Talk:Mistletoe

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Contents 1 Some mistletoes are poisonous - though not all 2 Why do we kiss under the mistletoe? 3 Werewolves 4 This page contradicts other pages 5 Oklahoma 6 Map of where mistletoe grows?

[edit] Some mistletoes are poisonous - though not all

The statement "the whole plant is poisonous. Refer to http://www.swmedicalcenter.com/11948.cfm for example" is misleading.

Actually, only a few species (there are about 1500 across the world) are poisonous. The most significant toxic species are the American Phoradendron species used at Christmas - but onle because these have close contact with pets and children. But that's only in N America - and there're a lot more mistletoes elsewhere. The 'true' mistletoe of legend, the European Viscum album species is not toxic - and is widely used in medicinal teas throughout continental Europe. It has toxic elements, and specific Lectins that are used in cancer treatments - but it is very misleading to generalise... See www.mistletoe.org.uk for general info and links to other sites.

Culpeper said "some, for the virtues thereof, have called it lignum sanctae crucis, wood of the holy cross, as it cures falling sickness, apoplexy and palsy very speedily, not only to be inwardly taken but to be hung at their neck". Which suggests that he did not consider Mistletoe wholly poisoness.

And that entry brings up another issue that should be included; The legend that Christ was crucified on a cross of mistletoe wood. This is referred to in Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable. New and Revised Edition 1981. Edited by Ivor H Evans.

[edit] Why do we kiss under the mistletoe?

Q Rich Farmbrough 14:55, 24 Dec 2004 (UTC)

A "According to a custom of Christmas cheer, any two people who meet under a hanging of mistletoe are obliged to kiss. The origin of this custom may be related to the story of Baldur coming back to life because of his mother Frigga (or Frigg), the goddess of love who removed the mistletoe's poison with her tears. When Baldur came back to life she kissed everyone who passed underneath the mistletoe out of happiness and gratitude and thus started the custom." --Jojje 14:08, 1 November 2006 (UTC)

Do you have a source for this story? Also, I think you may have confused Frigg and Freyja.

I agree. To my understanding, this is wrong, as Baldur stayed dead until Ragnarok because Loki did not cry for him, which broke the deal between Frigg and Hel. --- Thesis4Eva 16:53, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

Properly speaking every time someone is kissed under the mistletoe a berry should be removed. When the berries are all gone then the kissing has to stop.

This story seems extremely unlikely to me - if this were true then surely the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe would have originated in Scandinavia rather than Britain. I always understood that the tradition originated from an ancient fertility rite - the plant is in fruit at the winter solstice i.e. birth of the new year (and the berries contain a semen like fluid). The links given in the article http://www.mistletoe.org.uk/ mention this as the origin albeit with the possibility of the rite actually being invented by Druids in the 16th century. twitter 09:42, 22 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Werewolves

Is there an attribution for this superstition? I suspect this recent edit was cribbed from the less-recent Tooth and Claw (Doctor Who) by Russell T Davies, who I suspect made it up. For one thing it's justified within the plot, for another I've never heard of it.

If I'm wrong, sorry.

This link http://werewolves.monstrous.com/werewolves_powers.htm gives a little detail, but not very much - MPF 23:55, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] This page contradicts other pages

This page says Balder dies and come back to like because of Frigga. Whereas the article on Balder says that he wasn't allowed to come back to life... So which is it? I personally thought you kissed under the mistletoe because it had the pretty red berries through the winter and you kissed under it because it symbolized "eventual rebirth in spring", like the other evergreens.

But *shrugs* I don't know if I'm right or not.

The berries are not red and the tradition is linked to the vitality of the sap of the berry.

[edit] Oklahoma

When I was growing up in Oklahoma, the public schools taught that mistletoe was the state flower. User:70.174.166.186 has challenged that, but I wonder if it isn't revisionist history (perhaps by the Legislature), and I'd be interested in seeing a reference.--Curtis Clark 16:47, 10 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Map of where mistletoe grows?

Does mistletoe grow everywhere on Earth? I wonder because my girlfriend from Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA saw it everywhere, yet in Charlottesville, Virginia where I grew up, I never saw mistletoe. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.45.0.133 (talk) 00:02, 29 December 2007 (UTC)

No, there are many genera and species with the common name "mistletoe", but none of them have world-wide distribution. You can see the distribution of the european mistletoe Viscum album in the map at this url: http://linnaeus.nrm.se/flora/di/lorantha/viscu/viscalbv.jpg Plantsurfer (talk) 00:45, 29 December 2007 (UTC)