The Order of the Azure Rose

     In most cases, the Renaissance and historical re-creationist and reenactor subculture get on well with one another, building friendships and even seeing each other at multiple events throughout their season travels.Some of these relationships fade quietly away, some continue in spite of distance and some remain closely connected through continuous regular interactions. And some part ways under less than pleasant circumstances.

     The Order recently experienced the latter in the form of a severed alliance that has become quite ugly of late. In a desire to assist another organization with the establishment of a local Renaissance event, our guild became entrenched in an organization whose director has as his goal to create dissention and division through manipulation, threats and rumors. His goal was, and is, to absorb other guilds and individuals to comform to his personal agenda, and if they refuse or later stand up to disagree with him, he attempts to derail their progress or destroy them.

     It very nearly happened to the Azure Rose. We were befriended by a man and his family several years ago when they were merely merchants at an event we happened to both be participating in. Our encampment looked great, a lot of hard work, and he liked what he saw, and wanted it for himself. He first befreinded, then acted in a "rescuer" role, then, much later, became a bully and a dictator. He attempted to absorb our guild, attempting to dismantle it when we resisted in giving up our individuality and personal vision. Little did we know just how vitriolic and childish his and his group members' behaviors would become. That seemingly harmless friendship almost cost us our guild, our other friendships, and even damaged the bond of trust between a husband and a wife, all through the use of passive-agressive bullying and use of unsubstantiated rumors. Now that our organization is free of his clutches, we are punished for it by a continued barrage of rumors and interference with our professional relationship with an event we participated in until this year. He threatened the director of that event with pulling out in the middle of the day, during open hours, if he found out we were participating as a guild. When some of our group went in as paying customers, he and his people made a big scene, shutting down their booths, forcing the director to ask us to leave, surrounding us and trying to herd us out the gate. We had already had a private conversation with the director and had agreed to accept refunds and leave quietly, but not before some merchants nearby saw what transpired and became upset with the event for responding to the man's threat the way they did. Not only did it make the event look as though it treated patrons poorly, they lost money we would have spent at their booths. The director stated that she cannot handle this type of thing anymore, and is not sure she ever wants to have the event in the future. One upset merchant said she may not come back to vend that event in the future.

   This man and his group bullies events he participates in by threatening to pack up his entire encampment in the middle of an event that is open to the public if he sees anyone from our group at them. When he tried to pull this with the owner of the land who allowed his group to host faires there, the owner stated that no one tells him who he can or cannot have on his land. So the angry guild master pulled his events off the land owner's property. The land owner didn't cave to his demands; instead, he stood up for what he knew to be the right thing, even though it meant no Ren faires on the land from that org. It cost him nothing to refuse the ultimatum, since there are other events held there throughout the year. This man also repeatedly created problems for another Ren faire in another state, steamrolling over the directors during morning meetings, threatening violence to another performer when one of his own members was caught red-handed stealing from the other performer during his act, and waking up the entire faire after bedtime because he was annoyed at a car alarm. He stormed through the campground, screaming, "God damn it, if I can't sleep, then by God, neither is anyone else!" He then went through the event trying to find the car owner, and he did-but not before creating an unnecessary disturbance.

     The point of all this is that we, as guilds, event directors, performers and merchants, should always take the high road when it comes to people like this man. Do not cave in to threats and demands; say, "Pack up your second-hand circus, you're fired; you can be replaced." It is very difficult not to react when someone posts rumors and untruths about us in a public forum such as Facebook or at an event, with the intent to elicit a negative reaction. These kind of people forget the Threefold Law, the Law of Intent. If you commmit to an act with the clear intent to cause harm, it will eventually come back on you three times worse. He should remember this. Since he began his smear campaign, members of his group have drifted away or resigned outright, not wishing to be a part of the harm he is committing himself to doing out of envy, pride and wrath. His group was not invited to participate in future events in the other state, and he gave up an event venue out of spite and wrath. Word of his reputation for intolerance, bullying, threatening and issuing ultimatums to event directors is traveling ahead of him on the circuit, and I forsee a dim future for him and anyone who participates with him in his vendetta. Jealousy is a dragon; it will consume whatever it can, but usually ends up getting burned by its own fire.

     The best way to slay a dragon? First, don't feed it. Second, stand up to it; do the right thing, even if it is difficult. Third, go about life as if you are not affected by it, and eventually, it will shrink away. This type of dragon feeds on intimidation and fear, and spews forth threats and lies. Someday, it will burn itself out, or burn itself to death.