Viscum album, also known as the mistletoe, is an enigmatic parasitic plant, famed for being both a life saver and a killer. [1] This antithesis, linked with romanticism, between its effects, is one of the reasons the mistletoe puzzles botanists, historians and anti-quarians. From, Celtic languages, the “cure-all”, mistletoe raised in popularity due to its individuality [2] and applications and since has been interwoven into legends, myths, and religious beliefs. [3]
The Mistletoe Folklore: Mythology & Tradition The mistletoe is featured in mythologies of Indo-Germanic groups such as the Romans, the Celts and the Germanics. [3] The plant’s romantic overtones started with the Celts; they viewed the mistletoe as a sacred symbol of vivacity, a heavenly plant, worshiped by their priests. It was administered to humans and animals in the hope of restoring fertility. [3, 4] For the Romans, Pliny the Elder, a Roman philosopher, recorded the widely held belief that whatever grew on the sacred oak was sent from heaven and, since mistletoe was only occasionally found on the oak, it was indeed cause for celebration when it was encountered. [2] To the Germanic nations, it was the killer of their sungod. [3] In Norse mythology, Baldur, the god Odin’s son, was prophesied to die; his mother, Frigg, the goddess of love, went to the natural world to secure an oath but she neglected to consult the mistletoe. Therefore, Loki, a trickster god, killed the invincible Baldur. According to one sunnier version of the myth, the gods were able to resurrect Baldur from the dead. Delighted, Frigg then declared mistletoe a symbol of love and vowed to plant a kiss on all those who passed beneath it. [4] The Mistletoe’s Evolution: A Christmas Tradition By the 18th century, the mistletoe tradition had become widely incorporated into Christmas celebrations. The kissing tradition first caught on among servants in England as part of the early custom, where men were allowed to steal a kiss from any woman caught standing under the mistletoe, and refusing was viewed as bad luck. [4] Washington Irving, an American biographer, also described the tradition in his History, tales, and sketches book: "...at Christmas, the young men had the privilege of kissing ladies under mistletoe, plucking each time a berry from the bush." [5] However, it is still unknown how the mistletoe shifted in culture from a sacred herb to holiday decoration. The Mistletoes’ Applications: Beyond a Tradition The Greeks were adepts of the mistletoe cure for everything from menstrual cramps to spleen disorders; the Roman naturalist, Pliny the Elder, even noted its use against epilepsy, ulcers and poisons. [2] The first recorded evidence of mistletoe's use in heart diseases’ treatment was found in a 1881 communique published by Dr. R. Park of Glasgow, who described finding a large bottle labeled "Tincture of Mistletoe" among the drugs of a late Dr. Wigglesworth, whose practice he had taken over in June of 1870. [6] Julie Foster, states in her anthroposophy paper that if “‘like cures like,’ healing takes advantage of this growth pattern and one’s body is inspired to heal from the inside out. Otherwise known as a poison, Mistletoe as a homeopathic becomes an ally.” The way mistletoe grows provides insight into why it works well in cancer treatments. It remains green all year long; it stores up chlorophyll in the darkness of the wood in which it has buried itself. The mistletoes’ berries ripen in winter (out of sync) without warmth, just as cancer works out of sync, imposing on our bodies’ normal physiological processes. [7] An extract (KM-110) of Korean mistletoe and its lectin fraction (KML-C) were also promisingly tested for their ability to enhance immunogenicity of SARS CoV-N protein. [8] Conclusion: The Deserved Fame of the Mistletoe By being a day to day ailment for cramps, headaches and concentration problems, as well as a possible cure to serious diseases including Covid-19 and Cancer, the mistletoe proves to be more than just an excuse for a kiss. The mistletoe and its relatives are among the most enigmatic groups of flowering plants and they have all sorts of interesting characteristics for botanists to research. [1] And despites some claims that in our era of televised and widely accepted sexual freedom such a custom seems too sweetly naive to hold in the future[2], the mistletoe has so many more useful applications for people than being just an excuse-accessory to romanticism during Christmas time; therefore, the mistletoe seems highly unlikely to disappear from our culture any time soon. References: [1] Fay, M.F.; Is mistletoe more than just an excuse for a kiss?; Royal Botanic Gardens Kew; 18 December 2017; Available at: https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/mistletoe-more-than-a-kiss [2] Frazer, J. G. 1922. The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion, a New Abridgement from the Second and Third Editions. Macmillan, New York, NY. [Reprint, Oxford University Press, London, 1994. [3] Kanner L. Mistletoe, magic, and medicine. Bull Hist Med 1939; Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/44440480?seq=1&cid=pdf-reference#references_tab_contents [4] Andrews, E; Why Do We Kiss Under the Mistletoe?; History; Updated:Dec 22, 2020 , Original:Dec 24, 2013; Available at: https://www.history.com/news/why-do-we-kiss-under-the-mistletoe#:~:text=Another%20famous%20chapter%20in%20mistletoe%20folklore%20comes%20from%20Norse%20mythology.&text=Delighted%2C%20Frigg%20then%20declared%20mistletoe,those%20who%20passed%20beneath%20it. [5] Irving W. Christmas Eve. In: History, tales, and sketches. New York: Library of America, 1983:927; Available at: https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/History_Tales_and_Sketches/TAiuKgqAJ8wC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Irving+W.+Christmas+Eve.+In:+History,+tales,+and+sketches.+New+York:+Library+of+America&pg=PA5&printsec=frontcover [6] Bowman, I. A. PhD; The Everlasting Mistletoe and the Cardiovascular System; Mistletoe and the Cardiovascular System;Volume 17, Number 4, 1990; Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC324941/pdf/thij00055-0072.pdf [7] Foster, J.; The Use Of Mistletoe for Healing; Portland Anthroposophy; 2010; Available at: https://www.portlandanthroposophy.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Julie-Foster-Mistletoe.pdf [8] Kim, S-S.; Chung, Y-S.; Kang, C.; Kim J-B.; Yoo, Y-C.; Effect of korean mistletoe lectin on immunogenicity of SARS coronavirus recombinant protein; Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, Konyang University, Daejeon, Division of Influenza and Respiratory viruses, Center for Infectious Diseases, NIH, Korea center for Disease Control and Prevention, Seoul, Institute of Biomedicine, Handong University, Pohang, Korea; Available at: http://210.101.116.28/W_files/ksi3/02615730_pv.pdf
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Covid-19 entered our life as an exotic piece of news and – fast forward more than half a year – eventually changed everything we knew about the world that had surrounded us before. We live in a new normal that consists of Zoom university and home office, a strange new world that changed our perception of physical distance and turned everything upside down. Various institutions and whole industries had to move online during spring and summer and it is now not surprising at all to see “online Nutcracker streaming tickets” on gift idea lists. But can families and meaningful human connections move online as well?
This problem is what lays at the core of various beliefs regarding long-distance relationships and doubts arising when family members move abroad. Normally, we fear having to love people from a distance, and even with the internet and the possibility to make video calls, maintaining true intimacy among us did not become less difficult. Throughout the year birthdays and other celebrations came and went in silence, connecting to each other became intertwined with the feelings of danger and irresponsibility. No matter whether they are the ones we love and long for the most or just everyday people at a groceries store, everyone regardless of our personal relationship to them got transformed into the homogenous group of potentially lethal “others”. And even though they did, we found that useful sometimes. The virus was a useful excuse for not catching up with the people we did not want to really catch up with, while in other cases, we just decided to ignore the entire situation. The virus tested us in terms of how much we are willing to go for another person. The very thing that separates us has become the go-to small talk topic and a seemingly easy and effortless conversation starter. “How do you cope?”, “How are you feeling?” we ask and we get asked daily. Our answer varies but the pinpoints do not: tired of Zoom, wish we would do this in person, cannot wait to meet you guys. But at the same time, isn’t it cosy to attend classes in your PJs and watch lectures on 1.5x speed while eating breakfast? Isn’t it cheaper and more convenient to stay at home instead of commuting daily? I used to hate how much time I had to lose daily on unavoidable things such as waiting for a bus or hunt for a meal in the city centre. Staying at home had some sort of magic and profound fun to it we all began to deeply get bored by during the last couple of months. Leaving the house, however, has turned into an exciting adventure. People started to dress up to go groceries shopping. As someone on Twitter noted, she started to understand why the 1918 flu pandemic was followed by the roaring 20s. By the amount of likes and retweets that tweet received, I would say others do now too. I do too. I miss watching movies without instinctively feeling uneasy whenever there are people indoors without their masks on. What I fear the most, however, is not the virus. It is rather the possibility of the long-lasting changes it could cause that do not go away with the vaccination. The normalisation of not meeting in person and the chance that I might never have to actually go to the campus to attend my lectures, only because traces of this virus and the potentiality of another will loom even in the brightest days from now on. The world we knew before does not exist anymore but we have to do everything we can to ensure that not all changes that happened this year will be permanent. We may not forget that even though it may be less comfortable in many ways, and even though we would not be able to eat breakfast with our cameras off during a tutorial or a lecture, meeting in person is at least human. And everything human in this increasingly alienated and digital world is a privilege. Our second Connect.ed Conversation took place on Tuesday, November 24th – exactly three weeks after Election Day in the United States. It makes sense, therefore, that this month’s discussion focused on the question of what role the USA currently holds in the world. As the second event of our new series aimed at promoting interdisciplinary discussions on current events, we decided to begin the conversation with a broad question, namely: How, if at all, has the USA’s role as a global leader changed?
This question opened up a dialogue about environmental policies, the military, and public health, which are all areas that the USA has historically been seen as a leader in. However, in our current world where climate change and a pandemic threaten the health and safety of the global population, their position as a world leader seems to have become much more fragile. With that said, it is clear that while it may seem as if they are doing much worse in comparison to some other smaller countries, the USA is under a brighter spotlight compared to those countries which may share the same problems. Moreover, despite this shift, there is at least one domain that still appears to maintain its leadership status in the world, and that is the realm of higher education. As university students ourselves, this topic was particularly relevant to our own lives. We shared our personal guesses on why USA universities continue to be regarded so highly by academics and prospective students around the world, including the inextricable link between higher education and job opportunities as well as the creation of a working system that has now become difficult to abandon. However, with the increase in online education as a result of COVID-19, is the USA’s place on the leaderboard of higher education now the next thing to go? This question was just one of the many which came up throughout the hour-long conversation. However, given that this topic covered so many bases, we were not able to answer them all. But, by the end of our discussion, we knew one thing for sure: the view of the “American Dream” which seemed to feature heavily in many of our childhoods – especially in the media and entertainment we were exposed to – is looking further and further detached from reality. Thank you to everyone who joined us for this wonderful discussion and we look forward to having more of these with you next term. In the meantime, have an amazing winter break and stay safe! Connect.ed Futures is our new series that connects senior academics at UCL with students who want to pursue careers in academia.
For our first event in this series, we were joined by Nicola Miller, the Professor of Latin American History at UCL, who shared with insights from her own career, talking about her experiences and offering us her advice. Professor Miller began by reflecting on what made her want to pursue academia. She told us that she had always loved the process and excitement of learning. She enjoyed writing and realised her love for teaching after finishing her PhD. But it was in her final year as an undergraduate that she was inspired by one of her tutors, who gave her the encouragement she needed to pursue her own career in academia. Professor Miller reminded us of the importance, ultimately, of believing in ourselves. Professor Miller then spoke about her personal career journey, noting that the profession has changed over the last three decades. Today, there are opportunities to do a range of activities as an academic. For example, one can engage in outreach and public policy work amongst other endeavours. However, she added that the core elements of life as an academic are still the same and the most important: teaching, research and publication. She then offered four pieces of advice to students who wanted to pursue their own careers in academia. Firstly, love what you do. You have to be interested in your field of research so find a topic that you know will continue to fascinate you. Secondly, make sure that you enjoy teaching. Don’t underestimate how central teaching is, because it will be a main feature of your career as an academic. Thirdly, you can’t be a perfectionist, and you have to keep publishing. You will feel differently about different pieces of work. There will always be a part of you that wants to revisit what you have done to rework and revise your writing. But you must publish. Some will like your work and others will critique it, but part of life as an academic is being resilient through this process. Finally, enjoy being an intellectual self-starter. A love of studying is not always enough because throughout your career you will have to generate your own ideas and your own research projects — no one will do this for you. Professor Miller ended her talk with a final thought. ‘This career will take over your life. There will be pressure, but the rewards are high’. Thank you, Professor Miller, for coming to talk to us, and for supporting students in pursuit of their own academic careers. If this blog post sparked your interest, then keep an eye out for our next Connect.ed Futures event in the new year! We can’t wait to host it and we look forward to seeing you there. The Effects of COVID-19 on: Society
On January 30 of 2020, for the sixth time in its history, the World Health Organization (WHO) ordered the Organization’s highest alert level: A Public Health Emergency of International Importance. Since then, the new Coronavirus, called COVID-19, was officially an international emergency [1], declared a pandemic due to its global- geographical distribution. [2] Most people were instructed or even forced by their local authorities to stay inside (e.g. Italy, the first country in Europe to enter lockdown); they were not allowed to leave their household, meet their friends and family and sometimes even go out to buy food and essentials. This scenario was reinforced over and over again for the past year, for the physical wellbeing of people. Despite the necessary attention on our physical health, one thing we overlooked was our mental health. The effects of COVID-19 on: Mental Health During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people experienced anxiety, stress, and depression, for they lost their loved ones, their jobs or just experienced a higher level of loneliness than usual. This resulted in a vicious cycle: an increasing number of people started drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco, and using illegal drugs. Without realizing it, some became addicts. [3] Comparative analyses suggest that this pandemic will have a substantial effect on children’s mental health as well. First, children become aware of the virus. Second, they unknowingly experience acute stress reactions, adjustment issues and even insomnia, paranoid traits and disruptive behavior as they attempt to cope with lockdown (since they can’t go to school to meet their friends, play outside or visit their grandparents). Teens can also experience the same reactions, even going as far as having suicidal thoughts. These reactions could give rise to self‐protective attitudes, lack of motivation, concentration, as well as mental health issues such as post‐traumatic stress disorders, depressive and avoidant personality traits. [4] MT (Musical Therapy) to the Rescue Music became the instrument of rescue, and the musician became the giver of a new lease on life, hence the birth of Musical Therapy (MT). The idea that music was in some measure a privileged means of communication, a bridge between the human and the divine, alleviating human distress through its capacity to bring forth the power of God, has never entirely vanished from our collective consciousness. [3] MT (or Musical Therapy) has been shown to play an important role in helping address physical symptoms and psychological distress, as well as being a new unique way for curing addiction. MT is also used to reduce distress at work, to improve mood, performance, attention and concentration [5] Although no studies have been conducted so far with a focus on MT support intervention to COVID patients, homemade MT has been prevalent in our society since lockdown. Homemade Musical Therapy (MT): a Solace Artist are known to write out of experience, but in taking a look at this year’s music charts, it is clear that despite many quarantine and COVID-19 related songs being released, only two got high ranking in the charts: Level of Concern by Twenty One Pilots (No. 1 on Billboard’s US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and No. 11 on Billboard’s US Adult Top 40) and Stuck with U by Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande (debuted No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100). These songs were released in April and May respectively, when coronavirus cases were at their peak, nevertheless, the fact that they were released by mainstream musicians also helped rocket the singles into the charts. The main point is that it was not Coronavirus-related songs that helped people get through the pandemic but actually nostalgic songs. The Nostalgia Effect on Mental Health Researchers found that negative moods trigger nostalgia and nostalgia induces positive effects. [6] Many YouTube comments such as: “Who is listening to this song in quarantine? ” surfaced on multiple, what are considered now, old songs (nostalgic songs are considered as any song that has been released in the past 1095 days (3 years) [7]); that is because music of the past, nostalgia, induces a certain healing effect. [8] In general, a crisis, either personal, national or global, certainly changes human behaviors and impacts, in particular, consumption patterns (e.g. women tend to consume more beauty products during recessions, known as lipstick effect in consumer psychology [9]). When related to music, however, studies of music consumption patterns on Spotify of 60 countries showed a decline in music consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic. Spikes of plays occurred during Christmas time in Belgium, Sweden and the UK, which coincide with spikes in nostalgia consumption. Holiday effects seem to be more present in the nostalgia effect rather than the pandemic itself. [7] Despite that, some people have resorted to music because of its potential to produce pleasure in the listener. [10] The new normal is still something we try to get used to despite almost being the second wave we go into a lockdown with no plan in the future for the world to change for the better, despite the discovery of a vaccine. Since it is known that the nostalgia effect evokes inspiration and subsequent goal pursuit [11], it could be inferred that some people might have also resorted to music as a form of escapism, setting as their goal to reach a better world, different from the chaotic pandemic. Conclusion: Can Music Cure a Pandemic? The more and more we get used to living through these strange times, we will no longer be seeking means to get us out of the reality we live in, nor will we be seeking nostalgia. Although music cannot cure a pandemic, it can definitely make us stronger going through one and fighting it off since music makes us happy and motivates us. [10] One solution, for now, would be for care centers, hospitals, stores and any places where music could be played publicly to be played, considering the positive effects of playing nostalgic music as a response of the adverse effects of the pandemic [7] , because the answer does not lie in the type of music we listen to, but in the people that are impacted by it, so if the people feel at ease, maybe the world would become free of stress and tension as well! References: [1] (WHO - World Health Organization. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) technical guidance: Surveillance and case definitions. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2020) [2] A review of initial data on pregnancy during the COVID-19 outbreak: implications for assisted reproductive treatments, Monteleone PA, Nakano M, Lazar V, Gomes AP, de H Martin, Bonetti TC, JBRA Assist Reprod. 2020 May 1; 24(2):219-225. [3] The Future of Music in America: The Challenge of the COVID-19 Pandemic Leon Botstein, 2020 [4] Secrist ME, Dalenberg CJ, Gevirtz R. Contributing factors predicting nightmares in children: trauma, anxiety, dissociation, and emotion regulation. Psychol Trauma. 2019;11(1):114‐121. [5] A. Raglio, C. Imbriani and E. Oddone, Giornale Italiano Di Medicina Del Lavoro Ed Ergonomia, 38 (2017), pp. 257-260 [6] Tim Wildschut, Constantine Sedikides, Jamie Arndt, Clay Routledge; Nostalgia: Content, Triggers, Functions, December 2006, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 91(5):975-93 [7] Did the COVID-19 Pandemic trigger nostalgia? Evidence of Music Consumption on Spotify Timothy Yu-Cheong Yeung1 1Faculty of Law, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium 1 email address: [email protected] 1ORCID: 0000-0002-6314-7582 August 23, 2020 [8] Britta K. Hölzel, James Carmody, Mark Vangel, Christina Congleton, Sita M. Yerramsetti, Tim Gard, Sara W. Lazara; Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density, Psychiatry Res. 2011 Jan 30; 191(1): 36–43. [9] Ekaterina Netchaeva, McKenzie Rees, Strategically Stunning: The Professional Motivations Behind the Lipstick Effect, June 2016, Psychological Science 27 [10] Schubert, E. (2009). The fundamental function of music. Music. Sci. 13, 63–81. doi: 10.1177/1029864909013002051 [11] Constantine Sedikides, Tim Wildschut; Past Forward:Nostalgia as aMotivational Force; Trends in Cognitive Sciences, May 2016, Vol. 20, No. 5; link: https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S1364661316000267?token=5D9A6FC616306151E677CCC52BC3022FB0DCE68D3679F8B1DE02C78E9424B45E7E66E3FC4BFDC0B44440C84482330F78 |
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