A mighty sprig of mistletoe hanging from the kitchen ceiling on Christmas Eve caused a shambles.

In the midst of the general confusion, Samuel Pickwick took an elderly lady by the hand, led her under the mystical branch and kissed her.

At first the indignation among the other women was great, they screamed and were outraged, but finally they all allowed themselves to be kissed by the gentlemen present.

In his first novel, The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, Charles Dickens captured how we should imagine Christmas in the Victorian era.

A man was allowed to kiss any woman standing under a mistletoe;

whoever refused brought bad luck.

The origin of this custom is disputed.

It probably first appeared among servants in the 18th century and then conquered English class society.

The quirk quickly spread on both sides of the Atlantic.

Soon the demand for mistletoe in the British Isles could no longer be satisfied.

At the beginning of the 20th century, thousands upon thousands of mistletoe were imported from Brittany, where the plant was grown in the crowns of deciduous trees, to decorate the rooms for Christmas.

The origin of the kiss under the mistletoe has been suggested in Norse mythology.

Because in the Edda, a projectile made from this plant brought death to the young god of light, Balder.

Some suspect that his mother, Frigg, declared mistletoe to be a symbol of reconciliation and love after her son's death.

What is certain, however, is that the evergreen white mistletoe (Viscum album), which mainly grows on fruit and coniferous trees, was worshiped by the Germans and Celts.

The semi-parasitic plant, whose sticky seeds are spread by bird droppings and which draws water and nutrients from its host via special suction organs, so-called haustoria, did not seem to be subject to the seasonal change: in the middle of the cold winter season, the large balls with yellow-green leaves and white ones fall Berries in the tops of the trees to every observer.

Healing power of mistletoe

The epiphyte was considered a magical medicinal plant and apotropaic lucky charm, it protected against witches and evil spirits.

In medicine, mistletoe was used as a remedy for epilepsy, spleen and liver diseases and lung diseases.

Veterinarians in ancient Rome recommended administering mistletoe-laced wine through the nose of cattle to combat some plagues.

Even today, many patients swear by the healing powers of mistletoe and use it to treat blood pressure, circulatory and respiratory problems.

The use of mistletoe extract in the treatment of cancer is propagated by anthroposophic medicine;

However, numerous studies have not been able to reliably demonstrate the benefit of the therapy.

However, the most famous brew made from mistletoe is probably the magic potion of the druid Miraculix, which gave the Gauls in the Asterix comics superhuman strength and fueled their resistance against the Roman occupiers.

The modern narrative reflects the ancient tradition.

According to Pliny the Elder, nothing was more sacred to the Gauls than the mistletoe found on winter oaks.

To this day, historians and botanists are still arguing about whether this refers to the white mistletoe, which rarely grows on oaks, or the semi-parasitic ostrich flower (Loranthus europaeus), which occurs more frequently on these trees.

On the sixth day after the new moon, Pliny reports that a druid dressed in white climbed the tree and cut the mistletoe with a golden sickle.

Then sacrifice two white bulls under the tree.

The Gauls called mistletoe, which was worshiped in this way, “the one that heals everything”, because they believed that the drink obtained was effective against all poisons and bestowed fertility.

But mistletoe also brought death: the sticky juice of the ripe berries has been used since ancient times to make bird glue, an adhesive for catching birds that, despite legal bans, has been used until very recently.