Skullcap (scutellaria laterflora)
Answer the Calling
Skullcap is the friend who talks us up when we are down. It speaks to our nervous system and beckons us to leave our comfort zone in search for our true heart’s desire. It ignites our ability to dream and enables us to hear the calling of our highest selves. It does this by smoothing the jagged edges of one’s soul just enough to allow them to act on their aspirations without the added anxieties that previously shriveled their resolve. It’s not a hustle-culture type of go-getter, but a heart-led follower of one’s instincts. it quiets the mind, and guides us into calmer, more available states. It allows us to find contentment and it is through this calm, content state of being that we are able to step away from apathy and overwhelm and toward our highest purpose. Call out to Skullcap when you need to sharpen your intuition. Skullcap can help you to dispel negative energy and negative thinking. It enhances your psychic senses allowing for clearer visionary experiences, and in return, it asks for your introspection. It can help you to call in your sense of commitment, often requiring you to make a promise and to take a first step. medicinally, this plant calms anxieties, reduces panic attacks and aids sleep. It’s great for inflammation and pain relief, traditionally used for migranes, neuralgia and menstral cramps. It’s actions are paradoxical in the sense that it’s considered a sedative and a sleeping aid and yet somehow it allows for ease in movement toward one’s goals and aspirations. Essentially, It eliminates our barriers, putting us into flow with our life’s great work.
The painting I made for Skullcap was inspired by my Journey with this wonderful plant companion. There was a call, i couldnt ignore and it beckoned me from the comfort of my safe home and out into an unpredictable world. With only my heart to follow I left in search for what I did not know. armed with only my intuition, my emotions and my new companion. Skullcap made me promise that I would continue to follow the calling. I promised that I would and then It told me that if I wanted to continue to speak with the plants, I was going to have to speak in public about them. I tried to argue, I explained that I was writing a blog, I was gonna write a book one day and make a plant oracle deck. I told them about ‘Plant of the Month Club’ and they said nope, that’s not enough. you must give more, you must step out of your comfort zone and into this new realm of actually showing up, being perceived, putting yourself out there, alongside the plants. It said you KNOW this is what you must do, we, the plants, have told you many times, and yet you haven't answered the call.
And I knew that it was true, i felt a real sense of resistance and that’s when Skullcap said, that’s what I’m here for, let me help you to work through that resistance. Here’s one small step you can take, Here’s an idea to get you started.