Chapter 2: Chapter 01
-13 YEARS AGO-
???:- ??? What is that?
??? :- It's a "MISTLETOE!!"
??? :- What is a 'MISTLETOE'?
??? :- Mistletoe is a plant that grows on trees. Mistletoe can cause Witches'-broom, a symptom of a disease that results in clusters of weak shoots, in the host tree. One way to harvest mistletoe is to climb high in the tree to get the; another way is to blast them out with a shotgun. How's that for festive?
It gets worse.
The word mistletoe comes from the Old English misteltan, with tan meaning "twig" and mistel meaning, well, "mistletoe." (Middle English speakers apparently confused tan as the plural of ta, "toe," which is how we ultimately get mistletoe).
As for the roots of mistel, that etymology is obscure, though the word has cousins in Germanic languages. Because mistletoe can be spread through birds' feces, it is possible that mistel derives from an obsolete, Germanic-derived noun mix, meaning "dung, filth."
So we can safely say this has nothing whatsoever to do with your toes. That plant you're kissing under could be a ...
??? :- WHY, WHY DO WE KISS UNDER THE MISTLETOE?? TELL ME!!!
??? :- Historically, mistletoe represents romance, fertility, and vitality. Because nothing says love like bird feces and poison.
But seriously, the Celtic Druids valued mistletoe for its healing properties and likely were among the first to decorate with it. The berry of the mistletoe ripens in December, and the plant remains green, hence its appeal in wintertime.
The origin of kissing under the mistletoe is shrouded in uncertainty, but it is believed the ancient Greeks celebrated the winter holiday of Kronia—a lively festival and one of the biggest of the year—with mistletoe and may have started the tradition of kissing under it.
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