An interview from Linuxwitch

[mmcnealy]

An Interview From linuxwitch

for the Lady Marion

1) What is your favorite season, and why?

I would have to say that Fall is my favorite time of year. The weather is warm and cold, there's this delightful crispness to the air. It just feels like a season of new beginnings to me, probably too many years spent going to school. ;) But I just love Fall and being able to wear my wool sweaters again.

2) What spiritual faith fascinates you the most (you don't necessarily have to practice/observe it)?

Catholicism. I am Protestant but grew up around Catholics and have had several good family friends who were Catholics. When I am on trips and looking to get grounded in my surroundings I search out the old churches and pray. The rituals and the artwork really inspire me. I think that when the Reformation happened the Protestant movement lost a lot of the mysteriousness that is part of Christianity, or maybe its the Northern European rational no nonsence way of thinking.

3) If you could have tea with anyone in history, who would it be?
Desiree Bernadotte, Queen of Sweden in the early 1800's. She was actually engaged to Napoleon before he left for Paris where he ditched her for Josephine. She ended up marrying Jean-Baptist Bernadotte, a marshal of France, who was asked by Sweden to be their heir-apperent. He ended up combining with Russia and Napoleon's enemies and brining him down. She was not this incrediable beauty, but was appearently an interesting woman. There's a historical novel about her life called Desiree, well worth the read.

4) If you had to pick ONE style/garment to make and could ONLY make that for the rest of your costuming days, what would it be?

Just one? ONE!! *wimper* *wimper* One?
Oh alright, late period German, which is what I already do.
I really find it fascenating, there are so many influences on the styles, (Spanish, Flemish, Italian) and yet the styles are disticntly their own, there's a definite German stamp to them. I also like the headresses! ;)
Plus, there is TONS of period documentation, woodcuts, paintings and Germans love to write things down, even ordinary things like the contents of poor trademen's closets when they died. It sure makes it easier to know what they were wearing on a day to day basis when they mention everything even the worn out stuff.

5) What other A&S Skill would you like to learn and why?

There are so many skills that I want to learn, but probably Period Silver and Gold smithing ranks up at the top.
I took a class in how to do it using modern tools, and I would like to learn how to do it using period techniques, I like the look of the old stuff better than the newer stuff anyway.

Comments

[shipbrook.livejournal.com]

Hooray, somebody else who feels the same way I do about rituals!

I was raised Methodist, but I found myself fascinated by the Anglican and Catholic rites. When ginevra_viscont and I got married, and decided on a period wedding, I pushed for basing it on the Sarum Rite matrimonial ceremony (http://www.shipbrook.com/wedding/matrimonium.html). (We compromised on a greatly excerpted form, without a Mass, with parts translated into English out of compassion for both the minister and the guests.)

I don't know about anyone else, but for me it just made it so much more mystical and powerful.

[mmcnealy.livejournal.com]

I think that rituals add structure to ones religious life and help you to stay focused and balanced in this crazy world.
Sometimes I think that modern Christianity threw the baby out with the bathwater when they rejected the rituals of the old Church. Its not all bad, just pieces of it, I don't believe in Saint worship, but I do think that having set times to say prayers and following a calendar of readings helps one to stay focused. I am still working on this in my personal life, I certainly don't do everything that I would like to, but I do have a goal.

I really need to work on learning the standard creeds of the church. I know the Lord's prayer and have memorized quite a bit of scripture in the past, but I don't know the Apostles Creed or the Nicene creed by heart. We say them in church occasionally, but it isn't often enough to have memorized them.

That is such a great idea for your wedding ceremony, we didn't do anything in Latin, but we had a church wedding with a couple of old touches, including singing our favority hymns during the service and having scripture read by the parents.

[sarahbellem.livejournal.com]

Count me in as another Protestant who is drawn to the "Old Faith". For me, it's the romance of the church, the antiquity of it, the lavishness, the beauty, the sheer sumptuousness of the rituals. The archetecture and music are also big draws for me. On a fundemental level, I don't agree with some of the core Catholic church issues (iconography for one), but I can appreciate them as being vestiges of a more primitive and ancient form of worship that predates Christianity.

I guess this makes me an aesthetic Catholic, right? ;)