Irish Druids and Old Irish Religions

—
236 Old Irish Religions.
—
Its connection with health, as the All-heal is noted by
the poet Calhmachus, under the appellation of panakea,
sacred to Apollo :
" Where'er the genial panakea falls,
Health crowns the State, and safety guards the walls,"
As the seat of the life of the Oak, as then believed, it
had special virtues as a healer. The Coel-Creni, or omen
sticks, were made of it, and also divining-rods. It had the
merit of revealing treasure, and repelling the unwelcome
visits of evil spirits. When cut upon St. John's Eve, its
power for good w^as greatest. " While the shamrock is
emblematic of the equinox, the mistletoe is associated with
the solstice," says St. Clair.
The ancient Persians knew it as the healer. It told of
the sun's return to earth. Farmers in Britain used to give
a sprig of mistletoe to the first cow calving in the year.
Forlong points out the recovery of old heathen ideas ;
saying, " Christian priests forbade the mistletoe to enter
their churches ; but yet it not only got in, but found a
place over the altars, and was held to betoken good- will
to all mankind." It was mysteriously associated with the
dove. The Irish called it the tiil-iceacJi : the Welsh,
iLchehvydd. The County Magazine for 1792 remarked
"A custom of kissing the women under the mistletoe-bush
still prevails in many places, and without doubt the surest
way to prove prolific." Pliny considered it good for
sterility.
Baldur.
It was the only thing that could slay the gentle
In England there are some twenty trees on which
the mistletoe may grow.
Certain plants have at different times been objects of
special consideration, and worshipped as having divine
qualities, or being possessed by a soul. Some were thought
to manifest sympathetic feeling with the nation by which
they were cherished. The fetish tree of Coomassie fell