[Ravensfort] Theory

[Cathal SilAlmhain]

replies inserted below . . .


--- L T <ldeerslayer at yahoo.com> wrote:
> I've been thinking a lot about views of the SCA...
>  
> Some people see the organization as a game, some as
> "one big family," some as
> just another hobby...etc
>  
> My current theory of the SCA is to see it as one of
> the communities we inhabit.
> We all have civic communities we live in. Some
> people have religious communites 
> they participate in.. Some have fraternal or
> political communities they participate in. 
> The SCA is just one more...

Except that all these other communities deal with--for
lack of a better term--"real life."  The SCA gives a
person the opportunity to dedicate as much of their
lives to it as does any whole-life endeavor (e.g., a
profession, a religion, school, dare i say even a
marriage) yet the SCA is--no matter how much one may
protest--only a game.


>  
> Further I theorize that each SCA group is like a
> town consisting of local nobility, shopkeepers,
> officials, etc. Each town may be all interrelated or
> may be made up of
> several "families" and or non-related people. These
> towns hold festivals (events) periodically to
> encourage the exchange of ideas and promote common
> experiences.
>  

I like it.


> Here's a suggestion of the types of people in a
> group and those who come to festivals:
>  
> Townspeople - those who participate in local
> official activity on a weekly or monthly basis.
> These people maintain the community of the group and
> set the tone of the group by working for the group
> and with each other on a consistent basis.
>  
> Country Dwellers - these are people whose main SCA
> related activity is within their own
> household or group of friends. They participate in
> local offical activity infrequently and occasionally
> contribute to the workings of the local group.
>  
> Visitors- people from different "towns" who mostly
> come to visit town festivals.  They participate in
> the activities arranged for by the town members and
> sometimes help out, but they are only present for
> festivals.
>  
> Transients - those who feel their sole purpose in
> the SCA is to entertain themselves. They have little
> or no interaction with the local group and seldom
> participate in scheduled
> activities...

Well, calling them transients, while an accurate term
analogistically, certainly isn't very flattering :-)



>  
> I'm still trying to figure out terminolgy for those
> who participate minimally on a local level but
> participate and take responsibility on a Kingdom or
> Society level...got any ideas?
>  

Nobility.  Scholars.  The clergy.


> I'd like to hear what you think about this model!
>  

I think the model works well.  Except--what category
would i fall in?  I don't participate for years at a
time sometimes, then i'll have a period of intense
participation that lasts for about a year and is
characterized by involvement on all available levels. 
I don't get involved simply for my own amusement, so
i'm not quite a transient, but i'm not frequent enough
to be a townsperson, or even a country folk.  I think
I'm a merchant--appearing in one place at one time and
being deeply involved, and then dissappearing
"overseas" to pursue my business interests in some
other community. hmmmmmm . . .
No, I've got it.  I am a country dweller.  I just live
WAY out in the country and I live alone.  :-)


> if you are uncomfortable sending commentary to a
> list...please send it to me personally
> at ldeerslayer at yahoo.com
>  
> Thanks
>  
> Lorraine DeerSlayer
>  
>  


Cathal
I love theories.  I think about them all day long.

=====
Cathal SilAlmhain

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