Mistletoe plant - a parasite or a healer?
The Celts, who once inhabited the territory of Europe, stood out something like a religious caste - the Druids. Druids believed that mistletoe berries are fertile dew of divine origin.
Branches of mistletoe decorated the house outside and inside, and the figures of them used as amulets to drive out evil spirits, hanging in sheds for cattle. "Golden Branch", as it is sometimes called this plant, was believed to help in finding treasures, and a prepared drink from mistletoe supposedly gave a man invulnerability. Mistletoe symbolized freedom from restrictions.
The person standing under the mistletoe is freed from the earthly framework and enters into contact with the forces of chaos.
The druids of the mistletoe were the image of the Golden Branch, personified the female principle and symbolized a new life and rebirth during the winter solstice.
Particularly sacred was the rite of cutting off with a golden sickle the branch of the mistletoe (the same golden branch of Fraser); this was done at the full moon, during the summer and winter solstices, and the druid, the performer of the rite, was dressed in white clothes. Mistletoe was understood as a symbol of life and the sun.
Mistletoe is a genus of evergreen semi-parasitic shrubs or grasses (the "mistletoe" family).
Preparations from young leaves of mistletoe are widely used in folk medicine.
In many other nations, mistletoe (the "golden branch") is considered to be a symbol of life possessing magical power.
Sometimes in the southern and western regions of Russia, in Belarus, in Ukraine there are unusual branches on trees. If this branch is not cut, then it gradually turns into an ideal ball shape. The color of this ball is from yellow to green-black.
Here is the evergreen stem half-parasite “mistletoe white” (Viseum album L). The mistletoe subspecies grows including in the Far East. But the bulk of the mistletoe family (about 100 species) grow in the tropics and subtropics of Eurasia, Africa and Northern Australia.
To date, these branches are fraught with so many mysteries that no other group of plants has.
Closer to winter on the female bushes ripen white berries. For people, these berries are poisonous (like the whole plant), but birds eat these berries. Passing through the intestinal tract, they are not completely digested and the seed comes out with a part of the sticky mass and is glued to the branches of the tree, and sometimes it is in a hanging position (up to 20 cm) and swings on the branch.
In spring, a seed appears from the seed. It can grow up, down, to the sides, but always in the direction of the nearest tree branch.
A growing root, like a borer breaks through the bark of a tree branch, reaches the tree and continues to grow at the expense of nutritious tree juices. According to my observations, such plants are better sucked and grow on trees with hard wood, and on some trees with soft wood die off.
I will give an example: on the tree of a pear, affected by a mistletoe, begins to accumulate gum, which gradually withers and blocks the approaches to the wood, after which the mistletoe dies. In general, it takes root and is found on apple trees, pine, on dogwood, and lilacs.
Over time, it develops a powerful root system in the tissues of the mother tree. After a while the bush of mistletoe reaches a size in diameter up to one meter. And on one tree can be born not one mistletoe, but several, and up to several tens.
Because of the abundance of mistletoe, the harvest of the main tree is significantly reduced, and the harvest of the mistletoe berries increases.
When cleaning trees from the mistletoe on cut branches, the roots remain kidneys, from which after a while, the growth of mistletoe is formed.
Not understanding the physiology of the reproduction of mistletoe, people in ancient times have added a lot of superstitions about it. It was believed that the branch of mistletoe, cut in full moon with an oak tree by a golden sickle, can have a strong magical property. Since the branches of the mistletoe are golden in color, they eventually became known as the "golden branch". It is recognized that the branches of mistletoe become truly "golden" for those whom it relieves of headaches. It is believed that it helps with the cure of hypertension in the initial stages.
The manuals give many options for its application. I give you a method that has been proven by me personally. One and a half tablespoons of powder from thin stems and mistletoe leaves take three times a day after meals, washed down with water. You must start carefully.
The positive effect does not appear soon, in 3-4 months.
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Mistletoe is another plant that is inextricably linked in Christmas traditions with Christmas and endowed with magical properties. A wreath of flexible mistletoe branches, decorated with evergreen leaves and pearl-like berries, must be hung above the entrance to the house or living room. There is also a tradition of kissing under the mistletoe, so that lovers are always together.
True, many gardeners who want to grow this plant on the site, are disappointed: white mistletoe is common mainly in Europe. Sometimes it occurs in the western regions of Belarus and Ukraine, in the Caucasus and on the Black Sea coast.
In principle, you can try to grow mistletoe in the surrounding regions. But for this you will have to sacrifice one of the trees on the site. Mistletoe is a parasite plant that settles in the forks of branches and takes root in the tissues of the host tree. Basically, it parasitizes on poplar, willow, birch, from fruit trees can settle on apple and pear. For witchcraft rituals they preferred to use mistletoe grown on oak. It was necessary to remove it from the tree with a special tool, without touching it, but also preventing the cut branches from touching the ground.