Houses in the SCA

In the Society for Creative Anachronism, a "House" is a semiofficial association of individual SCA members. "Houses" are like small clubs or sub-organizations within the SCA; each tends to have its own theme involving the time period and region from which its members' SCA personas originate. Each House also tends to perform or be involved in a specific kind of activity -- some Houses specialize in brewing, cooking or craftwork; others specialize in the SCA war games -- heavy fighting, light fighting, archery and so on.

Here are a few sample houses, ones that I have dealt with here in the Kingdom of An Tir:

• House Medubi -- This fine House specializes in music, particularly when it comes to drumming. There is nothing finer than waking up to the sound of drums and dijeridoos, strange as that may sound.
• House Arugula -- Members of this House are famed for their drinking ability, and for their skill at the game of Tablero... mind you, those two things tend to go hand in hand...
• The Lost Sons of Davion -- A mobile House; a band of pirates led by one Captain Blackheart. Lock up your daughters and lock up your gold...
• House D'Niall -- An all-female, all-dangerous House...
• House Kurva -- My own House; I am a founding member and serve as Ambassador to other Houses. We specialize in Eastern European food, with a bit of intelligence-gathering and social engineering on the side. We usually camp next to House Medubi, since we love their drums. The meaning of the name of the House is a secret... unless you know the right language, that is.

Not all houses in the SCA are based around themes and activities. Sometimes all the members share in common is the desire to camp and event together. (This is not to be laughed at, it's very helpful when you forget your corkscrew, or run out of propane for your stove.)

Contrary to what seems to be a common belief, secret passwords, common dress or activities, or shared styles are not needed to form a household. (It's said in the SCA that a household is any gathering of people who claim they are one.)