Samhain Winter Moon
Reading a good book about memory, one that Mark Odegard, Ode, recommended, Moonwalking with Einstein. It’s an excursion into the world of memory champions, or Mental Athletes as they call themselves.
It has brought me back again to the notion of the memory palace. I first encountered this idea in The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci, a story about the first Jesuit in China by Jonathan Spence. It struck me then as important, worth pursuing, but I didn’t do it. Don’t recall why.
Now I’m thinking I may apply some of these techniques to Latin and poetry, two areas of great interest to me where memorization could make some difference.
In very brief a memory palace is any visual structure you use to “store” items you wish to remember. A memory coach in the book suggests spending several weeks developing your cache of palaces making them as gritty and as visual as you can.
In my case I chose first 419 N. Canal in Alexandria, where I lived from age 12 til age 17. I’ve gone on to recall First Methodist Church, the MIA, the Times-Tribune offices, our current home, the Walker, the streets of Alexandria, the Nicollet Mall, the Stevens Square Neighborhood and the West Bank. Any structure (doesn’t have to be a building) will work. Vegetable garden, orchard, mountains…all would work. 311 E. Monroe Street will be in there, too, as well as that neighborhood. I’ve not gotten very far along on this part, but I will.
