[Ansteorra] Question in general

Fri Jul 19 19:10:17 PDT 2013

greetings

lets see..
first, I believe that a peerage, any peerage, should be recognized as not 
just an honor, but also as a responsibility, a duty , and a commitment .
people will emulate you , copy your behavior, and treat others as you 
do..... for good as well as for bad .....
next, I believe that peers should be actively looking for and encouraging 
those people doing what they do ( service / work / a&s / research / etc. )
anyway....

Chivalry ,( Knights / Master at arms ) I feel that this is actually the 
easiest peerage to obtain. the heavy fighting community is in front of and 
part of the crowns activities at every event . making it easier for the 
crown to say " this person is ready "  even though by tradition, most 
knights or those wishing to attain that goal, have had to travel all over 
the kingdom so that the hopeful fighter can be " seen " by all the current 
members ,( although , this seems to have been replaced with " how many wars 
does this person attend " ) without the current members needing to travel as 
much. but there is often unseen , another quality of the members of the 
chivalry.... ( no, not the all night partying ),  I have seen many knights , 
go out of their way to assist people in need ( both in the sca, and 
mundanely ), especially if they can do it without a lot of fanfare .they 
often can be seen teaching, getting new and returning people into armor , if 
that is the persons desire. so I would say chivalry peerage = mastering at 
least one weapon style, while being knowledgeable about many others, service 
, both in front of and behind the scenes, being at ease in the presence of 
other peers, teaching , not just squires, but everyone, being humble enough 
to work gate / privy patrol, etc. right alongside a nubie.

Laurel , laurels are often seen as the " all knowing " peers , but on 
occasion , I have seen laurels tear a nubies a & s entry to bits , with 
nothing but negatives, instead of explaining what they found " bad " or why 
it was bad , about the entry, or giving any place to start learning to do a 
" better " job next time. don't get me wrong, I have also seen very in 
demand laurels leave notes, or point people towards references, or even tell 
the entrant  to " get with them later " where they spend a lot of time 
teaching entrants how to improve some or all aspects of entries. time they 
could be visiting friends, or partying, or even just relaxing. it seems to 
me that ( and I'm probably wrong on this ) to become a laurel, you have to 
travel all over the kingdom, you have to be some laurels " student " and you 
have to give up anything except  researching, teaching,  making , and 
entering a&s competitions. and then, if your lucky , a group of laurels will 
decide that you are almost as good at something as they are, ( after 
multiple years as a peer ) , and vote to recommend you to the crown to 
become a laurel.

Pelican , pelicans are probably the most " hidden " peers, they are 
everywhere, but you never know they are pelicans ( except in court , because 
they wear their badges ; ) because they are the ones helping work gate, run 
privy patrols, fire patrols, helping in the kitchen, working offices, doing 
whatever it takes to keep the sca , and all its branches working . now , 
that said, there are also a lot of others out there doing the same things, 
that aren't now nor likely ever will be pelicans. as above, I'm probably 
wrong in this as well. but..
to become a pelican you must travel all over the kingdom regularly, you must 
go to wars regularly, and spend most of those wars, working ,you must 
regularly hold full kingdom offices ( preferably in different areas ) , you 
must be some pelicans student , and pretty much give up any activity in the 
sca, except working . after enough time " being seen " working all over the 
kingdom, and at wars, then if your lucky, a group of pelicans will vote to 
recommend you to the crown to become a pelican.

P.L.Q's  , all peerages look for plq's, but they are never " defined " they 
are left open to each peers interpretation. one peer may say your fully 
qualified to be a peer , another may say that you are an oaf, and need 
better manners, better clothes, a better persona,or " your food taster's 
underwear has the wrong thread count " etc. to me, plq's are more about 
manners,and how a person treats those around them . can you make someone 
feel important ? needed ? useful ? or do you have to be the one in the 
spotlight ?? take all the credit for a team effort ?? kind of glaring 
differences aren't they ???

as far as " what kind of service counts " to become a pelican ??
in many instances , I have been told that " I'm on the right track to one 
day become a pelican "  but I have no way of knowing if people are blowing 
smoke up my ... ummm, anyway.
and after 30 + years in the sca, I just don't see it ever happening. for 
many reasons, over the past 10 years, I have survived on less than $4000.00 
a year. that means an ever reducing number of events I can attend,( and no 
wars ) , let alone having nice clothes.
I have passed up applying for full kingdom offices, because I know I can't 
afford the travel . yet have worked as a kingdom deputy officer , a regional 
officer, and several baronial offices. but no pelican has deemed me to be 
worthy of  an invite to become their student . ( not that I could just walk 
away from my duties as an arc d'or, but being ask would have been nice )
I have also heard that since I received my grant level award in archery , 
that everything I do relating to the missile community  , only counts as 
fulfilling the duties and obligations to that award, and only work not 
relating to the missile community counts towards a kingdom service award, or 
pelican. was I told wrong ? who knows, but it all remains a valid perception 
..
another reason is that I tend to try and do everything myself, instead of 
getting others to do them. and tend to push myself sometimes too far : (
I'm still needed in the missile community , as an arc d'or ,I will always 
owe service to the missile community, as well as to the kingdom.
does this mean that I " only " work in the missile community ? no , I work 
where ever I feel I can be of service, and do a good job. ( well that and 
where ever people tell me they need help ; )
but I'm not positive that many people see anything but working at wars, or 
working  as kingdom officers as " service to the kingdom, or the society..

just my 2 pence ( yes I got a loan )

Be Safe , Be Happy, Have Fun .
Arthur
ps. the above is just my impression on how the different peerages work. not 
being a member of any of them, I can only guess.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rick Drake" <ainarm at cox.net>
To: "'Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc.'" <ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org>
Sent: Friday, July 19, 2013 2:05 PM
Subject: [Ansteorra] Question in general

> Would like some feedback from the non-peers out there.   As a general
> question, what do you see as the requirements for membership into the
> various peerage circles.  You can leave out that a Knight needs to be a 
> good
> fighter, assume that part.  But what kind of service counts toward being a
> Pelican.  What level of service is needed?  What kind of art does a Laurel
> need to do?  What are those nebulous Peer Like Qualities that people talk
> about?
>
> I am asking the non-peers for this feedback because it has recently been
> brought to my personal attention that we may not be recognizing service 
> when
> we should and that this can discourage new people.  So I hear from other
> peers what they think their standards are.  For those of you trying to get
> into the circles, what do you see as what you need to accomplish to get
> there?
>
>
>
> Master Ainar Magnusson OP
>
> _______________________________________________
> Ansteorra mailing list
> Ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org
> In order to make changes and manage your account please go to:
> http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/ansteorra-ansteorra.org
>
>
> -----
> No virus found in this message.
> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
> Version: 2013.0.3349 / Virus Database: 3204/6502 - Release Date: 07/18/13
> 