Pucker Up, Buttercup!

Nature 2 Minutes

When the time comes to decorate your home for the holiday season, it simply wouldn’t be complete without mistletoe.

Mistletoe is a plant that grows parasitically on trees. Mistletoe can cause Witches’-broom, a symptom of a disease that results in clusters of weak shoots, in the host tree.

One way to harvest mistletoe is to climb high in the tree to get the clusters; another way is to blast them out with a shotgun. How’s that for festive?

We might view mistletoe as a beautiful and seasonal plant, but did you know that it is actually poisonous to humans? Drowsiness, vomiting and seizures are possible effects that you will experience if you consume the plant.

Over the years, mistletoe has been used as a medicine. In Europe, it has been used to cure all sorts of illnesses, including arthritis, leprosy and infertility. Injections of mistletoe can be acquired in certain parts of Europe as a cure for cancer.

There isn’t just one type of mistletoe – you can find as many as 1,300 varieties around the world. One of the varieties is known as dwarf mistletoe, which has orange or yellow leaves.

It is mainly spread through birds’ droppings, which explains the origins of the word ‘mistletoe’. The name comes from the Anglo-Saxon words ‘mist’ and ‘tan’, which mean ‘dung twig’ when translated.

Have you ever thought about why people kiss one another when caught under the mistletoe? Legend has it that the goddess Frigga had a son named Balder who was killed by an arrow made from mistletoe. Her tears of sadness brought Balder to life again, and Frigga then promised that all who passed under the mistletoe should receive a kiss.

Despite it being thought of as a romantic plant, it is considered quite a pest around the world. When mistletoe seeds are carried to trees, they spread around the branches and can cause stunt of growth or even death to the tree.

Hanging mistletoe inside the house dates back to the time of the Druids. They believed that this plant would bring them good luck and keep evil spirits away. However, Christians in Western Europe hated the idea of hanging mistletoe around their homes and within the churches, and tried to ban it altogether.

Of the hundreds of mistletoe varieties, there are twenty of them which are endangered. Always check before picking mistletoe for your Christmas party!

In Oklahoma, mistletoe is the state flower.

Harper’s Weekly began featuring pictures of couples kissing under the mistletoe during the mid to late 1800’s.

An old tradition involving mistletoe was to pick off one berry after each kiss. This meant that by the time all the berries had been picked off, nobody would be kissed under the mistletoe anymore. However, over time, this tradition was forgotten, and nowadays, nobody touches the berries.

Mistletoe was often used as a symbol of peace, and was pictured on the front of postcards which were sent to soldiers during the Great War.

If you ever see candles and other items being advertised with the scent of ‘mistletoe’ labelled on them, you’re being told a lie, according to experts. The plant has absolutely no smell at all.

Christmas isn’t the only occasion which mistletoe has been associated with down the ages. It was once thought that witches and ghosts would stay away at Halloween if this plant was present.

Women in Medieval England used to tie mistletoe around their waists in the hope that it would make them more fertile.

So, pucker up!

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Published by pat frederick

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132 thoughts on “Pucker Up, Buttercup!”

  5. 12/08/22 • BIG PHARMA

    “The Real Agenda Behind American Academy of Pediatrics: Weaponizing Children’s Mental Health and Vaccines for Profit — With a budget of more than $127 million and a staff of 475, the American Academy of Pediatrics functions as a corporate and government mouthpiece that touts the wares of drug, vaccine and formula manufacturers.

    As of 2019, roughly 72,000 physicians were actively working in pediatrics or pediatric subspecialties in the U.S., many of them members of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

    Nominally, the AAP is a professional medical association (PMA), but more often than not, it functions as a corporate and government mouthpiece, including issuing policy guidance to its members stating that it is an “acceptable option to pediatric care clinicians to dismiss families who refuse vaccines.”

    With total “revenue, gains and other support” amounting in 2022 to nearly $127 million — supporting a staff of 475 and a self-described role as the “#1 publisher of pediatric titles in the world” — the deep-pocketed AAP’s ability to broadcast policies desired by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and tout the wares of drug, vaccine and formula manufacturers is significant.

    That the AAP’s megaphone is one-sided has long attracted the notice of critics, who point to the organization’s “preference for fashionable political positions over evidence-based medicine” and its pattern of “play[ing] both sides of the street” — with its “‘trusted’ medical advice” issued in the context of generous funding from agenda-setting foundations, corporations and government agencies.”

    https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/profit-american-academy-pediatrics-childrens-mental-health-vaccines/

    Liked by 1 person

  6. It should be legal everywhere!!!! Either that or make alcohol illegal, too! It kills far more people!

    Entire Article: “OAN Newsroom
    UPDATED 1:28 PM PT – Thursday, December 8, 2022

    Recreational marijuana use is now legal in Missouri.

    As of today recreational use of marijuana is legal for Missouri adults. From a Mo. cannibus trade association stats:

    -205,896 medical marijuana patients
    -Total sales: $565 million
    -4% tax has generated $27 million for vets health care @kmbc pic.twitter.com/84n2HVrR7G

    — Micheal Mahoney (@KCMikeMahoney) December 8, 2022

    On Thursday, Amendment 3 was officially added to Missouri’s Constitution. It allows residents over the age of the 21 to possess up to three-ounces of the drug. Voters overwhelmingly approved the ballot measure during the midterm’s elections amending state laws prohibiting the purchase, sale, or possession of the product.

    While recreational possession is now legal, recreational sales may not begin until dispensaries convert their medical licenses, a process many say could take months. Dan Viets, an attorney for Missouri NORML spoke about the newly instated amendment.

    “So, while they are technically able to possess it Thursday, by law, there’s nobody they can legally buy it from, and that creates a huge problem for us in law enforcement,” he said. “We have to submit a letter which basically says ‘yes, we want our comprehensive license versus just a medical license. The main thing it means is that 20,000 people will not get arrested this year, 20,000 fewer matters that will take the attention of the police away from more important things like investigating violent and property crimes.”

    With a six percent tax on sales, legalization of marijuana is expected to bring the state more than $40 million in tax-revenue annually.”

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  7. Dang, it’s cold out there! With bad weather coming in, I needed to re-fill my feeders for the birds. I’m not putting up the 2nd suet feeder again since the damned squirrels got it down and pulled out the suet. I NEED a BB gun!!!!

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          1. Speaking of which…..I hadn’t seen him and was wondering last night when I saw none of his food had been eaten. I looked a couple of minutes ago and no food dish, with a few kibbles, and no foot prints in the snow. So he must have gotten it before it started snowing. I saw the big gray/white cat crossing the field behind me yesterday – looked like he was limping but I can’t be sure.

            Oh, and good morning….a snow-covered morning here!

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  10. I am adding a short daily prayer to the board. I would invite each of you, if you wish, to also add one or maybe two of your own liking. I do not want to stifle anyone but please limit yourself to one or two religious postings. here’s one I found that I liked.

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