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Mistletoe - application and healing properties
Mistletoes are semi-parasitic and belong to the sandalwoods. Their bushes grow on the wood of trees, depending on the species on deciduous or coniferous wood. They played a prominent role in traditional medicine and are still used today for various purposes in medicine.
contents
- Life symbol in winter
- The mistletoe does not fall off the tree
- Witches and Druids
- The Mistletoe Cross of the Savior
- Magic medicine
- An old medicinal plant
- Varied parasites
- Visible in winter
- The dung plant
- ecology
- Danger for orchards
- ingredients
- mistletoe harvest
- effect
- side effects
- Medicinal herbal cocktail with mistletoe
- Plant mistletoe
Life symbol in winter
Mistletoe was a sacred plant among ancient Celts and Teutons, and even today people in England, Ireland and Scotland are putting mistletoes in the house to ward off evil, especially at Christmas. However, this is not a Christian custom but a pagan one. It was about holding off the destructive forces of winter. In the time of cold and darkness, the evergreen mistletoe was the force of life.
Mistletoe grows as a parasitic on other plants and they were estimated centuries ago as a medicinal plant with mystical effect. (Image: unicusx / fotolia.com) The mistletoe fruits are ripe in December, and this "blazing life" around the Christmas season is probably another reason, to which she owes her reputation as a life donor to the winter solstice. Mistletoes found their way not only to the Druid Miraculix in the Asterix comic, but also hang over British house entrances and find themselves at Christmas in local flower shops. The spectrum of "mistletoe fans" ranges from esotericists who believe in the magical power of the "druid plant" to unbelievers who use the mistletoe together with fir green as jewelry.
The mistletoe does not fall off the tree
The mistletoe not only owes its reputation as a magical plant to its evergreen leaves. Mistletoes grow on trees without falling off. Therefore, it was in the associative thinking of the Middle Ages that later flowed into the theory of anthroposophy and homeopathy, as a remedy for epilepsy. Already the Roman Pliny recommended the mistletoe as a remedy for this disease. The name for epilepsy was epilepsy, and just as the mistletoe did not fall off the tree, the epileptic should not fall.
Witches and Druids
A mistletoe on the wall of the house was supposed to ward off witches and demons and protect the house from fire. Their bifurcated branches were considered dowsing rods to discover magical powers. The ancient Greeks honored their psychoactive properties and probably used them to enter trance states.
In the Germanic-Christian Edda, the blind god Hödur kills the god of light Baldur with a mistletoe. Godmother Freya had previously ordered all living things to bend Baldur no hair. The mistletoe had overlooked what the malicious Loki, half god, half giant, was taking advantage of. He put a mistletoe in Hoildur's hand and he held it out to Baldur, whereupon Baldur died.
We do not know much about the Druids of the Celts. But it is clear that these simultaneous judges and priests regarded the mistletoe as a sacred plant. A mistletoe in the tree served the gods to demonstrate their claim to possession - in such a tree lived the gods themselves. Therefore, the Druids were allowed to cut the mistletoe only for religious ceremonies, and the mistletoe was not allowed to touch the ground.
The Mistletoe Cross of the Savior
In Christian folk belief, the tale was that the cross of Christ was made out of a mistletoe. The tree would have been so ashamed that it had shrunk and since then could only vegetate as a guest on other trees. To make up for his shame, the mistletoe bush would bring all the luck that went under him.
Magic medicine
In magical thinking of the Middle Ages mistletoe was also an important medicinal plant. According to Hildegard von Bingen, mistletoe juice was supposed to revive frozen limbs. Apparently, this superstition was that the evergreen mistletoe does not freeze in winter.
An old medicinal plant
In the early modern period, mistletoe was a remedy for strokes, depression, dizziness, fever, worm infestation, spitting blood and nosebleeds.
There are many different types of mistletoe, with the white-berried mistletoes being common in Germany. (Image: Dagmar Gärtner / fotolia.com) Varied parasites
Worldwide there are between 400 and 1400 mistletoe species, the exact number is not clear. However, it is clear that populations of the white-berried mistletoe occurring in this country differ in terms of their host trees.
There are hardwood mistletoes that infest apple trees, birch, linden, maple, hazel, poplar or willow, fir-mistletoes that parasitize mainly on silver firs and finally pine mistletoes, which only take root on spruce and pine trees.
Mistletoe is a so-called semi-parasitic, meaning that it grows on trees and removes water and salts. However, she herself operates photosynthesis.
Visible in winter
In summer, the leaves mistletoe remain largely hidden. In autumn and winter, however, when their host trees discard the foliage, their green spheres emerge, reminiscent of crow's nests.
The mistletoes develop a small stem with forked branches that form a ball. Leather-like leaves in the form of small tongues sit on the branches, flowers are at the end of the branch fork. From the female flowers form the characteristic fruits - round, white and filled with sticky mucus. The mistletoes bloom from February to May, in late autumn the berries are white.
The dung plant
Mistletoe comes from manure, so feces and stems from the fact that birds spread the plant with their feces. Especially thrushes like the mistletoe throttle eat the pear berries and give the seeds undigested again.
The Latin name Viscum means glue. In fact, as in the Middle Ages, the Romans used the sticky berries to make lime rods that they used to catch birds. Therefore, also the German saying "on the glue go".
Mistletoes rely on birds to spread their seeds, which in turn benefit from the nutrient supply of mistletoe. (Image: focus finder / fotolia.com) ecology
Unlike the relationship between mistletoe and host tree, the natural relationship between birds and mistletoes is a win-win situation. In winter, various species of birds benefit from the sticky fruits: mistletoe, red-like song thrush, star and silk tail.
When the birds rip the fruit, they release the mistletoe seed, which without this help can not penetrate the pericarp. Again and again the birds brush their beak on branches, because the pulp sticks to it, and thus they distribute the seeds - on the other hand they excrete the seedlings with the feces.
Danger for orchards
Orchard meadows are a traditional form of agriculture, which has been massively reduced in Germany - through asphalting, the Zubetonieren for residential areas, through monocultures, intensive agriculture, agribusiness and falling prices for agricultural products.
The remaining orchards are one of the most species-rich habitats in Europe and refuges for highly endangered species in Germany: Little Owl, wryneck, small- and green-woodpecker and hoopoe, redstart, brown and stonechat, bats such as seven- and garden dormouse. Orchards are a paradise for endangered insects, wild bees, wild bumblebees, wasps, hornets, beetles and butterflies due to a variety of flowering fruits.
Currently, the hardwood mistletoe spreads in Germany enormously and threatened in many places the orchard meadows. The causes are inadequate care of the orchards, as well as global warming and nutrient-saturated soils. Nature conservation groups demand massive action against the mistletoe without eradicating the mistletoe. There is no danger to the mistletoe, as they also thrive without affecting the crops.
An average infestation with mistletoe does not kill the host tree. However, when the mistletoe grows dense and deprives the host of more and more water and nutrients, the tree eventually dies. In apple trees, cancerous growths form.
Mistletoe ingredients have a wide range of beneficial health effects. (Image: PhotoSG / fotolia.com) ingredients
The importance of mistletoe as a medicinal plant not only has superstitious roots, it actually has a wealth of medically effective substances. These include:
- lectins,
- polypeptides,
- flavonoids,
- tyramine,
- Mucus and bitter substances,
- saponins,
- Histamine,
- polysaccharides,
- xanthophyll,
- zinc.
The lectins can bind sugar, inhibit specific cancer cells and strengthen the immune system. The essential oils and flavonoids have a sedative effect and promote blood circulation. Saponins have a water effect, dissolve mucus and relieve pain. Bitter substances in mistletoe promote digestion and stimulate the production of bile acids.
mistletoe harvest
Unlike popular ideas, mistletoes are not protected in Germany. So if mistletoe grows in your garden, you are welcome to use it. In public investments here the ownership rights of the respective owner apply.
We generally harvest hardwood mistletoes in late autumn and winter when the trees have dropped their leaves. Then the mistletoe balls are easily recognizable and we can easily reach the branches on which they grow with a ladder and a saw. We can cut off individual mistletoe leaves, but also saw off the short trunk of a bush. The mistletoe then falls to the ground. The cut twigs and leaves are dried at temperatures up to 40 ° Celsius. The dried leaves are wrinkled, stiff and leathery. Branches and leaves taste bitter.
effect
Mistletoe tea, powder, dragees, etc. work in the following areas: They soothe, inhibit inflammation, drive the urine, and relieve cramps. They lower blood pressure and therefore find themselves in medicines for hypertension. Mistletoe tea is often used to treat heart failure and arteriosclerosis.
Applied to envelopes they are also used against eczema, ulcers on the lower leg and varicose veins.
Mistletoe injections can be used to treat arthritis and are also used as adjunct therapy in cancer. (Image: PhotoSG / fotolia.com) Studies have shown that intracutaneous injections of mistletoe preparations help with joint inflammation. Also in the adjunctive therapy for cancer, there are valid investigations to justify a recommendation.
Injections should only be given by doctors as the dose must be calculated individually for the patient.
Mistletoe preparations can be purchased as tinctures, teas, drops or tablets in pharmacies and are non-prescription.
side effects
Overdoses of mistletoe preparations can lead to diarrhea, vomiting and convulsions. Injections can cause fever, headaches and circulatory problems. Such injections should not be given to people who are sensitive to protein due to the protein-promoting leptins.
Medicinal herbal cocktail with mistletoe
Mistletoe, in combination with hawthorn, is a powerful means of strengthening the heart and relieving cardiac arrhythmias.
Plant mistletoe
Do you want to plant mistletoes in your own garden? All you have to do is collect mistletoe fruits, express them and distribute the porridge to the bark of a young branch on a suitable host tree. However, it takes a long time to harvest to a greater extent: it takes six years for the ball to reach a diameter of 30 cm. (Dr. Utz Anhalt)
References:- http://www.arzneipflanzenlexikon.info/index.php
- http://www.bund-hessen.de/themen_und_projekte/natur_und_artenschutz/natur_erleben/m/mistel/
- https://www.nabu.de/imperia/md/content/nabude/streuobst/infopapiere/160701_nabu-hintergrund_misteln_in_streuobstbest__nden.pdf
- https://www.juvalis.de/heilpflanzenlexikon/heilpflanze/mistel/