Keep it Esoteric

As Sexson said the very first day of class, this class is esoteric, for elite people so we have to keep the information inside. He also informed us that we have entered the ski class because time flies while we are discussing. More importantly, lets get down to business.



The Important Stuff:


The Art of Memory p. 113 - Peter of Rivena and The Phoenix


"Peter gives practical advice. When discussing the rule that memory loci are to be formed in quiet places he says that the best type of building to use is an unfrequented church. He describes how he goes round the church he has chosen three or four times, committing the places in it to memory. He chooses his first place near the door; the next, five or six feet further in; and so on. As a young man he started with one hundred thousand memorised places, but he has added many more since then."






With this we have been instructed to find our own unfrequented church by which to aid or memorization and we were introduced to two methods of memory: location and image.

The Nine Muses and their mother Mnemosyne (memory):


1) Calliope (heroic or epic poetry)
2) Clio (history)
3) Erato (lyric or love poetry)
4) Euterpe (music or flutes)
5) Melpomene (tragedy)
6) Polyhymnia (sacred poetry or mime)
7) Terpsichore (dancing and choral song)
8) Thalia (comedy)
9) Urania (astronomy)