[MR] FW: suprise elevations

[Derrick Solomon]

 forwarded by request:



-----Original Message-----
From: sheltons at sysmatrix.net [mailto:sheltons at sysmatrix.net] 
Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 1:25 PM
To: Derrick Solomon
Subject: Re: [MR] suprise elevations

Your Grace, would you forward this to the Rose...I cannot do so from
here.

Thanks

Anne

Good Gentles,

Mistress Johanna brings up a valid point.  I cannot speak for the
others, but in the Order of the Pelican, we try to have a member act as
a mentor for those candidates who do not have a peer and usually have a
member as Order liason if the candidate has a Peer who is not a Pelican.
My husband and I had the honor of serving in such a capacity for Johanna
as we have known her since college days long before the SCA.  I knew of
her pride in her German heritage and therefore knew that she would love
to see reminders of that on the day.  She assured me at the time that we
got that right.

The point is that in general, someone knows the candidate well and
should know their wishes.  This includes whether a surprise will enhance
the experience or be to their detriment.  I am not someone who relishes
intense spotlight or uncertainty and therefore I am extremely reluctant
to be surprised.  The Monarchs who elevated me to the Order were aware
of this and I received private notice of their intent to call me to
vigil...just before that court.  I cannot say that this notice harmed my
level of wonder.  I remember being giddy all through court and well into
my vigil.  I was elevated three weeks later at Coronation which allowed
me to calm down enough to prepare my heart and allowed for me to arrange
for some events that were extremely meaningful to me.  I had the perfect
experience for ME.

Since then, I have had the pleasure to see one student of mine elevated.

Mistress Emma assured me that she liked surprises and wanted the
Atlantian tradition.  So, the only option I could find to make that
happen and to balance the surprise with the perfect setting was to begin
the tradition of the chest of gifts.  We discussed her likes and
dislikes and I commissioned a chest and began to order and make things
for her eventual elevation.  This allowed me not to overburden Master
Craftsmen and allowed me not to worry that my duties as Seneschal would
preclude me having things ready.  This may sound presumptious to
some...but to be a protege is to be on the path...if ultimately, she had
NOT been elevated, there would be no more harm than to have wonderful
12th Night gifts in hand.  I continue that tradition of the chest in my
House today.

That being said, it is our responsibility as peers to advise the Crown
as to what really will best serve a candidate.  However, it is our
station to realize that after we advise, it is the Crown's decision.  I
have found it the rare instance indeed when a Crown did not weigh
heavily counsel of a peer.  It did not happen in my case, nor in Emma's.

In service.

Anne le Coeur

>  i think all monarchs are aware of that.  in my case if the candidate 
> didn't have a peer we would go to their significant other or a friend 
> to find out who would be best to co-ordinate the elevation with us.
>
> regards
> logan
>