1 00:00:01,080 --> 00:00:04,400 Speaker 1: While on this subject we also must not omit the 2 00:00:04,519 --> 00:00:09,520 Speaker 1: respect shown to this plant by the Gaelic provinces. The Druids, 3 00:00:09,560 --> 00:00:12,200 Speaker 1: that is what they call their magicians, hold nothing more 4 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:15,920 Speaker 1: sacred than mistletoe and a tree on which it is growing, 5 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:20,120 Speaker 1: provided it is a hard oak. Groves of hard oaks 6 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:23,920 Speaker 1: are chosen even for their own sake, and the magicians 7 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:27,400 Speaker 1: perform no rites without using the foliage of those trees, 8 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:30,560 Speaker 1: so that it may be supposed that it is from 9 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:34,159 Speaker 1: this custom that they get their name of Druids, from 10 00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:38,479 Speaker 1: the Greek word meaning oak. But further, anything growing on 11 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:41,560 Speaker 1: oak trees they think to have been sent down from Heaven, 12 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:44,840 Speaker 1: and to be a sign that the particular tree has 13 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:49,839 Speaker 1: been chosen by God himself. Mistletoe is, however, rather seldom 14 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:52,640 Speaker 1: found on a hard oak, and when it is discovered, 15 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:55,880 Speaker 1: it is gathered with great ceremony, and particularly on the 16 00:00:55,960 --> 00:00:59,240 Speaker 1: sixth day of the moon, which for these tribes constitutes 17 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:01,920 Speaker 1: the beginning of the months in the years, and after 18 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:05,039 Speaker 1: every thirty years of a new generation, because it is 19 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:07,760 Speaker 1: then rising in strength and not one half of its 20 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:11,160 Speaker 1: full size. Hailing the moon in a native word that 21 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:15,320 Speaker 1: means healing all things, they prepare a ritual sacrifice and 22 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:19,120 Speaker 1: banquet beneath the tree, and bring up two white bulls, 23 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:22,640 Speaker 1: whose horns are bound. For the first time on this occasion, 24 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:25,920 Speaker 1: a priest, arrayed in white vestments, climbs the tree with 25 00:01:25,959 --> 00:01:29,280 Speaker 1: a golden sickle and cuts down the mistletoe, which is 26 00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:32,680 Speaker 1: caught in a white cloak. Then finally they kill the victims, 27 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:35,759 Speaker 1: praying to God to render his gift propitious to those 28 00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:38,919 Speaker 1: on whom he has bestowed it. They believe that mistletoe 29 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:42,319 Speaker 1: given in drink will impart fertility to any animal that 30 00:01:42,440 --> 00:01:46,160 Speaker 1: is barren, and that it is an antidote for all poisons. 31 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:49,960 Speaker 1: So powerful is the superstition in regard to trifling matters 32 00:01:49,960 --> 00:02:01,600 Speaker 1: that frequently prevails among the races of mankind. Welcome to 33 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:10,919 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow your mind from how Stuff Works dot Com. 34 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:12,840 Speaker 1: Hey you, welcome to stuff to blow your mind. My 35 00:02:12,919 --> 00:02:15,480 Speaker 1: name is Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick. And that 36 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:18,080 Speaker 1: reading was from our old friend Plenty of the Elder. 37 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:23,080 Speaker 1: Obviously it was concerning the Druid rituals about missiletoe. Robert, 38 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:26,240 Speaker 1: you are leaning into Christmas topics this year. I'm I'm 39 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:29,359 Speaker 1: a little disturbed by this, do you want to explain yourself? Oh, 40 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:31,960 Speaker 1: I just I finally decided, you know, it was it 41 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:34,080 Speaker 1: was foolish to resist. I should just I should just 42 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:37,200 Speaker 1: lean into Christmas. I should give into Christmas. And uh. 43 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:40,000 Speaker 1: And it's paying off, you know, because missiletoe is a 44 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:43,040 Speaker 1: fine example. It's easy to just assume it's just the 45 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:48,240 Speaker 1: silly tradition that it results in, you know, smooching underneath 46 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:50,880 Speaker 1: that sort of thing. But it's actually like moon worship, 47 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:55,920 Speaker 1: sacrifice and uh and parasitism. Yeah, it's it's actually really crazy. 48 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:58,280 Speaker 1: Um again, this quote was from plenty of the Elder 49 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:03,880 Speaker 1: Roman historian. Uh. This particular translation was the Rockham jones 50 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:07,920 Speaker 1: Icles translation, which you can find online. Uh. And it 51 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:11,120 Speaker 1: does sound like one crazy Christmas party, doesn't No matter 52 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:14,600 Speaker 1: how how out of control your office Christmas party gets, 53 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:17,960 Speaker 1: there probably not gonna be white bulls marched in and 54 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:21,720 Speaker 1: human sacrifice is made to some sort of druid god. 55 00:03:21,919 --> 00:03:23,840 Speaker 1: But that's how you know a party is good. Like 56 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:26,000 Speaker 1: if you're there for the first time some year and 57 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:28,200 Speaker 1: they bring in the two white bulls, like, you know 58 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:31,200 Speaker 1: it's going to be wrong when the golden sickle comes out. Um, yeah, 59 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:33,880 Speaker 1: it's it's it's time to to really commit to staying, 60 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:35,360 Speaker 1: or to go ahead and head out and go home, 61 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:39,320 Speaker 1: called to call it an early evening. Um, yeah, yeah, 62 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:41,760 Speaker 1: this uh, I think this will be an interesting episode. 63 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:45,120 Speaker 1: And I was tempted to to even write a long 64 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:49,680 Speaker 1: form form poem, something like twads the night before Christmas 65 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:53,000 Speaker 1: and deep in the woods a sacrifice was planned by 66 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:57,520 Speaker 1: the Galls and their druids, but alas I, I didn't 67 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:00,520 Speaker 1: have the poetic energy to keep going. Well, there's always 68 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:03,240 Speaker 1: next year. But anyway, so if you know us, you 69 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:05,840 Speaker 1: know that we can never resist consulting Plenty of the 70 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:09,280 Speaker 1: Elder on any topic of of the natural world, or 71 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:11,920 Speaker 1: of monsters, or of history. He's got the best and 72 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:15,520 Speaker 1: often funniest takes on stuff from ancient Rome, right, and 73 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:18,600 Speaker 1: and certainly we don't do not depend on first century 74 00:04:19,400 --> 00:04:23,000 Speaker 1: historians like Plenty for our for our data, but it 75 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:25,080 Speaker 1: adds a lot of flavor to what we're talking about. 76 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:27,680 Speaker 1: And you usually we are talking about the things that 77 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:31,600 Speaker 1: he's quite wrong about, or or the thing that he's 78 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:35,400 Speaker 1: reporting is like purely mythological mistletoe, which he talks about 79 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:38,240 Speaker 1: quite a bit in the natural history. However, he does 80 00:04:38,279 --> 00:04:40,599 Speaker 1: manage to get some thing's right. There's there. There are 81 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:43,400 Speaker 1: a lot of things that that are that are less fantastic. 82 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:47,920 Speaker 1: Nobody's speaking out of their bellies so much when discussing missiletoe. Well, 83 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:50,640 Speaker 1: let's consult plenty on mistletoe, and then we can talk 84 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:52,960 Speaker 1: a little bit more about what modern science says about 85 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:56,960 Speaker 1: this plant vampire. So first of all, he says, uh quote, 86 00:04:57,000 --> 00:04:59,919 Speaker 1: there are three kinds of mistletoe. One that grows as 87 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:03,320 Speaker 1: a parasite on the fur and the larch is called 88 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:08,120 Speaker 1: stellis in Euboia and hiphi are and arcadia. And the 89 00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:11,159 Speaker 1: name of mistletoe is used for one growing on the oak, 90 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:16,039 Speaker 1: hard oak, home oak, wild pear, turpentine tree, and indeed 91 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:19,160 Speaker 1: most other trees, and growing in great abundance on the oak, 92 00:05:19,279 --> 00:05:22,720 Speaker 1: is one which they call dryos hypha are. There is 93 00:05:22,720 --> 00:05:25,120 Speaker 1: a difference in the case of every tree except the 94 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:28,160 Speaker 1: home olk and the oak, in the smell and poison 95 00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:31,480 Speaker 1: of the berry and the disagreeably scented leaf, both the 96 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:35,120 Speaker 1: berry and the leaf of the mistletoe being bitter and sticky. 97 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:39,000 Speaker 1: The hiphi are is more useful than vetch for fattening cattle. 98 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:41,960 Speaker 1: At first, it only acts as a purge, but it 99 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:46,320 Speaker 1: subsequently fattens the beasts that have stood the purging process, 100 00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:49,919 Speaker 1: although they say that those with some internal malady cannot 101 00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:52,400 Speaker 1: stand it. I like the idea there that you would 102 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:55,520 Speaker 1: essentially just use the mistletoe to poison your flocks, and 103 00:05:55,560 --> 00:05:58,160 Speaker 1: then the ones that survive get more food to eat, 104 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:03,200 Speaker 1: and so they get bitter, bigger. Uh Okay, so picking 105 00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:06,040 Speaker 1: up with plenty, he says. Quote. The method of treatment 106 00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:09,320 Speaker 1: is employed for forty days in the summer. An additional 107 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:12,159 Speaker 1: variety is said to be found in mistletoe in that 108 00:06:12,279 --> 00:06:15,479 Speaker 1: when it grows on deciduous trees, it also sheds its 109 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:18,640 Speaker 1: leaves itself, but when growing on an evergreen tree it 110 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:22,880 Speaker 1: retains its leaves. But universally, when missiletoe seed is sown, 111 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:25,880 Speaker 1: it never sprouts at all, and only when passed in 112 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:30,200 Speaker 1: the excrement of birds, particularly the pigeon and the thrush. 113 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:32,880 Speaker 1: Its nature is such that it will not shoot unless 114 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:36,160 Speaker 1: it has been ripened in the stomach of birds. Its 115 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:39,560 Speaker 1: height does not exceed eighteen inches, and it is evergreen 116 00:06:39,640 --> 00:06:42,440 Speaker 1: and always in leaf. The male plant is fertile in 117 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:45,800 Speaker 1: the female baron, except that even a fertile plant sometimes 118 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:50,400 Speaker 1: does not bear, and he continues later on discussing mistletoe quote. 119 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:53,720 Speaker 1: Missiletoe berries can be used for making bird lime if 120 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:57,239 Speaker 1: gathered at harvest time while unripe, for if the rainy 121 00:06:57,279 --> 00:07:00,200 Speaker 1: season has begun. Although they get bigger in size, they 122 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:04,520 Speaker 1: lose in viscosity. They are then dried and when quite dry, 123 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:07,680 Speaker 1: pounded and stored in water, and in about twelve days 124 00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:10,440 Speaker 1: they turn rotten. And this is the sole case of 125 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:15,880 Speaker 1: a thing that becomes attractive by rotting the soul case. Wow. Then, 126 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:19,320 Speaker 1: after having been again pounded up, they are put in 127 00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:22,679 Speaker 1: running water and there lose their skins and become viscous 128 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:26,920 Speaker 1: in their inner flesh. This substance, after being needed with oil, 129 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:31,560 Speaker 1: is birdlime, used for entangling bird's wings by contact with 130 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:34,600 Speaker 1: it when one wants to snare them. Now, I wanted 131 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:36,320 Speaker 1: to note that I looked this up and found that 132 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:38,400 Speaker 1: bird lime is real. This is not like one of 133 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:42,880 Speaker 1: these legendary magic potions that Plenty just credulously reports. It 134 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:46,640 Speaker 1: is this sticky substance that's used for catching birds and branches. 135 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:49,520 Speaker 1: Like he describes, it's sort of an artificial spider web 136 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:52,120 Speaker 1: that we maintain like a glue trap. Yes, it's like 137 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:55,280 Speaker 1: a tree based glue trap for birds. It has long 138 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:57,600 Speaker 1: been used in human history for bird trapping. THO it's 139 00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:01,040 Speaker 1: not quite clear like how off and it actually was 140 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:04,520 Speaker 1: mistiletoe based. But I've also read that birdline was used 141 00:08:04,520 --> 00:08:07,960 Speaker 1: in World War Two to create anti tank weapons known 142 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:11,360 Speaker 1: as sticky bombs. The idea there would have been um 143 00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:14,240 Speaker 1: like a soldier on foot could potentially stop a tank 144 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:16,400 Speaker 1: if they've got a bunch of high explosives, and then 145 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:18,400 Speaker 1: put it in some kind of sticky package and they 146 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:20,880 Speaker 1: can stick to the tank and run away. Oh wow, 147 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:23,520 Speaker 1: I'm not kidding when I when I said that I 148 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:25,200 Speaker 1: would I would love to do a whole episode just 149 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:28,560 Speaker 1: an anti tank weapons. There's some fascinating science there, especially 150 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:31,320 Speaker 1: from World War two. A different things like shaped charges 151 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:34,640 Speaker 1: and things that the Germans would do to their tanks 152 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:37,720 Speaker 1: to prevent shaped targets from being shaped charges from being 153 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:40,400 Speaker 1: a fixed to the side of the tank, essentially like 154 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:45,520 Speaker 1: covering it in a plaster or mud like substance and 155 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:48,319 Speaker 1: then adding these ridges so that it wouldn't stick. Yeah, 156 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:50,800 Speaker 1: that's interesting. We we we can definitely come back to that. 157 00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:54,480 Speaker 1: Now I have to revisit again, what is plenty talking 158 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:56,840 Speaker 1: about when he says it is the only thing that 159 00:08:56,920 --> 00:08:59,960 Speaker 1: becomes more useful when rotten. Does he not know about 160 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:04,240 Speaker 1: out pickling or like beer or I don't know, right, Yeah, 161 00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:07,360 Speaker 1: I mean just just yesterday having meal with with my 162 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:09,960 Speaker 1: family and we were commenting on all the things on 163 00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:13,360 Speaker 1: the table that that we're in some way pickled or 164 00:09:13,679 --> 00:09:17,040 Speaker 1: or made use of vinegar, etcetera. Well, yeah, I mean, 165 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:19,040 Speaker 1: I guess there's like there are multiple ways of pickling, 166 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:21,520 Speaker 1: so you could just like brine something, but anything involving 167 00:09:21,559 --> 00:09:24,680 Speaker 1: actual fermentation. He's got to be able to appreciate that. 168 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:28,000 Speaker 1: Maybe Plenty just hates fermented foods. I don't know, maybe so. 169 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:31,439 Speaker 1: So it's tempting to keep reading Plenty for our facts 170 00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:33,960 Speaker 1: on mistletoe, but of course that would be ridiculous. Our 171 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:36,440 Speaker 1: understanding of the plant has has come along ways over 172 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:39,079 Speaker 1: the last two thousand years or so, and botanists are 173 00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:43,040 Speaker 1: still figuring out things about this baleful plant turned holiday 174 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:47,800 Speaker 1: smooch inducer mistletoe, which is generally referred to UH by 175 00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:52,920 Speaker 1: the species UH for Adendron flavicens or viscom album being 176 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:56,120 Speaker 1: just two examples of the species. But it's a parasitic 177 00:09:56,120 --> 00:09:59,360 Speaker 1: plant that grows in or on trees, especially hardwood trees 178 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:02,520 Speaker 1: such as apple and oak. There are some even though 179 00:10:02,520 --> 00:10:04,640 Speaker 1: a plenty tootles. There are three types. There are some 180 00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:09,640 Speaker 1: known species of mistletoe around the world. It invades the 181 00:10:09,679 --> 00:10:12,240 Speaker 1: tree with its roots which seep into the bark of 182 00:10:12,280 --> 00:10:14,920 Speaker 1: the host tree and suck water and nutrients out. So 183 00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:18,800 Speaker 1: it is a plant vampire and this can certainly harm 184 00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:22,520 Speaker 1: the host tree and cause branch deformities. But like with 185 00:10:22,559 --> 00:10:25,000 Speaker 1: a lot of parasites, the goal here isn't to kill 186 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:28,800 Speaker 1: the host. That usually works out bad for the parasite. Yeah, yeah, 187 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:31,560 Speaker 1: I mean the parasite needs to live in or on 188 00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:34,520 Speaker 1: the host, so usually it doesn't You don't want to 189 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:38,600 Speaker 1: kill it, right, However, mistletoe camproof fatal to the host 190 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:41,880 Speaker 1: during times of drought, I've read because because one of 191 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:45,439 Speaker 1: the host plant will have certain reactions in place to converserve, 192 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:48,760 Speaker 1: to conserve moisture during times of drought, the paras the 193 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:53,120 Speaker 1: parasitic mistletoe just continues to live it up with reckless 194 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:55,920 Speaker 1: abandoned you know. So it would be you know, like 195 00:10:56,000 --> 00:11:00,200 Speaker 1: something somebody's stealing food out of your fridge and in 196 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:02,360 Speaker 1: a time of famine and like they don't care. They're 197 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:04,760 Speaker 1: just gonna keep eating the same portions. Right, You might 198 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:07,360 Speaker 1: tighten your belt, but they're not gonna Yeah, mistletoe is 199 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:09,920 Speaker 1: not going to tighten its belt. Now, Parasitic plants in 200 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:12,600 Speaker 1: general are are fascinating. Oh. I was looking at a 201 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:16,559 Speaker 1: book called How Plants Work, Form, Diversity and Survival from 202 00:11:16,559 --> 00:11:20,720 Speaker 1: Princeton University Press by the British botanist Stephen Blackmore, and 203 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:24,640 Speaker 1: Blackmore writes that it's roughly about one percent of flowering 204 00:11:24,720 --> 00:11:28,280 Speaker 1: plants that are parasitic. Mistletoe is a flowering plant, and 205 00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:31,959 Speaker 1: of these, about two thirds or parasitic on the roots 206 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:34,199 Speaker 1: of the host plants, so they'll be down in the roots, 207 00:11:34,240 --> 00:11:37,040 Speaker 1: underground or on the ground, and only about one third 208 00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:39,760 Speaker 1: or parasitic on the host stem. So mistletoe plants are 209 00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:42,440 Speaker 1: the weird of the weird. Not many plants are parasitic, 210 00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:45,920 Speaker 1: and not many of the parasitic plants operate up on 211 00:11:45,960 --> 00:11:47,760 Speaker 1: the stem or the trunk of the tree the way 212 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:50,480 Speaker 1: mistletoe does. And so I think it's worth taking a 213 00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:54,760 Speaker 1: look at what kind of equipment this plant vampire uses 214 00:11:54,840 --> 00:11:58,760 Speaker 1: to drain the lifeblood of its host. Because uh, also, okay, 215 00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:01,480 Speaker 1: first of all, This struck sure that it uses to 216 00:12:01,679 --> 00:12:05,079 Speaker 1: pierce the tree is called a house story um. It's 217 00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:08,480 Speaker 1: a modified stem or root like structure that gives the 218 00:12:08,559 --> 00:12:12,040 Speaker 1: parasite access to the inside of the host plant. And 219 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:15,120 Speaker 1: I get a strong feeling that if we were plants 220 00:12:15,679 --> 00:12:19,200 Speaker 1: looking at how story a growing into a tree, it 221 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:22,880 Speaker 1: would be like a vomit inducing image, like like when 222 00:12:22,920 --> 00:12:26,080 Speaker 1: we actually look at a botfly burrowing into human flesh. 223 00:12:26,480 --> 00:12:30,680 Speaker 1: This is a fascinating parasitic penetration, and there are multiple 224 00:12:30,679 --> 00:12:32,640 Speaker 1: ways that can happen, so you've got these different kinds 225 00:12:32,679 --> 00:12:36,440 Speaker 1: of how storia. Sometimes parasitic plants just produce a single 226 00:12:36,559 --> 00:12:39,120 Speaker 1: large house story um which forms a kind of bulbous 227 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:42,240 Speaker 1: tumor sinking into the surface of the host plant, with 228 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:46,760 Speaker 1: multiple parasitic stems branching off. Sometimes they produce multiple house 229 00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:51,080 Speaker 1: storia which take over from the parasites traditional soil root 230 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:54,360 Speaker 1: once the host has been acquired. And these how storia 231 00:12:54,360 --> 00:12:57,600 Speaker 1: are part of a general class called epic cortical roots. 232 00:12:57,760 --> 00:13:00,480 Speaker 1: Bark penetrating roots in the same way in normal plant 233 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:03,520 Speaker 1: would put roots into the soil, this one has root 234 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:06,360 Speaker 1: like structures that pierce the bark of the host plant 235 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:09,440 Speaker 1: and stab and go down inside, so they puncture the 236 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:13,120 Speaker 1: host plant, They grow inside, they breach the vascular tissue 237 00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:16,079 Speaker 1: of the host plant so they can steal nutrients and water, 238 00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:20,720 Speaker 1: and they sometimes even form networks of epicortical roots inside 239 00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:23,959 Speaker 1: the host plant. So to go with the vampire analogy, 240 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:27,720 Speaker 1: it doesn't quite capture the full extent of the parasitism here. 241 00:13:27,960 --> 00:13:30,720 Speaker 1: You have to imagine a vampire. Okay, so vampire bites 242 00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:33,600 Speaker 1: your neck, Robert, but it doesn't just bite your neck 243 00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:36,880 Speaker 1: and suck your blood. Instead, it bites your neck and 244 00:13:36,920 --> 00:13:40,040 Speaker 1: then it's fangs begin to grow deep inside your body 245 00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:44,000 Speaker 1: and penetrate your veins and arteries and grow into maybe 246 00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:47,760 Speaker 1: networks or fang tunnels under your skin. And then maybe 247 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:50,680 Speaker 1: the vampire also grows new fangs out of its chin 248 00:13:50,800 --> 00:13:52,880 Speaker 1: and out of its eyes, and his nipples and stuff 249 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:56,920 Speaker 1: that keep piercing you again and again. That's a rough image, yes, 250 00:13:57,000 --> 00:14:00,079 Speaker 1: for for plant audiences, this is an R rated feature, 251 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:03,760 Speaker 1: maybe excerated, yeah, I mean essentially growing root like tendrils 252 00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:06,440 Speaker 1: into your body and cause, of course, into the plant. 253 00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:08,840 Speaker 1: So one of the things that Blackmore points out in 254 00:14:08,880 --> 00:14:13,319 Speaker 1: his book is that many parasitic plants lack chlorophyll because 255 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:16,120 Speaker 1: they're stealing energy from the host, so they don't need 256 00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:19,640 Speaker 1: to make their own food via photosynthesis, And this is 257 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:23,200 Speaker 1: one reason parasitic plants are often in many beautiful colors. 258 00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:27,280 Speaker 1: They don't need the green pigment chlorophyll to absorb light 259 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:30,560 Speaker 1: energy and kick off the chemical process of photosynthesis because 260 00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:33,520 Speaker 1: unlike most plants, they're not making all or any of 261 00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:36,480 Speaker 1: their own food. I've included a couple of pictures here 262 00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:40,040 Speaker 1: of other parasitic plants growing off of the stems of hosts, 263 00:14:40,120 --> 00:14:43,360 Speaker 1: like a parasitic climber known as daughter that is this 264 00:14:43,480 --> 00:14:48,800 Speaker 1: beautiful orange and blue and yellow. It looks it almost 265 00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:52,120 Speaker 1: looks not like a plant. But anyway, mistletoe is usually 266 00:14:52,160 --> 00:14:55,600 Speaker 1: an exception to this, right, Yeah, technically it's a Hinni 267 00:14:55,680 --> 00:14:59,800 Speaker 1: parasite parasite parasitic plant that is capable of some photosintse 268 00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:02,479 Speaker 1: at this like you said, so it's not as destructive 269 00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:05,560 Speaker 1: as other forms of plant parasites that simply drain the 270 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:08,920 Speaker 1: host dry. There are plant parasites that are more in 271 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:12,360 Speaker 1: the destroyer vein, but missiletoe tends to at least make 272 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:15,680 Speaker 1: some of its own food via photosynthesis, though it very 273 00:15:15,760 --> 00:15:20,000 Speaker 1: species to species, and some species of missiletoe produce relatively 274 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:22,840 Speaker 1: little food autotrophically, It just depends on which one you're 275 00:15:22,840 --> 00:15:26,320 Speaker 1: talking about. Now, we mentioned earlier that botanists are still 276 00:15:26,560 --> 00:15:30,000 Speaker 1: figuring out things about missiletoe and how it works, uh, 277 00:15:30,040 --> 00:15:33,280 Speaker 1: you know, two thousand years after plenty and interestingly enough, 278 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:35,920 Speaker 1: according to two separate studies that were published in two 279 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:39,840 Speaker 1: thousand eighteen in the journal Current Biology, the plant lacks 280 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:44,040 Speaker 1: key cellular components that other organisms depend upon to convert 281 00:15:44,080 --> 00:15:48,200 Speaker 1: glucose into the energy carrying molecule a TP. It uses 282 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:52,800 Speaker 1: alternative energy pathway which generate energy in a different part 283 00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:56,600 Speaker 1: of the cell. In other words, it lost respiratory capacity 284 00:15:56,960 --> 00:16:01,480 Speaker 1: in its evolution, something previously only observed in unicellular organism 285 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:05,400 Speaker 1: in in single cell organisms. So, at least for now, 286 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:08,760 Speaker 1: unless other discoveries are made, it is seemingly unique among 287 00:16:08,920 --> 00:16:12,560 Speaker 1: multicellular organisms. Basically, over the course of millions of years, 288 00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:14,960 Speaker 1: it remodeled the way that it generates energy at the 289 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:17,960 Speaker 1: molecular level. Now, I think maybe it is time to 290 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:19,720 Speaker 1: take a quick break, and when we come back we 291 00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:23,280 Speaker 1: will discuss some more interesting features of the missiletoe parasite 292 00:16:24,680 --> 00:16:29,560 Speaker 1: than alright, we're back. So here's another strange feature of 293 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:32,560 Speaker 1: missiletoe that Blackmore writes about in his book that I 294 00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:35,680 Speaker 1: mentioned a little bit ago. So Blackmore says that some 295 00:16:35,800 --> 00:16:40,720 Speaker 1: species of missiletoe exhibit a weird form of mimicry where 296 00:16:40,720 --> 00:16:44,240 Speaker 1: their leaves become similar in appearance to the leaves of 297 00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:47,400 Speaker 1: the host plant. So why would this be, right, It's 298 00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:51,120 Speaker 1: not like now you you can imagine uses of physical 299 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:54,680 Speaker 1: mimicry in the animal world, right, like you've got ant 300 00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:57,040 Speaker 1: mimics that want to be able to blend in with 301 00:16:57,080 --> 00:16:59,240 Speaker 1: a bunch of ants, or b mimics that want to 302 00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:01,200 Speaker 1: blend in, you know, you want to look like some 303 00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:05,879 Speaker 1: other animal. But the host plant in this relationship between 304 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:08,160 Speaker 1: the parasitic plant and the host plant, like an oak, 305 00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:13,159 Speaker 1: doesn't have eyes to deceive, right, So one possi. So 306 00:17:13,480 --> 00:17:17,280 Speaker 1: people are wondering why would this happen. One possible explanation 307 00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:20,600 Speaker 1: here that Blackmore mentions seems to be the missiletoe is 308 00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:23,840 Speaker 1: trying to survive by blending in with a host plant 309 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:27,760 Speaker 1: that has foul tasting leaves that herbivores don't like to eat, 310 00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:31,320 Speaker 1: when in fact, a grazing herbivore like maybe a deer 311 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:34,720 Speaker 1: or a giraffe or something. It might try missiletoe and 312 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:37,960 Speaker 1: find that the parasitic plant is in fact delicious. So 313 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:40,840 Speaker 1: instead the parasite tends to try to blend in with 314 00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:44,920 Speaker 1: nasty or unpalatable host leaves by having leaves that look 315 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:48,040 Speaker 1: the same. And that's that's just one possible explanation. And 316 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:50,520 Speaker 1: this is interesting because I feel like when I see 317 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:53,879 Speaker 1: missiletoe and actually identify missiletoe, it is because it is 318 00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:57,439 Speaker 1: painfully obvious in its location, such as it is the 319 00:17:57,480 --> 00:18:00,520 Speaker 1: one green thing growing uh in an a tree that 320 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:03,760 Speaker 1: has lost its leaves for the winter, Yes, or its 321 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:07,800 Speaker 1: stem structure is so obviously different, like the tree might 322 00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:11,480 Speaker 1: have thicker, sparser branches, and then the mistletoe is suddenly 323 00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:13,879 Speaker 1: this puff it looks like a tumble weed or something 324 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:18,680 Speaker 1: many many smaller branches uh and uh. And so sometimes 325 00:18:18,720 --> 00:18:20,919 Speaker 1: trees can have natural structures that look like that, that 326 00:18:21,080 --> 00:18:24,160 Speaker 1: is the tree itself, like the witches broom phenomenon, where 327 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:26,080 Speaker 1: a tree will produce what looks kind of like a 328 00:18:26,119 --> 00:18:30,000 Speaker 1: tumbleweed or some crazy tangle of of stems and branches 329 00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:31,480 Speaker 1: on part of it. And I think this is just 330 00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:34,000 Speaker 1: usually an indication that something is wrong with the tree, 331 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:36,880 Speaker 1: but it is the tree itself doing it. But yeah, 332 00:18:37,119 --> 00:18:40,080 Speaker 1: this is interesting anyway because I feel the same way 333 00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:42,679 Speaker 1: you do. Usually, I feel like you can notice mistletoe 334 00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:45,680 Speaker 1: on a tree or parasitic plants on a tree in general, 335 00:18:45,760 --> 00:18:48,280 Speaker 1: because they look so different. Now, I feel like by 336 00:18:48,280 --> 00:18:52,679 Speaker 1: this point most people have seen some depiction of mistletoe. 337 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:56,520 Speaker 1: There's probably one accompanying this episode at our landing page 338 00:18:56,520 --> 00:18:59,399 Speaker 1: on Stuff to your mind dot com. But if you 339 00:18:59,400 --> 00:19:02,600 Speaker 1: haven't seen it, you've probably seen it in art, holiday decorations, 340 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:06,640 Speaker 1: or again just hanging in your neighborhood. Mistletoe has pointy, green, 341 00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:09,840 Speaker 1: leatherly leaves, usually with with waxy berries that are either 342 00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:13,400 Speaker 1: red or white, and these berries are eaten by birds, 343 00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:17,280 Speaker 1: who then defecate in other trees, thus spreading the seeds. 344 00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:20,040 Speaker 1: But the seeds are also sticky, so they spread as 345 00:19:20,119 --> 00:19:23,240 Speaker 1: well when birds have to wipe their beaks on branches 346 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:26,320 Speaker 1: to clean them off for their feet. Also. Yes, and 347 00:19:26,520 --> 00:19:28,760 Speaker 1: this connection with birds is interesting because in olden times 348 00:19:28,760 --> 00:19:32,080 Speaker 1: people actually thought the plant emerged from bird poop itself. 349 00:19:32,359 --> 00:19:34,720 Speaker 1: Plenty was saying that way, yeah, and then the name 350 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:37,679 Speaker 1: only ripen in the stomachs of birds. Right, and this 351 00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:39,959 Speaker 1: is also reflected in the name of the planet itself. 352 00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:44,240 Speaker 1: The word mistletoe is derived from the Anglo Saxon word mistel, 353 00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:48,440 Speaker 1: which means dung in ton, which means twig. So missileton 354 00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:52,160 Speaker 1: is the Old English version of mistletoe. Oh that's interesting. 355 00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:54,560 Speaker 1: So you so you do have a tradition of essentially 356 00:19:54,640 --> 00:20:00,200 Speaker 1: kissing under the sticky dung berries. Yeah, throughout the whole 357 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:02,280 Speaker 1: episode like that. That's the thing I keep coming back to, 358 00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:06,719 Speaker 1: is that, uh, all these these ideas about the plant 359 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:09,520 Speaker 1: and then the the identity of the planet itself, the 360 00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:12,520 Speaker 1: way the plant functions seems so at odd with this 361 00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:16,480 Speaker 1: quirky you just romantic tidbit that has just become not 362 00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:19,199 Speaker 1: a central detail of our holiday traditions, but you know, 363 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:23,640 Speaker 1: at least, um, you know, an identifiable part of it. Now, 364 00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:26,400 Speaker 1: as much as we want to associate missiletoe through our 365 00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:29,680 Speaker 1: traditions with with positivity and kissing and all that kind 366 00:20:29,680 --> 00:20:33,480 Speaker 1: of fun stuff, you shouldn't be eating missiletoe. Don't put 367 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:36,959 Speaker 1: it inside you, that's right. Humans should not hate the berries, 368 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:39,040 Speaker 1: as they can make you ill, and we're talking severe 369 00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:43,560 Speaker 1: stomach cramps and diarrhea or even death. In some cases. Yeah, 370 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:47,600 Speaker 1: I was looking up some stats on missiletoe toxicity, and 371 00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:50,600 Speaker 1: so I looked at a an article called Holiday Plants 372 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:54,080 Speaker 1: with Toxic Misconceptions in the Western Journal of Emergency Medicine 373 00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:58,479 Speaker 1: by Zabrina Evans and Samuel Stealth flug Uh. So they 374 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:01,479 Speaker 1: looked at two different common missiletoe plants that people use 375 00:21:01,520 --> 00:21:04,280 Speaker 1: as decorations. One is American missiletoe, which is for a 376 00:21:04,359 --> 00:21:08,879 Speaker 1: dendron seratonin um, and then European missiletoe, which is viscom 377 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:12,720 Speaker 1: album and both are potentially toxic and slightly different ways. 378 00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:16,800 Speaker 1: American missiletoe produces for a toxin, a tox album in, 379 00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:20,800 Speaker 1: and this is toxic to humans, but most small ingestions 380 00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:24,800 Speaker 1: don't produce much of a reaction. European missiletoe is relatively 381 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:30,480 Speaker 1: more toxic. It contains visco toxins, which quote inhibits cellular synthesis, 382 00:21:30,520 --> 00:21:35,679 Speaker 1: thereby affecting cells with rapid turnover like gastro intestinal mucosa. 383 00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:40,240 Speaker 1: So the mucus in your gut, in your digestive system, 384 00:21:40,359 --> 00:21:43,919 Speaker 1: needs to rapidly produce new cells. This inhibits that, and 385 00:21:43,920 --> 00:21:46,879 Speaker 1: there's probably one reason you get reports of gastro intestinal 386 00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:50,240 Speaker 1: distress after people eat it quote after a latent period 387 00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:53,800 Speaker 1: of several hours. Clinical effects from visco toxins can develop 388 00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:58,720 Speaker 1: and are primarily gastro intestinal upset, with potential necrotic lesions 389 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:04,159 Speaker 1: resulting in slough thing of the gastro intestinal tract, brady cardia, delirium, 390 00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:07,480 Speaker 1: as well as toxicity the liver, central nervous system, kidney, 391 00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:12,320 Speaker 1: and adrenals can also occur, although the incidence is not known. Uh. Fortunately, 392 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:15,639 Speaker 1: most cases of ingestion of missiletoe in the literature do 393 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:19,439 Speaker 1: not result in death. But you still should probably avoid 394 00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:21,680 Speaker 1: consuming it, and you really do not want to make 395 00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:24,600 Speaker 1: missiletoe tease because it seems like that's where the danger 396 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:28,480 Speaker 1: gets super gets gets real, right, and and so obviously 397 00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:30,280 Speaker 1: one of the problems here too would be if you 398 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:33,520 Speaker 1: keep missiletoe in your home, you would potentially have to 399 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:37,680 Speaker 1: worry about children or pets getting ahold of the berries. 400 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:42,400 Speaker 1: So um, it's interesting what you said earlier about about 401 00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:47,119 Speaker 1: how to effects cells, because it's interesting that some experiments 402 00:22:47,119 --> 00:22:51,200 Speaker 1: have revealed potential medicinal uses for the plant, including work 403 00:22:51,280 --> 00:22:55,240 Speaker 1: from the University of Adelaide and that explored the use 404 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:59,800 Speaker 1: of the plants extract in battling colon cancer. Oh yeah, yeah. 405 00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:02,800 Speaker 1: In particular, they found that the ash tree missiletoe plant 406 00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:07,840 Speaker 1: fraccini was more effective in battling colon cancer cells than chemotherapy. 407 00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:12,120 Speaker 1: Scientists are still looking into it, of course, but mistletoe 408 00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:16,600 Speaker 1: extract remains a popular alternative treatment for cancer in many areas, 409 00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:19,879 Speaker 1: and it's it's been widely studied, and it is apparently 410 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:23,800 Speaker 1: prescribed in Europe with reportedly few side effects. But there 411 00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:27,240 Speaker 1: is currently no FDA approved missiletoe cancer treatment in the 412 00:23:27,359 --> 00:23:30,520 Speaker 1: United States. But of course, on the other hand, missiletoe 413 00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:33,159 Speaker 1: has been a part of human magic uh and and 414 00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:39,119 Speaker 1: magical thinking and magical potions and traditional healing regiments for 415 00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:41,959 Speaker 1: quite some time. For instance, it does show up in 416 00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:47,320 Speaker 1: traditional Chinese medicine as huji shun uh where, and this 417 00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:50,679 Speaker 1: is a basically dried leaves and stems of a variety 418 00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:54,120 Speaker 1: of missiletoe, and it's used to treat a variety of ailments. Yeah, 419 00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:56,480 Speaker 1: it comes up with all kinds of stuff. In fact, 420 00:23:56,640 --> 00:23:59,960 Speaker 1: I think maybe it's time to play our favorite game show. 421 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:04,639 Speaker 1: Weird Old letters to Medical Journal. Do you want to 422 00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:06,720 Speaker 1: go down this road with me? Yea? How far back 423 00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:09,879 Speaker 1: are we going? Nineteen o four. So February nineteen o 424 00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:13,280 Speaker 1: four there's a British officer station in Calcutta named Lieutenant 425 00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:16,399 Speaker 1: Colonel George Ranking, and he wrote a letter to the 426 00:24:16,480 --> 00:24:19,920 Speaker 1: Lancet about missiletoe. And in this letter he quoted from 427 00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:24,720 Speaker 1: a translation of a Persian medical text he had encountered 428 00:24:25,119 --> 00:24:27,719 Speaker 1: called the and I might not be pronouncing this right, 429 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:32,040 Speaker 1: the Makazanu lad Mia, which means the storehouse of medicines. 430 00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:35,680 Speaker 1: And this text discussed the medical uses of missiletoe, saying 431 00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:39,040 Speaker 1: things like quote, it is effectual in purging away the 432 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:42,120 Speaker 1: black bile and mucus humors. A few ways you would 433 00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:45,320 Speaker 1: use it include quote with turpentine and wax, it is 434 00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:51,520 Speaker 1: used for the ripening of boils, pustular eruptions of mucus origin, 435 00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:56,800 Speaker 1: and phligmatic tumors. Also for softening the joints. Do you 436 00:24:56,840 --> 00:24:59,199 Speaker 1: want them softened? I'm not quite sure what that means. Well, 437 00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:02,720 Speaker 1: I don't want to hardened. I guess that's true. Yeah. Uh. 438 00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:06,280 Speaker 1: Quote with arsenic and pitch it is used to extract 439 00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:10,199 Speaker 1: the nails. And with quicklime and grape juice and honey 440 00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:13,520 Speaker 1: it is used to make the nails grow again. I'm 441 00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:18,520 Speaker 1: not quite sure that it's extracting the nails. Um, I'm 442 00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:22,520 Speaker 1: just having had some of my nails extracted before. I 443 00:25:22,560 --> 00:25:24,920 Speaker 1: would assume it might have to do with say, ingrown 444 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:28,560 Speaker 1: nails and grown toe nails and whatnot. That might be 445 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:30,880 Speaker 1: a case we would need to extract something and then 446 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:35,119 Speaker 1: afterwards like hope for some level of appropriate regrowth. Okay, 447 00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:38,119 Speaker 1: here's one. A decoction of it in lime water is 448 00:25:38,200 --> 00:25:41,560 Speaker 1: useful for removing swellings of the spleen, while a paste 449 00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:43,960 Speaker 1: of it made with lime is a means of removing 450 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:47,399 Speaker 1: induration of the spleen, and is also useful in drawing 451 00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:50,520 Speaker 1: out gross humors from the depths of the body. But 452 00:25:50,560 --> 00:25:52,920 Speaker 1: the authors also say it is injurious to the heart. 453 00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:56,600 Speaker 1: And then finally quote when mistletoe berries are cooked with 454 00:25:56,640 --> 00:26:01,760 Speaker 1: honey syrup of dates and sapistan and made into long, 455 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:04,639 Speaker 1: fine threads. It is put on the surface of trees 456 00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:07,399 Speaker 1: when any bird that settles sticks to the tree and 457 00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:11,440 Speaker 1: is caught. It's birdlime. Again, glue traps for birds. That 458 00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:13,920 Speaker 1: that's that's pretty sick, right, And it does, of course 459 00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:16,159 Speaker 1: tie in with the sticky property of of the berries 460 00:26:16,160 --> 00:26:19,320 Speaker 1: that we discussed earlier. Now, all of this is very 461 00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:24,720 Speaker 1: fascinating because, on one hand, we do see medical professionals 462 00:26:24,720 --> 00:26:30,920 Speaker 1: identifying potential applications here, essentially saying that there is an 463 00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:34,600 Speaker 1: effect on cells, and in particular on cancer cells. It 464 00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:38,679 Speaker 1: seems that may prove useful in the long run. On 465 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:40,760 Speaker 1: the other hand, we don't seem to fully understand Yeah, 466 00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:43,040 Speaker 1: we don't seem to fully understand it. It's again, there's 467 00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:48,120 Speaker 1: no FDA approved medication uh as of this publication that 468 00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:52,120 Speaker 1: derives from mistletoe. But on the other hand, we also 469 00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:54,919 Speaker 1: have all of these traditional uses of it. And with 470 00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:57,240 Speaker 1: the traditional uses, I feel like it may come back 471 00:26:57,240 --> 00:26:59,560 Speaker 1: to something we've discussed in the past that the the 472 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:04,400 Speaker 1: some thing is happening uh situation, where As we've discussed 473 00:27:04,440 --> 00:27:07,240 Speaker 1: consuming these can make you feel ill, can make you 474 00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:11,520 Speaker 1: feel a little weird, like something is happening inside you 475 00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:15,680 Speaker 1: and it is Yeah, yeah, it gave me diarrhea. Something's happening, right, 476 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:18,600 Speaker 1: And in doing that it it certainly purged you of 477 00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:22,080 Speaker 1: well something that it purge you of what was actually 478 00:27:22,119 --> 00:27:24,160 Speaker 1: ailing you. Did it or did it just give you 479 00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:28,080 Speaker 1: this incentive to to lean into the magical thinking of 480 00:27:28,119 --> 00:27:31,360 Speaker 1: the potion or elixir or tea or whatever was prepared 481 00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:36,000 Speaker 1: for you by the magician or druid or so whothsayer. 482 00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:38,560 Speaker 1: All right, well, on that note, we're gonna take one 483 00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:41,480 Speaker 1: more break. When we come back. We're going to dive 484 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:45,160 Speaker 1: into some of the mythology of missiletoe and indeed get 485 00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:48,040 Speaker 1: back to that question of why is it hanging around 486 00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:52,679 Speaker 1: at Christmas time? Than all right, we're back, So I 487 00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:55,520 Speaker 1: think it's time to refresh on that passage from Old 488 00:27:55,560 --> 00:27:58,840 Speaker 1: Plenty and talk about the ritual of oakan oak and missiletoe. Okay, 489 00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:02,399 Speaker 1: so Old Plenty of the Elder says about the ritual 490 00:28:02,440 --> 00:28:04,800 Speaker 1: of oak and mistletoe. He says, the druids are the 491 00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:07,520 Speaker 1: priests or the magicians of the galls. He says, the 492 00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:10,600 Speaker 1: druids hold sacred both mistletoe and the hard oak trees 493 00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:13,679 Speaker 1: that it grows on. Heart oak leaves are necessary for 494 00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:17,119 Speaker 1: druid rites and spells. Uh. The Druids think that anything 495 00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:19,760 Speaker 1: growing on a hard oak is sent down from heaven. 496 00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:23,240 Speaker 1: When the Druids fine mistletoe growing on a hard oak, 497 00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:25,280 Speaker 1: which he says is pretty rare, I don't know how 498 00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:28,359 Speaker 1: rare it actually is, they hold a ceremony which is 499 00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:30,960 Speaker 1: also timed with cycles of the moon and thirty year 500 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:34,560 Speaker 1: in intervals. So they hold a banquet beneath the trees. 501 00:28:34,960 --> 00:28:37,720 Speaker 1: They show up with two white bulls and bind their horns. 502 00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:41,200 Speaker 1: A priest dressed in white climbs the tree cuts the 503 00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:44,560 Speaker 1: mistletoe with a golden sickle. And I should note I 504 00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:49,280 Speaker 1: looked up viscoum album the native European stuff, uh species 505 00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:51,560 Speaker 1: of mistletoe, and it does often seem to have a 506 00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:54,640 Speaker 1: kind of green, gold or golden color. So I wonder 507 00:28:54,720 --> 00:28:58,200 Speaker 1: if that there's any association with a golden sickle. Uh. 508 00:28:58,280 --> 00:29:01,360 Speaker 1: Then so he cuts it. The mistletoe falls into a 509 00:29:01,400 --> 00:29:04,720 Speaker 1: white cloak. Below. They kill the bowls while praying to 510 00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:08,320 Speaker 1: their god, and then quote they believe that mistletoe given 511 00:29:08,320 --> 00:29:11,560 Speaker 1: in drink will impart fertility to any animal that is barren, 512 00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:14,760 Speaker 1: and that it is an antidote for all poisons. So 513 00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:18,080 Speaker 1: powerful is the superstition in regard to trifling matters that 514 00:29:18,200 --> 00:29:22,080 Speaker 1: frequently prevails among the races of mankind. He's just kind 515 00:29:22,080 --> 00:29:24,640 Speaker 1: of like insulting them at the end there does he 516 00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:28,600 Speaker 1: say that about Roman rituals, Well, I mean Roman rituals. 517 00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:30,680 Speaker 1: I guess at the time where the it was the 518 00:29:30,680 --> 00:29:34,960 Speaker 1: bleeding edge of cultural advancement. Yeah, those are the rational rituals, 519 00:29:36,160 --> 00:29:37,760 Speaker 1: or at least that's what the entrails of the bird 520 00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:40,200 Speaker 1: told him. I'm sure, yeah, okay, But so they believe 521 00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:43,240 Speaker 1: that it will give fertility when you're infertile, and that 522 00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:47,440 Speaker 1: it will cure all poisons. Now the association here with 523 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:50,720 Speaker 1: the idea of fertility does give you some kind of lake. 524 00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:54,240 Speaker 1: You know. I wonder if the the idea that it 525 00:29:54,240 --> 00:29:59,239 Speaker 1: would make animals and presumably humans also fertile, could be 526 00:29:59,280 --> 00:30:02,640 Speaker 1: a could be a link to the kissing, could be right, 527 00:30:02,800 --> 00:30:05,120 Speaker 1: you know, something going on there that does seem to 528 00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:08,200 Speaker 1: because because the fertility, and then also some ideas that 529 00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:11,800 Speaker 1: it's an aphrodisiac. Uh. These these are recurring themes and 530 00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:14,440 Speaker 1: some of these older traditions that I believe have been 531 00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:17,360 Speaker 1: like the main the only thing that's really remained after 532 00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:21,400 Speaker 1: they've been boiled down by popular culture. Uh. Here, here's 533 00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:24,760 Speaker 1: another example of sort of the mythic meat that has 534 00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:27,680 Speaker 1: been boiled away from the bones of the tradition, and 535 00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:31,160 Speaker 1: that has to do with the role of mistletoe in 536 00:30:31,200 --> 00:30:33,960 Speaker 1: the death of the Norse god balder So. I was 537 00:30:34,040 --> 00:30:36,960 Speaker 1: reading in Dictionary of Nature Myths Legends of the Earth, Sea, 538 00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:40,200 Speaker 1: and Sky by Tamara Andrews, and she talks a bit 539 00:30:40,280 --> 00:30:43,800 Speaker 1: about the death of the Norse god Balder, the god 540 00:30:43,800 --> 00:30:47,200 Speaker 1: of light, son of Odin and Frigate. And he was 541 00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:50,400 Speaker 1: he was a being of just beauty and light, white hair, 542 00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:53,960 Speaker 1: born on the winter solstice uh, and the winter solstice 543 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:57,960 Speaker 1: here being the beginning of the Sun's journey towards maximum brightness. 544 00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:01,680 Speaker 1: But then he dies on the summer solstice, the day 545 00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:04,800 Speaker 1: of the sun's peak brightness, but the beginning of its 546 00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:08,520 Speaker 1: fade toward winter. So his uh, his birth is the 547 00:31:08,520 --> 00:31:11,360 Speaker 1: thing that brings us out of the cold, and then 548 00:31:11,360 --> 00:31:14,720 Speaker 1: his death is the thing that that that dooms us 549 00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:18,040 Speaker 1: to descent back into winter. And you know, this is 550 00:31:18,040 --> 00:31:21,600 Speaker 1: the kind of seasonal UH motif that we've seen a 551 00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:24,800 Speaker 1: lot of old myths and a huge number of ancient 552 00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:28,400 Speaker 1: religions have strong connections to the idea that the passing 553 00:31:28,400 --> 00:31:30,920 Speaker 1: of the seasons UH. And then you know, there's always 554 00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:34,160 Speaker 1: been this interpretive idea that the UH that like a 555 00:31:34,720 --> 00:31:37,440 Speaker 1: god who dies and is reborn or descends into the 556 00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:40,320 Speaker 1: underworld and comes back up, has something to do with 557 00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:43,040 Speaker 1: like the winter, spring summer cycle. Right. And then of 558 00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:46,840 Speaker 1: course our holiday traditions, Christmas traditions, what have you. These 559 00:31:46,880 --> 00:31:50,520 Speaker 1: are all intrinsically tied to these ideas as well, the 560 00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:54,360 Speaker 1: things we must do, the traditions and rights that will 561 00:31:54,400 --> 00:31:58,240 Speaker 1: sustain us through the time of cold death. Uh, through 562 00:31:58,280 --> 00:32:01,120 Speaker 1: the darkness and back into light on the other side. 563 00:32:02,040 --> 00:32:04,120 Speaker 1: So but but let's get back to Balder here. So 564 00:32:04,200 --> 00:32:07,360 Speaker 1: Balder dreamt of his own death and yeah, of plots 565 00:32:07,400 --> 00:32:11,040 Speaker 1: against him. But luckily his his mother is a powerful god. 566 00:32:11,120 --> 00:32:14,800 Speaker 1: I mean, she's the god of love. And so of 567 00:32:14,800 --> 00:32:17,640 Speaker 1: what Frigate did is she she sent out a message 568 00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:20,400 Speaker 1: to all the plants, the animals, even the diseases of 569 00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:23,479 Speaker 1: the world, and she said, look, my son's off limits, right, 570 00:32:23,560 --> 00:32:25,520 Speaker 1: He's having dreams about people trying to kill him and 571 00:32:25,560 --> 00:32:29,160 Speaker 1: plots against him. So I'm just stay away, stay away, 572 00:32:29,200 --> 00:32:32,120 Speaker 1: off limits. Uh. And then all the plants, animals and 573 00:32:32,160 --> 00:32:34,960 Speaker 1: diseases are right right on. What are the other plants 574 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:37,520 Speaker 1: that would be threatening him? Or is there where there 575 00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:39,960 Speaker 1: like killer trees at the time. I mean, I guess 576 00:32:39,960 --> 00:32:42,200 Speaker 1: the tree can fall on you and stuff too. Okay, 577 00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:45,480 Speaker 1: they're thorns. I mean she's probably covering a lot of 578 00:32:45,480 --> 00:32:47,680 Speaker 1: ground here. There are a lot of animals that were 579 00:32:47,680 --> 00:32:51,160 Speaker 1: probably not going to kill a god either. But but 580 00:32:51,200 --> 00:32:54,959 Speaker 1: as but then again, as we'll see here, um this 581 00:32:54,960 --> 00:32:59,160 Speaker 1: this might this might seem like a ridiculous level of protection, 582 00:32:59,320 --> 00:33:03,480 Speaker 1: even for a mother god, but but perhaps not considering 583 00:33:03,760 --> 00:33:07,600 Speaker 1: somebody that was working against him. Yeah, yeah, none other 584 00:33:08,040 --> 00:33:11,360 Speaker 1: than Loki. Oh, it would be just like Loki to 585 00:33:11,480 --> 00:33:15,120 Speaker 1: like six some rabbits or daffodils to kill you. Yeah, 586 00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:17,320 Speaker 1: so Loki does get involved. But but at any rate, 587 00:33:17,400 --> 00:33:20,520 Speaker 1: this is what happens. Depending on the version that you're reading. 588 00:33:20,600 --> 00:33:24,200 Speaker 1: She either forgets to tell Mistletoe that her son is 589 00:33:24,200 --> 00:33:27,440 Speaker 1: off limits and then he shouldn't die, or in some versions, 590 00:33:27,680 --> 00:33:30,680 Speaker 1: since mistletoe is a plant without roots in the earth, 591 00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:34,280 Speaker 1: it could not hear her command, and I like that 592 00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:37,400 Speaker 1: version better. And so what happens is the god Loki 593 00:33:37,720 --> 00:33:41,720 Speaker 1: tricks the blind god Holder into hurling a fistful of 594 00:33:41,760 --> 00:33:46,760 Speaker 1: mistletoe at Balder's heart, killing him dead. And I was 595 00:33:46,760 --> 00:33:49,160 Speaker 1: looking this up. I found some artistic depictions of this 596 00:33:49,280 --> 00:33:51,800 Speaker 1: that look less like a bundle like, because when I 597 00:33:51,840 --> 00:33:54,440 Speaker 1: read that, I'm imagining like a big wad of mistletoe 598 00:33:54,840 --> 00:33:58,560 Speaker 1: hurled like a baseball into Balder's heart. And I've seen 599 00:33:58,560 --> 00:34:02,240 Speaker 1: some interesting depictions of this where where Loki is whispering 600 00:34:02,280 --> 00:34:05,000 Speaker 1: to hold her and then Holder just drives the how story, um, 601 00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:09,680 Speaker 1: this like two pronged death root straight through Balder's heart 602 00:34:09,760 --> 00:34:11,960 Speaker 1: and out the other side. So like breaks off the 603 00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:15,120 Speaker 1: fang of the plant vampire and uses it to kill 604 00:34:15,200 --> 00:34:18,840 Speaker 1: the god of light Balder in this painting or drawing, 605 00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:21,600 Speaker 1: I don't know what this this this image you've got here. 606 00:34:21,640 --> 00:34:23,759 Speaker 1: What it looks to me is like Loki is like 607 00:34:23,920 --> 00:34:27,879 Speaker 1: making out with Holder and they've both got their hand 608 00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:31,000 Speaker 1: on this little two forked thing that's going straight through Balder, 609 00:34:31,040 --> 00:34:34,160 Speaker 1: and Balder is like, no, he's got a real death 610 00:34:34,160 --> 00:34:36,520 Speaker 1: face going on in this image. I'll try to remember 611 00:34:36,640 --> 00:34:39,240 Speaker 1: to put this on the landing page for this episode 612 00:34:39,280 --> 00:34:40,920 Speaker 1: is stuff to blow your mind dot Com, hopefully with 613 00:34:40,960 --> 00:34:44,560 Speaker 1: a little extra information about where it came from. But so, yeah, 614 00:34:44,560 --> 00:34:47,360 Speaker 1: what happens here is that Balder dies and the sun declines, 615 00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:50,640 Speaker 1: and while the Sun eventually comes back, Balder does not, 616 00:34:51,680 --> 00:34:54,160 Speaker 1: for the lords of the Underworld only agreed to his 617 00:34:54,200 --> 00:34:57,400 Speaker 1: resurrection if everyone on Earth wept for him, and the 618 00:34:57,400 --> 00:35:02,919 Speaker 1: thing is everyone did except for Loki. So Balder will 619 00:35:02,960 --> 00:35:08,680 Speaker 1: not return to the Earth until Ragnarok Loki, the original troll. Yeah, 620 00:35:08,760 --> 00:35:10,200 Speaker 1: and so here we see, you know, more of the 621 00:35:10,239 --> 00:35:14,080 Speaker 1: symbolic role of mistletoe here in the mythic understanding of 622 00:35:14,120 --> 00:35:17,560 Speaker 1: winter in Norse traditions. And by the way, this is 623 00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:21,719 Speaker 1: also a reason that some Norse traditions held mistletoe had 624 00:35:21,719 --> 00:35:25,320 Speaker 1: the power to resurrect the dead. Now wait a minute, 625 00:35:26,120 --> 00:35:29,160 Speaker 1: we so I love that legend, but what does that 626 00:35:29,280 --> 00:35:31,360 Speaker 1: have to do with kissing? Are we getting any closer 627 00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:34,960 Speaker 1: to figuring out why there's kissing under the mistletoe underneath 628 00:35:34,960 --> 00:35:39,239 Speaker 1: the god slaying parasitic tree route. Well, you know, there 629 00:35:39,239 --> 00:35:42,439 Speaker 1: are other traditions that we should probably touch on, such 630 00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:44,719 Speaker 1: as the old French tradition that the plant is is 631 00:35:44,800 --> 00:35:48,080 Speaker 1: now cursed to never find purchase on earth soil because 632 00:35:48,080 --> 00:35:50,520 Speaker 1: it was once a variety of tree, and that tree 633 00:35:50,560 --> 00:35:53,680 Speaker 1: was used to construct the cross upon which Jesus was crucified, 634 00:35:55,080 --> 00:35:57,959 Speaker 1: which you know, it seems a bit a bit cruel 635 00:35:58,040 --> 00:36:02,000 Speaker 1: to blame the tree for that. Jesus himself sometimes blame tree. 636 00:36:02,120 --> 00:36:05,240 Speaker 1: You're the cursing of the fig tree. I have forgotten 637 00:36:05,280 --> 00:36:08,040 Speaker 1: what what was Jesus beef with figs? Well, he goes 638 00:36:08,080 --> 00:36:10,279 Speaker 1: by a fig tree and it doesn't have figs because 639 00:36:10,320 --> 00:36:12,600 Speaker 1: figs weren't in season, and he gets mad at the 640 00:36:12,600 --> 00:36:15,239 Speaker 1: tree and he curses it and withers it. Oh, man, 641 00:36:15,560 --> 00:36:17,840 Speaker 1: I think it's it's like an allegory. I think for 642 00:36:17,920 --> 00:36:20,320 Speaker 1: about like people who I don't know. It's been a 643 00:36:20,320 --> 00:36:22,280 Speaker 1: while since I read the story. I think it's about people, 644 00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:26,000 Speaker 1: not you know, bearing good fruit in the spiritual sense. Okay, 645 00:36:26,120 --> 00:36:28,200 Speaker 1: I should I should read that because I'm I have 646 00:36:28,280 --> 00:36:30,239 Speaker 1: a fig tree, and sometimes I curse it for the 647 00:36:30,280 --> 00:36:33,560 Speaker 1: way it behaves really, but generally it gives me. It 648 00:36:33,600 --> 00:36:36,640 Speaker 1: gives me figs in the end, so uh, to refresh. 649 00:36:36,719 --> 00:36:39,239 Speaker 1: We've talked about some of these traditions that place mistletoe 650 00:36:39,560 --> 00:36:42,480 Speaker 1: firmly in winter and is a part of winter traditions, 651 00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:44,680 Speaker 1: and and again we also come back to the idea 652 00:36:44,680 --> 00:36:48,480 Speaker 1: that missiletoe is often seen thriving in lifeless winter trees. Uh. 653 00:36:48,600 --> 00:36:50,640 Speaker 1: And there's one in my neighborhood that does this. It's 654 00:36:50,840 --> 00:36:52,880 Speaker 1: it's over a road, so I hope there aren't too 655 00:36:52,880 --> 00:36:55,600 Speaker 1: many people trying to just smooth under it. But but 656 00:36:55,680 --> 00:36:59,200 Speaker 1: I see it pretty frequently. And then we have these 657 00:36:59,239 --> 00:37:01,799 Speaker 1: other traditions that push it more toward the area of 658 00:37:01,840 --> 00:37:05,240 Speaker 1: sex in life. Africa again was the goddess of love, 659 00:37:05,480 --> 00:37:08,640 Speaker 1: and some traditions claim that the berries were aphrodisiacs that 660 00:37:08,680 --> 00:37:12,880 Speaker 1: they would enhance uh, you know, sexual activity and desire. Uh. 661 00:37:13,080 --> 00:37:15,920 Speaker 1: That's kind of weird given the symptoms we looked at. Well, 662 00:37:15,920 --> 00:37:18,120 Speaker 1: you know, maybe just a small dose with a splash 663 00:37:18,120 --> 00:37:21,080 Speaker 1: of magical thinking would do the trick. But but hopefully 664 00:37:21,840 --> 00:37:25,279 Speaker 1: you don't want full on diarrhea um before you, you know, 665 00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:28,680 Speaker 1: seek out your love. When I get that feeling, I 666 00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:33,239 Speaker 1: need intestinal slough. And now when we come to our 667 00:37:33,280 --> 00:37:36,359 Speaker 1: modern traditions with missiletoe, generally the version we hear is 668 00:37:36,400 --> 00:37:40,000 Speaker 1: that like two people who are dating or married or whatever, 669 00:37:40,040 --> 00:37:43,520 Speaker 1: that they kiss under the missiletoe. Uh. And that's about it, right, 670 00:37:43,560 --> 00:37:46,200 Speaker 1: It's just this cute thing that you do. Um. But 671 00:37:46,320 --> 00:37:49,360 Speaker 1: some traditions require the male kisser to remove a berry 672 00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:52,279 Speaker 1: with each kiss. So these are kind of just thinking 673 00:37:52,360 --> 00:37:54,759 Speaker 1: dungeons and dragons terms. I'm thinking these each berry is 674 00:37:54,800 --> 00:37:58,359 Speaker 1: like a magical charge on the plant, and once they're gone, 675 00:37:58,360 --> 00:38:01,440 Speaker 1: there's no more kissing. Other traditions frame it is more 676 00:38:01,480 --> 00:38:04,919 Speaker 1: of a bit of relationship good luck. I see. Well, wait, 677 00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:06,960 Speaker 1: what do you do with the berries. When you remove them, 678 00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:08,799 Speaker 1: do you have to eat them with each kiss or 679 00:38:08,840 --> 00:38:10,560 Speaker 1: you just throw them on the ground. They didn't specify. 680 00:38:10,560 --> 00:38:13,080 Speaker 1: I guess you just chunk them and and hope nobody 681 00:38:13,400 --> 00:38:15,279 Speaker 1: picking up children pick it up and eat it. Oh, 682 00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:18,480 Speaker 1: I know. Maybe it's a way of combining the process 683 00:38:18,600 --> 00:38:23,399 Speaker 1: of kissing and making bird lime. Maybe so. Now, other 684 00:38:23,440 --> 00:38:25,600 Speaker 1: traditions say that you can put it under your pillow 685 00:38:25,719 --> 00:38:27,719 Speaker 1: if you're a maiden, and then you will dream of 686 00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:30,759 Speaker 1: your true love. And meanwhile, in other traditions it was 687 00:38:30,800 --> 00:38:34,040 Speaker 1: seen as a sort of designator of holy ground. So 688 00:38:34,080 --> 00:38:36,800 Speaker 1: in other words, the leaders of say two warring forces 689 00:38:37,239 --> 00:38:42,359 Speaker 1: might meet beneath the mistletoe and parlay or just just talk, 690 00:38:42,440 --> 00:38:44,520 Speaker 1: though the kissing is optional. I mean, if things go 691 00:38:44,600 --> 00:38:46,880 Speaker 1: really well, then yes, maybe they could be kissing. But 692 00:38:46,960 --> 00:38:48,759 Speaker 1: otherwise this would be the kind of place where you 693 00:38:48,800 --> 00:38:53,200 Speaker 1: would just discuss in safety, some manner of truce. So 694 00:38:53,480 --> 00:38:56,879 Speaker 1: what have you exchange of captives? I can't help, of course, 695 00:38:56,880 --> 00:39:00,760 Speaker 1: but think to the scenes in in Highlander where where 696 00:39:00,920 --> 00:39:03,920 Speaker 1: Connor McLeod meets the Kurgan and they can meet in 697 00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:06,000 Speaker 1: holy ground, they can meet in a church and it's 698 00:39:06,040 --> 00:39:09,080 Speaker 1: totally cool. All the Kurgan can do is just you know, 699 00:39:09,280 --> 00:39:12,600 Speaker 1: be awful to everybody. We can't actually try and cut 700 00:39:12,680 --> 00:39:15,120 Speaker 1: Connor's head off, but we know there's a quickening soon 701 00:39:15,160 --> 00:39:17,319 Speaker 1: to be had, right, But they could have met under 702 00:39:17,320 --> 00:39:19,960 Speaker 1: the missiletoe. It sounds like maybe that's something that's explored 703 00:39:19,960 --> 00:39:22,319 Speaker 1: in the television series, and we'll hear about it from 704 00:39:22,600 --> 00:39:25,399 Speaker 1: Highlander TV fans out there. You know, I've also seen 705 00:39:25,440 --> 00:39:29,080 Speaker 1: that suggested that this tradition of kissing under the missiletoe 706 00:39:29,239 --> 00:39:34,200 Speaker 1: somehow comes from the missiletoe's association with Saturnalia, the sort 707 00:39:34,239 --> 00:39:37,759 Speaker 1: of winter Roman festival of wild revelry and you know, 708 00:39:37,840 --> 00:39:40,880 Speaker 1: no rules kind of stuff. Oh yeah, okay, so it's 709 00:39:40,920 --> 00:39:44,480 Speaker 1: kind of like a chaos plant as well. Yeah, I 710 00:39:44,480 --> 00:39:48,960 Speaker 1: mean Saturnalia involved a lot of reversals of things. One 711 00:39:49,040 --> 00:39:52,080 Speaker 1: of these many festivals where like the master would serve 712 00:39:52,239 --> 00:39:55,920 Speaker 1: his slaves, there would be uh, you know, gambling was 713 00:39:56,000 --> 00:39:58,960 Speaker 1: legal and that kind of thing. So beneath the missiletoe, 714 00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:03,840 Speaker 1: the fool made kiss the princess and it is okay, yes, okay, alright, 715 00:40:03,880 --> 00:40:05,560 Speaker 1: So that that that's the weird thing with it. With 716 00:40:05,600 --> 00:40:08,160 Speaker 1: the modern tradition, we just see all of these various 717 00:40:08,200 --> 00:40:11,839 Speaker 1: ideas about missiletoe kind of just smashing into each other 718 00:40:12,360 --> 00:40:14,799 Speaker 1: and there's very little left at the end of it, 719 00:40:14,840 --> 00:40:17,680 Speaker 1: but it's it's still something that sticks with us. Well, 720 00:40:17,680 --> 00:40:19,759 Speaker 1: it's frustrating because I feel like we don't really have 721 00:40:19,840 --> 00:40:22,239 Speaker 1: a firm answer to the question of where does the 722 00:40:22,320 --> 00:40:24,520 Speaker 1: kissing under the missiletoe come from? Right, There's just a 723 00:40:24,560 --> 00:40:27,680 Speaker 1: lot of kind of ideas, but we don't really know, right. 724 00:40:27,719 --> 00:40:30,480 Speaker 1: But I do feel like the nature of the examples 725 00:40:30,520 --> 00:40:33,120 Speaker 1: we looked at it kind of allows us to triangulate, 726 00:40:33,880 --> 00:40:37,040 Speaker 1: you know, where where where this tradition comes from. You know, 727 00:40:37,920 --> 00:40:41,279 Speaker 1: a dash of of of of of the the god 728 00:40:41,440 --> 00:40:46,080 Speaker 1: ordained here, a dash of of reversal here, and a 729 00:40:46,200 --> 00:40:51,880 Speaker 1: dash of magical afrodisiac and uh uh, you know reproductive 730 00:40:52,760 --> 00:40:58,839 Speaker 1: elixir here, right, ritual sexual sloughing, yes, And then we're 731 00:40:58,880 --> 00:41:02,440 Speaker 1: left with what the left of our modern missiletoe tradition. 732 00:41:02,640 --> 00:41:04,719 Speaker 1: But one thing for sure is we've certainly gotten away 733 00:41:04,760 --> 00:41:08,040 Speaker 1: from the darker aspects of missiletoe, not all the time, 734 00:41:08,080 --> 00:41:10,319 Speaker 1: like sometimes I think it's still used as a as 735 00:41:10,360 --> 00:41:14,320 Speaker 1: a good indicator of evil and ruin. Yeah. Well, and 736 00:41:14,960 --> 00:41:16,680 Speaker 1: we can find a great example of that in the 737 00:41:16,680 --> 00:41:19,719 Speaker 1: works of William Shakespeare. Oh yeah, who's gonna read this 738 00:41:19,760 --> 00:41:22,400 Speaker 1: quote from ty to Sandronicus? Is it me or you? Oh? 739 00:41:22,560 --> 00:41:26,040 Speaker 1: We could split it up. Okay, I'll go first. Have 740 00:41:26,200 --> 00:41:29,279 Speaker 1: I not reason, thank you to look pale? These two 741 00:41:29,320 --> 00:41:33,160 Speaker 1: have ticed me hither to this place, a barren, detested veil. 742 00:41:33,280 --> 00:41:37,000 Speaker 1: You see, it is the trees, though summer yet forlorn 743 00:41:37,080 --> 00:41:41,320 Speaker 1: and lean or come with moss and baleful missiletoe. Here 744 00:41:41,400 --> 00:41:45,360 Speaker 1: never shines the sun. Here nothing breeds unless the nightly 745 00:41:45,440 --> 00:41:49,200 Speaker 1: owl or fatal raven. And when they'd showed me this 746 00:41:49,280 --> 00:41:52,600 Speaker 1: abhorred pit, they told me here at dead time of 747 00:41:52,640 --> 00:41:56,879 Speaker 1: the night, a thousand fiends, a thousand hissing snakes, ten 748 00:41:56,960 --> 00:42:01,080 Speaker 1: thousands swelling toads, as many urchins would make such fearful 749 00:42:01,160 --> 00:42:05,040 Speaker 1: and confused cries, as any mortal body hearing it should 750 00:42:05,080 --> 00:42:10,040 Speaker 1: straight fall mad or else die suddenly. Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, everybody. 751 00:42:10,080 --> 00:42:14,880 Speaker 1: There's shure, there's sure your your mistletoe. Folks, Well, you know, 752 00:42:14,920 --> 00:42:20,320 Speaker 1: I think part of truly appreciating Western American holiday traditions 753 00:42:20,440 --> 00:42:24,360 Speaker 1: is again to to to realize all of the deeper 754 00:42:24,640 --> 00:42:30,080 Speaker 1: and really often darker mythological undertones that we've mostly swept 755 00:42:30,200 --> 00:42:33,520 Speaker 1: under the red and white rug. Why is that rug 756 00:42:33,560 --> 00:42:35,759 Speaker 1: so red and white to begin with? I mean, it's 757 00:42:35,800 --> 00:42:39,200 Speaker 1: the color of snowy, death and blood. Um, But you know, 758 00:42:39,280 --> 00:42:41,920 Speaker 1: it brings me back to that. There's a line from 759 00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:45,440 Speaker 1: Terry Pratchett's The hog Father, which is an hilarious book 760 00:42:45,840 --> 00:42:49,759 Speaker 1: Christmas book. They made a fun TV version of it 761 00:42:49,880 --> 00:42:51,880 Speaker 1: years back, and it's one of these where the hog Father, 762 00:42:52,520 --> 00:42:56,600 Speaker 1: the Discworld's version of Santa Claus h is taken away, 763 00:42:56,600 --> 00:42:59,160 Speaker 1: something happens to him and death himself. The grim Reaper 764 00:42:59,520 --> 00:43:03,160 Speaker 1: voice Ian Richardson has to jump in and play the 765 00:43:03,280 --> 00:43:07,240 Speaker 1: role of the hog Father for like cosmic purposes, because 766 00:43:07,520 --> 00:43:10,760 Speaker 1: the hog Father must do his job so that spring 767 00:43:10,800 --> 00:43:13,799 Speaker 1: may return again, so that the world can continue. But 768 00:43:14,080 --> 00:43:17,360 Speaker 1: in the intro of the narrator points out that that 769 00:43:17,680 --> 00:43:20,040 Speaker 1: all of our our stories, all of our traditions are 770 00:43:20,320 --> 00:43:24,480 Speaker 1: sooner or later about blood. All right. So there you 771 00:43:24,560 --> 00:43:27,759 Speaker 1: have it, Mistletoe Holiday episode. If you want to check 772 00:43:27,760 --> 00:43:30,120 Speaker 1: out more episodes of Stuff to Blow your Mind, head 773 00:43:30,160 --> 00:43:32,719 Speaker 1: on over to our mothership Stuff to Blow your Mind 774 00:43:32,719 --> 00:43:35,440 Speaker 1: dot com. That's where you will find all of the episodes. 775 00:43:35,480 --> 00:43:38,239 Speaker 1: You'll find links out to our various social media accounts. 776 00:43:38,680 --> 00:43:40,520 Speaker 1: You'll also find a little tab at the top for 777 00:43:40,560 --> 00:43:43,799 Speaker 1: our store te Public Store, where you can find a 778 00:43:43,880 --> 00:43:47,480 Speaker 1: number of different designs uh, some of which are logos, 779 00:43:47,520 --> 00:43:50,160 Speaker 1: some of which are just related to episodes we've recorded, 780 00:43:50,280 --> 00:43:53,200 Speaker 1: and you can get those on stickers, shirts, tope bags, 781 00:43:53,400 --> 00:43:56,080 Speaker 1: throw pillows, you name it. And I also want to 782 00:43:56,120 --> 00:43:59,880 Speaker 1: remind everybody to check out our new podcast titled Invention, 783 00:44:00,400 --> 00:44:04,400 Speaker 1: in which Joe and I talk about the history of inventions, 784 00:44:04,440 --> 00:44:07,880 Speaker 1: these game changing inventions that came along or not so 785 00:44:07,960 --> 00:44:11,320 Speaker 1: game or not so game changing, I mean, everything's everything's 786 00:44:11,360 --> 00:44:13,960 Speaker 1: fair game in this show. But you can learn more 787 00:44:14,000 --> 00:44:16,759 Speaker 1: about it at invention pod dot com. And you can 788 00:44:16,800 --> 00:44:20,400 Speaker 1: also find the show and subscribe to it on the 789 00:44:20,480 --> 00:44:23,920 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio app, on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 790 00:44:24,040 --> 00:44:27,160 Speaker 1: happen to get your podcasts. Huge thanks as always to 791 00:44:27,280 --> 00:44:31,040 Speaker 1: our wonderful audio producers Alex Williams and try Harrison. If 792 00:44:31,080 --> 00:44:32,880 Speaker 1: you would like to get in touch with us directly 793 00:44:33,160 --> 00:44:35,400 Speaker 1: with feedback about this episode or any other, with a 794 00:44:35,480 --> 00:44:37,799 Speaker 1: suggestion for a future topic, or just to say hi, 795 00:44:38,160 --> 00:44:40,399 Speaker 1: you can email us at blow the Mind at how 796 00:44:40,480 --> 00:44:52,280 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com for more on this and thousands 797 00:44:52,280 --> 00:44:54,640 Speaker 1: of other topics. Is it How stuff Works dot com? 798 00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:13,399 Speaker 1: They point four point four po