Letter 16: The Nervous System, Skullcap, Pluto, & Wax Reading Magick

I hope the New Moon yesterday and the 1/11 day were revealing for you and healing in all the right ways. This week we are diving deeper into the emotions of the Nervous System and its function, finding that this part of the body is affected in a majority of us when we are resistant to change we will also be discussing an herb that can assist the Nervous System and allow us to loosen our grip during times of uncertainty and change, that herb is Skullcap. We will get familiar with the planet of Pluto and how it’s effects and characteristics can also help us as well as stunt us in certain parts of our life, and just for fun, at the end I will share with you a new technique of magick I have seen recently and teach you how to use Wax Reading for yourself!

So get cozy, take a few deep breaths and let’s get started.

The Nervous System plays a crucial role in the generating, processing and regulation of our emotions. Our emotions secure a pivotal role in shaping our inner and outer realities, and our reactions to it. Understanding the intricate mechanisms behind our emotions and the reasoning to why we feel what we feel, we must understand the nervous systems function and the emotions that can lead to an improperly functioning system. 

The nervous system is branched off into two main parts, the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system. The central nervous system is made up of the brain and the spinal cord and its main roles are regulating homeostasis in all the parts of your body that you don’t have to consciously maintain, memory, coordination, balance, and signaling to other parts of the body. The peripheral nervous systems main job is the sensory and motor pathways, the somatic and autonomic systems, and the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems that regulate things like heartbeat, your breath, your blood pressure, your reaction to temperature changes, blinking, digestion, oh so many things!  

This part of the body is so vast yet so delicate, it is in charge of keeping our bodies moving and functioning inside no matter what we do on the outside, so it can become strong yet callused depending on how you are taking care of your responses to stress and anxiety and things that throw off the natural balance of your body. There is a great instagram page about nervous system freezing and learning how to regulate your nervous system reactions that may have become compromised due to trauma, overwhelm and other things, the instagram page is @awakenwithally. The nervous system can become overwhelmed and overstimulated easily, especially in our world today where the external environment is evolving way faster than our brains are. As things get more stressful it is important more than ever to learn how to react to stress and trauma as it is happening so it doesn’t become stored within and create a dysfunctioning nervous system.

What happens often, is that when stress or anxiety occurs we are easy to dismiss it, but inside of our bodies, a signal has been sent that there is danger and that you need to flee or fight. This is commonly known as the fight or flight response where your body releases the hormones cortisol or adrenaline depending on what needs to be done to protect you. But, what happens when everything starts to be perceived as a threat? When your body decides it needs to protect itself from even the smallest inconveniences by flooding your system with adrenaline? This is how you can recognize that your nervous system is overwhelmed by stress and you could benefit from a new technique to release stress when it happens and not allow it to become stored in our nervous system. 

There are many other instances that create an imbalance in the nervous system due to stress, they are

• A resistance to change

• Anticipation about the future

• Anxiety

• Holding onto the past

• Not able to communicate needs

• Overload of responsibility

• Not accepting of your own abilities

But keep in mind, for things to get to a point where you have nervous system dis-eases you would have to really neglect your response to anxiety and stress for long periods at a time (like me!). There are also a number of symptoms that can tell you if your nervous system isn’t happy besides panic attacks, and anxiety and they are

• Tight muscles

• Digestive issues

• Heart flutters (when you are scared and your heart jumps a beat, but happens without immediate danger or fear)

• Body temperature changes 

• Dissociation

• Uncomfortable sleep patterns

• Pain (Internal or external)

The nervous system is no joke, and this is your sign to take some self care and allow yourself to relax and replenish your dried out and frayed nerves. There are many things you can do to help your nervous system get functioning properly so that you can do the mental work easier. One of my favorite ways is the use of herbs! One in particular that is in many blends for stress and anxiety and nervous system function is one known as Skullcap.

Skullcap is a cooling and relaxing plant that can be described as a small, slender stalked mint with light blue flowers that resemble a helmet or a dish. It is best used for relaxing mental strains like overthinking or habitual thought patterns. It’s also useful to those with insomnia! It can be taken for long periods of time and is great at repairing and nourishing nerve tissues, as well as working against inflammation which can reduce pain and tension. It is a sedative herb even though not the strongest it still has calming effects which can allow you to clear your mind and relax your body to truly come into a place where you can heal the reason that the reason you are using it is happening in the first place. 

More uses for Skullcap as based on the book “Energetic Herbalism” By Kat Maier

• Relax the tension accompanied by fever

• Calms and cools agitated thoughts and restlessness

• Feeds the nerves that have been agitated due to stress and pain

• Tension headaches

• For anxiety that is accompanied by shaking

She also takes time to note that skullcap is very adulterated and unless you grow it on your own make sure that the source you buy it from is trustworthy and reliable. 

Skullcap is part of a group of herbs that are ruled by the planet Pluto. I felt that Pluto accurately fit in with today’s theme of nerves, fear, change, and anxiety. We have talked about the body parts that pluto rules over, I have gone into the reproductive system and the small and large intestines in past newsletters. But, it is rare that I speak on the emotional effects of this planet from an astrological point of view. 

Pluto is the planet of Scorpio, therefore it holds the same energy as Scorpio and the death card in tarot. This is to say that the energy the planet governs is that of duality and the nature of give and take as well as silver linings. Such as fear and release, death and rebirth, transformation and evolution, endings and beginnings, and so on. Pluto is the furthest planet from the sun and was barely considered a planet for a very long time. It's almost comical how fitting that is to society since Pluto is the shadow planet and most of us want to ignore our shadows. It helps us to reveal all that the 8th house rules in astrology, sexuality, transformation, the occult, the taboo, our inner worlds and hidden obstacles. 

It serves as a cosmic mirror, reflecting the unseen energies that shape our destinies and propel us toward profound inner change. Pluto's magical essence lies in its ability to unravel the mysteries of the soul, inviting us to explore the depths of our subconscious and undergo a metamorphosis that aligns with the cycles of the universe. Pluto allows us to see what we don’t want to deal with and takes us down the best path for healing in a profound, Scorpio kind of way that is as intense as it is revealing and humbling to the evolution of our spirit. Pluto moves slowly, and its natural rotation is retrograde, meaning it always spins backwards, this is a great symbol for what it does to our energy in life. 

“Since the dwarf planet's orbit is so eccentric, or far from circular, Pluto's distance from the sun can vary considerably. The dwarf planet actually gets closer to the sun than Neptune is for 20 years out of Pluto's 248-Earth-years-long orbit, providing astronomers a rare chance to study this small, cold, distant world. As a result of that orbit, after 20 years as the eighth planet (in order going out from the sun), in 1999, Pluto crossed Neptune's orbit to become the farthest planet from the sun.” – NASA official website

This goes to show that healing is slow moving and sometimes an experience that feels like it isn’t moving in the right direction, but trusting the path and the steady movement is guaranteed to bring you closer to that which Neptune represents which is discovering universal truths, undoing, and evolution.

Now before I end this week's newsletter I want to share a very short yet very simple way to use Wax Magic as a way of scrying or divination. 

You will need a candle of any color, a lightly colored bowl, and moonwater or filtered water. That’s it!

Pour the water into the bowl and light the candle, holding it sideways and thinking of whatever it is you are asking or curious about, let the wax drip into the water. The wax will create shapes in

the water and those are what you will be reading! Let whatever you see sit with you for a while and contemplate its meaning before looking up second opinions on the internet. Magick is different for everyone and the results and what you see might mean something else than it does for others!

Thanks so much for joining in this week! I hope the information finds you well and you are able to utilize it to your best intentions.