Why do people kiss under the mistletoe?

Question

Has it got sumthing to do with religion?

Answer 1

Another pagan tradition that was absorbed into the "Christian" holiday. The original reason for the parasitic plant's sexual associations is probably that its viscin or sap is similar in appearance to semen.

Answer 2

Quite interestingly, this traditions comes to us from the ancient Druids and/or Celts! When these people had wars going on, and wanted to have a time-out for peace talks or negotiations of any sort, they would hang a branch of mistletoe on a tree branch. The parties wanting to have a conference would meet UNDER this mistletoe, the mistletoe created a safe space free of war for the duration of the meeting.
They would often greet each other with a kiss, to show they came in peace. The tradition continued way past the Norman conquest and is still alive today, as we can see, even though its now acquired sexual connotations in certain instances. However, we all know its still a sign of goodwill to be kissed under the mistletoe, in non-sexual ways, by friends and family. So show some love and break out the mistletoe, yall!

Answer 3

Check this site out for information on the religious significance of the mistletoe...

http://www.nisbett.com/symbols/mistletoe.htm

The mistletoe was a sacred plant in the pagan religion of the Druids in Britain. It was believed to have all sorts of miraculous qualities: the power of healing diseases, making poisons harmless, giving fertility to humans and animals, protecting from witchcraft, banning evil spirits, bringing good luck and great blessings. In fact, it was considered so sacred that even enemies who happened to meet beneath a mistletoe in the forest would lay down their arms, exchange a friendly greeting, and keep a truce until the following day. From this old custom grew [p. 104] the practice of suspending mistletoe over a doorway or in a room as a token of good will and peace to all comers.

After Britain was converted from paganism to Christianity, the bishops did not allow the mistletoe to be used in churches because it had been the main symbol of a pagan religion. Even to this day mistletoe is rarely used as a decoration for altars. There was, however, one exception. At the Cathedral of York at one period before the Reformation a large bundle of mistletoe was brought into the sanctuary each year at Christmas and solemnly placed on the altar by a priest. In this rite the plant that the Druids had called "All-heal" was used as a symbol of Christ, the Divine Healer of nations.

The people of England then adopted the mistletoe as a decoration for their homes at Christmas. Its old, pagan religious meaning was soon forgotten, but some of the other meanings and customs have survived: the kiss under the mistletoe; the token of good will and friendship; the omen of happiness and good luck and the new religious significance.

Answer 4

Kissing under the mistletoe is something that comes down to us from the days of the Druids in Ireland and England ... it was then said that a couple that kisses under the mistletoe at Yule (pre-Christian, so it was not a Christmas celebration) would be together for the next full year ... so yes, it does have something to do with 'religion' ... just not Christianity. These days, it's just a 'tradition' and a fun thing to do ... but that is the history of kissing under the mistletoe.

Answer 5

Kissing under the mistletoe was first found in the Greek festival of Saturnalia. In Scandinavia, mistletoe was considered a plant of peace, under which enemies could declare a truce or warring spouses kiss and make-up. Later, the eighteenth-century English credited with a certain magical appeal called a kissing ball.

Answer 6

Nowadays, mistletoe is commonly used as a Christmas decoration, though allusions to mistletoe as a Christmas green are rare into the eighteenth century.[5] Viscum album is used in Europe whereas Phoradendron serotinum is used in North America. According to a custom of Christmas cheer, any two people who meet under a hanging of mistletoe are obliged to kiss. The custom is English, rather than Scandinavian in origin.[6]

According to custom, the mistletoe must not touch the ground between its cutting and its removal as the last of Christmas greens at Candlemas; mistletoe might remain hung through the year, often to preserve the house from lightning or fire, until it was replaced the following Christmas Eve.[7]. The tradition has spread throughout the English-speaking world but is largely unknown in the rest of Europe. In previous times the tradition was that the couple took away a fruit each time until they were all used up and at this point the mistletoe lost its vitality. The appearance and nature of the fruit's content (viscin) is very similar or suggestive of human semen and this has strengthened its pagan connections.

Using the mistletoe to kiss under has even become incorporated into various holiday songs. The 1943 song I'll Be Home for Christmas tells the story of a lonely traveler looking forward to coming home and seeing, among other things, mistletoe. In 1961 singer Aretha Franklin released a Christmas song called Kissin' by the Mistletoe. In 1971 singer Lynn Anderson recorded the song Mr. Mistletoe on her holiday album The Christmas Album. The song talks about an elf who hangs mistletoe in homes so that people can "steal a kiss from someone that they know".

Answer 7

It's a Pagan thing and long predates Christ.

Mistletoe, holly and the evergreen tree were all sacred to the Pagans of Northern Europe because they remained alive during the winter when everything else looked dead. And think of how dreary winter would be if you lived in drafty hut heated by an open fire, a little bit green would mean so much.

You'd be surprised how many Pagan symbols and practices are incorporated into Christianity.

Answer 8

Some time ago -- like in the 17-1800s -- people would wear a "wristband" with mistletoe berries on it, if there are such things. With every kiss, you plucked one of the berries. When they were all gone, you couldn't kiss anymore.

I find it ironic that even though people kiss under the mistletoe, it's actually a parasite to trees. Weird, huh?

Answer 9

From the earliest times mistletoe has been one of the most magical, mysterious, and sacred plants of European folklore. It was considered a bestower of life and fertility; a protectant against poison; and an aphrodisiac. Kissing under the mistletoe is first found associated with (the Greek festival of Saturnalia) and later with primitive marriage rites.

Answer 10

Pagan superstition. . Hislop’s The Two Babylons comments on this and the customary kiss under the mistletoe:

“Let the reader look at the singular practice still kept up in the South on Christmas-eve, of kissing under the mistletoe bough. That mistletoe bough in the Druidic superstition, which, as we have seen, was derived from Babylon, was a representation of the Messiah, ‘The man the branch.’ The mistletoe was regarded as a divine branch—a branch that came from heaven, and grew upon a tree that sprang out of the earth. Thus by the engrafting of the celestial branch into the earthly tree, heaven and earth, that sin had severed, were joined together, and thus the mistletoe bough became the token of Divine reconciliation to man, the kiss being the well-known token of pardon and reconciliation.”—Pp. 98, 99.

Men and women who have Jehovah’s approval and thereby enjoy the promised peace will stay clear of pagan celebrations, even though these are disguised as an honoring of Jesus’ birth. Additionally, the crass commercializing of Christmas flagrantly violates the spirit of Jesus.

Answer 11

It's a Norse tradition.

"The Norse god Balder was the best loved of all the gods. His mother was Frigga, goddess of love and beauty. She loved her son so much that she wanted to make sure no harm would come to him. So she went through the world, securing promises from everything that sprang from the four elements--fire, water, air, and earth--that they would not harm her beloved Balder.

"Leave it to Loki, a sly, evil spirit, to find the loophole. The loophole was mistletoe. He made an arrow from its wood. To make the prank even nastier, he took the arrow to Hoder, Balder's brother, who was blind. Guiding Holder's hand, Loki directed the arrow at Balder's heart, and he fell dead.

"Frigga's tears became the mistletoe's white berries. In the version of the story with a happy ending, Balder is restored to life, and Frigga is so grateful that she reverses the reputation of the offending plant--making it a symbol of love and promising to bestow a kiss upon anyone who passes under
it."