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Mistletoe The story behind kissing under the mistletoe myth
Rachel Seymour / Kansan photographer
By Katie Moyer, Jayplay writer
You're at a friend's holiday party socializing and sipping on some eggnog. You pause to chat with someone when suddenly another guest at the party approaches you without a word and puts a smacker on you. Before you can slap that smirk off his face, you look up and realize you've been victimized by the mistletoe kiss.
The myth behind kissing beneath the mistletoe has a couple originations, says David Beaulieu, plant specialist at www.about.com. He says that the first explanation is derived from ancient Scandinavia and the myth of Baldur, a Norse god. An enemy discovered that Baldur could only be killed with mistletoe and tricked one of the other gods into shooting and killing Baldur with a spear fashioned from the mistletoe plant. But the gods were able to resurrect Baldur, and his mother, the goddess Frigga, vowed that from then on, the plant should bring love rather than death into the world. Happily complying with her wishes, Beaulieu says, any two people passing under the plant from then on would celebrate Baldur's resurrection by kissing under the mistletoe.
The other story originates from pre- Christian medicinal folklore. Beaulieu says that mistletoe was known for being, among other things, a fertility herb. Because of this association, he says the plant became related to sexuality and evolved into the kissing plant we know today.
Few people know of the story behind the mistletoe kiss, and even fewer perhaps know that mistletoe kissing etiquette does exist. According to Beaulieu, when someone steals a kiss from a person standing beneath mistletoe, they must remove a berry from the plant. And when all the berries have been removed, there should be no more kissing. Beaulieu says sarcastically, "But we have conveniently forgotten that rule!"
So what good is this story for you? Well, besides expanding your knowledge, it gives you a great comeback when your mistletoe victim gets upset over your stolen kiss. Simply explain by saying, "Geez, I'm just celebrating the resurrection of Balder!"