Society for Creative Anachronism
Created | Updated Apr 17, 2002
Earth People are very interested in their past. For some, their past is important because they think that who your ancestors are can make you better than some one else. On the other hand, a small group of about 50,000 of them seem to have quite a bit of fun pretending to be from what they call the "Middle Ages", anywhere from 400-1300 years ago. They are called the Society for Creative Anachronism. On their primative "world-wide-web" there are a plethora of "web-sites" created by members of this little group -- the main "official" site is http://www.sca.org .
The SCA proclaims to be "the Middle Ages as they Should Have Been" and anything that was done during that time period of 600 ad to 1600 ad that doesn't result in immediate death appears to be allowed. Members take on "personas" of people who could have existed, but didn't -- you cannot be the quirky Henry VIII of England -- but you could be his butler. This makes the SCA a very good place for a lost hitch hiker to spend some time -- they do not ask for much money, and some events can even be attended for free.
SCAdians, as they prefer to be called, wear clothes that they make in the style of "medieval" clothing, and have large sporting events wherin they whack eachother about with sticks and wire antennae. They also cook food, brew beer (one of the rather better side effects), make kites (and fly them), and a plethora of other things.
The average SCAdian is anything but. Usually consumed by dreams of fairey princesses and knights in shining armor from infancy, they are constantly looking for a way to put the more mundane (a word they use to describe anyone not in the SCA) world away for a bit. Standards of fashion and beauty are significantly looser than amongst the general populace, and most people strive for recognition in the form of awards given out by the reigning king and queen, a couple who have achieved that goal by having one of the two win six or seven battles in a tournament on one day.
Then they muck it all up by bringing politics into the mix. The defining passion of the SCAdian brings strong beliefs, and they frequently combat each other with words. Since Earth's time travel is not yet common knowledge, archeological finds are subject to significant interpretation, allowing SCAdians to frequently tell each other that they are not "period", or authentic, enough.
Still, most of them are good chaps, and they work hard at their "hobby", pretending to be kings and queens and knights and ladies. They are regarded as "mostly harmless" by the governments of the countries in which most SCA activity resides, and are therefore frequently left alone by most people; those "mundanes" that do cause trouble get thrashed, since a major outlet of exercise is recreating medieval combat.
So far, they have not been observed to play cricket.
The SCA proclaims to be "the Middle Ages as they Should Have Been" and anything that was done during that time period of 600 ad to 1600 ad that doesn't result in immediate death appears to be allowed. Members take on "personas" of people who could have existed, but didn't -- you cannot be the quirky Henry VIII of England -- but you could be his butler. This makes the SCA a very good place for a lost hitch hiker to spend some time -- they do not ask for much money, and some events can even be attended for free.
SCAdians, as they prefer to be called, wear clothes that they make in the style of "medieval" clothing, and have large sporting events wherin they whack eachother about with sticks and wire antennae. They also cook food, brew beer (one of the rather better side effects), make kites (and fly them), and a plethora of other things.
The average SCAdian is anything but. Usually consumed by dreams of fairey princesses and knights in shining armor from infancy, they are constantly looking for a way to put the more mundane (a word they use to describe anyone not in the SCA) world away for a bit. Standards of fashion and beauty are significantly looser than amongst the general populace, and most people strive for recognition in the form of awards given out by the reigning king and queen, a couple who have achieved that goal by having one of the two win six or seven battles in a tournament on one day.
Then they muck it all up by bringing politics into the mix. The defining passion of the SCAdian brings strong beliefs, and they frequently combat each other with words. Since Earth's time travel is not yet common knowledge, archeological finds are subject to significant interpretation, allowing SCAdians to frequently tell each other that they are not "period", or authentic, enough.
Still, most of them are good chaps, and they work hard at their "hobby", pretending to be kings and queens and knights and ladies. They are regarded as "mostly harmless" by the governments of the countries in which most SCA activity resides, and are therefore frequently left alone by most people; those "mundanes" that do cause trouble get thrashed, since a major outlet of exercise is recreating medieval combat.
So far, they have not been observed to play cricket.
