(Taught November 3, 2022 for the Aire Faucon Newcomer A&S Night)
Activities of the SCA :
The SCA has three pillars supporting it: Arts, Service, and Martial activities. Arts is the Phoenix flames visible from a distance and it’s beautiful feathers, Martial is the raptor’s cry and claws, heard by many and respected by all, and Service is the bone structure within the beast and the nest it provides to its family. As a non-profit educational organization, we must teach our arts and perform our services, with the martial activities often being the easiest for outsiders to grasp.
Martial Activities
Armored Combat/Heavy Weapons
Light Combat / Rapier
Cut & Thrust
Youth Combat
Combat Archery
Target Archery
Thrown Weapons
Siege Weapons
Equestrian (Jousting)
Coursing
Black Powder
List Minister
Marshal(s)
Waterbearing
First Aid / Chirugeon
Service Activities
Event Stewart
General Helper at Events
Gate / Welcome
Newcomer Staff
Head Chef
Helping in Kitchens
Port-a-John cleanup
Setup Land
Parking help
Local or Kingdom Officer
First Aid/Waterbearing
Largess making
Scroll making
Heralding
Garb making for Baronage
Hosting Arts Competitions
Monitoring A&S Displays
Arts & Sciences Activities – Wearing, Teaching, Competitions, and Displays
Scroll – Illumination
Scroll – Calligraphy
Scroll -Wording
Heraldry (Design & Performance)
Spinning
Embroidery (garb & items)
Nailbinding
Knitting
Garb making
Jewelry making
Hat design
Bardic – Stories
Bardic – Singing
Bardic – Plays
Bardic – Jesters
Mid-Eastern Dancing
Mid-Eastern Drumming
European Dancing
Astronomy / Astrology
Siege Weapons
Forestry
Cooking
Brewing
Barony of The Sacred Stone Guilds and Guild-Like Activities
Sacred Stone’s Cook’s Guild – help cook events, welcomes all cooking types (herb, brew, research, kitchen, serving, etc)
Sacred Stone’s Scribes
Order of the Phoenix Eye – Runestone Collegium (even years); In a Phoenix Eye (odd years)
(Taught May 3, 2018 for the Aire Faucon Newcomer A&S Night)
Happy New Year: Today is May 3 (2018) In the Year of the Society LIII (53)
The First Event
In the year of our Lord 1966, an event was held on May 1st, and do the reckoning of the Society began and it was the first Year of the Society (AS I), and it was good.
In the backyard of Diana Paxson, students and other gentles associated with the University of California at Berkeley gathered for a May Day party. (If you recognize the name Diana Paxson, you might also be familiar with her books including the Avalon series (portions of which she co-wrote with Marion Zimmer Bradley), the Westria series, and Wodan’s Children). They found with plywood swords and fencing foils, “protected” by fencing masks. The day ended with a parade down Telegraph Avenue with everyone singing “Greensleeves” in a “protest against the 20th century”.
The first Knight was created at the first tournament: Sir Ardal Argo ver Kaeysc. (The first herald was Harold Breakstone, because heralds do keep track of these thing.)
How the SCA Got Its Name
The group enjoyed the day so much, they wanted to do it again but in a larger setting. When reserving a local park for the tournament, the official asked for the group’s name. Marion Zimmer Bradley quickly responded “Society for Creative Anachronism.”
Other co-founders include Poul Anderson and his wife Karen Cruse.
Six events were held in the first year and nine the second year.
The Order of the Laurel was formally instituted in January 1968. The Order of the Pelican was created in 1972. The Order of Defense was created in AS 50 (2015).
The Spread of Kingdoms
In June 1968 (AS 3), M.Z. Bradley moved to Staten Island, NY and held a tournament to determine the first king of the East. With one kingdom on each coast, (West and East), the Middle Kingdom wasn’t far behind in September 1969 (AS4), centered in Chicago (likely seeded by Baycon World Science Fiction Convention, where the SCA held a tournament which Duke Cariadoc of the Bow won … more on him later). All kingdoms thereafter trace their lineage back to one of these three kingdoms.
Atenveldt quickly followed in 1971 (AS 5).
After that, principalities formed and the thought was each of the States in the US would be a shire and eventually a barony, tied to one of these big kingdoms. But by the end of the 1970’s some other group requested their own Crowns. Meridies (AS12), Caid (AS 13) and Ansteorra (AS 14). The 1980’s increased the kingdoms from the magical seven to twelve – a perfect number including Atlantia (AS 16), An Tir (AS 16), Calontir (AS 18), Trimaris (AS 20), and the Outlands (AS 21). There things stayed for seven years.
Until the colonization of Europe was complete and the Kingdom of Drachenwald gained their independence in June AS 28 (1993). Thirteen kingdoms.
Four years later saw three kingdom form back-to-back (1997-1998): Artemisia (AS 32), Aethelmarc (AS 32) and Ealdormere (AS 33). Lochac (AS 37), Northshield (AS 39), and Gleann Abhann (AS 40) spun off slowly. The youngest of the twenty kingdoms was born in June AS 50, Avacal.
The First Inter-Kingdom War
“One day, almost 30 years ago, Cariadoc of the Bow, the King of the Middle, got bored with peace and declared war upon the East, loser to take Pittsburgh. The King of the East read the declaration of war, filed it away and forgot about it. Time passed. Cariadoc moved to New York and subsequently became King of the East, whereupon he retrieved the declaration from the file cabinet and said, “Let’s fight.” The Middle won, and Cariadoc has the distinction of being the only king who declared war upon himself and lost.”
F.L. Watkins 2005. An Incomplete History of Pennsic by Folump Enterprises.
Family Tree
A full picture of the “family tree” can be found at: https://www.zazzle.com/sca_heraldic_family_tree_by_portia_st_luke_poster-228421277308271094
West Kingdom begot Caid, An Tir, and Lochac.
An Tir begot Avacal.
East Kingdom begot Atlantia, Drachenwald, and AEthelmarc.
Middle Kingdom (Midrealm) begot Calontir, Ealdormere, and Northshield.
Atenveldt (the first Barony of the Knowne World, then first Principality), kind-of is attributed between West and Middle Kingdom, and on its formation had all the lands not assigned specifically to the Big Three. Atenveldt begot Meridies, Ansteorra, the Outlands, and Artemisia.
(Prepared for the March 1st 2018 Canton of Aire Faucon Newcomer Night.)
CHALLENGE FRIENDLY How to Treat Service Animals; Choosing Challenge Friendly Sites for Events; and Making Activities Challenge Friendly
Class Objectives:
Teach how to interact with service animals to adults and children.
Start a dialogue of making the SCA more accessible to all.
PART 1: How to Treat Service Animals.
One) Working Animals from period, breeding to task.
A. Herding – Intelligence, loyalty, protective but also capable of attacking to protect, problem-solving, capable of independent and dependent actions. Examples: German Shepherd.
B. Hunting – Senses – sight and/or scent, loyalty to pack group and one leader, attacking – Hunting large game (elkhounds), hunting small game (dachshunds), hunting racing game above ground (greyhounds).
C. Transportation – Riding, pulling – equestrian, bovines, and canines.
Side note: Hybrids – the Mule (male donkey (jack) to female horse (mare)) and Henny (male horse (stallion) to female donkey (jenny)); Have the endurance and disposition of a donkey and proportional strength – with the larger horse size. They also are smarter than donkeys and longer-lived than horses. Hennies are smaller than mules because of parentage. In very, very rare instances female mules (molly mules) are fertile with true donkeys and horses. In general the chromosomes issues make them sterile (horses got 64 and donkeys have 62, and the hybrids have 63).
D. Food and Manufacturing Industries – activity (plowing, pollination, grass trimming, rodent control); indirect products (milk, eggs, honey, hair for clothing, wax, quills); direct product (meat, leather, vellum)
Two) Economic Animals in Modern Life, trained to task.
A. Herding, Hunting, Transpiration, and Food Industry – Still ongoing.
B. Protection – Police and guard animals. Chosen for scent skills, protection skills – and trained further. Also guard animals like peacocks and geese.
C. Household companions – Highly intelligent creatures about half the size of humans or smaller. Chosen for compatibility around children. Most common animals are dogs and cats.
D. Companion Animals – Animals which provide emotional support for various minor physical and mental challenges. Some of the animals have been trained for several months in their tasks, for example emotional comfort in crowds or a second pair of hands.. A wide range of animals provide the comfort of companion animals. These animals are not protected under the disability laws.
E. Disability Animals – Animals which have gone extensive training from childhood, most at least two years, in their particular tasks. They are trained to work well in crowded situations, be around other animals, recognize the difference between being on-job or off-job, etc. Most disability animals are drawn from the herding breeds of dogs. 1. Children – Children love to pet these highly social animals. If the vest is on, explain to the children what the animal is doing. Explain the rules for approaching and walk them through it. 2. Vests – When the vests are on, the animal is on-the-job. Courtesy is to leave the animal alone so it can concentrate on its job of taking care of its handler. Just like you dislike it when a friend drops by while you are working and just wants to hang out and talk, the discordance between working and play for the animal also happens.
From American Girl (might no longer be available)
3. Approaching the animal – Ask the handler of the animal for permission to approach the animal. Ask if it is okay. See if there is a better time of day, such as when it is off duty. DO NOT GET BETWEEN THE ANIMAL AND ITS CHARGE. Pet the animal, but do not overwhelm it. Let it continue to concentrate on its human. 4. Off duty – Give the animal a transition period between being on-duty and play-time. Find out what it likes and play with it. Understand if it is tired from its day and just wants to relax. 5. Disability Animals at event – (a) Troll – set aside an area for the people and animals to check in. Have water available if possible. (b) Weekend events – Have a running/play area set aside in the campground for the animals or make arrangements with the animal’s human. (c) Crowded events – Have area set aside for a small quiet place.
6. Legal rights related to disability, therapy, and emotional support animal.
For Service Dogs – They have the same “rights” as a wheelchair and are considered medical equipment. You can no more separate a blind person from their service animal than a mobility impaired person from their wheelchair. This applies to trained SERVICE dogs only.
Characteristics – from “pleasedonotpetme.com”
Service Dog
Therapy Dog
Emotional Support Animal
Handlers’ rights to be accompanied by these dogs in establishments open to the public are protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
X
Dogs must be temperamentally sound to tolerate a wide variety of experiences, environments and people.
X
X
These dogs may live with their disabled owners in housing with a “no-pets” policy in place.
X
X
Dogs visit hospitals, schools, hospices and other institutions to aid in psychological or physical therapy.
X
Handlers encourage these dogs to accept petting and socialize with other people while they’re on-duty.
X
Dogs are individually trained to perform tasks or do work to mitigate their handlers’ disabilities.
X
Petting, talking to or otherwise distracting these dogs can interfere with their job and pose a serious danger to the dog and handler.
X
Dogs’ primary functions are to provide emotional support, through companionship, to their disabled owners.
X
Subject to state laws regarding dog licensing and vaccination.
X
X
X
These dogs enjoy plenty of off-duty time, during which they rest, take part in fun activities and get to act like a regular, pet dog.
X
X
X
PART II: Choosing Challenge Friendly Sites
One) Types of Challenges – Mobility challenge (wheelchair, cane, balance, limited walking), crowd/anxiety challenge (too much noise, too many thing happening, too crowded), sight challenge (blindness, can’t handle bright lights, limit range), hearing challenge (can’t hear in crowds, no hearing), language challenge (different primary language, cannot read, cannot write).
Two) Mobility Challenge – Many people in the SCA have mobility issues. A lot of them are active in A&S activities. When planning an A&S event, try to keep it on one level – or have elevators between levels. At outdoor events, try to have the activities on flat ground and close together.
Think Ambulance – If an ambulance (outdoor) or gurney with two people pushing (indoor) can’t get to the activity , neither can a wheelchair.
Three) Language challenge – Are directions clear? If in an area with multiple languages, are heralds available in the languages of the area? Can information be shared verbally as well as written?
Four) Sight challenge – Can you make the print bigger on the waivers for poor sighted people? Is braille versions available? Is the light adequate – is more or less needed?
Five) Hearing challenge – Are sign heralds available? Can hazard information be passed on the field in more than just shouts? Can cloth be added to walls to cut down on echoes?
Six) Anxiety challenge – Are activities available in non-crowded areas? Can tasks be given to reduce people-fright (troll and kitchen for example)? Is a room available for quiet – nursing mothers, napping children, and people needing alone time?
PART III: Making Challenge Friendly Activities
One) Big Plus – Making activities more challenge friendly also make several of them more children friendly. Limited hand mobility, language barriers, walking distances, inability to concentrate in crowded, noisy situations all apply.
Two) Color Challenge – For people with color blindness, scribal arts still work.
Three) Planning Classes – Think of how to make it simpler for people with limited hand mobility or control. Bigger embroidery tasks, less detail on scrolls.
Four) Teaching class – is there room for a wheelchair to get in the door? For dancing, how can the steps be modified if one of the dancers needs a walker?
