ARTICLES

Following are articles that I wrote while still the newcomer officer for the local SCA branch called the Shire of Ambergard. They appeared as part of a regular feature column entitled 'Newcomer's Corner' in that local branch's newsletter.  I have since altered them to be more hobby friendly.

Greetings
Getting Involved & Helping Out
How To Think On This Hobby . . . or 'Perspective'

Greetings!
by Lady Alys de Trois Rivières

Greetings, Salutations, and Hello! Welcome to the hobby!!

What this column is about is to help out newcomers to understand this hobby a little bit better in little bite-sized chunks. In creating this column it is my wish to clear up any confusions that you may have and to answer questions.

About now you may be wondering just what it is that you’ve got yourself into. Well, what it is is that you have found an incredible hobby that can last your whole life if you wish. You will find much to learn, explore and discover. It has become an alternative lifestyle for some. Others have found a way to make a living from it. One way you might think of it is as a subculture. One thing that makes this hobby different is that you get to choose who you want to be and where and when you want to be from. Think of it as developing a character for a long ongoing improvisational theatrical production.

There is a lot to it. Don’t let it overwhelm you. You will catch on to things sooner than you think.

There are things that are expected of everyone (not many really). Like any culture there are behaviors, customs, manners, and traditions to be learned and observed and learn them you will. Be patient.

Here is one way that I think about the structure of this hobby/subculture and you may want to think of it in this way as well. I came to the realization that there are 3 depths to the Society. They are all interconnected with each other.

First, there is a sort of daily life depth with learning how you will be expected to behave at events far and near and some lingo and how you can fit into it. This part includes interacting with others of all ranks and working on attaining your own. In other words - you, (the person), apart from persona, and your actions, words and participation and volunteering - your role and rank within the hobby. The part that is kind of connected to the persona is the name that the award comes to. The part that is connected to the administrative level is the person at the business meetings and how much you get from and give at them, officer or not.

Second, there is the mundane or administrative depth. This would be the running of the branches and their events. On a local level, this is where your local branch governs itself with monthly business meetings and branch officers. This is the group you play with and can usually really be yourself with: your friends. This is also often where your first opportunities to really get involved and participate and volunteer come from. This level is you, not your persona, doing stuff. On the Kingdom level, this is where and how you choose to participate at events and be a citizen of these mini-cities comes into play. You the person do the work but the persona, alternate you, is the one that gets known for the actions and recognized.

Third, is the personal depth. Your Persona. This is the character or person that you wish to pursue or use as a framework for study in this hobby. This is who you wish to be and can be as deep and involved as you want. This person you develop has a history that you make up in the beginning and leave it that way or may be eventually research. It’s a kind of fictional biography based upon real research of how things really were or would have been for this persona. You are the one involved and do the research. A persona can be thought of as a kind of accessory if you will. It gets put on in a sort of way like when you put on your clothing.

Overwhelmed? Have you figured out what you are most overwhelmed by? No? That’s alright. Don’t worry about it.  It all sorts itself out eventually.

Getting involved in your chosen form of medieval recreation means you have an opportunity to act differently, to try on another way of life temporarily. Different clothes, different foods, different activities, different terminology and even a different country, culture or language if you would like.

One piece of advice that I can give that will help is to get a copy of a newcomer’s guide, handbook or manual of some sort. Check your group's members for more help or your organization's resources on line. 

Most guides of these sort carry information in them like the premise of your particular group, getting your first outfit together, basic equipment to collect and bring, descriptions of offices, expectations of members and definitions of terms.

The last piece of advice that I think I can offer you for this issue’s column is to borrow or get a copy of your group's bylaws or rules and regulations. Read them for yourself and find out how things work.

I know this is confusing but it will become clearer later on. Go to a few events and meetings. Do a little reading and research. Give it some time. One day down the road you will be an old timer reminiscing.

If you have any questions, never be afraid to ask them. Till next time, have fun.

TOP Getting Involved and Helping Out
by Lady Alys de Trois Rivières

In this session, I would like to help you feel more comfortable and at home with this new hobby that you have gotten yourself into, you know ~ like a mess. I will be giving you lots of suggestions like on what newcomers like yourselves can do to help get things done in your group and feel more involved and advice like getting your own copies of the group's publications and reading them. I have some sheets of some thoughts that I just jotted down one evening on various subjects and for some areas. I must apologize if they don’t seem too terribly organized but all are good suggestions and advice just the same. Hopefully these will help keep you happy and healthy and playing for a long time to come. Many of the things written below are covered in my sheets as well.

Number One - HAVE FUN! Don’t get so serious about it that you lose that perspective and it stops being fun. This is just a hobby. This is not all of life. It is okay to get involved and volunteer. Really. Whatever you do, Have Fun and don't hurt anybody along the way.

Number Two - Get Involved. You can get as involved as you want. Volunteer for things. You can do anything you want. You can set goals. If you see or think of something that you would like to do, by all means possible do it and do not let anyone tell you that you can’t, as long as that something is within reason or reach. Do not expect anything to happen overnight. Find out from a ranking person what s/he did to become one and train under them. If you want to be an officer and you are really new, be a deputy to a current one. If you want to autocrat an event, volunteer to be an autocrat’s right hand person and learn first hand from them how you can organize an event. If you just want to work and help where you want or can, there are all sorts of stuff that you can do and all sorts of places where you are needed.  There are always little jobs that always need to be done.  Another thing that you can do to participate is to find out about contests or competitions before an event and prepare for entering them. Find out about the many guilds or mini-groups centered around common goals, skills or areas of interest within your organization and join one that interests you. Subscribe to what you can. Go to any classes or workshops offered.

Number Three - Ask Questions. Ask Questions. Ask Questions. Never be afraid to ask a question. Just be forewarned that you may get an earful on the subject. They will more than likely be only too happy to impart their hard won knowledge and research with you. Be prepared to be with that person for a while. This is still one of the best ways to learn as far as I am concerned. I am still asking questions. If you’re like me, say you have one question and then ask six instead, it’s okay. How else are you going to find anything out? (Besides reading on your own, of course.) But always remember to ask if the person in question is busy or has time to answer questions or barring that find out when would be the best time to get with them.  Oh, yea, and don't forget to ask them to point you in the direction of sources to read on your own.  In other words, ask them for their resources and reference materials.  Not all information comes out of books.

Number Four - READ. Read anything and everything that you can get your hands around. Check out books in the library and while you’re there don’t forget to check out the juvenile section of the library. This section has some of the best written resources of information that you will likely ever find. Find out what books people have in your local area and see if you can borrow them and remember to return them when you're done reading. Find out what publications there are for your group. Beg, borrow or buy what you can and keep your ears and eyes open for others. Keep them updated as well. Also, there are many guilds and offices that have their own publications available to add to your library as well. Collect anything that you might come across wherever you may go. Doing this, I have a couple of cookbooks that I picked up a long time ago at an event, among others. 

Number Five - related to Number Four but being more of a suggested acquisition list. Get your own copies of any handbooks, manuals, and guides as well as all rules and regulations for your organization for your library. Then READ them! This way no one can tell you what is or is not correct. Even old timers get confused or not remember things correctly and sometimes they don't stay updated like they should. Also, once you get your copies keep up them updated. And not everyone keeps up with all the changes that they make to these publications.  Subscribe to any regular newsletters, magazines, quarterlys, or journals.

Number Six - Become a card carrying member. Usually you may not be able to do all you want unless you are a dues paying, waiver signed, card carrying member. Depending on what group you are with this may mean being able to fight or be involved in combat related activities, to be an officer, to autocrat an event, to enter any competitions, or to work your way up the proverbial ladder.  In some groups this list will often include not being able to earn points to level up as it were.

Number Seven - This is more of a caution really. Be careful how you play. Unfortunately, as with many other facets of life there will be others who will always try to ruin things for you or others. There are those whose aim in life seems to be to step on people to get to the top and hurt others. Protect yourself by arming yourself with knowledge. This is where Number Five starts to more sense. If you are unsure of something, you can also ask a more experienced member about it or read about the issue in question. Be informed. Also, when in doubt, ask the person telling you something for a reference that you may check out so that may find out for yourself. If they are not willing to name their source, then you may want to suspect that they may know that they are not quite correct.

Number Eight - Learn who your fellow local members are and what they may know. Do some learning and don’t be afraid to share your knowledge with anyone. Teach a class in it or write an article about it. Oddly enough, in all my years of this hobby I have never come across anyone who did not want to share their knowledge.

Number Nine - If you have online capabilities, consider subscribing to an email list or joining a discussion board. There are a lots of them out there now. If you have a particular interest there is bound to be a list or board devoted to it. Some are very high traffic while others are relatively low.

That’s it for now.

TOP "How You Think On The Hobby . . . Or ‘Perspective’"
by Lady Alys de Trois Rivières

[Forewarning: Much of this is strictly my own opinion. I am not often given to write my opinion as my usual want is normally for instructional purposes in a publication but I only use it now as a means of guidance and explanation to help others to understand this hobby or least to understand it as I do. Like other articles it was written when I was involved in the SCA.]

With this hobby comes difficulty in defining it sometimes and how to think on it or what to refer to it as when relating it to others. There are a few terms that you will often hear or see others use.

The Society for Creative Anachronism defines itself technically in this way: "The Society for Creative Anachronism is a nonprofit, educational corporation devoted to the research and re-creation of Western Europe and countries that had established trade with it during the time period from 600 to 1600 A.D." There are fringe groups and people who go earlier to 400 or 500 and later through the 1650's.

Some, myself included once upon a time, referred to this as "The Dream". Others call it "A Game". Hobby, I think, is a very good and appropriate term. Another way of thinking of it is as a long ongoing improvisational theatrical piece that is never ending and constantly has new twists and turns to it as its story goes on and the action unfolds. Following is my take on each of these perceptions or a better term might be "philosophy".

"The Dream"
I do not like this term. To me it implies a sleeping state and therefore fantasy and conveying with it a sense that one cannot be held liable for their actions. For one thing I have all too often seen this used as a means of not having to claim responsibility for doing harm to others, unintentionally or otherwise, in deed and word with our interactions with others.

There is also the fact that every one has their own version of what they think the "dream" is and often all the different dreams come into conflict and one person’s "dream" will be crushed while another’s will prevail.

What we do we do awake and it is real, up to a point. Yes, there is a ‘dream’ likeness to it but only in that we have to kind of develop a sense of suspended disbelief in order for some of the precepts to work. In the dream-like state there is no opportunity for learning new things or for challenges. When we act in a virtuous way or manner for most of us it very real and heartfelt.

We have a dichotomy of sorts in our Society or in this hobby. Realistically, we live in a democratic society and more or less usually are used to having a say in a lot of things. Naturally some of this freedom comes with us when we become citizens of this hobby at events and ‘live’ in our little temporary mini-cities. Part of the suspended disbelief comes in when we have to ‘obey’ certain conventions of this culture. This would not work unless we suspended our disbelief in such a system for a temporary time during these events.

Some also use this suspended disbelief to be a kinder, gentler soul than they are in the real world. While at events they may be the epitomy of a "Lord" or "Lady" but when Monday morning comes around again they go back to being their normal selves. The suspended disbelief also is supposed to work in such a way that we do have peers to look up to as our superiors and give respect to them accordingly as they are supposed to reciprocate to us but in the modern world they are our equals.
"A Game"
I do not care much for this one either although I used to use this one myself until I really sat down one day to analyze what it is we do. Here again you have an open opportunity for bullies to hurt others or cheat and do so righteously because they are doing so "within the rules" and say that that’s the way the ‘game’ is played. Yes, there is a game-likeness to it in that we have sports and games and rules, laws, and regulations to play by. Game-like also in that games are meant to be fun and enjoyable. Game rules or "our laws" are meant for everyone’s protection and in some sense to give us all the same set of standards and fairness to play by.

These rules are tools or the framework with which we all must abide by. Unfortunately just like mundane law they are open to personal and individual interpretation and often have loopholes that are gotten through or around by the dishonest, this is human nature. One of the better parts to the Society is that we can rise above human nature. With games, there is often no allowance or consideration for learning or self improvement.
"Hobby"
This is a hobby. Hobby - implying a sense of responsibility for one’s actions and words to others. You have to be responsible in order that people or property doesn’t get hurt or damaged. You take care. In some hobbies, if you don’t, you could get killed or accidentally kill someone else.

Hobbies are fun. Hobbies are relaxing. They are a use for spare time. You can be other than your normal self with this hobby. Some also let it spill over into the modern world. Some of us come into this hobby already possessing some of the virtues and learn or absorb other virtues through this hobby. Learning can be a fun part of this hobby too.

And I know of no other hobby that spurs one or inspires one to learn new crafts and skills and to research.  This hobby is one that is an educational one that makes education fun and as well as valuable.  Also few other hobbies gives you so many oppoturnities of creative outlet and sharing.
"The Play . . . Or Applying One’s Self To This Thing"
Improvisational theater philosophy gives one a sense of total freedom of having a part in creating something that is a society populated by many different people all working together to help create it. In the theater, there are manners and behaviors that you are expected to observe, no excuses. There is a seriousness to being part of a production. Everyone is expected to do their part and pull their own weight doing the tasks and parts that are assigned to them, be they stage crew, cast member or even star. Responsibility, punctuality, maturity, dedication, focus, courtesy, and such are all demanded of each and every member of the cast and crew.  At least this was what I was always taught.  Suspended disbelief operates in the theater too, for the actors and the audience. The same goes for the Society or the hobby.

The suspended disbelief works kind of in this way: Picture yourself in a theater and you are watching this production. The production may have a name but is not scripted like a normal play. The actors’ job is to make you believe in the world that they are creating as they are creating it. If they are successful you really start to belief that the world you come from no longer is real and their world is the reality for them. You know the differences between the world they created and the real world you came into the theater from. The difference between this production and the hobby is that you do not have to be just the audience but an "actor" or participant in it. Another phrase I like to use for this phenomenon is "the magic". Unlike "magic" in fantasy novels or "dreams" it is very real. I know this because I have seen it with my own eyes in action too many times to know that it does exist.
Conclusion
Remember this is only a hobby. This is one of the best pieces of advice on perspective that I can give you at this point. It is a volunteer based occupation. Everyone volunteers to do what they want to do. You may volunteer to do what you want at the level of participation you are comfortable with. Everyone also once was new, just like you.

How you think about, philosophize, or define the hobby and apply it to yourself and to this hobby is up to you. What ever perspective works best or is most acceptable for you is fine.

Any questions or topics that you newcomers would like to hear about just let me know.
WELCOME TRAVELER, MY OFFICE, OR THE MAP ROOM

This page and all other pages found herein on this site were designed by Alys de Trois Rivieres herself. 
As such they are maintained and updated by her as time allows.  Her hand last touched this page on June 15, 2006.