8. Mistletoe was an ancient symbol of peace, reconciliation- and love.
Mistletoe was another plant, which, like holly, fruited in the depths of winter and so became regarded as a symbol of life. So profoundly embedded into Christmas was mistletoe that, even when prohibited, it was hard to dislodge from the Christian celebrations. An unnamed English botanist in the 1650s recorded how, despite Puritan prohibitions against Christmas mistletoe, it was carried many miles to set up in houses around Christmastime when it is adorned with a white glistening berry.
Historians can only date the practice of kissing under the mistletoe to the eighteenth century. However, links between mistletoe and romance are rooted in ancient history. Pliny the Elder in his Natural History records how druids harvested mistletoe from oak trees to brew antidotes to poison- and to aid fertility. Mistletoe was also sacred to the Norse goddess Frigga, the goddess of love. Norse warriors meeting opposing tribes to discuss peace would always lay down their arms under a bough of mistletoe. So even though mistletoe was a most pagan plant, its connotations of peace and love made it the perfect fit for the central Christian message of Christmas.