After reading "Something that spreads" entry, I've tried to use gold symbol to pass life to sculk catalyst instead of just throwing it into cauldron xD
Life currently doesn't have any effect with gold symbol AFAIK. Maybe it could activate sculk catalyst spread when it's nearby?

Eh, I don't really want to make the Crucible check for nearby Sculk Catalysts every half second that it's got Gold Symbol + Vital