SC - RE: SC-Thanksgiving/SCA & Europe

Wed Nov 1 12:24:00 PST 2000

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In a message dated 11/1/00 12:25:37 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
catdeville at mindspring.com writes: 

> While I recognize that the 
> 

and then Lord Ras said:

<<The focus of the SCA is NOT Europe. It is 'western cultures and the 
cultures 
they came into contact with.'

While many folks say this is 'Europe,' Corpora is silent on the matter and 
Hillary the founder of the SCA has repeatedly stated throughout the years 
that such a restriction was never meant despite those that appear to want 
this to be so in the current middle ages>>

< <A HREF="http://www.sca.org/"><Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc.</A>
http://www.sca.org/

"The Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) is an international organization 
dedicated to researching and recreating pre-17th-century European history. 
All persons interested in such study are invited to use these pages to obtain 
information about the SCA." 

>From the official SCA website Home Page. These two lines have sparked more 
argument in the game than I care to think about. But it does say "European" 
and not Western Civilization, or Western Culture, unfortunately. Also, 
unfortunately, there are those within the game who feel that because of these 
two lines they can argue that there is no reason to allow other cultures to 
be represented, and that people who do specialize in the study of the other 
cultures are just not playing the game "correctly". It has come up time and 
tima again on every SCA list to which I belong (5). When I attended a speech 
given by three of the original four members who started the SCA in California 
many years ago, they too, were somewhat at odds with each other about the 
scope of the culture to be represented. Originally, remember, they had thrown 
a party for a retiring member of University who had specialized in European 
Midevial Literature, and the SCA was born out of the good time they had 
recreating it for that party. When they incorporated they did their best to 
maintain a "vague" aspect to it all. They were not business majors or 
business teachers, they were lit teachers and students; mid 20s to 30s. Two 
of the members at the speech said that incorporating was the worst mistake, 
they felt, that had ever been done, because it turned the "dream" into a 
"business venture"; but it had been necessary for insurance and legal 
reasons. I got the distinct impression that they were a bunch of misfit 
students that had wanted more to bash each other with sticks and kidnap 
wenches at campsites than someone worried about whether their "intent" would 
be misconstrued years later. Yes, they agreed that the intent originally was 
to do re-enacts of history in Europe, but they felt that had been just a 
"focus" point, a starting point, if you will. All agreed though, that no 
matter what the "intent" was, there now exists the "is"; which happen to be 
these two lines. All also agreed that it was unfortunate that many people who 
play, including peerage, consider the words more important than the aspect of 
the game, and deride people who attempt to play "outside the corporate 
stance". One remarked on a kingdom he knew where the peerage will not award 
you if you are not of the appropriate European persona. Their concensus was 
that at this point, BOD has to change the articles to incorporate a wider 
stance, or each kingdom passes their own laws amending the stance. It is 
easier to do kingdom level than to get the BOD to do anything timely. So many 
kingdoms have overridden the statement. But it really depends on where you 
are, and the royalty viewpoint of it.

They also went on to say that these things happen as a company, venture 
grows. And as the dream grows it changes a little each year. The first year 
they had a group in Arizona they had 30 people at a camping event and thought 
it gigantic. At the Estrella we were at, our gate toll for a three day count 
was something like 8,000 people; which they remarked was greater than London 
and its two other larger cities combined during "period". They thought that 
fact was downright staggering. So do I. 

So, basically, I guess, what I'm trying to say is, I agree with the founding 
fathers and mothers of the SCA (taken from my notes): "Understanding of the 
past makes it more real and closer to us. So, recreate to the best of your 
ability and research; but for God's sake have fun doing it. This isn't 
supposed to be homework. It's supposed to be enriching and fulfilling, 
sharing play. Enjoy yourself with it. Create the you that you always wanted 
to be. Knowledge is power. And it irritates the heck out of  people."

Lars

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<HTML><BODY BGCOLOR="#ffffff">In a message dated 11/1/00 12:25:37 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
 catdeville at mindspring.com writes: 
 
 <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">While I recognize that the 
 focus of the SCA is Europe, </BLOCKQUOTE>
 
 and then Lord Ras said:
 
 <<The focus of the SCA is NOT Europe. It is 'western cultures and the cultures 
 they came into contact with.' 
 
 While many folks say this is 'Europe,' Corpora is silent on the matter and 
 Hillary the founder of the SCA has repeatedly stated throughout the years 
 that such a restriction was never meant despite those that appear to want 
 this to be so in the current middle ages>>
 
 <A HREF="http://www.sca.org/">Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc.</A>
 http://www.sca.org/
 
 "The Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) is an international organization dedicated to researching and recreating pre-17th-century European history. All persons interested in such study are invited to use these pages to obtain information about the SCA." 
 
 From the official SCA website Home Page. These two lines have sparked more argument in the game than I care to think about. But it does say "European" and not Western Civilization, or Western Culture, unfortunately. Also, unfortunately, there are those within the game who feel that because of these two lines they can argue that there is no reason to allow other cultures to be represented, and that people who do specialize in the study of the other cultures are just not playing the game "correctly". It has come up time and tima again on every SCA list to which I belong (5). When I attended a speech given by three of the original four members who started the SCA in California many years ago, they too, were somewhat at odds with each other about the scope of the culture to be represented. Originally, remember, they had thrown a party for a retiring member !
of University who had specialized in European Midevial Literature, and the SCA was born out of the good time they had recreating it for that party. When they incorporated they did their best to maintain a "vague" aspect to it all. They were not business majors or business teachers, they were lit teachers and students; mid 20s to 30s. Two of the members at the speech said that incorporating was the worst mistake, they felt, that had ever been done, because it turned the "dream" into a "business venture"; but it had been necessary for insurance and legal reasons. I got the distinct impression that they were a bunch of misfit students that had wanted more to bash each other with sticks and kidnap wenches at campsites than someone worried about whether their "intent" would be misconstrued years later. Yes, they agreed that the intent originally was to do re-enacts of history in Europe, but they felt that had been just a "focus" p!
oint, a starting point, if you will. All agreed though, that no matter what the "intent" was, there now exists the "is"; which happen to be these two lines. All also agreed that it was unfortunate that many people who play, including peerage, consider the words more important than the aspect of the game, and deride people who attempt to play "outside the corporate stance". One remarked on a kingdom he knew where the peerage will not award you if you are not of the appropriate European persona. Their concensus was that at this point, BOD has to change the articles to incorporate a wider stance, or each kingdom passes their own laws amending the stance. It is easier to do kingdom level than to get the BOD to do anything timely. So many kingdoms have overridden the statement. But it really depends on where you are, and the royalty viewpoint of it.
 
 They also went on to say that these things happen as a company, venture grows. And as the dream grows it changes a little each year. The first year they had a group in Arizona they had 30 people at a camping event and thought it gigantic. At the Estrella we were at, our gate toll for a three day count was something like 8,000 people; which they remarked was greater than London and its two other larger cities combined during "period". They thought that fact was downright staggering. So do I. 
 
 So, basically, I guess, what I'm trying to say is, I agree with the founding fathers and mothers of the SCA (taken from my notes): "Understanding of the past makes it more real and closer to us. So, recreate to the best of your ability and research; but for God's sake have fun doing it. This isn't supposed to be homework. It's supposed to be enriching and fulfilling, sharing play. Enjoy yourself with it. Create the you that you always wanted to be. Knowledge is power. And it irritates the heck out of  people."
 
 Lars
 
 
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