SC - Mistletoe (OT)
Sandra Kisner
sjk3 at admin.is.cornell.edu
Tue Dec 28 06:08:41 PST 1999
My newspaper (Austin American-Statesman) had an article on Dec.24 about
Mistletoe. Mainly about how the drought here is making it hard to come by.
But it did have some comments that I thought might be of interest to those
on this list. I've included the relevant sections below.
- ------
Agriculturalists, however, are quick to point out that mistletoe's status
as the Yuletide's most romantic adornment is relatively new.
Revered in pagan cultures as a sexual symbol, mistletoe got its name in
medieval days when scientists believed it grew spontaneously from bird
droppings.
"Mistel" is the Anglo-Saxon word for "dung" and "tan' translates to "twig".
In other words, Mommy was kissing Santa Claus under the "dung-on-a-twig".
Ingesting mistletoe can bring on bouts of vomiting, diarrhea and, in some
cases, death.
- ------
If anyone can confirm, disprove or elaborate on any of these comments, I'd
like to hear it before I put it in my files.
Thanks,
Stefan
- --
Lord Stefan li Rous Barony of Bryn Gwlad Kingdom of Ansteorra
Mark S. Harris Austin, Texas stefan at texas.net
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at: http://www.florilegium.org ****
============================================================================
To be removed from the SCA-Cooks mailing list, please send a message to
Majordomo at Ansteorra.ORG with the message body of "unsubscribe SCA-Cooks".
============================================================================
More information about the Sca-cooks
mailing list