Every year when the Christmas season rolls around, people carry out countless holiday traditions that pre-date all of us. If you are a person who is akin to celebrating and experiencing all the Christmas traditions, then have you imagined yourself puckering up under a mistletoe branch on Christmas day? Christmas 2021: Five Strangest Christmas Traditions From All Over The Map That Will Leave You Super Amazed!
The kissing plant has been treasured for millennia and celebrated in different mythologies. A mistletoe is a plant that grows on a range of trees including oak trees, apples, and willow. They come under the category of parasitic plants which get some of their energy through sunlight by photosynthesis and directly derive all or most of their nutrition like water from the host or flowering plants during most or all of their life cycle.
Significance Of Mistletoe
In the days of the ancient Druids, the mistletoe plant was highly known for its healing properties. The Ancient Greeks thought that the plant could cure everything from spleen disorders to menstrual cramps, ulcers, and epilepsy. In Norse mythology, it was also used as a sign of love and friendship. Mistletoe is also meant to possess mystical powers which bring good luck and fortune to the household and ward off evil spirits. Romans decorated their houses and religious places with mistletoe in midwinter to please their gods.
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Why Do We Kiss Under Mistletoe?
The tradition of kissing under Mistletoe comes from England. The earliest recorded date mentioning kissing under the mistletoe is in 1784 in a musical. Historically, mistletoe represents vitality, romance, and fertility. The origin of ‘Kissing Under The Mistletoe’ is covered in uncertainty and various mythologies, but it is believed the ancient Greeks celebrated the winter holiday of Kronia, which is a lively festival and one of the biggest of the year with mistletoe and may have started the tradition of kissing under it.
In Victorian England, kissing under the mistletoe plant was a serious matter. If a girl says No to a kiss, then she shouldn’t expect any marriage proposals for at least the next year, and many people would rebuff her, remarking that she would most likely end up an old maid.
So place a sprig of mistletoe above a door frame in your Christmas get-together and wait for a harmless kiss! “Oh, ho, the mistletoe, hung where you can see. Somebody waits for you, kiss her once for me.”
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 24, 2021 09:53 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
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