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Black Quill
Issue 33
May/June/03 AS XXXVI
Shire of Ravensweir
Quesnel BC
Cerridwen's Concoctions
Greetings good gentles of Ravensweir,
Spring Murder is now past us...PHEW!!!! Jobs well done and I think everyone had a great times. Thank you to all those that helped out......HL Robert, HL Sigrid, Lady Rowena, Milord Erik, Milday Lasilana, Milord Nickolai, Milord Otto, Lady Rowan and anyone else that I might have missed. HUZZAH!! to you all.
Next event...Clinton!!!!! After that Sept Ithra which HL Sigrid is working har with Baroness Amanda arranging. I have talked to Lord Warraw and Lord Gowan about an armor making workshop....they are amiable to a Saturday evening...which we would combine with a tavern and potluck night.......details to be worked out, but it will be sometime after Clinton. The feast gear regalia that we supplied was a big hit......several good gentles were heard commenting on asconding with the lot *lol. Erik has finished one of the spoons and they look fabulous and hopefully I'll be able to take then along when I attend Coronation.
Have I fotgotten anything..hmm highly likely but I'm sure someone will remind me *grin.
In Merry Service
HL Cerridwen Maelwedd
From the Chronicler
Greetings Faire Gentles of Ravensweir,
Summer is upon us and once again it is tourney season. Spring Murder has just ended and Clinton if ust around the corner. First let me mention how much fun I had at Spring Murder. The boats were a huge hit as were the sea-narios. I hope that everyone had fun and remembered to wear their sunscreen. A special thank you to HL Sigrid and HL Robert who have once again outdone with their tireless skills, and their endless imaginations. Their contributions from biffy skylights to sea-narios have made events in this Shire unique to say the least. Thank you to every one that helped out with the event, either before, during or after. Just to mention a few of the deeds that stand out in my mind in my mind. Milord Erik did a wonderful job with the Assassination games even with all the heart ache that went with it. Milady Nicholai you have been bored without you. Lady Rowan thank you for the treat of dance, I look foreward to seeing it again. Milord Otto thank you for your help with site prep and clean-up. (Just bewtween you and me I wouldn't sing so much if you didn't nag me too.) I promise I will try to find some new songs. I would like to personally thank everyone who gave me an extra set of eyes where Eskya was concerned. I know I am probably forgetting some one or even several someone's and I am sorry but after the weekend my brain feels a little numb. I hope to see everyone at Clinton....don't forget the sunscreen and the gatorade
YIS
Lady Rowena (Dragon's Bane) Skerlenger
From the Waterbearer
Greetings
Man, am I bear!!! Oh, sorry---- that should be...I'Faith, fatguw iverwhelmes me!!!
What a great even! I am so proud of those that worked so hard to bring it off so well
Lady Rowena -- best gate keeper in the known worlde.
Lasilana -- biffy painter extraordinaire.
Nickolai -- distracter of smalls and excellent cannibal leader.
Erik and Gwydion -- for sauch a well-run list.
Arilyn and Otto -- for all their help on site.
Lord Warraw -- for his wonderful auctioneering skills.
HE Aveloc -- for teching out fighters a few new tricks.
HL robert for those wonderous ships.
Lady Rowena and out wonderful belly-dancers who never fail to entertain us.
Eskya -- for all the running around.
And my co-conspirator HL Cerridwen for all her help.
We should have a few more events like that(sigh). It's probably kill us, but at least we'd go happy.
YIS
Sigrid
Eskya's Corner
Webminister's Note: Due to publications problems Eskya's Corner could not be published on the website this newsletter.
Lamenting with Lasilana
Salutations Gentlefolk,Br>
Another tourney season is before us. Ah, how I love the summer - the weather, the vacation time... the outdoor events!
Now is a great time to become more involved with you shire. Outdoor events, like all events, take a great deal of time and effort. There are many things that need to be done in order for an event to run smoothly. Help is always always appreciated and needed so don't be afraid to offer. Sites nee to be cleaned up, set up and scenarios planned, of if you have some free time or some ideas please offer your assistance.
Outdoor event are a great time to introduce newcomers to the S.C.A. My first event was Spring Murder two year ago. It was at that first event that I fell in love with the Society for Creative Anachronism.
Between the bardic, the championships, the tents and flags swaying in the breeze, the smell of Lady Rowena's stew boiling on the fire... well needless to say I became involved and t is this time of year that you reminds me the most what the S.C.A. is all about. If you know someone who is interested or might be interested in the S.C.A., invite them to an event.
This is also a great time to remind ourselves about the proper etiquette of an event, always leave the site as it was before you came. In summer remember plenty of liquids and sun screen and most importantly have fund.
Lasilana MacGowan
Pysanky
Pysanky and pysanka, the singular form, are derived from a Ukrainian word meaning "to write". Pysanky are whole raw eggs which have been decorated with a complicated waz-resistant method whereby on draws (or "writes," as Ukrainians would say) those portions of the designs one wishes to be white with melted max on the plain, white egg.
A small, hollow funnel attached to a stick is often used to heat up the wax and write with. This tool is called a kistka. One then dips the egg in a light colored dye-yellow, for instance-and writes those designs that are intended to be yellow. Another darker sye bath is followed by more writing, and so on till the entire design in its several colors is on the egg. One then heats the egg, often in the flame of a candle, and wipes the melted wax off it. This is the finished pysanka.
Pysanky are typically made in order to be given to family members and repsected outsiders. To give a pysanka is to give a symbolic gift of life, which is why the egg must remain entire. Futhermore, each of the designs and color on the pysanka is likely to have a deep, symbolic meaning. Traditionally, pysanky designs are chosen to match the character of the person to whom the pysanka is to be given.
Pysanka are traditionally made during the last week of Lent, Holy Week in the Catholic and Orthodox calenders. (Both faiths are represented in Ukraine.) They are then taken to the church on Easter Sunday to be blessed, after which they are given away. Typically, pysanky are displayed prominently in a public roo of the house. Many Ukraine-American families of my acquaintance keep their pysanky, some of which may be as thirty years old, made by persons now deceased, in an oversized brandy snifter in the living room.
Pysanky carry deep layers of religious meaning for Ukrainians, many believe that evey time a woman makes a pysanka, the devil is pushed fartherown into captivity, and conversly, that when the last woman to make pysanky stops doing so, evil woll reign triumphant in the world.
Eggs are the symbol of the Earth, of nature. Giving off eggs is known to have been used in Pre-Christian ceremonies symbolizing the the beginning of Spring. With the advent of Christianity this symbolism changed to the rebirth of man, and therefor Christ.
There are many legends revolving around Ukrainian Easter Eggs, otherwise known as Pysanky. Urkrainian people have always believed that once a Pysaky has been blessed it conatins talisman like powers that aid in blessing and health. They are beilieved to be good omens and help keep bad spirits out of the home and out of ones life.
Originally the eggs were decorated and given in Pagen ceremonies and rites as blessings symbolizing rebirth and new beginnings. In fact many of the symbols widely seen on the eggs are pagen in nature. Even the colors used on Pysanka are symbolic. Stars, moons, flowers, even pentagrams are used to sybolize everything from fertility to blessings. The colors chosen can range from black and white, to reds and greens and yellows, but whatever pattern is chosen you can be sure that there are several meaning begind them.
Pysanka predate Chritianity by roughly five-hundres years and was a wide spread tradition by 1100 A.D. It is a tradition that has swept the Ukraine and as the Ukrainian people moved, immigrated and relocated so did the tradition. It is an art form that is still widely practiced, infact there are museums dedicated to nothing but the art of Pysanka, one in Vegreville, Canada and another in New Mexico on the United States.
Much thanks to the Pysaka Home page and The Ukrainian Daughters Handbook for aid in my research.
Lasilana Trifunova MacGowan
Shakespearian Insult Kit
To contruct a Shakespearian insult, combine one word from wach of the three columns below, and preface it with "Thou".
Colum 1 Column 2 Column 3
reeky plume-plucked miscreant
roguish pttle-deep moldwarp
ruttish pox-marked mumble-news
saucy reeling-ripe nut-hook
spleeny rough-hewn pigeon-egg
spongy rude-growning pignut
surly rump-fed puttok
tottering shard-borne pumpion
unmuzzled sheep-biting ratsbane
vain spur-galled skainsmate
villainous tardy-gaited strumpet
warped tickle-brained varlet
wayward toad-spotted vassal
weedy unchin-snouted whey-face
yeasty weather-bitten wagtail.
I sure that you have enjoyed reading these unique insults but I hope that you enjiy using then as well. Noting makes people stop and ponder better than using original insults. If you must insult someone at least look intelligent doing it.
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