I find it fascinating that Christmas has so many plants associated with it. Wherever we turn, we’ll see evergreen trees and wreaths, holly and ivy, Christmas Cacti and Poinsettias. Equally interesting are the stories of the roles they play and forms they take.    

Let’s take kissing balls for example....you know, those round balls of evergreen usually with a bow on top. Thirty years ago, kissing balls were not really seen much if at all. If they were seen, they were homemade. These days you can get all kinds of kissing balls. Pictured above at top right, a ball made of plastic berries. Behind that is a kissing ball made of fresh evergreens and, at bottom, a modern kissing ball made from the same material as an artificial Christmas tree. These days kissing balls are a well-entrenched holiday decoration. So, how did kissing balls get their start? 

The biggest clue is in the name. To find their origin we need to look for the original kissing ball....mistletoe. The kissing part makes sense since we all know that, for some reason, we are entitled to kiss someone standing beneath a sprig of mistletoe...but what about the ball part? Mistletoe is a parasitic plant. Rather than growing roots into the soil to get nutrients, mistletoe forces its roots into the bark of a host tree and sucks the nutrients it needs from it like a vampire.  here are several trees that can fall victim to mistletoe including oak trees. A mature clump of mistletoe takes on the familiar kissing ball shape

Mistletoe is interesting for other reasons. It was never adopted by Christianity into Christmas celebrations. Not only did the church never sanction the use of mistletoe in holiday celebrations, but its use was also actually banned at one time. This is, no doubt, due to the fact that it was highly revered by the ‘pagan’ Druid priests. It is central to their ancient solstice celebrations along with its host, the oak tree. During the Druid’s solstice celebration, a Druid priest would cut the parasitic mistletoe from the branch of an oak tree and distribute pieces of it to the gathered populace. While doing this, he was careful not to let it touch the earth. Part of the mystery of mistletoe to the Druids was that it grew, not from soil, but from the bark of the oak tree. To receive a sprig of mistletoe from the priest was a blessing Druids looked forward to as part of their solstice rituals.

Today, all we know about mistletoe is that we are entitled to kiss anyone who stands beneath it. That tradition has its roots in Scandinavian myth. Loki, a troublesome little god, shot Balder, another young god, with an arrow made of mistletoe, the only thing that could harm this favorite son of Freyja. The tears of sorrow Freyja shed became the white berries of the mistletoe. All the Norse gods worked together to restore Balder to life and, in gratitude, Freyja is said to bestow a kiss on anyone who passes beneath mistletoe. Now we are all entitled to kiss anyone we find standing below the mistletoe. 

Although hanging an entire ball of mistletoe was fairly common in Victorian England, it would be rare these days. This is partially due to a small supply but mostly out of safety concerns. Mistletoe is poisonous and can cause harm or even death if eaten.  These days the only real mistletoe you can find is a heavily painted sprig with the warning on the package not to eat it. 

If you want your modern kissing ball to have the same magical quality that requires people to kiss if they meet below it, you’ll need to attach a sprig of real mistletoe at the bottom.

THANKS FOR THE READ!