Good Lifestyle

Did you know that the mistletoe, one of the most romanticChristmas symbolsis actually a type ofparasite? That's right. It exceeds much of its daily nutrients of the bark of host trees on which he lives, causing abnormal growths called "witch brushes" that deform the branches of the host and compromise his reproductive health. Not the most in love with tales, it's for sure. Yet there is a good reason for why weSuspend the mistletoe at Christmas, and it has to do with science and someVery durable folklore, covering thousands of years and multiple cultures.

While the Naked Scientific Facts of the GUI can make your skin Crawler, they are essential to really understand the plant. As you could have heard,The mistletoe is toxicAnd when the birds eat from his berries, they tend to quickly excrete the sticky seed, which is likely to land on the branch of the tree on which they are sitting. The seed then sticks to the tree, which allows it to germinate the following year.

In fact, the name "GUI" itself highlights the physiology of the plant: when you break down the original termMistan-You are left with two words,MISTEL,which means "dung" andbronze, which translates into "twig", according toThe Washington Post.

Watch the GUI more symbolically,Rob Dunn ofSmithsonian Notes from the magazine: "Le GUI is a measure of the number of fruits in our daily lives, which they depend on other species. We depend on the mistletoe for the tradition. And it depends on his tree and his bird, just like us depend on thousands of species ourselves ... our crops, ourChristmas treesand much more. "

Of course, bird feces and sticky seeds do not look like components of conventional romance, but a mythological view turns a different light on the stubborn and incregnated plant. The Association of GUI with vitality and good health is at least as old as the old Greeks, who considered it something of apanacea, according toHistory.com. Later, the former Roman naturalistPliny the eldest describes its effectiveness in the treatment of ulcers, epilepsy and exposure to some poisons.

In addition to its healing properties, the GUI has been used as a reproductive assistance, particularly by the Celtic Druids of the first century at first, they considered as a symbol of vivacity and administer the plant to animals and humans. Improve fertility.

One of the central stories about the GUI, however, and the one that seems most directly to connect to our modern understanding of the romantic meaning of the plant-rods ofNordic mythology. According to folklore, the god Baldur, grandson of Thor, dreamed of his own death. Believe that the dream of being a prophecy, the mother of Baldur, Frigg, has made great lengths to prevent him from becoming reality of making reality all plants and animals take an oath where no harm would be made to his son. But Frigg failed to ensure a swire of GUI, and without delay, the Trickster Loki handlebars shaped an arrow of the plant, which he had then used to kill Baldur. Then, after the fallen God was cried by his people, Baldur was resurrected, inspiring Frigg to declare a symbol of love and make a wish that she embraces all those who went under the direction.

Although it's not clear, how much the GUI has started to be related to Christmas specifically, farmerBrian BarthofSmithosonian posing that "it makes sense that the mistletoe, with his foliage with attractive leaves and his attractive red berries, would be inside as a decoration during the sterile winter months, just as people do it with fir branches and Branches of Hollzy ".

So, if you arrive to walk under a few guies this holiday season, know that it is not just another novelty, but a very old ritual indeed!