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England and the United States.
Kissing Bough Robert Tiemann of Priddy, Texas, whose Tiemann Holiday Mistletoe Co. has provided the kissing bough to eager customers for 29 years, says, “Our orders are up SO percent over last year. We’ve shipped 45,000 pounds of preserved mistletoe to wholesalers already. And from Thanksgiving to midDecember we work ’round the clock to provide more than 60,000 pounds of fresh mistletoe to buyers in every state in the Union.’’ Mistletoe is harvested in much the same way it was gathered since before the time of Christ. Seasonal workers search it out in forests where it grows wild. They usually work in pairs —one in the tree, another on the ground—to harvest the mistletoe with a long-handled hook. It must be handled gingerly becuase the elegant white berries are delicate.
During the winter solstice in ancient Britain and Gaul, Druid priests also harvested mistletoe by hand—but with a golden sickle. In flowing white robes and marching to the heralding of trumpets and the chanting of bards, they proceeded solemnly into the forest to sacrifice two pure white bulls to their gods before cutting the sacred plant.
The mistletoe was ceremoniously caught in white cloths because the Druids believed contact with earth would not only diminish its power to promote fertility and cure numerous ailments, but would also bring bad fortune.
In Switzerland, Sweden, and Wales, superstition dictated that to retain its virtues, mistletoe had to be shot out of trees and caught before it touched the ground. Today, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, where mistletoe is prevalent, shooting it out of trees remains one method of harvest.
Mistletoe’s role in Norse legends has made it a holiday symbol of love and peace. In Scandinavian antiquity.
warriors meeting by chance beneath mistletoe in a forest would lay down their arms and embrace.
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