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by Willow Ragan
© 2000
Druidic Lore / Traditional medicinal uses / Contemporary medicinal uses
Conclusions / Glossary, Notes and Bibliography
 he European folklore of Mistletoe covers a wide range of overlapping areas, which may be due to the mixing of European cultures, the Celtic and Germanic, the Roman with the Gaulic, Germanic and Brytonic and the Christian with the native pagan traditions. Seeing as this seems to be the case, it is difficult if not impossible in most cases, to trace the origins of specific practices. There is a strong Scandanavian element to British traditions that is likely due to the Saxon migrations into that country. From Britain those traditions were transported to whatever land the Brits alighted on and were further modified by local custom. In France once known as Gaul, we find definite Roman influence. This is where the stories of white robed druids come from. There are no native Scottish or Irish traditions since mistletoe does not naturally occur in those lands, any lore from those areas was imported with British colonization and so carries it's mark.
From this mass of beliefs, three main threads emerge, that of fertility, protection and healing. Within the lore there are overlaps and contradictions, due to time and the inevitable mixing that comes from cross-cultural contact. Rather than vainly attempt to prove, disprove or trace any morsel of lore, I will simply list all that I have found and see if there are threads to follow to their possible origins. It must be kept in mind when looking at this type of lore, that most of it found it's current form during the Middle Ages, a time when superstition ran wild and all manner of natural yet inexplicable events were attributed to "fairies" "witches" and "demons." What the pre-christian people believed is unfortunately lost and buried beneath centuries of change and propaganda.
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Druidic Lore / Traditional medicinal uses / Contemporary medicinal uses
Conclusions / Glossary, Notes and Bibliography
