MNEMOSYNE, THE FORGOTTEN GODDESS OF ANCIENT LORE
The above-mentioned title is definitely eye-catching, but only because on a thousand to one ratio (probably even higher), the reader has not gone across this mythical Greek goddess of memory from where the phrase “mnemonic art” was derived. For those not in the know, Mnemosyne (and don’t ask this writer how this name is pronounced) is the daughter of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaia (Earth) who, in turn, was mother of the nine muses that include Epic poetry, History, Flute playing, Tragedy, etc., etc.
Greek history has it that the poet Simonides of Ceos, circa 556-468 BC, was commissioned by a rich man named Scopas in Thessaly to chant a lyric at a banquet prepared in the latter’s honor. But the former devoted only a half of his time in praise of Scopas and allotted the other half to the divine twins Castor and Pollux, which naturally infuriated the host, and who, after the delivery of the poem, paid the bard only half of what was agreed upon. This in turn, made Simonides leave the banquet hall before the merry making ended. But soonest after the poet left, the roof caved in burying all the guests. When the relatives came to take away the corpses, they could not identify the mangled bodies and so asked the legendary Simonides to help them in the identification, and with his remarkable memory, accurately recalled where each of the guests were seated and thus identified all the bodies.
And what has the above-mentioned historical note got to do with this article? Well, because Cicero, that brilliant Roman, made memory one of the five principal parts of Rhetoric, which is nothing but the art of speaking (or writing) effectively. And Rhetoric, as we all know, is the second of the seven liberal arts and sciences that was eloquently mentioned (but not explained) in the lecture of the fellowcraft degree.
Nice connection with the Craft, eh?! But how did the ancients (Simonides, preferably), practiced this art? Well, here is how Cicero explained it:
“He (meaning Simonides) inferred that persons desiring to train this faculty must select places and form mental images of the things they wish to remember and store these images in the places so that the order of the places will preserve the order of things, and the images of the things will denote the things themselves, and we shall employ the places and images respectively as a wax-writing tablet and the letters written on it.”
The above-mentioned paragraph, incidentally, basically conforms with the treatise of another Roman teacher named Quintillian who lived in AD 35-92, and who, according to history, was a great Roman authority on Rhetoric. He said:
“Think of a large building and walk through its numerous rooms remembering all the ornaments and furnishings in your imagination. Then give each idea to be remembered an image, and as you go through the building again, deposit each image in this order in your imagination. For example, if you mentally deposit a spear in the living room, an anchor in the dining room, you will later recall that you are first to speak of war, then of the navy, etc. The system still works!”
Which now gives us a backgrounder that before the art of printing came into existence, our ancient brethren must have grappled with this art memorizing our rituals the same way as Simonides and company, but it should be reasonable to assume that that procedure must have been a bane as it is now, despite the coded monitors that are now readily available at our disposal.
And so let us now tackle the present tense.
From this writer’s personal experience, it does help if the one memorizing gets into his mind the entire substance on what he is to deliver, like in the lecture of the entered apprentice degree where it is best that he recalls the steps or sequences of the things he has to memorize. And the letters that is printed in the coded monitor which signifies the starting letter of the word about to be recited is indeed a very great help to the entire lecture that had to be delivered word for word.
Let this writer now apply the art to practice..
Our statutes require proficiency by a candidate before he can be advanced to a higher degree. Thus, an entered apprentice had to memorize the catechism for the EAM degree before he can be passed, an FCM to memorize his own catechism and so on and so forth as he progress up the Masonic ladder. With the help of the coded monitor, the first letters of the word of which, were printed to serve as guide and under the watchful eye of the Worshipful Master, of course.
Advancing on the topic a little further, proficiency certificates are likewise required by either the District Deputy Grand Master, the District Grand Lecturer or the Grand Lodge Inspector from the three lights, not only on the opening and closing ceremonies but more important, on the lecture of the three degrees as applicable before every installation. And still more important, even the Grand Master at his installation, is also subjected to reiterate the master’s oath, and this no longer needs further elaboration.
Which reminds this writer of a recent installation ceremony of a Grand Lodge Inspector that was done by the District Deputy Grand Master who was assisted by the District Grand Lecturer as Master of Ceremonies. Realizing at closing time that the lights were not that proficient, the DDGM announced during the dignitaries’ hour that he will be coming back in two months’ time to reexamine the lights. Sounds fine, only, he and his Master of Ceremonies also read verbatim the monitor during the GLI installation!!
This writer can only look amused at the comic situation by paraphrasing that old country song which says: “When will we ever learn?”
Aray ko po!!
===
Note: Historical data were largely taken from a book titled “The Discovers” by Daniel J. Boorstin
The above-mentioned title is definitely eye-catching, but only because on a thousand to one ratio (probably even higher), the reader has not gone across this mythical Greek goddess of memory from where the phrase “mnemonic art” was derived. For those not in the know, Mnemosyne (and don’t ask this writer how this name is pronounced) is the daughter of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaia (Earth) who, in turn, was mother of the nine muses that include Epic poetry, History, Flute playing, Tragedy, etc., etc.
Greek history has it that the poet Simonides of Ceos, circa 556-468 BC, was commissioned by a rich man named Scopas in Thessaly to chant a lyric at a banquet prepared in the latter’s honor. But the former devoted only a half of his time in praise of Scopas and allotted the other half to the divine twins Castor and Pollux, which naturally infuriated the host, and who, after the delivery of the poem, paid the bard only half of what was agreed upon. This in turn, made Simonides leave the banquet hall before the merry making ended. But soonest after the poet left, the roof caved in burying all the guests. When the relatives came to take away the corpses, they could not identify the mangled bodies and so asked the legendary Simonides to help them in the identification, and with his remarkable memory, accurately recalled where each of the guests were seated and thus identified all the bodies.
And what has the above-mentioned historical note got to do with this article? Well, because Cicero, that brilliant Roman, made memory one of the five principal parts of Rhetoric, which is nothing but the art of speaking (or writing) effectively. And Rhetoric, as we all know, is the second of the seven liberal arts and sciences that was eloquently mentioned (but not explained) in the lecture of the fellowcraft degree.
Nice connection with the Craft, eh?! But how did the ancients (Simonides, preferably), practiced this art? Well, here is how Cicero explained it:
“He (meaning Simonides) inferred that persons desiring to train this faculty must select places and form mental images of the things they wish to remember and store these images in the places so that the order of the places will preserve the order of things, and the images of the things will denote the things themselves, and we shall employ the places and images respectively as a wax-writing tablet and the letters written on it.”
The above-mentioned paragraph, incidentally, basically conforms with the treatise of another Roman teacher named Quintillian who lived in AD 35-92, and who, according to history, was a great Roman authority on Rhetoric. He said:
“Think of a large building and walk through its numerous rooms remembering all the ornaments and furnishings in your imagination. Then give each idea to be remembered an image, and as you go through the building again, deposit each image in this order in your imagination. For example, if you mentally deposit a spear in the living room, an anchor in the dining room, you will later recall that you are first to speak of war, then of the navy, etc. The system still works!”
Which now gives us a backgrounder that before the art of printing came into existence, our ancient brethren must have grappled with this art memorizing our rituals the same way as Simonides and company, but it should be reasonable to assume that that procedure must have been a bane as it is now, despite the coded monitors that are now readily available at our disposal.
And so let us now tackle the present tense.
From this writer’s personal experience, it does help if the one memorizing gets into his mind the entire substance on what he is to deliver, like in the lecture of the entered apprentice degree where it is best that he recalls the steps or sequences of the things he has to memorize. And the letters that is printed in the coded monitor which signifies the starting letter of the word about to be recited is indeed a very great help to the entire lecture that had to be delivered word for word.
Let this writer now apply the art to practice..
Our statutes require proficiency by a candidate before he can be advanced to a higher degree. Thus, an entered apprentice had to memorize the catechism for the EAM degree before he can be passed, an FCM to memorize his own catechism and so on and so forth as he progress up the Masonic ladder. With the help of the coded monitor, the first letters of the word of which, were printed to serve as guide and under the watchful eye of the Worshipful Master, of course.
Advancing on the topic a little further, proficiency certificates are likewise required by either the District Deputy Grand Master, the District Grand Lecturer or the Grand Lodge Inspector from the three lights, not only on the opening and closing ceremonies but more important, on the lecture of the three degrees as applicable before every installation. And still more important, even the Grand Master at his installation, is also subjected to reiterate the master’s oath, and this no longer needs further elaboration.
Which reminds this writer of a recent installation ceremony of a Grand Lodge Inspector that was done by the District Deputy Grand Master who was assisted by the District Grand Lecturer as Master of Ceremonies. Realizing at closing time that the lights were not that proficient, the DDGM announced during the dignitaries’ hour that he will be coming back in two months’ time to reexamine the lights. Sounds fine, only, he and his Master of Ceremonies also read verbatim the monitor during the GLI installation!!
This writer can only look amused at the comic situation by paraphrasing that old country song which says: “When will we ever learn?”
Aray ko po!!
===
Note: Historical data were largely taken from a book titled “The Discovers” by Daniel J. Boorstin
Comments