Day Fifteen
Evergreens
On a bright day in winter, a full grown holly tree can seem almost dazzling. Each shiny leaf reflects the light so that the entire tree seems to glitter. It’s no wonder that even without the symbolism, holly and ivy were brought inside during the Christmas festivities during the many centuries before tinsel took the place of more natural decorations. Holly and Ivy were seen as representatives of the two polarities one male, one female.
Mistletoe is a strange thing, a greenly growth amid the sleeping trees. Contrary to popular belief, it grows very rarely on the oak tree (and was therefore much prized by druids if it was found on an oak) but prefers apple trees. As a parasitic plant, it weakens the tree it uses as host, so introduce it to your orchard with caution. Linked to Norse myth, mistletoe was the instrument of death (in the form of a dart) for Baldur the Beautiful, but we associate it now (yawn) with the romantic practice of kissing under it. Traditionally you are meant to remove a single berry for each kiss, but no one ever seems to. The plant is being researched extensively for potential cancer-fighting properties; it has been used in herbal medicine for a long time, though it is actually quite toxic. Like yew (used in medicines for breast cancer) some of these mysterious evergreens contain more than just the symbolism of life and death; they may actually hold the key to them.
