Why Queen's Counsel?
As I said in the welcome email, it isn’t without some trepidation that I adopted ‘Queen’s Counsel’ as the title for this substack.
I have been involved in the legal profession for nearly 20 years (6 of those in London) and Queen’s Counsel is considered a pre-eminent senior member of the legal profession. Fortunately, those with this rank in the profession now are known as King’s Counsel (since the passing of Queen Elizabeth II) so we can smoothly adopt the title!
How did it come about?
During April - July this year (2024), I took part in an incredible container one of the aims of which was to guide women deeply into incepting their soul brand (if this peaks your interest, I cannot recommend Seren Bertrand’s profoundly transformative work on all aspects of the feminine - but particularly her current work on feminine structure and feminine wealth - highly enough).
During this container, we experienced deep and profound journeys into the womb. I already had a sense and a knowing that my soul wanted to talk and share about transformation within law (because law has felt like a vocation and I always feel myself drawn back to this subject - eventhough at times I try to pull myself away).
Feeling into what the vast realm of “Law” is - rather than thinking about it in the disconnected, cold, logical manner we have been trained - is such a different experience. We know only what rules are, mind-made law, we have no idea anymore what true Law is - the Law that deeply recognises our interconnectedness with each other, all beings around us, the cosmos, the past and the future.
The brand name that emerged first was “Embody Your Honour” and this is what it means for me (words written during our container):
First, it's a subtle play with “Your Honour” and it feels like a clear declaration to those who are occupying the highest positions in the legal world that the way of embodiment and the feminine is the only way forward now.
Second, it speaks to me personally because I feel I have been in a state of compromise for much of my life, and have become so familiar with that energy. This is a statement to myself to fully embody my highest essence and value.
Third, I like that this statement can be wider than law because it is also simply speaking to women to inhabit and embrace the greatest respect for ourselves ("honour" means high respect, great esteem).
The logo (which was following the inspirations below and above beautifully co-created with Mona at MDesignStudios in Belgium) emerged from reflections on the type of legal imagery shown above and suddenly seeing these (heretofore completely invisible) resonances with the shape and form of the womb.
This is what I wrote:
“What I am also excited to share here is that while reflecting on the logo the other night, I had a strong epiphany. Something which was previously totally invisible to me became blatantly visible and I have attached some imagery here to give you a sense of this. I had been playing around with this idea of the judge’s wig because, for me, this is very symbolic of this patriarchal/parental society we live in. I sense this old stern white man peering down at me from high on his bench casting judgments. Looking at simple drawings of the judge’s wig, I was sensing this similarity with the shape and form of the womb and taking our external perception of ‘Your Honour’ out there up on the bench back down and into our bodies. As I played around with this, what struck me was the shape and symmetry of the womb and, for the first time, I saw the scales of justice there and it really caught my breath..
I have spoken and reflected on this idea of the rebirth/reimagining of Lady Justice for awhile now, and I think this was a true moment of rebirth for me. It’s like a veil has lifted and I cannot look at Lady Justice in the same way anymore. She is very clearly holding up the symbology of the womb (and I am also feeling now that the sword represents the masculine principle). This feels to me like a big ‘visible’ invitation into a portal of remembering about where our elaborate systems of Law and Order actually originate.”
Something vital was coming, has come, alive in me through this process.
Something that was previously disconnected has begun to reintegrate and remember. For several years now I have had this sense that Lady Justice wants to be reborn, and I didn’t fully know what that meant (other female lawyers I spoke with about this said they were having similar feelings about Lady Justice - like she was a key symbol or clue starting to wake up again).
And so…
In a beautiful session with my graphic designer, Mona we talked through this and felt into how the womb symbology and scales of justice symbology could be depicted in a logo.
There were a few iterations.
And then I suggested whether it might sit inside the Q. Somehow it worked.
The Q logo was born, and in one of our sharings, it was suggested that it immediately brought to mind QC and Queen’s Counsel. It felt right.
So, with some slowly dissolving trepidation around gently hijacking this eminent title and genuine excitement about the true feminine legal energy that now wants to occupy it - welcome to Queen’s Counsel.
Elaine