Skullcap

What this is

Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora). The calming herb of vows, its little hooded flowers giving it its name. Worn to bind a partner's faithfulness and to seal an oath, used to bring peace to a troubled mind, it quiets the overactive head and settles the racing thought.

What it governs

Skullcap answers to Mercury and the element of Water, with a second hand from Moon. Its seat in the zodiac is Virgo, and its day is Wednesday, when its virtue runs fullest. It strengthens with the waning moon. In the old practice its office is plain: Tincture for nervous exhaustion with sharp anxiety — the helmet that guards the mind.

Its properties

In the Galenic reckoning skullcap is cool and dry, and that temperament is the whole key to its work. The part you take is the aerial. Its working colour follows Mercury, orange and shot-silk mixed hues; its metal is quicksilver, its stones are blue lace agate, agate, its number 8, and on the Tree of Life it threads up to Hod. It is gentle, safe to use as the practice describes.

Where else it appears

One holding-fast in many hands: the vow sealed with a binding herb is the seal of Solomon that bound the spirits in another skin; the knotted cord the cunning-folk tied to fix a faithfulness; the stillness the contemplatives of every path sought before they could hear anything true. Peace and fidelity are forms of one holding-fast.

Where you meet it on the Oracle

In the Green Kingdom you meet Skullcap on Today's Herb, Angelic Herb, Moon's Companion, Today's Gathering, and Herb of the Hour. When it surfaces it counsels you toward its office: Tincture for nervous exhaustion with sharp anxiety — the helmet that guards the mind. As the Angelic Herb it stands under Raphael; read its rising as that intelligence laying a hand on your day, with Mercury's quickness of mind and word. As the Moon's Companion it walks with the night, marking a dream, a tide of feeling, or a thing best done by moonlight. As Today's Gathering it marks a plant to take up now, while waning moon and the day are with it.

Why it matters

Skullcap quiets the racing mind and binds the vow. It teaches that a settled mind is the ground on which any promise can stand. It asks you to let the noise subside so the true thing can hold, and to keep the calm warm rather than dead.

Correspondences

planet

Mercury

element

Water

zodiac

Virgo

number

8

sephirah

Hod

day

Wednesday

colour

orange, shot-silk mixed hues

metal

quicksilver

stone

blue lace agate, agate

tarot

The Hanged Man