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Eleanor C Merry – The Flaming Door

The mistletoe was especially an object of veneration to the Druids because of its peculiar nature. It grows,not on the soil, but " in the air ", and lives on the life of a tree.

The form of its growth represents a force of expansion working in a wonderfully regulated manner; by the constant division of every stem into two it tends to build a sort of circular form, an image of the world of air that surrounds the Earth. It resembles the branching of the bronchial tubes. This quality endows it with a force that is opposed to everything that is of a hardening or contracting nature.

It is life-giving [to animals and birds].

And it flowers, not in the spring, but in the autumn when other things are decaying.

Used in a particular way its extract could heal many illnesses. Not only that, but it could have an effect on the consciousness, lifting it above the bodily senses and so facilitating- in those times-the power of clairvoyance. So it was used in connection with the rites of the Mysteries.

The " Golden Bough " which the Grecian Sybil instructed Aeneas to discover was the mistletoe. It enabled him to enter the world of the dead, by changing his consciousness, so that he could converse there with the shade of his father.

Niger J Physiol Sci. 2008 Jun-Dec;23(1-2):115-20.
The vasorelaxant effect of Viscum album leaf extract is mediated by calcium-dependent mechanism.   Mojiminiyi FB1, Owolabi ME, Igbokwe UV, Ajagbonna OP.

Viscum album leaf extract has a folk reputation as an antihypertensive agent in Nigeria. Evidence suggests that it has a relaxant effect on smooth muscle. The present study was designed to investigate the role of calcium in the vasorelaxant effect of this extract. Concentration response studies to noradrenaline, KCl and CaCl2 were carried out in rat aortic rings with and without the extract in physiological salt solution (n=6 each). Also the role of intracellular calcium mobilisation was studied by measuring the phasic response to noradrenaline in Ca(2+)-free EGTA physiological salt solution (n=6). The contractile responses to noradrenaline or KCl were attenuated (P < 0.05) and shifted to the right in the presence of the extract. Also the contractile response to CaCl(2) in the presence of noradrenaline or KCl was attenuated (P < 0.05) and shifted to the right, while the phasic response to noradrenaline was significantly (P < 0.05) diminished These results suggest that the vasorelaxant effect of Viscum album extract may be mediated by a non-specific non-competitive inhibition of Ca(2+) influx as well as inhibition of Ca(2+) mobilization from intracellular stores. This implies that it may contain vasorelaxant agents that may have calcium antagonistic potential.  PMID:  19434226

Arch Cardiol Mex. 2006 Apr-Jun;76(2):130-9.   [Viscum album aqueous extract induces inducible and endothelial nitric oxide synthases expression in isolated and perfused guinea pig heart. Evidence of the coronary vasodilation mechanism].   [Article in Spanish]   - Tenorio López FA1, del Valle Mondragón L, Zarco Olvera G, Torres Narváez JC, Pastelín Hernández G.

The pharmacological effect of a Viscum album aqueous extract was evaluated on the Langendorff isolated and perfused heart model in normotense male guinea pig hearts. Coronary vascular resistance, left intraventricular pressure, nitric oxide release in the perfusion liquid, cyclic guanosine monophosphate production, and analysis of inducible and endothelial nitric oxide synthases expression by Western Blot in ventricular tissue were recorded in absence and presence of blockers and inhibitors, such as 3 microM gadolinium chloride, 100 microM N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester and 10 microM 1H-[1,2,4]oxadiazolo[4,2-a]quinoxalin-1-one. V. album aqueous extract exerts a significant decrease in the coronary vascular resistance, which courses with significant increases in nitric oxide and cyclic guanosine monophosphate production. Analysis of the expression of both nitric oxide synthases revealed that this extract significantly induces the expression of both isoforms in guinea pig hearts. These effects were inhibited by the presence of blockers and inhibitors. The coronary vasodilation induced by the extract is mediated by the nitric oxide/soluble guanylyl cyclase pathway. In addition, this extract shows a positive inotropic effect which that is tyramine-mediated by means of beta1-adrenergic stimulation.

PMID: 16859209