arontius | Connecting to 'The Dream' (R) (Reply)

.....I think that all of us have at one time or another become mesmerized by something we witnessed as part of the SCA. One of those moments where the lines of reality blurred and we could almost feel that we were actually in another place and time, like that mythical Scottish village of Brigadoon that appears for a day out of the mist once every one hundred years. It's this sense of 'magic' I first felt that made me fall in love with the concept of the SCA and become a true follower.

.....Over the years since then I've become one of the janitorial staff for this dream. I perform functions that protect it, clean up the occasional mess, keep it organized, help it grow, etc. It is a necessary function. But what I find is that you become so wrapped in the really mundane aspects of this toil that you sometimes forget that magic that first brought you into this dream. What is worse is that now that you've seen what goes on behind the scenes you find it harder to make yourself connect with what it was the drew you in the first place. His Excellency Cedric has a terrific anecdote for it. He explains it as a magician who amazes you with some sleight-of-hand. Once it is explained and demonstrated to you, the magic of witnessing the trick disappears and it no longer invokes the sense of wonder within you that it did when you first watched it done.

.....Lately I've been thinking about what it will take for me to shake myself out of the mundane cage in which I've placed myself and reconnect with that sense of magic and wonder that drew me in the SCA. I enjoy the research and the recreation of the middle ages. I like studying the history of the people and the places of medieval Europe. But the thing that really makes the goosebumps bubble on my soul is the invocation of the emotions between myself and between people when the true romance of chivalry and honour are engaged. I love the Arthurian Mythos. King Arthur and the Round Table. The Quest for the Holy Grail. These are things that sometimes seem to be missing in today's world, but could do so much to better it if they were present in greater quantity.

.....I've had numerous debates with Mistress Gwenllyn concerning analogies of searching for our own version of the 'Holy Grail'. You define what your own Holy Grail is and then you seek it. Sometimes it is a nebulous thing with no clear boundaries of definition. This is when it becomes a personal frustration. You are attempting to define something within yourself that is more esoteric and without boundaries in the first place.

.....But I'm wandering a bit here. :-) Something I've been discussing with Her Excellency Brighid is the creation of a bit of the quest as part of Her Sargeantry. She Herself has been struggling with the concept of what the Sargeantry is and what it should be in Dragon's Laire for some time. We've been thinking of perhaps injecting a little bit of Arthurian Mythos into the Sargeantry. There would be some questing involved. A little bit of the round table. More personal challenge. I'm liking the outlines of her plan a lot and I hope that it ends up going somewhere. The concept takes the Sargeantry as it currently stands in most Baronies and gives it just a little twist to make it something where the work and the questing doesn't end with the conclusion of the Trials, but continues to challenge the applicant for the remainder of their existence in the group. I'm really excited about the concept. But I'll let Her do the explaining. :-)

.....I'll post more of my personal thoughts on this as they materialize more solidly. :-)

.....Arontius.