A DRAMATIC rainstorm added atmosphere to the annual Druid ceremony in Tenbury.

The ceremony that this year was staged at the bandstand to provide some shelter has become part of the town’s rituals linked to the mistletoe festival.

Druids believe that mistletoe is a symbol of sacredness and the ceremony is carried out around the time of the winter solstice that actually falls this year in the early hours of December 22. This is the longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.

The mistletoe is also believed to be linked with fertility and was known in ancient times as ‘the sperm of the Gods’ as a white semen like substance is produced when the white berries are pressed.

Mistletoe that is otherwise known as ‘the kissing tree’ is a parasite that grows extensively on trees in the Teme Valley where sales are held every year attracting buyers from all over the country and overseas.

The sales this year at Burford House Garden are held on the last Tuesday in November and the first two Tuesdays in December.

Tenbury has its Mistletoe Festival Day on Saturday (December 5).