The Crown of The Dunce and The Witch

During a recent discussion, about which I can’t fully remember as the topic isn’t the important factor, I suddenly felt triggered and went into shut down.

While it might seem the subject of discussion should be most important, what was of greatest importance to me were these moments of awareness ::

• my ability to sense being triggered
• my awareness to shutting down
• my curiosity as to why this was happening
• my courage to face and explore the why
• my vulnerability to go back into discussion and share my inner discovery

This felt significant and powerful because it reflected decades of inner work. It also reminded me that our inner work is never fully complete. There is always more. The next layer ready to be excavated, another thread ready to be explored. Within such moments lies ripe opportunities for healing, growth, and greater self awareness.
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I allowed my curiosity to take me into deep contemplation. In the inquiry of what I was truly feeling, the image of the dunce surfaced. You know, the child in primary classroom sent to the corner. A pointed dunce cap placed upon her head for everyone to see. For everyone to make fun of. Sitting there on display feeling shame, small, and stupid.

Yes, that image.

With this image and these feelings of shame, smallness, and stupidity, as uncomfortable as it was, I went deeper. Recalling moments in my life which now created the triggers and were the source of sharp wounding. Exploring these moments in this way brought clarity. Witnessing them at this time was like a healing balm.

This post could go in so many directions and I have a suspicion there will be more offerings around this time capsule. But, for today, I want to share where one direction of the thread took me…the dunce cap.

My curiosity of the dunce cap led me to do some research. The word Dunce originates from John Duns Scotus, Duns the Scot a priest, friar, theologian, and philosopher. During the late 1200’s he was widely respected, held in high esteem, and was regarded as brilliant thinker. He explored ideas that stretched beyond conventional understanding.

Originally, Dunce was associated with intelligence, curiosity, greater perspective, and new ways of thinking. The Protestant Reformation of the 16th century completely flipped that meaning to what we now recognize as…one considered to be unintelligent, stupid, foolish.

Here is where the thread comes in.

Along with the image of being shamed in the corner of a classroom with a dunce cap on my head, there was the image of being shamed in society with a witch’s hat on my head. Memories rose of moments in my life when I was referred to, in the most unfavorably of ways, as a witch.

The word Witch has undergone a similar distortion. Like Dunce, its meaning flipped. Witch, once referred to a woman who was a healer in her community, connected to the natural world, and divine wisdom. She became feared, disgraced, and condemned. This distortion did more than alter a definition; it brought about centuries of persecution, injustice, murder, horrific abuse, and unimaginable suffering.

Again, I could go in so many directions with this post, but I want to stay with this thread. There will be more reflects to come with The Witch and The Writer Series.

I fully believe that if we do not come to know truths behind the distortions of history/herstory, our stories, we will repeat them. We will miss opportunity to immerse ourselves into the fullness of living. We will miss the ability to denounce unwarranted shame. We will miss the potency of collective healing. And in so doing, we risk repeating horrors of humanity.

Both the dunce and witch’s hat are conical in shape. Their point rises upward toward heaven, opening and widening as it reaches the crown of the head. This image, to me, infers something entirely different than shame and stupidity. It is a conduit for the stream of divine light, insight, and wisdom. All being channeled into the crown of the one referred to as the Dunce or Witch. 

I am so grateful for the work I have done. Grateful to have the wherewithal to pause during the triggering moment of that conversation. Grateful to stay steeped in the discomfort long enough to continue to explore. Grateful to receive the empowered truths of my soul. 

From there, what once landed as shame, smallness, and stupidity, I discovered was never that at all. What emerged was quite unexpected…a re.membering.
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Gladly, I will wear the crown of the Dunce and the Witch.