The Unicorn Was Never Tamed

Dearest Sovereigns:The unicorn found me somewhere between Edinburgh and Sterling Castles, in the middle of a history lesson I didn’t expect to learn.As I toured these ancient buildings, I noticed unicorns repeatedly depicted in tapestries, the Coat of Arms, and on statutes. What was it about unicorns that captured the imagination of Scotland and England?I read one version of the story first. Scottish kings placed a chained unicorn on their own coat of arms as early as the twelfth century, fixed on the royal arms by the mid-1500s, decades before England ever entered the picture. Historians read the chain as a declaration of the king’s own power, proof that he alone was strong enough to hold what force could never capture. It’s a compelling reading. A king able to restrain the wildest creature in the realm was a king worth calling sovereign.I believed that version until I discovered another one that ran more true.Long before it reached a king’s crest, the unicorn lived in an older legend. The unicorn could not be run down, roped, or caged. Every attempt by force failed. The one way it was ever known to come near a person was through a maiden. Drawn to her purity alone, the untamable creature would walk out of the forest and lay its head in her lap, disarmed completely, with nothing holding it there but who she was.Notice the unicorn isn’t chained or restrained. There is no display of royal might or force that coerced the unicorn to be still. The dogs are bloodied, as if they fought in a battle and are now resting in the peace of surrender.The maiden did not do anything to attract the unicorn. Her presence was enough.Surrender Control and Allow Your Presence to be SeenI spent years believing my power lived in what I could manage and control. Rooms I could keep comfortable and outcomes I could control. I was very good at softening myself to avoid judgments. I told myself I was being responsible. Now I see it was my attempt to be the king, holding my whole world together through will, vigilance, and force applied one breath at a time.Living that way never once brought me peace. It only ever bought me more I thought I needed to control.What changed me was giving control up entirely, and turning back toward my own essence instead, the part of me connected to something larger than my own effort. When I remembered who I actually am, (divine love living as a woman), I stopped needing to control anything. My worth was never something I had to hold tight, because it has held me all along.Essence cannot be conquered. Essence cannot be commanded. Essence can only be trusted.The king’s chain will always be the louder story. It has a crest, a crown, a history book behind it. The legend of the maiden’s story is the truer one, and the more potent one. A king has to declare his dominion. A woman rooted in her own essence never has to declare anything. The wildest thing in the room simply lays its head down in communion.Sovereignty does not mean control or force. Sovereignty means trusting your essence enough to let the wildest things surrender to it on their own.I did not go to Scotland looking for a symbol. I went to see castles, lochs, and stunning scenery. I came home understanding that the most unshakeable power I will ever hold was never the ability to command what’s outside of me. It was the willingness to let what’s true inside of me lead, and trust that it is enough.When have the chains you accepted kept you playing small? Are you ready to become a Sovereign Woman? The digital course, How to Become a Sovereign Woman, is 50% off with the coupon SW-HALF.To your sovereignty,KathrynThanks for reading Empowered Way: Where Women Remember Their Sovereignty. Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit empoweredway.substack.com