HERB CORNER
Sacred Herbs of Yule: Mistletoe
BY ELLEN EVERT HOPMAN
We must not omit to mention the admi- ration that is lavished upon this plant by the Gauls. The Druids — for that is the name they give to their magicians — held nothing more sacred than the mistletoe and the tree that bears it, supposing always that tree to be the robur [Oak]. . . . The mistletoe, however, is but rarely found upon the robur; and when found, is gathered with rites replete with re- ligious awe. This is done more particularly on the fifth day of the moon. . . . This day they select because the moon, though not yet in the middle of her course, has already consid- erable power and influence; and they call her by a name which signifies, in their language, the all-healing. Having made all due prepa- ration for the sacrifice and a banquet beneath the trees, they bring thither two white bulls, the horns of which are bound then for the first time. Clad in a white robe the priest as - cends the tree, and cuts the mistletoe with a golden sickle, which is received by others in a white cloak. They then immolate the victims, offering up their prayers that God will render this gift of his propitious to those to whom he has so granted it. It is the belief with them that the mistletoe, taken in drink, will impart fecundity to all animals that are barren, and that it is an antidote for all poisons.
Where mistletoe stays in the house, love also stays. ~ Traditional English Saying The damsel donned her kirtle sheen; The hall was dressed with holly green; Forth to the wood did merry men go. To gather in the mistletoe . . . ~ Sir Walter Scott, “Marmion” (1808) While the ancient Romans once decorated their homes with Mistletoe at Saturnalia, the custom of kissing under the Mistletoe most likely has Scandinavian origins. Mistletoe is associated with the Pagan Goddess Frigga, wife of Odin, king of the Norse gods. She is the Goddess of love and mother of Baldur, the gentle God of the summer’s light. Once upon a time, Baldur dreamed of his own death. This alarmed Frigga greatly, be- cause if Baldur died so would all life on Earth: plants, animals, humans, and all other crea- tures. Baldur was greatly loved among the Gods, and Frigga immediately asked all beings — elementals, plants, animals, and Gods — to promise to never harm him. But the trickster God Loki saw that Frigga had overlooked just one plant: the Mistletoe.
The Gods began to play a game in which they shot arrows at Baldur, just for fun, because he was now “invincible.” But Loki, ever jealous and now disguised as a woman, made an arrow of Mistletoe wood and gave it to Hoder, the blind God of winter, who unwittingly shot Baldur dead. As soon as that happened, the world went dark. As all creatures began to weep for the death of gentle Baldur, Frigga’s tears fell on the Mistletoe, and they became its white berries. Baldur was laid out on his boat, called Ringhorn, and his wife Nan- na fell down dead at the sight. The mourners placed her body next to his, and Odin lay the magically self-replicating golden ring, Draupnir, on their funeral pyre to take with them to the Otherworld.
While Pliny does not indicate the source of his account, researcher Jean-Louis Brunaux argues that it was likely Posidonius of Rhodes, a first-century BCE polymath. This is, in fact, the only recorded Druid ritual we have. The “golden sickle” must have been made of bronze because gold is too soft for cutting herbs. Or the “golden sickle” may be a reference to the Moon Herself! The “white cloak” refers to a white cloth the Druids held below the tree to catch the sprigs of mistletoe as they fell, because they considered the herb too sacred to ever touch the ground. They would then divide the branches into many sprigs for use as medicine and distributed the branches to the people to hang over doorways as protection against thunder, lightning, and other calam- ities. Whenever a culture weaves ceremony, lore, and magic around a particular plant, we can be sure that the herb has immense practi- cal value. Stories and seasonal rituals were a way of handing down the knowledge that a plant was useful, from generation to generation. Mistletoe must have been an important medicine for the Celtic Druids Mistletoe is a tonic for epilepsy and convulsive neurological con - ditions, including urinary and heart conditions. I have successfully used it to help a person with neurological effects from Lyme disease, though they still required standard antibiotics to purge the organism from their system. Mistletoe is also used for treating heart conditions and to stop internal bleeding. and other ancient societies. Medicinal Properties Mistletoe is given for very high fevers, such as those caused by ty - phoid; it reduces blood pressure and slows the pulse (after an initial rise). It also enhances the immune system and has an antitumor ef- fect; a commercial preparation made from it, called Iscador, is used to shrink cancerous tumors. Combine mistletoe with Skullcap ( Scutellaria lateriflora ) and Va- lerian ( Valeriana officinalis ) for nervous conditions, with Motherwort ( Leonurus cardiaca ) and Hawthorn ( Crataegus monogyna ) for myo-
Odin laid on the pyre that gold ring which is called Draup nir; this quality attended it: that every ninth night there fell from it eight gold rings of equal weight. ( Snorri Sturluson, “Gylfaginning,” thirteenth-century, Prose Edda)
Baldur’s brother Hermod the Swift was sent to the Underworld to beseech the Goddess Hel to return Baldur to the Aesir (the high Gods of Norse religion). Hermod rode upon Sleipnir, his father Odin’s eight-legged horse, and it took nine days for him to make it through dark valleys and high mountains. When Hermod finally got to the Underworld, Hel promised to let Baldur return to Asgard, the home of the Gods, as long as all beings in nature wept for him. And all did — except the giantess Tökk, who crouched in her cave and refused to shed a tear (some say that Tökk was actually jealous Loki in disguise). That meant Baldur could not return! But Hermod did bring back the golden ring Draupnir. Now, it is said, Baldur cannot return to his home with the Gods until Ragnarök, also known as the “Twilight of the Gods,” the final de - struction of the world in the conflict between the Aesir and the powers of Hel, led by Loki. Mistletoe was also an important herb of the Celtic Druids. Pliny the Elder, writing in his first-century Natural History , states:
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PATHWAYS—Winter 23—17
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