Hip, hip huzzah! I'm on my way to another Pennsic War! Next week I'll be boarding a plane and flying across the country to spend two and a half weeks camping with 13,000+ of my closest friends! I can hardly wait!

Since I had to get creative with my transportation plans this year, I wanted to share them (in case this helps anyone else). Because gas is so outrageously expensive these days, I decided to fly rather than drive. (It would have cost about $1500 round trip to drive, whilst my plane tickets are only $375.) Ok, one challenge solved, but how to get my gear there?

A friend recommended Jim Myer's storage (which is a mere 5 miles outside the Pennsic campground). I decided to have my gear shipped out in advance and to store all duplicates in the storage when I'm done (so they'll be there next year). I bought most items from Amazon.com (they sell camping gear!!!) and had it shipped using Amazon Prime (which gave me free two-day shipping). I had it shipped directly to Jim's storage, where I'll pick it up once I'm in PA.

Next, I've arranged for help in carting the items from storage to camp and in setting up. My friend who is running our new camp with me will pick me up at the PA airport. We'll spend one night at a local hotel and the next night camped in the parking lot of Pennsic, ready for Land Grab Day. (My tent and bedding are already waiting at the storage unit.)

After Land Grab, we'll head over to storage to pick up everything else and come back to Pennsic to set up the camp. Once it's all over, the gear goes back to storage and I and my garb hop on a plane to head back to Las Vegas.

Oh, what we'll go through to "live the dream", lol. :) See you luckies at Pennsic next week!

~Wench Christina

P.S. Here's the number for Jim Myers Storage: (724) 924-9016

"Was I before a man who dreamt about being a butterfly, or am I now a butterfly who dreams about being a man?"
~ Chuang Tzu

"May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun
And find your shoulder to light on,
To bring you luck, happiness and riches
Today, tomorrow and beyond."
~ Irish Blessing

"Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you."
~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

"Love is like a butterfly: It goes where it pleases and it pleases wherever it goes."
~ Author Unknown

"The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough."
~ Rabindranath Tagore

"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world the master calls a butterfly."
~ Richard Bach

"We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty."
~ Maya Angelou

"The fluttering of a butterfly's wings can effect climate changes on the other side of the planet."
~ Paul Erlich

"Love is like a butterfly: hold it too tight, it'll crush, hold it too loose, it'll fly."
~ Unknown

"'Just living is not enough,' said the butterfly, 'One must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower.'"
~ Hans Christian Anderson

Greetings!
This is a website about me, "Wench Christina", my friends, my unusual hobby (Medieval reenactment) and (soon), my pirate wench Renaissance shop.

I am known to my friends as "Wench Christina". As often as possible, I attend Renaissance fairs (we call them "ren faires"), where I dress up as a "wench". (This makes me a "rennie".) I am also a member of the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism), which is a Medieval reenactment group. Within the SCA, my locale is currently the Barony of Windmasters' Hill (Raleigh area, NC), within the Kingdom of Atlantia.

This site was created and is maintained entirely by me. I use it to stay in touch with my ren friends (and to make new ones), to promote my favorite Renaissance vendors and merchants, and to share information about Medieval Re-enactment and Renaissance Faires. (This site is in no way affiliated with or sponsored by the SCA or ECS. Any tips or opinions I offer here are based upon my own research and/or experiences and should only be attempted at your own risk. *wink*)

If you love ren fairs and/or you've ever fantasized about being a knight, pirate, wench, lord or lady in the Middle Ages or Renaissance days, I hope you find something here that helps you live your dream.

~Wench Christina

The Word "Wench"
The word "wench" was originally not pejorative (it did not have negative connotations). It simply meant "young woman" (usually not a noble woman), and was probably Medieval slang, similar to saying "chick" today.

The Yahoo (ahem) Thesaurus, defines wench as: "A vulgar promiscuous woman who flouts propriety" and suggested synonyms include: "baggage, hussy, jade, slattern, slut, tart, tramp, wanton, whore and floozy". (Who came up with that—a bunch of yahoos?)

According to the World Book dictionary, wench is short for "wenchel", which in Middle English meant "child". They define wench as "a girl or young woman", "a woman servant" (such as a "kitchen wench"), "any girl considered as belonging to the class of workers or peasants: a buxom country wench", and "archaic: a wanton woman". (Author's Note: It is probable that an additional descriptive would have preceded the word "wench" if "wanton woman" were meant, such as "light wench", "common wench" or "wanton wench".)

A "pirate wench" is a wench who also happens to be a pirate (not to be confused with a "pirate's wench", which is a wench belonging to a pirate—sortof like a pirate's girlfriend, one would hope).

When used as a verb ("I went wenching last weekend"), the word means "to seek out and consort with wenches". This means both rogues and wenches can wench, regardless of their orientation. ("A' wenching we will go! A' wenching we will go!...")

According to a back article in Renaissance Magazine, wenches "just want to have fun" and the word wench is an acronym meaning: Women Entitled to Nights of Continual Happiness. (Guys, you're taking notes, right?)

Today, the word "wench" has saucy, flirtatious, joyful connotations. It's typically used in ren and Medieval gatherings not as an insult, but rather as slang ("hey wench!" instead of "hey chickie!", for instance), and to distinguish a woman who is not portraying a conservative noble (lords, ladies, rogues or pirates, and wenches are common ren personas). One would not, for instance, call the Queen a wench (except in private, if one were on very, very intimate terms with the Queen).

Often women will label themselves a wench and there is even an International Wenches Guild which currently boasts more than 2000 presumably saucy tarts (the hussies!). Using the title "wench" has become a modern liberation for women who wish to describe themselves as confident, independent, fun, flirtatious, bold, unreserved, and irrepressible.

Huzzah to the wenches!

What's With The Butterflies...?
I use a butterfly as my unofficial (currently) heraldic device within the SCA. (You can think of a device like a logo.) It's still unofficial in part because I'm still refining the exact butterfly design I will use. Associating myself with butterflies helps others to find and identify me at large events (particularly when we may have only met online previously). It all started when someone in my barony nicknamed me "the barony butterfly", I liked it, and it stuck. (How exactly I earned the nickname, I'll relate at another time...perhaps...)

Traditionally, butterflies have symbolized "metamorphosis, total transformation, a need for change and/or greater freedom, rebirth, regeneration, growth, transcendence, immortality". According to scientific research, butterflies are the only living things capable of completely changing their genetic structure (when they change from caterpillars to butterflies). Those attracted to butterflies are often undergoing (or ready to begin) a significant life transformation.

In ancient Greece, the butterfly represented the princess Psyche, who became known as "the goddess of the soul". The butterfly has become a personification of the soul, and the ancient Greek word "psyche" meant both "soul" (and now "mind") and "butterfly". Psyche is sometimes depicted with butterfly wings. In many cultures, the butterfly is associated with the soul of a dead person.

The butterfly also represents beauty and joy. In fact, I'm sure I once read that butterflies also symbolize Venus/Aphrodite, but I have since been unable to document that. (If you know of a pertinent and credible source, please share.)

To the Japanese, the butterfly symbolizes young womanhood, and two butterflies dancing about one another mean a happy marriage.

The butterfly's element is air and it corresponds to powers of the mind ("psyche").

Butterflies belong to the insect order called "Lepidoptera", (New Latin from Greek "lepid/lepis/lepein" = flake/scale + Greek "pteron" = wing).

The French word for butterfly is "papillon" and in Spanish, it's "mariposa". The Ancient Celtic word for butterfly is "dealan-dé", which also translates as "new life" (transformation), or (in Gaelic) "God's fire".