Mistletoe Cut, 2 oz (Phoradendron flavescens)

Mistletoe is toxic. Do not eat it, brew it, steep it, tincture it, or add it to a bath you sit in. Keep it away from children and animals. Hang it high and store it sealed. If a person or an animal swallows any part of it, contact Poison Control or a veterinarian immediately. In the United States, Poison Control is 1-800-222-1222.

Two ounces, cut. The middle size. Enough for several charm bags, a small wreath, or a season of doorway hangings, without committing to a bulk pound.

Phoradendron flavescens, the American mistletoe. The eastern North American species, distinct from the European Viscum album of the Druid accounts, though it inherited the folk uses whole.

For hanging and charm work only. Not a tea herb, not a culinary herb, not a bath herb. Hanging and charms, and nothing else.

• Weight: 2 oz, cut
• Botanical: Phoradendron flavescens
• Powers in folk tradition: Protection, love, fertility, exorcism
• Toxic. External use only. Never ingested, never brewed, never bathed in.
• Not a food, not a tea, not a medicine

Mistletoe is a parasite that grows in the air. It never touches the ground, it stays green while the host tree goes bare, and it fruits in midwinter. Every scrap of its lore comes from those three facts. A plant belonging to neither earth nor sky sits outside the ordinary categories, and in folk logic that is precisely what you want hanging in a doorway.

Pliny records the Druid rite: the white robe, the golden sickle, the oak, the cloth held below so the bough never fell to earth. The Norse supplied the other half of its character, the overlooked plant that turned out to be the only thing that could kill a god. Protection and lethality in one branch. The tradition never reconciled those, and we will not pretend it did.

Cunningham assigns it to the Sun and to Air, with powers of protection, love, fertility, health, and exorcism. It is hung over doors and cradles against harm, carried for luck, and burned in exorcism work.

1. Hang it high. Over a doorway or lintel, out of reach of anything curious. The traditional placement and the safe one are the same placement.
2. Sew it into a charm. A protection sachet or mojo bag. The bag stays closed.
3. Work it into a small wreath. Two ounces is enough for a modest Yule piece, hung well above hand height.
4. Burn it for exorcism work with ventilation. Traditional, but open a window and do not stand in the smoke.
5. Keep it out of the kitchen. No teas, no baths, no infusions. Not negotiable.

• Mistletoe Cut, 1 oz. The single-working size, for one charm rather than several.
• Mistletoe Cut Herb, 1 Lb. The bulk size, for wreath-makers and shops working through a season.
• Mistletoe Oil by Espiritu, 1 oz. The fragrance-oil form, containing no plant matter and none of the toxicity. For dressing candles and doorways when you would rather not hang the herb.
• Mistletoe Oil by Espiritu, 2 Dram. The sampler of the same oil.
• Black Tourmaline Tumbled Chips, 1 lb. The mineral half of a threshold working, set below where the mistletoe hangs.

Is mistletoe poisonous? Yes. Leaves, stems, and berries all contain toxic compounds. Never eat, brew, steep, or bathe in it, and keep it from children and animals. If any is swallowed, contact Poison Control or a vet immediately.

Can I make a tea or a bath with it? No. There is no version of that we will help with. It is a hanging and charm herb, full stop.

Why do people kiss under a poisonous plant? Because it hangs overhead, out of reach, and was never meant to be eaten. The kissing custom is English and fairly recent; the hanging is ancient and protective. Its danger and its use were never in tension, because the use never involved swallowing it.

Is this the Druids' mistletoe? Not botanically. Theirs was Viscum album, the European plant. This is Phoradendron flavescens, the American species, which took over the folk uses wholesale.

How much do I actually need? A charm bag takes a pinch. A doorway hanging takes a small bundle. Two ounces covers several workings; buy the pound only if you are wreathing at volume.