Whatever happened to mistletoe? I haven’t heard much about mistletoe lately. When I was younger mistletoe was everywhere this time of year. It was exciting to get caught under the mistletoe especially if the person that held your heart was doing the catching.

The kisses under the mistletoe were memorable.

When did I quit hanging mistletoe? Perhaps when my children were teenagers. After all mistletoe and teenagers could be dangerous. Did I quit hanging mistletoe because after 38 years of marriage we don’t need an excuse? I don’t see any mistletoe adorning doorways in the homes of my friends. Have we just gotten old and stodgy? Have we forgotten stolen moments under the mistletoe? Why do we kiss under the mistletoe anyway?

I decided I should investigate. I was a little horrified to find out that the word mistletoe is derived from old English words “mistal”(dung) and “tan”(twig). It is thought that the plant was named after bird droppings on a tree. That isn’t very romantic. Kissing under bird droppings on a tree! How did we get from bird droppings to kissing?

Apparently one of the beliefs in early centuries is that mistletoe grew from birds. The plant was the results of birds landing in the trees. I still don’t see the romance in that unless they were lovebirds.

Then I found out that mistletoe is poisonous. So remember it could be the kiss of death. A French tradition holds that it is poisonous because it was found growing on a tree that was used to make the cross that Jesus died on and so it was cursed and denied a place to live and grow on earth. They deemed it was a parasite. There isn’t anything romantic about that. Lets see dung and death so far marked my research into the kissing mistletoe.

This is so romantic. The birds eat the berries from the parasitic mistletoe and leave droppings that contain seeds on trees that sprout roots onto the tree branch. Mistletoe takes five years to flower.

There are many myths and stories surrounding the mistletoe. You’ll have to investigate those on your own. The only one I am interested in is the kissing story. I couldn’t find the origin of the kissing tradition but my investigation was not deep especially after I learned about the bird droppings.

Now that we have got through the bird droppings and the poison it is said that mistletoe is an aphrodisiac, the soul of the oak from which it grows. There is mistletoe etiquette. A man is supposed to remove one berry when he kisses a woman and when all the berries are gone there is no more kissing. How does that work if you hang plastic mistletoe? What is going to happen to you if you kiss when there are no more berries? Maybe it is like the poison apple the queen gave to sleeping beauty? The last kiss will put you to sleep and you won’t care if there are no more berries.

Let me warn you, a couple that kisses under mistletoe will have good luck but a single lady not kissed under the mistletoe will remain single for another year. If you put a sprig of mistletoe under your pillow you will dream of your prince charming. I wouldn’t chance it if you were married. What if your prince charming in your dream wasn’t your husband? That could open up more problems for the mistletoe and you. Remember the mistletoe is poison. Would that be a poisonous dream? You can also burn the mistletoe. Mistletoe that burns steady tells of a healthy marriage. Mistletoe that flickers will doom you to an ill-suited partner.

Mistletoe also represents peace. Ancient tales tell of enemies meeting under a tree with mistletoe and laying down their arms. I like the idea of mistletoe representing peace instead of poison.

I guess I am going to run out and see if I can find some mistletoe. I like the idea of kisses but I like the idea of peace more. I would like to see mistletoe hanging in every doorway reminding each of us of peace on earth, good will to men.

Wells resident Julie Seedorf’s column appears every Monday. Send e-mail to her at thecolumn@bevcomm.net.