Western plant culture

? This morning, in the traditional Chinese medicine class at Cimu Hall, Dr. Create mentioned mistletoe when he was telling everyone about medicine. I remember hearing teacher Xu Tian talk about mistletoe many years ago. ) When we were studying Nordic mythology in the fourth grade, we read that god of light Babad was shot to death by Vulcan Loki with an arrow made of mistletoe.

Parasitism, as can be seen from its name, is born by sending it to other things. Li Shizhen once said, "This thing is born in wood, like a bird standing on the ground, hence the name parasitism". Traditional Chinese medicine refers to mulberry parasitism, which is a kind of plant parasitic on mulberry trees.

The monitor talked about mistletoe from the perspective of human intelligent medicine. Rudolf steiner developed mistletoe therapy from it in 1920, and since then it has been widely established as a supplement to conventional cancer treatment. Today, in addition to routine treatment, six out of ten cancer patients in Germany also receive mistletoe preparation.

This ancient species does not grow on the earth, but on trees. It's not a root, but it feels like a pile. Mistletoe gets its nutrition directly from trees. Priority is given to obtaining nutrients from the host tree it absorbs. Mistletoe does not grow from bottom to top: it overcomes gravity and is the only spherical plant that can spread in all directions. The leaves of mistletoe grow very slowly and will only fall off after 2 to 4 years-they are green and hardly wilt.

Mistletoe only grows from April to mid-June, and then stops to rest until Christmas. Nature will blossom and bear fruit only when it enters hibernation. This unique white berry has a germinated embryo in the center of each berry under the transparent cortex. However, the seeds themselves will not germinate. It is "locked" in berries, and it can't leave the tough fruit shell without outside help. In Central Europe, seeds are spread by birds, especially mistletoe thrush.

Mistletoe evergreen represents hope and abundance. There is a famous English saying that there is no happiness without mistletoe. Mistletoe, as its name implies, is a kind of plant parasitic on other plants. It is evergreen all the year round, with yellow flowers and white or red berries in winter. Drinking its juice can prevent infertility.

Long ago, human ancestors knew how to make bird glue from the mucus of mistletoe fruit, so birds fell into people's hands and became delicious on the table. Mistletoe is called "the golden branch of life" in the west, but it has become a symbol of death in Nordic mythology. Frija's sad tears dissolved the evil of mistletoe and saved her son. So she promised that whoever stood under the mistletoe would get a kiss. This myth has evolved into a western Christmas tradition: if a woman occasionally passes by or stands where mistletoe hangs, the man next to her can go up and kiss her. Westerners believe that this is a sign of the combination of the two sexes and many children. This is also in line with the customs of the ancient Celts. They believe that red mistletoe fruit is a symbol of women's vitality; White fruit represents male fertility; They all represent the primitive Mother Earth.

This is the version of our story. She died in Balder after being stabbed by a mistletoe branch, but frigga didn't want to give up hope. She asked Hermór to ride Odin's eight-legged god Masray Bunier to the land of the dead. Hull, the queen of the dead world, put forward a condition: only when all living and inanimate objects cry for Balder can he be resurrected. Then, everything cried, and it is said that these tears are dew in the morning. There is only one female giant, Thokk (Thokk. Living underground, she doesn't need light, so she won't cry for Balder, so Balder can only stay in the country of death. However, in another story, this giant was actually changed by Loki to prevent Bud from resurrecting. Because the story of instigating hoddle to become a giant was revealed, Loki became the enemy of the Nordic gods, was imprisoned in the depths of the ground and endured the dripping poisonous snake venom to corrode his face, until the gods got rid of the shackles at dusk, and became one of the culprits who destroyed the heaven.

In other places, according to tradition, mistletoe, regarded as an evil thing, can be used to help pregnancy and lightning protection; Hanging in the room can resist bad luck and witchcraft, and hanging at the door can prevent witches from entering the room. Mistletoe was once regarded as a "panacea", and some tribes in Africa would wear it before the war to avoid injury. The Austrian put mistletoe on the threshold in case of nightmares. When Christmas comes, English people will hang branches of mistletoe and put them under pillows to predict their dreams. Swedes use mistletoe branches as probes to detect gold veins. In the border area between Austria and Italy, there has been a saying that mistletoe can make people invisible.

After school today, I carefully looked at the trees around the school gate and found no parasites. I look forward to seeing them with my own eyes!