Wishing you and your loved ones peace, health, happiness and prosperity in the coming New Year!

I am sure everyone has heard of the custom of kissing under the mistletoe! Basically a common custom at Christmas whereby a sprig of mistletoe is placed above a door frame and those who stand under the mistletoe must kiss. Not only is it a good excuse for a kiss, but has also been used over the ages for different purposes including medicinal.

Botanic name: Viscum album 1.

Common name: Mistletoe 1.

Origin: Europe and Asia 2.

Habitat: It is a semi-parasitic, woody shrub that grows on trees 2.

Actions: Hypotensive, peripheral vasodilator, mild sedative 1.

Active constituents: Alkaloids, glycoproteins, polypeptides, flavonoids 3.

Indications: Hypertension, tachycardia, cardiac hypertrophy, atherosclerosis, epilepsy, nervous excitability 1.

Of interest: While mistletoe played an important part in some ancient Greek and Nordic myths. It is also association with the Druids who were priests of a Celtic religious order and they regarded the mistletoe as having mystical properties and worshiped them 4. When Christianity became widespread in Europe, the religious or mystical respect for the mistletoe plant may have derived from the Nordic myth and was incorporated into the new religion, leading to the custom of kissing under the mistletoe plant during the Christmas season as an emblem of love 4.

Sources:

1. Bone K. A Clinical Guide to Blending Liquid Herbs. Sydney: Churchill Livingstone; 2003.

2. Van Wyk BE, Wink M. Medicinal Plants of the World: An illustrated scientific guide to important medicinal plants and their uses. Pretoria: Briza Publications; 2012.

3. Bartram T. Bartram’s Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine. London: Robinson; 1998.

4. Grieves M. A Modern Herbal. New York: Dover publications; 1981.