[tirrigh-heralds] Ceremonial creation process

Fri Jun 8 19:39:01 PDT 2007

Great comments Yolande Silver Pillar!

Ongoing committee: There's an interesting name the Standing Ceremonial
Committee

Acceptance: I think that we're on the same page here. If a person writes a
ceremony, that ceremony needs to be accepted as right and proper by some set
of people in the Principality. Who exactly comprises that set is a matter of
debate. My proposal lists exactly who those positions are, specifically the
ceremonial committee and the Coronet.

Currently, to get acceptance, one would have to talk to...well, I'm not
sure. The Coronet certainly. Silver Yale? Seems like a good choice being the
chief heraldic officer of the Principality, but I don't recall many
ceremonies coming to my doorstep for review. Tir Righ Court Herald? Head of
Retinue? Court Liaison? Heavily involved Royal Peer?

These are what are being answered. If someone wants to have direct input
into the process, get on the committee. Or failing that, talk to someone on
the committee. Or write the ceremony and submit it to the committee. Or, of
course, win Coronet. :)

The right of anyone to write a ceremony: I don't think that we're in actual
disagreement here. I believe that anyone should have the right to write a
ceremony and submit it to the ceremonial committee. This is how we can sell
the idea of getting involved in this process to those people in Tir Righ who
may have great ideas but may not have connections with the court itself.
This is also who to get people involved in our work, find, and recruit new
people to help us.

That person's ceremony will then be reviewed by the committee. No one gets
to place words in the mouth of the Coronet. However, anyone with ideas,
suggestions, or input will then have this avenue available to put their
great energy to work in helping the Principality!

Court patrons: Definition - someone who attends a court. The idea is that we
get many different views from many different perspectives. The perspective
of being on the throne is way different than being the herald than being the
court reporter than watching the court and so on.

- Quentin Silver Yale

-----Original Message-----
From: collegeofheralds-bounces at tirrigh.org
[mailto:collegeofheralds-bounces at tirrigh.org] On Behalf Of Laura Offley
Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2007 10:53 AM
To: collegeofheralds at tirrigh.org
Subject: Re: [tirrigh-heralds] Ceremonial creation process

Greetings from Yolande,

I like this idea of an ongoing Ceremonial Committee, not just one that does
the work once and is disbanded. The Ceremonial is a fluid, ever-changing
creature, yet is full of history and traditions that we don't want to loose.
A regular group of people working on it is a good idea.

Quentin wrote:
"That drawback is how do we know if that ceremony is good, sufficient,
correct, and accepted by the Principality?"

A ceremonial does not need to be accepted by the Principality. Sure, it
should be good, sufficient, and correct. But accepted? Maybe I'm missing
your point here.

Quentin wrote:
"In order to add, delete, or change a ceremony in the official Tir Righ
ceremonial, someone comes forward with a ceremony to add, wordings to
change, or the call to delete a ceremony from the ceremonial. Anyone can do
this. If Viscountess Amanda wants a change in the ceremonial, this is what
she does. If John the Great Newcomer wants to write a ceremony to be
evaluated for the ceremonial, he can do so!" 

I disagree with this. Anyone does not, and should not, have the power nor
the right to do this.

One very important thing needs to be remembered - that the Ceremonies are
the word of the Coronet. Just as Heralds are the voice of the Coronet. I
have a problem with John the Great Newcomer coming up and wanting to change
the words of the Coronet. It is not his right to do so. And respectfully,
neither is it the right of a Royal Peer. The only ones that can do that are
the Royals. Certainly anyone can make suggestions, but the committee would
be there to vet the suggestions and then present the changes to the Royals
for acceptance or not. I'm hoping this is what you meant.

As for who makes up the committee, Quentin mentions Court Patrons. Do you
mean Royal Patrons? Otherwise, I don't know what a Court Patron is.

This idea of an ongoing Ceremonies Committee should be made first to Their
Highnesses to see if They are in agreement with having a Ceremonial
Committee (I don't see why They wouldn't agree - it's more a matter of
principle). Once Their permission is gained, then a formal proposal can be
written, along with a list of names for committee members and submitted to
Them for final approval. 

Yolande (who is *extremely* reluctant to take on any more work, but who
really is interested from a retinue perspective . . .)

Quentin Martel wrote: 

	Greetings unto the College of Heralds of Tir Righ from Quentin
Silver Yale!

	One of our duties as a College of Heralds is to provide the Coronet
with a ceremonial. This ceremonial is the default ceremonial that the
Coronet can use should They so choose or if They would prefer not to write
Their own ceremony from scratch. Additionally for those Coronets who want to
write Their own ceremonies, we still need to provide support and guidance to
Their efforts.

	The process of making a ceremonial for the Principality has been
ongoing by many, many hands for my entire tenure as Silver Yale. Many
ceremonies have been written, some have been used, but all of them suffer
from one major drawback. That drawback is how do we know if that ceremony is
good, sufficient, correct, and accepted by the Principality?

	In order to answer this question, I am proposing that we endorse and
enact the following process.

	We create a ceremonial committee. This committee is comprised of 5
members: Silver Yale, the Tir Righ Court Herald (or another staff herald if
there is no Court Herald) and 3 at large members. I would like the committee
to be as diverse as possible. Both genders represented, Royal Peers, people
who have served as a Landed Baron or Baroness, Court patrons, Retinue
members, and so on. This committee needs to be familiar with what works for
a ceremony from many different perspectives.

	That committee will make a list of requirements for our ceremonies.
Here is my starting list:

	A Tir Righ ceremony must

	- Honor all Principality, Kingdom, and Society traditions

	- Perform the ceremony it claims

	- Be easy to perform

	- Be neither too quick nor too long

	- Take into account positions of those involved

	- Have people make proper entrances and exits

	- Be performable even if major artifacts are missing

	In order to add, delete, or change a ceremony in the official Tir
Righ ceremonial, someone comes forward with a ceremony to add, wordings to
change, or the call to delete a ceremony from the ceremonial. Anyone can do
this. If Viscountess Amanda wants a change in the ceremonial, this is what
she does. If John the Great Newcomer wants to write a ceremony to be
evaluated for the ceremonial, he can do so!

	The committee gets between 2 weeks and a month to evaluate the
ceremony. A simple majority vote is needed to get the committee's
recommendation. If it passes the committee, the ceremony is sent to the
Coronet for Thier approval. If the Coronet approves, the ceremony is added
to the Tir Righ ceremonial.

	Note that this doesn't stop the Coronet from using Their preferred
ceremony. Rather it gives our Coronet the solid backdrop of a consistent and
agreed upon ceremonial that They can use as They see fit. Also, this
ceremonial can have multiple different ceremonies that do the same thing,
just in different ways.

	What this does give us is an agreed upon process to make our
ceremonies official. Rather than having to get buy off from everyone, we
have a body that is designed to evaluate our ceremonies, charged with the
responsibility to do so, and given the power to carry out that job.

	This is my proposal to the College. Please let me know what you
think!

	- Quentin Silver Yale

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