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Berries of the Mistletoe is very poisonous to humans and animals
Source: witchdom.com
As we lead up to Yule, I thought I’d extol the virtues of magical mistletoe. Some plants really have that feeling of magic, and mistletoe, for me, is one of them. When I moved into my current home, I was delighted to find a large ball of mistletoe in an old apple tree in the back garden. Mistletoe grows prolifically in the county where I live and the nearby counties. These are Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Somerset and these counties supply the rest of the UK. One town close to where I live has a mistletoe festival every December. Many trees have several balls of mistletoe attached to them and, in the winter, they become more obvious in the bare branches.
Mistletoe grows in a variety of trees. A hemi (partial) parasitic plant, it attaches itself to a host tree. It can often be seen in apple, hawthorn, sycamore, ash, poplar, and lime trees. Orchards are a more obvious place to find it. It is a poisonous plant, and the UK varieties are more so than the US varieties. The effects of the poison can be seen more in children and animals than adults.
Historical References
In his Complete Herbal, Culpeper says of mistletoe (“misselto”) that it is under the dominion of the Sun, but even though it “rarely” grows on oak, when it does it takes on the nature of Jupiter. From these two planets, I would say together they promote positivity, success, and good fortune, strength, wisdom, provide protection, represent the self, and have life-giving properties. You should also decide what they signify to you. Therefore, if you find it on oak then you can double the magical qualities.
Culpeper also says he does not know why mistletoe takes on that nature of the oak (strength), above the other trees it grows on. However, he adds that mistletoe which grows on pear trees and…
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