Mistletoe for Christmas
The mistletoe is a hemi-parasitic shrub which can be found on the stem of other trees. There are many species of mistletoe and one of them is Viscum Album which is the Latin name for that known as the European mistletoe.
I can say that the mistletoe had been the symbol of the Christmas (not the tree), at least in Romania. Our antiquity neighbors, the Celtic people, had thought that mistletoe was created by a lightning over an oak. Since then the mistletoe was considered a plant with magical properties. For its eternal green, it became the symbol of eternal life and, in default of regular root, it was loved as being sent by God. The legends of mistletoe’s apparition is known and appreciated in the entire Europe and only good things are now associated with this plant.
Long ago and even now in houses of those who love and want to conserve the real tradition the mistletoe was a plant bringing the luck and wealth, eliminating the bad thoughts, demons and keeping the harmony inside of the family. The full of life green and its fresh and bright fruits mature in the middle of winter when the entire nature is sleeping, all that is associated with Christmas celebration and Jesus birth. We have to point out that the early Christianity had not recognized the mistletoe as a divine plant because of its associations with pagan rituals and it was forbidden.
Most of Romanians make a coronet from mistletoe which is an imitation of the divine coronet and it will protect the house and the family in Christmas time, but it’s kept as a dried also. We put it or a mistletoe arrangement above and kiss our loved person when it’s 12 o’clock pacing in the New Year. This ritual may come from the Scandinavians. They thought that mistletoe
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