i rag B10 Terrace. Standard et | December 24, 4991" - Under the mi By GUNTER LENARDT In many American and Cana- dian homes one can find among other. holiday decorations the mistletoe. It is said that it en- courages kisses between lovers. Does the mistletoe effect some. kind of magic? We have to go more than two © millenias back. into history to find its origin. A rich tradition of plant lore originated with the Celts who lived in parts of France and England before the Romans invaded these parts of Europe. The Druids, the Celtic priests of that era, used all kinds of herbs, plants and trees in their rites; trees especially were the object of their veneration. Trees had to come to Man’s defence when the imagined forces of darkness threatened to overcome him. After the victory of the forests giants, so the Druidic folklore said, the Druids took the Celtic word for tree as their name and made trees the basis of their alphabet. One will find an example of Duidic folklore in the wiritngs ‘of the Roman writer Pliny the Elder. He lived in the first cen- tury C.E. His many travels to the conquered territories enabl- ed him to learn about the mistletoe. He includes this plant in his famous columns. It was almost certain to in- terest the educated Romans as the mistletoe was the Golden , Bough of Virgil’s Aeneid which was written less than a century before Pliny’s work. The mistletoe, a strange parasite, has such singular habits that it elicited the Druid priests’ war- ship. ~ It seemed to live its entire life aloft in the branches of trees, never descending to earth, a plants actual habitat, and so de- Thanks , Dear Sir: The Canadian -Diabetes Association thanks all those who helped and donated to its November appeal. And, thanks to the can- -vassers who took time to go out and collect. The total amount raised in Terrace for 1990 was $6,209.01. . The Honda raffle is now over and there were three $100 prize winners from the northwest. The are Shianne Denny from New Hazelton, D, Murie from Terrace and T. Delaronde from Terrace. The Terrace branch, Canadian Diabetes Associa- tion. w Do iT UP a RIGHT, BC sLuMBER| LODGE TERRACE - 41702 Lakelse Aveune Phone 635.6302 » Ueensed Premises” “HOURS: ~ Monday © _ _ to Saturday a a. m: = 8:30 p.m. ‘Sunday & Holldays 8: a. m..- -3 p. m. {100} FAMILY DING AT ‘REASONABLE PRICES, fying nature. Birds were the ac- tual propagators of the ‘mistletoe, They ate the white berries and also deposited some lost berries on the branches of other trees where, after a few days, tiny roots: emerged and the plant was established.’ After. the new moon, - the’ Druid priests entered the, forest and harvested the mistletoe with a golden sickle. Some priests. stayed -below, ‘catching the fall- ing sprigs in a white cloak. They took care not to let any cuttings touch the ground as-this would effect the loss of -their heaven- sent virtues. Later the magic crop was brewed ,into a mysterious potion. They ‘thought it held health-giving properties. Learning from them, the Romans decorated their halls with mistletoes when celebrating Saturnalia to honor their God of farming and celebrate the return of the sun about mid-December. However, early Christians did nat use decorations of pagan origin until Jater when Christian priests exorcised and/or blessed herbs, plants and trees to fit Christian traditions and rites. This did not happen until the fourth century C.E, when Roman emperor Constantin became Christian. For many centuries and into the middle ages, Christians did not decorate their homes with mistletoe, holly. or even the Christmas tree, Later in the middle ages Christians started to hang up these formerly pagan decorations in the honor of Christ or as an. insurance against ills, witcheraft, disease, bad luck, and fire. This practice went on until the twentieth cen- tury, then it slowly faded away. American mistletoe has been used in folk medicine as an an- Ss | A tihypertensive and sedative. : However, the U.S. ‘Food and -- | Drug Administration lists this’ [ plant as unsafe. i 2 So, hang your “mistletoe in your doorways..You may. win a. kiss from a loved one during the: holiday season, ‘Mistletoe