything (under the sun/on Earth) must weep for him. Without much prompting (I'm sure) all of the promise-givers wept, especially the mistletoe (must have felt guilty?). On the final day, before the body was cremated at Baldr's funeral, there appeared the giantess þökk who refused to cry and even laughed at the idea that she would be the last hope to bring him back; she's thought by several scholars to have been Loki in disguise ("Gylfaginning, XLIX"). This part of the story aligns more with the version that Loki is not captured directly after Baldr's death, but if Loki is in disguise why didn't anyone ask "where's Loki?" Then if he cried already, even crocodile tears, why didn't that work... maybe he would get caught after the funeral because of this mischief, but it's history so there aren't direct records.

Connected to the poem on how great Baldr was (above), it's important to understand that Baldr is primarily known for the story of his death, which is seen as the first step in a chain of events that will ultimately lead to the death of most of the gods and the cyclical destruction of the world's current iteration in Ragnarök. According to the Völuspá, Baldr will return in the new world to rule alongside Thor's son and his brother Hö𝜕r, which may have been the secret that Odin whispered in Baldr's ear while he lay in his funeral barge (Larrington, 2014).

Each arrow overshot his head (1902) by Elmer Boyd Smith. the blind god Höðr shooting his brother, the god Baldr, with a mistletoe arrow.

This, the first stanza describing Baldr, also demonstrates that it's not certain that what we currently know as mistletoe was the plant used in anyway to kill Baldr in the first place. 'Baldr's bow' or, specifically, Tropleurospermum inodorum can be identified as: the scentless mayweed (Matricaria perforta), the sea mayweed (Matricaria maritima), which are both called baldursbrá and are found in Iceland, northern England, and, in Germany, the similar looking lily-of-the-valley is known as weisser Baldrian (Anderburg, 1994).

The color of the berries appears in some versions of the myth as well. In some of the iterations Frigg weeps over the sprigs of mistletoe with their, at the time, red berries and her sorrow of not being able to bring her son back is enough power to turn them white, which then is enough magic to bring Baldr back, which led to Frigg reversing the bad rep that mistletoe gained. (I found this in Mariecor Agravante's 'Medium' blog, which isn't the best way to find and cite sources, since she didn't have any, but as they are all slight variations on the main myth I thought it would be interesting to do a comparison with any that I could possibly find). Either that or was it because she brought Baldr back that she wept with joy with such power as to turn the berries white, or that act created the white berries in the first place (Graves, 1997). Even the universal weeping path of the myth has a Christianization slant because that portion of the tale wasn't in the older Völuspá text, the first epic poem in the Prose Edda. Though, of course, with centuries in-between, it's difficult to know when exactly stories changed, or who influenced what [that's its own deep dive into an entirely separate, wide, studiable topic] (Lindow, 2002). But continuity in myth isn't really the important message, it's more about why the people in these cultures are investing their time into this particular plant and their traditions, because as we know, traditions change.

In the 1898 edition of Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable states: "…the mistletoe was placed in future under the care of Friga, and was never again to be an instrument of evil till it touched the earth, the empire of Loki. It is always suspended from ceilings, and when persons of opposite sexes pass under it, they give each other the kiss of peace and love in the full assurance that the epiphyte is no longer an instrument of mischief."

Fertility vs. Making Amends

With the oak tree being crowned with the poisonous plant the connection was made to these hemiparasitic plants living off each other were celebrated as the embodiment of Baldr and his remembrance. As I mentioned in the ecology section, the seeds of the mistletoe plant are very sticky in order for them to catch and cling to high branches, of which the oak tree being the particular natural favorite. The stickiness is reasoned to be the connecting thread between the seeds to semen and thus male fertility and masculine fertility gods; and not only from the Scandinavian cultural area. "Baldur died, but a lesson was learned: [n]ever forget about the mistletoe. Mistletoe would come to hang over our doors as a reminder to never forget. We kiss beneath it to remember what Baldur's wife and mother forgot. At least that is one version of the origin of our relationship with mistletoe" (Dunn, 2011). The people who followed and continue to follow this cultural idea use the sprig, or, later, a woven ball of berries as a symbol of peace and love. So, depending on which version of the myth one ends with, it leads to interpretations between whether the mistletoe itself is regarded as having received a blessing or a punishment when they have to watch couples kiss underneath. Either way, the end is the same, they are hung over doorways to remind people to love and appreciate one another.

Whether seen and/or reimagined as a pre-Christian fertility god, a Christ-like figure by those interpreting the c. 1220 Icelandic collections of the Prose and Poetic Eddas, or as a real person in battles taking place before the written sources in the 12th centuries CE by the Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus aka Saxo cognomine Longus in the Gesta Danorum of the Danish Latin chronicles, the Chronicon Lethrense and the Annales Lundenses, written in the 12th and 13th centuries (Davidson & Davidson, 1964). Looking further back in time, however, there are other possible historic connections to legendary figures that Baldr could have inspired, been inspired by, or just named for. These text include the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, in which Baldr in the head of the monarchy, written in the 9th century Old English, and possibly the 3rd/4th century Utrecht (a town in the Netherlands) Inscription, although scholars dispute those interpretations (Anglo-Saxons Chronicle (Winchester Chronicle); Gutenbrunner, 1936; Helm, 1976; North, 1997, Vermeyden, Arend P., & Arend Q., 2000).

Druidic

In any case, whatever the interpretation of Baldr, research into cultures of the overlapping regions show that the use and veneration of mistletoe is older than the Vikings' overtaking of England and Gaul, and definately older than the the regions' transition over to Chiristization. The Celtic druidic area was one such area where the mistletoe was venerated as an ancient useful medicine. This practice likely came about through trial and error, but would be expected to work based on the etymology of the ancient 'Druidic' word for mistletoe meant 'all-healing' (Tainter, 2002). "And the knowledge of these characteristics undoubtedly contributed to the mystical nature of mistletoe" and especially to its ability to cure infertility (Macbain, 2005; Tainter, 2002).

With a bunch of different distinct Gælic languages and more different dialects it's hard to tell one distinct word, but interestingly, while Irish Gælic has the words drualus, Sú Darach, and Uile-íce for mistletoe, Ireland is not a place where mistletoe is extremely widespread (Devlin, 2020; Warner, 2009). However, on the island next door the Scotch Gælic druids of have the similar word 'uil-ìoc', means mistletoe and panacea (a cure to all disease), and the derived term 'deoch an uil-ioc' translates to potion, owing to the use of the plant.

"Lucan, Pliny the Elder, and Tacitus mention the sacred groves of the Celts where assemblies were held and believed that the Latin ‘druides’ was derived from the Greek word drus for 'oak' "(Maier, 1997) . Professor Bernhard Maier has said that it is more likely that the word was derived from the Gaulish *dru-wid-s ‘druid’, representing an Old Celtic compound *dru- “tree” (especially oak) and *wid- “to know”, hence, druids are “they who know the oak” (Bateman, 2013; Hofeneder, 2008). Whether connected or most likely not, it's interesting to have both the Norse peoples and and Druids celebrating the oak tree.

Pliny the Elder also wrote about the Druids as an "anthropologist" of his time and had the desire to observe and learn about different cultures. Readers could tell he was definitely 'of his time' because he would call the peoples he described as "barbarians", and yet, coincidentally, they similar traditions, while only calling them different names. In his 1st century text Natural History, he described the ritual as such:

"We should not omit to mention the great admiration that the Gauls have for it as well. The druids - that is what they call their magicians - hold nothing more sacred than the mistletoe and a tree on which it is growing, provided it is a hard-timbered oak [robur]. Mistletoe is rare and when found it is gathered with great ceremony, and particularly on the sixth day of the moon... Hailing the moon in a native word that means 'healing all things', they prepare a ritual sacrifice and banquet beneath a tree and bring up two white bulls, whose horns are bound for the first time on this occasion. A priest arrayed in white vestments climbs the tree and, with a golden sickle, cuts down the mistle, which is caught in a white cloak. Then finally the kill the victims, praying to a god to render his gift propitious to those on whom he has bestowed it. They believe that mistletoe given in drink will impart fertility to any animal that is barren and that it is an antidote to all poisons."

- Pliny the Elder, Natural History Book XVI, para xcv; Rackham 1952)

The celebration that Pliny was discussing was for Midsummer's Eve. The Celtic Druids' tradition of climbing the oak trees with golden sickles to collect the mistletoe would the celebrate the start of autumn, when the days would shorten to be less than the nights, most trees would lose their leaves, and the mistletoe would not (Von Tubeuf, C., 1923 in Tainter, 2002). After the collection the plants of the 'golden boughs', the plants and animals, most specially two sacred whites bulls would be sacrificed and burnt to get through the long winters (Tainter, 2002). Pliny the Elder further wrote: "Of itself the robur is selected by them to form whole groves, and they perform none of their religious rites without employing branches of it; so much so, that it is very probable that the priests themselves may have received their name from the Greek name for that tree." (Book xvi: 95; Box, 1995: 72-73). And Ovid, a contemporary of Pliny the Elder, referred to the Druids' songs beneath the oak: 'Ad viscum Druidce cantare solebant' along with their dance around the oak to the tune of 'Hey derry down, down, down derry!' which means, 'In a circle move we round the oak', the derry meaning the oak tree, which they are still sometimes called today (Ibid in Chistopher, n.d.).

1. A section of Druids Cutting the Mistletoe on the Sixth Day of the Moon engraving from "Nos Gloires Nationales - Images et recits". (Photo by Stefano Bianchetti/Corbis via Getty Images).

2. Scene of Druids worshiping the leafy mistletoe (Von Tubeuf, C. 1923; Taiter, 2002).

3. Gathering of mistletoe among the Druids in Gaul: Druid climbed the oak, a weapon of gold sickle and cut the mistletoe, burning taken from the book "Paris through the centuries, Tome1" (1878).

"Another story begins with druids who viewed the mistletoe as magical and hung it above their doors for luck. Others say it is hung for fertility; the seeds of mistletoe are sticky like semen", similar to the Norse culture (Dunn, 2011). "[Y]oung men have the privilege of kissing the girls under [mistletoe], plucking each time a berry from the bush. When the berries are all plucked the plucked the privilege ceases" as Washington Irving wrote in the 1800s (Dunn, 2011).

Helenistic ~ Greco-Roman World

Saturnalia and Brumalia

As festival for the celebration of the Roman God Saturn, for Saturnalia specifically, or more commonly known by his Greek equivalent Cronus (Saturni filius, frg. 2 in the edition of Baehrens), is held from the 17th of December to the 23rd. The Brumalia is more of a collection of winter celebrations and a larger conglomeration of god worship during the winter months, including Saturn/Cronus, Ceres/Demeter, and Bacchus in some cases. It is thought to start around November 24th and go for the next month, encompassing Saturnalia festivals (Crawford, 1914; John the Lydian, 2009; Mazza, 2011: 172-193). Its influence is still felt in the celebration of Christmas and the Western world’s New Year. It was the most celebrated festival of the year with: all work and business were suspended, slaves were given temporary freedom to say and do what they wanted, certain moral restrictions being eased, and presents were freely exchanged. They associated mistletoe with peace, love and understanding and hung it over doorways to protect the household (BBC News; The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2019). Hanging mistletoe along with other evergreens was a part of the Saturnalia festival, as the agricultural life of the deity being venerated.

The Roman celebration has been equated to the Greek holiday Kronia (another form from Kronus) which was celebrated during the Attic month of Hekatombaion in late midsummer. In both instances the stories told of the mythological figures led to the want of peace and love and exchanging of kisses under the mistletoe.

*I just find it utterly intanglingly mad that the Druidic people would cut down the holly branches with a golden sickle, while Greeks and Romans were celebrating the god of agriculture, who is known for wielding a sickle, within the same area where stories tell us that the mistletoe plant itself is called the golden bough.*

1. Unknown artwork and artist and date - either depicting Brumalia or Saturnalia,

2. "Saturnalia (1783) by Antoine Callet, showing his interpretation of what the Saturnalia might have looked like"

Virgil's hero

The first Roman emperor Caesar Augustus [who reigned between 27 BC–AD 14], wanted to implant the idea that he was fit to rule, due to his divine and heroic ancestors (Millar, 1993: 6). And what's a better way to sway the people than to say, "you know those amazingly intelligent Greeks? Well that time when they thought they defeated Troy my ancestor was actually following the prophecy, leading to the founding of Rome itself." And Aeneas did everything the Greek heroes of the Iliad and the Odyssey did, but at the same time.

As part of the Aeneid, the epic poem published as collection of books by Virgil between 29 and 19 BCE, the main and title character Aeneas searches for the Golden Bough, after searching for and then finding the landmass of Italy (Clarke, 2007; Stookey, 2004: 67). Seemily influenced by the tale of Jason and the Argonauts getting the golden fleece, but it has different connotations of the purpose. Instead of searching for treasure or notoriety, Aeneas was told by the 700 year old woman, the Sibyl of Cumae, Deiphobe, at the Temple of Apollo, that she would be his escort into the underworld to see the "shade" of his deceased father (Clarke, 2007: 42-43; Stookey, 2004: 67). In book 6 of the Ancient Roman mythology, mistletoe was used by the hero Aeneas to reach the palace of the underworld.

"One bough it bears; but (wondrous to behold!)

The ductile rind and leaves of radiant gold:

This from the vulgar branches must be torn,

And to fair Proserpine the present borne."

- Virgil, The Aeneid, Book VI

-And-

"The walls of Pluto's palace are in view;

the gate, and iron arch above it, stands

on anvils labor'd by the Cyclops' hands.

Before our farther way the Fates allow,

here must we fix on high the golden bough."

- Virgil, The Aeneid, Book VI

Quick translations:

The single golden bough has to be taken from the tree and given to Proserpine, the Roman name for Persephone (Scheid, 1995: 23).

The travelers can see the gate, the iron arch, and the walls of Pluto's/ Hades' underworld palace, but before going in the have to get the golden bough.

Aeneas, discovering the Golden Bough (Frazer, 1890 in Tainter, 2002).

Before moving through Pluto's palace, Aeneas put the golden bough on the arched door, and was able to get through to the sunny and green Elysian Fields, the abode of those who led just and useful lives (Clark, 2007; Stookey, 2004: 67). Here Aeneas was able to visit with his father Anchises, even through they couldn't hug one another. Anchises then told his son about the nearby river Lethe, the river of forgetfulness, and that on the other side there were spirits waiting to be born on Earth (Clark, 2007:47-48; Stookey, 2004: 67). Some of them would be the descendants of Aeneas, and others who would live in the future Roman Empire, such as Romulus (the mythological founder of Rome) and Remus (his brother), Camillus, Marcellus, and the Caesars. Anchises finally gave advice to Aeneas before leading him to the ivory gate, one of the gates of "Sleep", by which they return to Earth (Clarke, 2007: 48-49; Stookey, 2004: 67).

A possible inspiration for this part of the myth may come from the Greek myth of Persephone and Hades (Graves, 2017; Kumar, 2018). Because Demeter, or Ceres in Rome, Persephone's mother, was so distraught at the loss of her daughter she cancelled spring. A deal had to be made between both parties, which ended with Persephone living with her uncle and husband (myths, don't question it) leading to the Fall and Winter seasons in our world and half the year living on the human plane, leading to Spring and Summer. Persephone was one of the few who could easily travel between the realm, and according to some sources it was her wand, created from mistletoe, that she used to unlock and relock the gates as she went back and forth (Baumann, 1993: 69; Kumar, 2018).

Another group of myths from Ancient Greece of mistletoe shows the plant not only as a means of travel between the realms, but also possesses the healing power to resurrect the dead, and comes from the story of Asclepius (Graves, 2017; Kumar, 2018). Asclepius, the son of the sun god Apollo and Coronis, was prematurely 'born' after he was saved while his mother was burnt in divine fire as a punishment after being unfaithful to Apollo while she was pregnant. While still a baby, Asclepius was left in the care of Chiron the centaur (a trainer of Herakles) and grew up mastering the art of healing. The stories say he had such a natural affinity and extreme talent that he became one of the greatest healers ever, as reflected in his myth of bringing the dead back to life. While shut up in the house of Glaucus, Asclepius was tasked with healing a man who already died. In his zoning out while wondering how he would do that a snake crawled up his staff and he freaked out, shook it off, and bashed it to death. Another snake, the mate of the first, came in holding a magical herb in its mouth, which it tapped on the dead one's head, causing it to come back to life. The snakes left in peace and left the herb behind, which Asclepius picked up and used to resurrect and completely heal Glaucus (Pseudo-Hyginus, 2.14). Supposedly the herb that was brought by the snake was mistletoe, and Robert Graves (2017: 159) has translated the name Asclepius to " 'that which hangs from the esculent oak' - meaning mistletoe" (Kumar, 2018).

Parallels

Interesting parallels between the story of the golden fleece, and golden bough, and Druidic customs include the two white bulls in the Midsummer Festival and in the search for the Golden Fleece where in what's possibly the 'original' version, written in 462 BCE, the poet Pindar used 'the quest for the Golden Fleece' in his Fourth Pythian Ode even though the fleece is not the main goal (Nicholson, 2000: 191-202). When Aeetes challenges Jason to yoke the fire-breathing bulls, the fleece is the prize: "Let the King do this, the captain of the ship! Let him do this, I say, and have for his own the immortal coverlet, the fleece, glowing with matted skeins of gold" (Nicholson, 2000: 191-202).

Jason returns with the Golden Fleece, shown on an Apulian red-figure calyx krater, c. 340–330 BC; Photo by Marie-Lan Nguyen (2006)

In a later version Phrixus, a father to two of the Argonauts and a future king as the son of Athamas, king of Boeotia, along with becoming the king of Colchis after marrying Chalciope, the daughter of king Aeëtes, son of the sun god Helios, and settling down in her father's house on Colchis (Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica; Ovid, Metamorphoses 7.8ff, Fasti 3.867ff; Robertson, 1940). Phrixus sacrificed the ram to Poseidon and gave the preserved Golden Fleece to Aeëtes, who hung it in an oak in a grove sacred to Ares, the god of war, and then made it defended by bulls with hoofs of brass and breath of fire, or a dragon-serpent, or both (Robertson, 1940; Williams, 1876). Because this is mythology, and the generational changes are mucked up by demigods and just seemingly random alterations there are three generations, at least, involved in the Golden Fleece story. Either way, the fleece is hung from an oak tree or hung in an archway to celebrate life, fertility, and love. As in, the all healing Grecian/Druidic mistletoe medicine.

J. M. W. Turner's painting of the Golden Bough incident in the Aeneid (1834)

The Christian Ages

Middle Ages

"Christmas card from 1886, features ancient lore of many cultures" (Library of Congress from Ehrenberg, SMITHSONIANMAG.COM, 2020).

After the 3rd century CE Christianity became widespread in Europe and "the religious or mystical respect for the mistletoe plant was integrated to an extent into the new religion" (Tainter, 2002). For a time, however, because of the burgeoning hatred of magic, and all things non-Christian the mistletoe plant was banned from churches due to the belief that it has special ties to fertility and the frivolous nature of the traditions, and connections to Pagan rituals instead of existing as remembrance of the Baldr's peace, protection, and love, or a game for kissing and/or marrying women off [because if you denied a kiss to a man you wouldn't get any marriage proposals in the next year) (Norton, 2010; Smith, 1956) . It was, however, sometimes still hung from the doorways of churches to stave off evil. More specifically it was cut, tied in bunches, and hung in front of cottages to scare away passing demons and was hung over doors of stables to protect horses and cattle against witchcraft (Frazer, 1922/1994; Fern​ald, 1900; Tainter, 2002; Von Tubeuf, 1923). According to Tainter "[I]n Sweden, it was kept in houses to prevent fire" and in "Italy it was believed to be able to extinguish fire", which may have been a traded holdover idea from the Celtic idea of the mistletoe protecting against thunder and lightning, or at least appeasing the god of them (Müller-Ebeling & Rätsch, 2006; Tainter, 2002). These is because they were symbols of the cross that Jesus was nailed to at the crucifixion, sometimes also thought to have been built from mistletoe wood [while the crown of thorns is often symbolized with the holly wreath] (Abbess, 2020, Kanner, 1939). Winston Graham reports that in a Cornish tradition mistletoe was originally a fine tree from which the wood of the Cross was made, but afterwards it was condemned to live on only as a parasite (Winston, 2002).

In the Tudor period the tradition was to hang ten Kissing Boughs, a wreath or double-hoop, which I will fully cover soon, the Kissing Bough was woven from mistletoe, ash, hazel or willow, covered in evergreens, and supported an effigy of the baby Jesus in the centre. "The Medieval and Early Modern English were infamously “kissy” (as recorded by travellers from continental Europe, an ironic reversal of modern stereotypes) and visitors would be embraced under the bough as a sign of goodwill, leading to the custom of kissing under the mistletoe" (Sim, 2011). The earliest documented case of kissing under the mistletoe dates from 16th century England, a custom that was apparently very popular at that time (Von Tubeuf, 1923). And this does line up with Tudor England, being defined as between 1485 and 1603 in England and Wales and includes the Elizabethan period during the reign of Elizabeth I until 1603 (Guy, 1988).

Found at "12 weird and wonderful Tudor Christmas traditions, from boy bishops to Plough Monday" by All About History Team, 2016

Unknown artist and date. Appears as a Rococo (approx. 1730) stylized work

New Revivals - Gregorian & Victorian Eras

It was alluded to as common practice in 1808 due to the nature of it appearing in a men's shaving ad called 'THE KISS UNDER THE MISSELTOE':

Under the misseltoe the maid was led

Altho' she cried, No, she held up her head

To obtain a kiss: a sigh was heard.

The reason why - Tom rubbed her with his beard"

(The Times (London, England), 13 October 1808; p.4).

and described in 1820 by American author Washington Irving in his The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.:

"The mistletoe is still hung up in farm-houses and kitchens at Christmas, and the young men have the privilege of kissing the girls under it, plucking each time a berry from the bush. When the berries are all plucked the privilege ceases" (Irving, 1852: 254).

And in Germany, the Christmas tradition is that people who kiss under mistletoe will have an enduring love or are bound to marry one another, just like England in the Regency and Victorian eras (Zeit, 2009 - "Warum küsst man sich unter dem Mistelzweig?").

In its common use as a Christmas decoration, it's really thanks to Charles Dickens and Queen Victoria from her husband Prince Albert. During the Victorian Era, which began in 1837, after the Gregorian Period began in 1714 and ended with Victoria's ascent to the throne, Prince Albert brought many of his home country's (Germany) holiday traditions over to England. That's mostly why it wasn't mentioned as such much in England until the 18th century (Drury, 1987:194–199). The Gregorian period included the Regency era, defined as either stretching from 1811-1820 or 1795-1837 because of the definitions of the 'Regency Era', Prince George was prince regent during the former and included part of George III's reign and the reigns of his sons George IV and William IV during the latter set of dates (Newman, 1997; Pryde, 1996: 47). And the thanks to Charles Dickens comes from his first novel The Pickwick Papers, published as a serialized work in 1836. The plot was a loosely based collection of anachronistic newspaper stories from 1827-28 (Wormald, 2003).

"According to custom, the mistletoe must not touch the ground between its cutting and its removal as the last of Christmas greens at Candlemas. It may remain hanging throughout the year, often to preserve the house from lightning or fire, until it is replaced the following Christmas Eve." (Drury 1987; Tanner, 2009).

Kissing boughs

The mistletoe bough from 1794 and before, was a simple design, just the sprig tied up and hung from the ceiling. But, by Victorian times, the kissing bough was much more complex. Five circles of wire were joined together to form a globe, and evergreens were bound around the wires, to be shaped like a double hooped May-garland or crown, which was hung from the middle of the ceiling in the main room (Suszynski & Abramson, 2000). The garland of greenery was adorned with candles, real apples or red apple rosettes of coloured paper, and the large bunch of mistletoe hung from the centre. It could also be decorated with paper flowers since there would be few flowers available in England in December (Suszynski & Abramson, 2000).

1. Nobleworks Saturday Evening Post: Under Mistletoe Norman Rockwell Christmas Card

2. Mistletoe Bouquet: European mistletoe (Viscum album) used as a Christmas decoration. © Barbara-Maria Damrau/Fotolia

3. Artificial Door Décor Holly Mistletoe Kissing Ball - 7 Inch (Found on amazon.com from Ganz)

The bough itself is called 'the mistletoe'. The candles were ceremoniously lit on Christmas Eve and then every evening throughout the 12 days of Christmas which ends on January sixth (Frazer, 1890). Similarly to a majority of the aspects of the Christian world's holiday season, the 12 days of Christmas was co opted to fit the simply Christian elements of celebrated until the Magi would have arrived on the Epiphany. The celebration of Yule is even 12 days and nights long, starting either on December 20th or 21st, but even that wasn't the original version, As an example, in the Old Norse text Heimskringla: The Saga of Håkon the Good, written by Snorri Sturluson c. 1230 in Iceland, talks about it once lasting for three days, or as long as the ale lasted (Bagge, 2004). No matter how long it would lasted, the mistletoe would be hung up until and including the new year, or even all 12 months until a new mistletoe would be hung.

Ruby Lane

1. 1908 German Come Under the Mistletoe Christmas Postcard with Romantic Couple Germany Edwardian (Photo from: Ruby Lane)

2. Mr. Fezziwig’s Ball, Hand colored etching by John Leech from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, via Wikimedia Commons

3. “Merrie Christmas: Couple Dancing Under Mistletoe,” Norman Rockwell, 1928. Oil on canvas. Cover illustration for “The Saturday Evening Post,” December 8, 1928. Collection of Bank of America. ©1928 SEPS: Curtis Publishing, Indianapolis, IN.

4. "Victorian Mistletoe" Unknown artist.

5. French trade card titled Under the Mistletoe, England; Christmas Customs 1888. Photo from: Amoret Tanner

Medicine

John Colbatch, an English apothecary and physician, wrote two books on the mistletoe in 1719 and 1720. “He had a whole section on superstitions and customs associated with mistletoe,” Forsyth says, “and doesn’t mention anything at all about kissing under mistletoe.” (Moon, 2018).

Can be toxic

"[T]here are numerous debates on the toxicity of mistletoe to humans. There have been cases where ingesting mistletoe leads to vomiting, blurred vision, heartbeat irregularity, and seizure. Furthermore, domestic animals that have ingested mistletoe can experience diarrhea, vomiting, and seizures; mistletoe can be lethal for certain pets as well." (). Going back centuries mistletoe, while the sprigs were being hung in doorways the plant was also being fed to farm animals for the mythological reasons to "bless" the animals for the coming year and for the medical, to realistically keep them fed and healthy during the winter, therefore the toxins weren't too strong for the larger animals (Kanner, 1939).

As mistletoe, as we covered in the Ecology section, in a general ecological sense, is a keystone resource in forests there are some birds have immunity to the poison and enjoy the berries, especially the mistle thrush which is named for its favourite food (Watson, 2001).

Cancer Treatments

From the time of Hippocrates, as far back as 3000 B.C. physicians have recommended mistletoe to cure different diseases with Persians using it for epilepsy (Christopher, n.d.; Hood, & Friend, 2011). Theophrastus (371-287 BCE) was the first to write down his scientific observations on the mistletoes biology and then the Greek author Tubeuf wrote about the difference type on different trees (Kuhn, 2012; Zänker & Kaveri (Eds.), 2015:2). The juice from the berries or the powder from leaves or stems made into a drink, plaster, or ointment (Zänker & Kaveri (Eds.), 2015:1). In the early 20th century, mistletoe's potential in cancer treatment was being determined, and while Rudolf Steiner developed the basic concept in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was Ita Wegman was the first physician to specifically apply a mistletoe extract in cancer patients (Ernst, 2006; Zänker & Kaveri (Eds.), 2015). "Steiner based his concept on careful observation of morphological patterns, considered polar qualities of mistletoe in summer and winter, and designed a unique pharmaceutical processing" (Zänker & Kaveri (Eds.), 2015). These anthroposophic drugs were based on ancient alchemistic and homeopathic notions, and being produced by fermentation while others are produced by high dilution (Ernst, 2006). It was found that oak mistletoe was the most valuable and a very rare medicinal plant, which has been used in cancer therapy since 1927 (Zänker & Kaveri (Eds.), 2015:1). Due to the limited availability of oak mistletoe, however, a programme was launched to safeguard the stocks of oak mistletoe by searching for wild sites in France and by cultivating V. album on Quercus robur and Q. petraea (Zänker & Kaveri (Eds.), 2015:1). However, the jury is still out in the eyes of the medical community whether the procedure and medicines actually work or not (Ernst, 2006).

"European mistletoe is potentially fatal, in a concentrated form, and people can become seriously ill from eating the berries" (Poison Control). "The toxic lectin viscumin has been isolated from Viscum album (Olsnes, Stirpe, Sandvig, Pihl, 1982). Viscumin is a cytotoxic protein (ribosome inactivating protein, or RIP) that binds to galactose residues of cell surface glycoproteins and may be internalised by endocytosis (Stirpe, Sandvig, Olsnes, & Pihl, 1982). Viscumin strongly inhibits protein synthesis by inactivating the 60 S ribosomal subunit. The structure of this protein is very similar to other RIPs, showing the most resemblance to ricin and abrin (Olsnes, Stirpe, Sandvig, & Pihl, 1982; Stirpe, Sandvig, Olsnes, & Pihl, 1982).

Now, as with other medications, many varieties are being created and are being tested in laboratory conditions. However, according to Edzard Ernst, professor of complementary medicine, many, if not most of "their findings are inconsistent. Most of them are methodologically weak, and the less rigorous they are the greater the likelihood of a positive result. The conclusions of systematic reviews are therefore contradictory" (Kienle, G. S., Kiene, H. & Albonico, 2006 in Ernst, 2006). And injecting the medications with the based on mistletoe extract or injecting the extract straight is highly experimental and very dangerous and has led to many serious adverse reactions; such as: local reactions at injection site, anaphylaxis, dyspnoea, haemorrhagic colitis, herpes simplex, herpes zoster, joint pain, kidney failure, lymphangiitis, parasthesias, sarcoidosis, ulceration, and vertigo (Saller R. Zu den unerwuenschten Nebenwirkungen von Mistelpraeparaten. Drittens Mistelsymposium Otzenhausen, 20-22 November 2003; Huber R, Klein R, Berg PA, Luedtke R, Werner M., 2002: 857-66).

More Natural Medications

Other than the European having utilized mistletoe extracts for cancer treatments, generally as a complementary medicine (Kaveri, 2015). "The Navajo’s past medicinal traditions have used juniper mistletoe to create salves for healing bug bites and warts, too. While there has been a history of the plant’s use to cure certain ailments, modern medicine, by contrast, still requires more extensive research to prove these claims’ effectiveness and consistency. In fact, the US has not yet officially approved the use of mistletoe in treating disease." (Agravante, 2015 [blog]). But it further depends on which species of mistletoe one is using to make the medication.

The Chinese have incorporated Asian mistletoe in some of their healing practices. In China, the herb is used in puerperal difficulties, such as, problems relating to childbirth, like: threatened miscarriages, menorrhagia, and insufficient secretion of mother's milk (Christopher, n.d). So it's used in scalp diseases, which has more to do with it's possible ability to promote hair growth, and difficulties of the external genital organs of women (Christopher, n.d). And, when the plant specifically grows upon pine and fir trees is thought to be antimalarial, antiseptic, diuretic and somewhat soporific (Shi:248 in Christopher, n.d).

"In India, the plant is thought to be analogous to cinchona bark in intermittent fevers. The blood pressure is said to be reduced by Mistletoe, which also dilates arterioles and capillaries. It is given to reduce splenic and hepatic enlargements, to disperse swellings, and in menorrhagia and hemorrhages. Like digitalis it may be given in palpitations of the heart and in epilepsy. Locally it is applied to mature abscesses" (IMM:1276 in Christopher, n.d.).

The plant was also sacred to the Amos and the Ainu peoples of Japan and to certain tribes in Africa (Barlow, 2008; ":129"; Christopher, n.d.). It has always been surrounded with mystery and superstition. It was a plant that grew without roots in the ground, as though it had fallen from the sky as a divine gift, and as a divine gift it was likened to the soul, because the Mistletoe was evergreen. In northern winters when the trees seemed to die, the fresh foliage of the Mistletoe was the sign of life everlasting; the souls of the trees still lived. So, many groups figured that it would be keeping the host plant alive as the all-healer; like the oak tree in the European world and the sacred willow with Ainu people of Japan (Barlow, 2008). It protected against witchcraft and nightmares; it evoked ghosts and caused them to answer your questions; it opened all locks, guarded your dairy and stable from trolls, cured epilepsy, warded off death in battle, induced omens of good or bad fortune; and as a divining rod, it pointed to buried gold or treasure ~(:129; Christopher, n.d.).

There's much more research to be done, and minds have to be kept open so the non-bias facts can be discovered and shared with the rest of the world.

Other Uses

Mistletoe is an ingredient of pomace brandy based liquor biska made in Istra, Croatia (Rushby, 2017). Specifically Biska is produced by macerating mistletoe leaves in Istrian brandy/rakija. Carefully selected branches with leaves are picked during a specific period in spring and autumn, partially dried and put to macerate in the brandy at room temperature" (Sinkovic, n.d.)

Biska, Sinkovic Brand

And the European variety was and still is a very popular design in Art Nouveau due to the separate lines and round berries (Briggs, 2000).

1. Rene Lalique’s Gui bowl c 1921.

2. Rene Lalique’s Druide Vase c 1924.

3. Lalique’s Chandelier Boule De Gui.

4. Edgar-William Brandt’s Boule de Gui paperweight – which came in several variants, including lamp-bases. 1920-1925.

5. Rene Lalique’s Boule de Gui Vase.

6. Plates from a dinner service designed by Edmond Lachenal in the 1890s. Made by Luneville exclusively for subscribers to Les Annales Politiques et Littéraires.

Conclusion

Due to the context of the English tradition of the mistletoe all of the mythological pieces, from ancient Greece, Rome, to the originally unconnected Vikings and Druids. Puzzle pieces found today can make the picture generally interpretable, but I feel like we're still discovering the pieces. In celebrations no longer celebrated, in stories no longer told. Mistletoe has has been used as a medicine in traditions across the globe for (literally) centuries. Maybe that's a connection to health, life, and vitality. What is always striking to me is how much there is to uncover, no matter how long the research takes there is always more to find. There are more threads to pull at and that, even or especially coincidentally, connect to each other or take a parallel route. But, there is much more to cover, so please look through the Further Reading and Citations, for more info. And since I'm nowhere near an expert it may explain why I wonder what kind secrets may be floating in the ether of history about gods, goddesses, and spirits of love and healing that fall under the radar of much of scholarship which may have some connection to mistletoe (hell, I may have just made up a new one).

Further Reading

History and Mythology

Folkard, R. (1884). Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics: Embracing the Myths, Traditions, Superstitions, and Folk-lore of the Plant Kingdom. United Kingdom: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington.

Forsyth, M. (2016). A Christmas Cornucopia: The Hidden Stories Behind Our Yuletide Traditions. Penguin UK.

Hutton, R. (2009). Blood and mistletoe: the history of the Druids in Britain. Yale University Press.

Barlow, Bryan. (7 August, 2008). Mistletoe in folk legend and medicine. Australian National Botanic Gardens. Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research (CANBR). https://www.anbg.gov.au/mistletoe/folk-legend.html

Historical Periodicals - CHRISTMAS EVERGREENS (Fyfe, 1862): https://search.proquest.com/openview/fclf292cc27d439d/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=2212

Lindow, J. (2002). Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs. United States: Oxford University Press, USA.

Forbes, B. D. (2008). Christmas: A Candid History. United Kingdom: University of California Press.

Barth, E. (2000). Holly, Reindeer, and Colored Lights: The Story of the Christmas Symbols. United States: Clarion Books.

Bulfinch, T. (1883). The Age of Fable; Or, Beauties of Mythology. United States: S.W. Tilton & Company.

Easy Reading on Saturnalia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturnalia

Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca

Pseudo-Eratosthenes, Catasterismi 14, 19

Hyginus, Fabulae 1–3, 12, 21, 22, 188

Mistletoe Ecology -

Boodle, L. A. (1924). Mistletoe on Oaks. Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew), 1924(8), 331-333.

Ollerton, J., Rouquette, J., & Breeze, T. (2016). Valuing insect pollination services to culturally important crops: holly, mistletoe and the spirit of Christmas. Journal of Pollination Ecology, 19.

Medical Stuff -

Kleijnen J, Knipschild P. Mistletoe treatment for cancer: review of controlled trials in humans. Phytomedicine 1994;1:255-60.

Stauder H, Kreuser E-D. Mistletoe extracts standardised in terms of mistletoe lectins (ML I) in oncology: current state of clinical research. Onkologie 2002;25:374-80.

Ernst E, Schmidt K, Steuer-Vogt MK. Mistletoe for cancer? A systematic review of randomised controlled trials. Int J Cancer 2003;107:262-7.

Gengenbach, B. B., Keil, L. L., Opdensteinen, P., Müschen, C. R., Melmer, G., Lentzen, H., ... & Buyel, J. F. (2019). Comparison of microbial and transient expression (tobacco plants and plant‐cell packs) for the production and purification of the anticancer mistletoe lectin viscumin. Biotechnology and bioengineering, 116(9), 2236-2249.

Citations

Abbess, E. (2020, December 17). Why Do We Decorate With Holly at Christmas? HowStuffWorks. https://people.howstuffworks.com/culture-traditions/holidays-christmas/holly1.htm

Agravante, Mariecor. (22 Dec. 2015). 'What to Know about Mistletoe Facts and Mythology'. Medium.com.

Bagge, S. (2004). A Hero between Paganism and Christianity. Håkon the Good in memory and history. Peter Lang.

Bateman, M. (2013). The Image of the Tree in Gaelic Culture. In Rannsachadh na Gàidhlig 6: Papers read at Rannsachadh na Gàidhlig 6 held at the University of Aberdeen 23-26 August 2010 An Clò Gàidhealach.

BBC News - Tenbury Wells: Centuries-old romance with mistletoe

Box, J. (1995) THE FESTIVE ECOLOGY OF HOLLY. British Wildlife Vol 7.2 Researchgate[PDF].

Briggs, J. (2000). Mistletoe in Art. The Mistletoe Pages. http://mistletoe.org.uk/homewp/index.php/ mistletoe-art/#nouveau.

Bulfinch, T. (1883). The Age of Fable; Or, Beauties of Mythology. United States: S.W. Tilton & Company.

Christopher, J. R. (n.d.). Mistletoe, Viscum album; (Viscaceae). The Complete Writings of Dr. John R. Christopher. Retrieved December 30, 2020, from https://online.snh.cc/files/2100/HTML/100hs_mistletoe__viscum_album.htm

Clarke, Michael (2007). Story of Aeneas. Echo Library. ISBN 1-4068-4617-1.

Colgan, N. (1904). Flora of the County Dublin: Flowering Plants, Higher Cryptograms, and Characeae. Hodges, Figgis.

Crawford, John Raymond (1914). De Bruma et Brumalibus festis. Harvard University Press.

Devlin, Zoë, (2020). "Information on Mistletoe". Wildflowers of Ireland. http://www.wildflowersofireland.net/plant_detail.php?id_flower=641&wildflower=Mistletoe#:~:text=A%20hemiparasitic%20plant%20species%2C%20Mistletoe,%2C%20Apple%2C%20Poplar%20and%20Willow.

Drury, Susan. "Customs and Beliefs Associated with Christmas Evergreens: A Preliminary Survey" Folklore 98.2 (1987:194–199) p. 194.

Ernst, E. (2006). Mistletoe as a treatment for cancer.

Frazer, J. G. 1890. The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion. Macmillan, London. [Reprint, Crown Publications, Inc., Victoria, BC, Canada, 1981.

Frazer, J. G. (1994). The golden bough: a new abridgement. Ed. Robert Fraser. London: Oxford UP.

Fern​ald, M. L. 1900. Arceuthobium pusillum in the St. John and St. Lawrence valleys. Rhodora 2:10-11.

Graham, Winston (2002). Bella Poldark. Macmillan. Chapter 6.

Guy, John (1988) Tudor England, Oxford University Press, p. 32

Hofeneder, Andreas. Die Religion der Kelten in den antiken literarischen Zeugnissen, volume II, Vienna 2008, pp. 365-379.

Hood, L., & Friend, S. H. (2011). Predictive, personalized, preventive, participatory (P4) cancer medicine. Nature reviews Clinical oncology, 8(3), 184-187.

Huber R, Klein R, Berg PA, Luedtke R, Werner M. (2002). Effects of a lectin- and a viscotoxin-rich mistletoe preparation on clinical and hematologic parameters: a placebo-controlled evaluation in healthy subjects. J Altern Complement Med; 8:857-66.

Irving, W. (1831). "Christmas Eve" from The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent....: In Two Volumes (Vol. 2). Carey & Lea. (Rev. ed. 1852).

John the Lydian (December 2009). "A translation of John the Lydian, "De Mensibus" 4.158". Roger Pearse: Thoughts on Antiquity, Patristics, putting things online, freedom of speech, information access, and more. Trans. Pearse, Roger.

KANNER, L. (1939). MISTLETOE, MAGIC AND MEDICINE. Bulletin of the History of Medicine,7(8), 875-936. Retrieved January 4, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/44440480.

Kaveri, S.V.. (2015). Mistletoe: From Mythology to Evidence-Based Medicine. Switzerland, S. Karger AG.

Kienle, G. S., Kiene, H., & Albonico, H. U. (2006). Anthroposophic medicine: health technology assessment report-short version. Forschende Komplementarmedizin (2006), 13, 7-18.

Kuhn, T. S. (2012). The structure of scientific revolutions. University of Chicago press.

Macbain, A. (2005). Celtic Mythology and Religion. United Kingdom: Lightning Source Incorporated.

Maier, B. (1997). Dictionary of Celtic religion and culture. Boydell & Brewer.

Mazza, Robert (February 2011). "Choricius of Gaza, Oration XIII: Religion and State in the Age of Justinian". In Digeser, Elizabeth DePalma; Frakes, Robert M.; Stephens, Justin (eds.). The Rhetoric of Power in Late Antiquity: Religion and Politics in Byzantium, Europe and the Early Islamic World. London/New York: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 9781848854093.

Millar, Fergus. (1993). "Ovid and the Domus Augusta: Rome Seen from Tomoi," Journal of Roman Studies 83. p. 6.

Moon, K. (2018, December 13). Here’s Why People Kiss Under the Mistletoe at Christmastime. Time. https://time.com/5471873/mistletoe-kiss-christmas/

Müller-Ebeling, Claudia, and Rätsch, Christian. (2006). Pagan Christmas: The Plants, Spirits, and Rituals at the Origins of Yuletide. United States, Inner Traditions/Bear.

Newman, Gerald, ed. (1997). Britain in the Hanoverian Age, 1714-1837: An Encyclopedia. Taylor & Francis. ISBN9780815303961.

Nicholson, N. (2000). Polysemy and Ideology in Pindar "Pythian" 4.229-230. Phoenix, 54(3/4), 191-202. doi:10.2307/1089054

Norton, L. (2010, December 21). Pucker Up! Why Do People Kiss Under the Mistletoe? Livescience.Com. https://www.livescience.com/32901-why-we-kiss-under-mistletoe.html#:%7E:text=The%20tradition%20of%20kissing%20under,which%20to%20them%20represented%20peace.

Olsnes S, Stirpe F, Sandvig K, Pihl A (November 1982). "Isolation and characterization of viscumin, a toxic lectin from Viscum album L. (mistletoe)". The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 257 (22): 13263–70.

Stirpe F, Sandvig K, Olsnes S, Pihl A (November 1982). "Action of viscumin, a toxic lectin from mistletoe, on cells in culture". The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 257 (22): 13271–7. PMID 7142145. Retrieved 2009-06-22.

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Rushby, Kevin (20 August 2016). "Cres, Croatia: island of ghosts and vultures". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 December 2017.

Scheid, John, (1995). "Graeco Ritu: A Typically Roman Way of Honoring the Gods," Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, 97, Greece in Rome: Influence, Integration, Resistance, p.23.

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Suszynski B. & Abramson S. (2000, December 11). "How Mistletoe Works". Retrieved from https://people.howstuffworks.com/culture-traditions/holidays-christmas/mistletoe.htm

Tainter, F.H. (2002). What Does Mistletoe Have To Do With Christmas? APSnet Features. Online. doi: 10.1094/APSnetFeature-2002-1202.

Sydney J. Tanner. There’s more to mistletoe than just a kiss prompter. Chippewa.com. December 10, 2009

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Warner, Dick. (Dec. 2009). “Why the Mistletoe Tradition Is Not Very Irish.” Irish Examiner, 21, www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/arid-20108287.html.

Watson, D. M. (2001). Mistletoe—a keystone resource in forests and woodlands worldwide. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 32(1), 219-249.

Wormald, M. (2003). Introduction” to The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens.

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Zänker, K. S., & Kaveri, S. V. (Eds.). (2015). Mistletoe: From mythology to evidence-based medicine. Karger Medical and Scientific Publishers.

*there may be some repeats, but my curse goes to Microsoft 365.