I honestly didn’t really know what I expected when I signed up to present at Athenaeum, but what an experience! It was totally overwhelming in the best of ways and I walked away filled with awe, and instead of feeling a bit insane for having this hyperfocus, I feel a *validated* kind of insane.
Thank you to the Barony of Madrone for hosting this unique event and to the Stewards for doing such a great job of communicating the much needed details!
I know there’s still more things to explore on this topic, but I’ve now found other folk with the same interests and even the same hyperfocus to share these things with and that’s a new kind of wonderful!
Here I’ve included photos provided by Raffaella Di Contino, Gigi Belladonna, and Jenn Louise.
Some of my Arts and Sciences efforts landed at Ursulwyck Medieval Faire this last weekend!
First up – the second gambeson I sewed Rollo made its first appearance at the event! So glad it worked out how he wanted once he added the arming points!
Next – my Protégé contract. Zahra had asked me to create the contract since I’ve been practicing my calligraphy, with instructions to write it twice on one page with room for signatures below both, with the intent that each of us would be able to walk away with a copy once it was cut in half.
The trouble was, I had written too much and I couldn’t conceivably fit all of that on one 8.5” x 11” space at the skill level I’m at with the pens I have on hand. Given that this was done in the last week leading up to the event, I didn’t have a lot of time to change my plan, so I pivoted from what I’d initially pictured and wrote it on both sides of the paper, flipping the page head over heels, with a gap in the middle of the contract on both sides so that when cut, we each had as close to a duplicate as possible. During the ceremony, the careful cut was done with some squiggles to make it a unique key-like match, showing the two copies as a pair.
I’m really happy with how this turned out, and am amused at the image with the lightbox behind it showing the delicate space the cut had to be made, lest screw up the entire plan!
And finally – my first original scroll! This is a Golden Estoile, a second level service award in Aquaterra. The words were adapted from The Day Sky by Hafez by Zahra bint al-Rammah and calligraphed by me in Uncial font. I chose elements and colors to reflect the idea of stars in a day sky from Codex Amiatinus, linked below. Their Excellencies awarded this scroll to Peter of Aquaterra this past Saturday!
Also, here’s a Golden Estoile charter that I painted. I am most pleased with the face I added to the moon, inspired by many medieval examples
As a final fun note, Ilian Lucious Michelle Gloschat drew me while I was sitting in court and blessed me with the piece to take home. This was one of my top five moments of the event!
Ursulwyck Medieval Faire – part 2 of my personal experience – specifically my protégé ceremony binding me with Zahra bint al-Rammah! I was so honored and humbled by this experience!
I don’t generally get stage fright or struggle to speak in front of a crowd, but this was vulnerable and emotional and truly drinking the Kool-Aid in a way I haven’t done thus far. The time to be overly self-conscious came earlier than expected, though, since I needed to find a witness to represent me in the ceremony! Since Jaida, Zahra’s first protégé and one of my favorite people, was already involved in the ceremony as our Herald, we opted to bring in other folk for these roles.
How do you choose who to include in something like this? It turns out there were a lot of people that are important to me at this event, but for this, I hunted down Skallagrim and asked him, awkwardly, “As my oldest advisor, will you please be my witness?” I was met with a big smile, and if he was laughing at me instead of being happy for me, he didn’t let it show! So, I had a witness, and then a trail of spectators as we made our way to the appointed space, just off to the side of the merchant’s row.
Before long, it was time for the ceremony and Zahra and I approached it equally weird, just as we’d planned, just as we’d acknowledged from day one of our formal mentor/student conversation. Good things are weird! What can I say?
We had agreed to a variation of Sample #3 on this site (http://www.modaruniversity.org/Protege.htm) though she did include a last chance for me to run! When we reached the point where I ‘gave her my lands and property as a token of my pledge’, I moved my string of bells that I’m well known for from my neck to hers, as a symbol of that moment and in turn, when she ‘returned all my lands and property’, she returned my string of bells to my neck. I love that this adds to their story and meaning!
After that, it was time to sign the contract, followed by our witnesses, Geirleikr and Skallagrim, before cutting it in two!
Zahra had asked me to create the contract since I’ve been practicing my calligraphy, with instructions to write it twice on one page with room for signatures below both, with the intent that each of us would be able to walk away with a copy once it was cut in half. I believe she also knew that taking the time to calligraph the contract truly added to the experience. Calligraphy is a slower art, and you have time to contemplate the words very specifically, as you create them on the page, and by the time you’ve drafted your words and then calligraphed them twice, you really get in touch with them. I feel like this adds to the ‘are you taking this seriously?’ of it all, and I appreciate that.
So, after all that work to create it, she let me be the one to carefully cut it in half, reminding me to add some squiggles to make it a unique key-like match, showing the two copies as a pair.
And then Zahra gifted me with a truly handsome golden yellow necklace, adorned with a deep red teardrop jewel. This was gifted in lieu of a protégé belt, as I’d told her I don’t tend to wear belts with my persona’s garb. She included the beautiful jewel representing the blood drop that is a symbol often used in the SCA in association with service and sacrifice.
Zahra – I’d expected some kind of token, but this is SO in line with my aesthetic and persona and even my little goth heart! Thank you so much for this truly heartfelt gift! I need you to tell me more about it now that my brain isn’t so overwhelmed! Baroness Tabitta, said she taught you how to tie the individual beads on?? I need to learn these ways, because this whole thing is so well made!
After this, my *tiny* token of connection I gifted in return was a small brass bell each for Zahra and Jaida (as my now ProtoSister) – an offering of protection and joy, as the sound of bells is believed to ward off negativity, evil spirits, and to bring peace. I have duplicates of each of those bells and will be adding them to the string that I often wear, symbolizing that I’ll be carrying them with me going forward.
Adeliza then surprised me by gifting me with a ring that Rosamund had gifted her, to remind her of her oath, in hopes that it would do the same for me. I am so touched that she thought of me and gifted me with something that meant so much to her!
The ceremony ended after that and was followed by a flurry of congratulations and hugs and it all became a blur!
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Zahra, I am so grateful to you for this opportunity and for agreeing to do the ceremony with me at this demo event. We knew it’d be awkward, and it was, but it also ended up being so much more touching than I had expected. It’s not just Kool-Aid, folks, it’s friendship and support when done with the right people. You can see more of my gushing in the contract, but truly, you have been somebody I’ve admired for years and I feel so fortunate to share this experience with you.
I would also like to thank Jaida, not just for Heralding the ceremony, but for more than that. You were the one who inspired me to get involved in volunteering again after a break and connected me with some really good folk, including Zahra. I couldn’t ask for a better ProtoSister!
Geirleikr and Skallagrim, thank you so much for your support all this time, and for standing with us and joining in the ceremony as our witnesses. This weirdness is in part thanks to you both, and I am so glad you were both able to be a part of it!
Michael and Angharad, thank you so much for taking photos and helping memorialize this whole thing. I was surprised at how emotional it all was and would regret not having these to remember it by!
And I would also like to thank Camilla and Lóftr for organizing such a joyful event! I can’t imagine a better atmosphere to have shared this moment, so thank you both so much!
And all of you who chose to join us and observe this ceremony, thank you so much for taking the time to be a part of that! I hope you enjoyed a good laugh, felt the joy, and are inspired to pursue your path and help others on theirs as well!
So much to say after Ursulwyck Medieval Faire! (Part 1 because this was getting too long and we all need to go to bed sometime)
Gratitude post as Co-Steward is in the works to come out from the team shortly, so now I can turn to my personal ‘HOLY CATS DO I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS?!?” post!
This was an incredibly surreal event. Once the event started, everyone was SO happy and positive. It was bizarre when I’d just heard about the attacks on Iran on top of the rest of the deeply disturbing things going on in the world. People either hadn’t heard, or like me, we just truly needed community and this was ours so we were embracing it completely and doing our best to offer that community to any of the folk who chose to share their day with us.
And we had *so many* folk choose to share their day with us! Around 300 spectators (folk not yet SCAdians) showed up to learn from us and hopefully learn how to join us in the future, and it was so exciting to see their excitement and curiosity! And since our Seneschal had secured food trucks, folk could just pop outside to get a bite or a coffee and then choose to come back inside and explore further, and they DID! Here’s to hoping they’re hooked!
*Then* the Mexica dancers came out and did their performance. I was fighting tears and I wasn’t the only one. As messed up as it sometimes feels to put energy into our fantasy world, the fact that we’re moving it in the direction where that was a safe place for them to share their culture and for so many to openly welcome them and be moved by it, especially right now? I’m so grateful to have been there.
And as if the emotional roller coaster wasn’t enough, my protégé ceremony was scheduled for 4:00pm and my nerves were nerving as the time grew near…
(Part 2, the protégé ceremony, will be posted tomorrow – with lots of photos!)
First, I’ve had a plan to replace the main body of the A&S Champion regalia bag for some time, but this was the deadline. The original bag was made from wool, which collected all the pet hair, and it was starting to show signs of wear and tear, so I removed the existing embellishments, folded in the edges and created patches when needed, and sewed them onto a new bag I made out of linen. I then used a couple of the main pockets from the original bag to be the internal pockets so the soul of the bag is fully intact. The various embellishments have been added over the years, I believe by previous Champions, and I wanted that to all live on.
I made my first ever donation to the dessert auction, 25 Chocolate Covered Cherries with Hazelnut, and they went for far more than I could have hoped, and I was asked to make a second batch so the second bidder could *also* make their donation and get a set of chocolates, so that’s in my future! I also won a bid for some Espresso Brownies, but forgot to photograph those before they made it into bellies!
Shortly after I walked into the event, my friend Camilla Valerian surprised me with this perfect set of jewelry she made me to go with my mourning gown project! I am so excited to debut this, it’s helping give me to gumption to move to the next part of that project! Thank you, Camilla!
I was also able to finish up painting my first handful of charters in a very long time and got them submitted to Their Excellencies. Since they’re not unique scrolls, I’m posting them now. I’m so excited to have gotten back into this art, and to have treated myself to better tools this time!
I’m going to continue this in another post, since this one is getting quite long!
This post is a bit overdue, but it’s still worth recognizing these folk from Banner War!
First – I ran an A&S Tiny Talks for War Points and these folk took the opportunity to share their passion about some great topics. Our Newcomer Site-Walk landed some newcomers in the audience, too, so this worked out as a good, quick introduction to some A&S, a bit like speed-dating different topics!
Elewyn verch Emrys – block printing
Eibhlin inghean Sheain – Mancala (game)
Sybil of Aquaterra – Lucet braiding
Gideon Hrafensfuri – wood carving scrolls
Adeliza a Donyng – Being a feast steward
4 out of 5 of these were House Hrafensheim, so they won 8 of the 10 points available! Thank you to everyone who taught and to those who joined us to witness!
Also, I’d like to thank some folk who helped with setting up my day shade near the main hall so the barony could offer our visiting royals a place of their own if they needed it. Unfortunately, the paper with names got a bit wet (thank you Banner War!) so I’m doing my best here:
Kanin Gustafsson (Vickers)
Em??? Hagelin (Tomislav)
Conan Wulfson (Patrick)
Ulfrikr Agiso (Drew)
Egan? Swine Bane (Jhonathan)
Margun Mor??ssen (Logan)
During tear down after the potluck, I missed some folk’s names in the rush, though I know we had at least one person return from setup, and Sarah Pixie and her husband Phil (SCA name?) joined in the efforts. Thank you so much for helping late on Saturday so that canvas didn’t need to be dried after the event!
If anyone can help clarify the names above, I’d greatly appreciate it!
It’s taken some time to sort my thoughts and feelings after the spectacular weekend at Ursulmas 2025, but I wanted to thank everyone who came to the event and helped put on one of the best demo events around! I especially am grateful for everyone on the event team that stepped up to bring this incredible event to you for another year!
I had many folk stop to tell me what a wonderful event this was, but I want to be sure folk know that’s entirely due to the team that came together. I was going to try to name each and every one of them, but realize how long that post would be! It takes a good portion of our barony to manage all the aspects of the demo, but also MANY hands from across the Kingdom stepped up as well.
Special thanks are due to these individuals who went above and beyond, taking on a lot of the work load of event coordinating:
Aquaterra’s Master of Stables, Lóftr Jólgeirson, our MIC for the event, was able to manage a larger part of wrangling the marshallate side of things than I deserved.
Jaida al-Sahrawiyyamanaged our pre-reg, merchant registration, lists, and volunteer sign-ups as well as providing a fresh eye and listening ear when I needed it. She also managed some pre-event advertising events, bringing folk together in garb to hand out flyers and entice folk to join us.
Our Seneschal, Camilla Valerian, handled all the negotiations with the site and other suppliers, both before the event and during, especially handling the news of the Grandstands’ restrooms with as much grace as possible when I found myself a bit speechless!
Michael Todd, our baronial Herald, not only ran the Heralds’ table on site, but took on art and advertising in advance AND did a LOT of the pre-event posting to help folk get excited and helped immensely with staying on top of communications on social media!
Jann of Creativity Works and Ruth Simmons Blair of Keltic Craze also both stepped up to fill in when our Merchant Coordinator was unable to make it to site until later in the setup day, ensuring the merchants could move ahead with setup without too many hiccups.
I also want to give a special thank you to Umble (Scott Humphries) andAthelyna de Oldenfeld for loaning me the use of their trailer and heater so I could stay on site when other plans didn’t work out. This meant we could stay within the SCA requirements without the Seneschal or myself sleeping in the cold. Their trailer was a lovely little oasis!
And finally, one more personal thank you to Little Byrd (Shaun Hagen) who was our on-site caretaker. He went around site checking on all the folk who didn’t have somebody else already looking after them, me included, since so many of our volunteers stay tied to their areas for the full event, or just get too busy, and don’t make it to the Green Room for the volunteers’ food. Having the self-care reminder was incredibly helpful!
I love what we accomplished together this year, but I am also hopeful for the future, hopeful that we’ll find a new site that will offer new possibilities!
Sabina di Zorzi 