Re: [UUPoly-L] The SCA & Poly Southeast (was RE: greetings fromcentral GA

["CatDeville" <catdeville@cox.net>]

There are SCA members on the list.  I'm at least one of them ;-) There is a
good deal of cross over between the various "alternative" communities, as
has been pointed out before and there are certainly plenty of Pagan SCAers
and plenty of poly SCAers (and plenty of Sci-Fi/Fantasy fen who are SCAers,
lots of BDSM SCAers... etc., ad infinitum.) 

As for SCAers (or SCAdians, depending on what part of the country you're in)
taking things VERY seriously or their activities being serious, that's,
again, a matter of the individual.  

The SCA is a *recreational* living history group, not a re-enactment group,
and many of us place the emphasis on the fact that it's a *fun* way to learn
history.  We actually have a scale ranging from "fun mavens" (who join "just
for the party" and who sometimes miss the whole "learning history" concept
entirely) to "authenticity mavens" (who focus on authenticity sometimes to
the exclusion of the fact that it's *fun* to recreate another time period),
but most of us are in between.  (This is such a well known phenomenon in the
SCA that there's actually an article on Fun Mavens vs. Authenticity Mavens
in the "Knowne World Handbooke") And my experience is that the folks that
you learn the most from are the ones who know that you can be authentic
*and* have lots of fun, and those who learn the most are those who come in
to have fun while enjoying and appreciating the talents and hard work of
those who contribute to improving the atmosphere by focusing on
authenticity.  

The ones who consider Living the Dream a "very serious activity" tend to
miss a good deal of why the SCA was formed and survived, and the reason that
it's known as the Society for *Creative* *Anachronism* (instead of simply
the Society for Living Medieval Studies or some such.)  They're also missing
the fact that the SCA is intended to "recreate the Middle Ages *as they
should have been*", and started out as just a theme party.  Yes, there's
certainly a serious element to the study of history and it's re-creation,
but if you're not having fun, too, you're missing half the point.  You're
also missing a large part of why the SCA has been around 40 years and
continues to draw new participants every day.  Taking it *too* seriously
actually destroys the fun and can drive people away, and you can't fulfill
the purpose of the organization (*to teach* - it's a 501c3 *educational*
organization) if you drive people away.   

So, please, yes, if you're interested in the Middle Ages and enjoy things
like Ren Faires, definitely check out the SCA at www.sca.org... But don't
assume that it has to be all serious or boring, or allow those who insist on
playing the game without any sense of humour to destroy your fun, but do be
open to the fact that the point of the organization is to teach history in a
fun way, and that, as with most things, you get out of it what you put into
it. 

In Service to the Society, 
Ld Celia des Archier
aka catdeville
-----Original Message-----
From: uupoly-l-bounces+catdeville=cox.net@uupa.org
[mailto:uupoly-l-bounces+catdeville=cox.net@uupa.org] On Behalf Of Ally
Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2006 3:21 PM
To: uupoly-l@uupa.org
Subject: Re: [UUPoly-L] The SCA & Poly Southeast (was RE: greetings
fromcentral GA

SCA is the Society for Creative Anachronism.  They play middle-ages, though
having said that I'm really hoping that no SCA members are on this list to
read such a lighthearted reference to their very serious activities, and
that if they are that they don't know where I live, exactly.  They tend to
take themselves VERY seriously, from everything I have heard.

As with many things, my knowledge of this is ancillary at best.  But here's
the website if you want to learn more:  http://www.sca.org/

Cheers!
Ally