If you’re looking for another way to kiss your crush other than dancing on elevated surfaces downtown or swiping right on Tinder, get in the Christmas spirit and get yourself under a mistletoe! As Justin Bieber once said, we “should be playin in the winter snow” or “making a list” but we’re gonna be “under the mistletoe.” The modern tradition of the mistletoe says that if two people get caught standing under the plant, you must kiss each other. The origins of the Anglo Saxon words “mistle” (meaning dung) and “tan” (meaning twig) translates to “poop on a stick!” So romantic!
The mistletoe tradition has been around for thousands of years. The mistletoe plant was honored for its healing powers by ancient cultures. The romantic nature behind the plant most likely began during the Celtics in the 1st century A.D. They noticed that the mistletoe could bloom and remain green even during the cold, winter months and viewed it as a sacred symbol of attractiveness. The mistletoe was used to in hopes of restoring fertility.
The plant also has history within the Norse mythology. The god Odin’s son Baldur was foreseen to die. Therefore, his mother, the goddess of love, secured an oath with the natural world to promise they wouldn’t hurt him. However, the mother never consulted the mistletoe plant. As a result, the god Loki made an arrow from the plant and used it as the weapon to kill the son. However, the myth goes that they were able to resurrect Baldur. The goddess of love then declared the mistletoe as a symbol of love and vowed to plant a kiss on individuals who walked beneath it.
During the Middle Ages, the custom was that men were allowed to kiss any woman caught under the mistletoe and refusing would bring bad luck. Thankfully, times have changed! Another more popularly known custom is that each pluck of a berry off the mistletoe instigates a kiss. Therefore, once there is no more berries on the plant, the kissing stops. There is a lack of information on how the symbolic herb became a Christmas decoration. In Victorian England, the mistletoe was hung in the kissing ball and used as ornaments around nativity sets. The guests at the ball then played kissing games beneath the plant to bring good luck and long-lasting friendships.
Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year and Mariah Carey preaches that all we want for Christmas is that special someone. So, put on your ugly Christmas sweater, drink some peppermint schnapps, and find yourself a mistletoe to stand under! If you see the mistletoe as a silly tradition, it also just makes great decoration and puts all of us in the holiday spirit!