Dungeon Master Forum

remember that Mistletoe is a parasitic and poisonous plant which grows high up in trees. It's name is roughly translated as "Poop plant" (more directly as "Dung twig" because of the fact that it's left in the tree by birds who poop out the seeds.. yes, I did say poisonous didn't I? Not to birds though who eat the berries and then poop them out onto their favorite tree where the seeds germinate and stick their roots into flesh of the tree drawing it's nutrients from it.

So, poop plant, poisonous, parasitic.. now go find someone to kiss

I always wondered why so many of those girls that tried to kiss me under the mistletoe...

...had such disgusting breath.

good thing we don't have mistletoes here!

oh, and it's technically an evergreen.. since it's leaves stay green all winter.. which again is the reason it's used at xmas

Yeah, my dad said that plants such as holly, ivy, and mistletoe are associated with Christmas 'cause of stuff going right back to the old Pagan-type days. Back then, when it actually did snow lots and was all cold and horrible and stuff, and Winter was something you actually had to survive by having enough food etc, on Midwinter's day the people in a household would go out and find a piece of one of these green plants and bring it back to the house. It was a kind of symbolic thing of "Look, there's still greenery out there - we're halfway through the Winter now, let's get through the other half and then it'll be Spring again and we'll be able to get more food and stuff".
This is what my dad's told me but I've never verified it myself by researching it or whatever.

Yeah so of course I went out to investigate a little further...

In short kissing under the mistletoe could have come from the Norse Mythology:

Balder had a dream of death which alarmed his mother, for should he die, all life on earth would end. In an attempt to keep this from happening, Frigga (His mother) went at once to air, fire, water, earth, and every animal and plant seeking a promise that no harm would come to her son. Balder now could not be hurt by anything on earth or under the earth. But Balder had one enemy, Loki, god of evil and he knew of one plant that Frigga had overlooked in her quest to keep her son safe. It grew neither on the earth nor under the earth, but on apple and oak trees. It was lowly mistletoe. So Loki made an arrow tip of the mistletoe, gave to the blind god of winter, Hoder, who shot it , striking Balder dead. The sky paled and all things in earth and heaven wept for the sun god. For three days each element tried to bring Balder back to life. He was finally restored by Frigga, the goddess and his mother. It is said the tears she shed for her son turned into the pearly white berries on the mistletoe plant and in her joy Frigga kissed everyone who passed beneath the tree on which it grew. The story ends with a decree that who should ever stand under the humble mistletoe, no harm should befall them, only a kiss, a token of love.