A most ancient and magical art
In the dim reaches of antiquity, people taught their young, conducted business and recorded their history without the benefit of a written language. Indeed, for most of human history, there was no alphabet. Even the bible was passed intact from generation to generation for a thousand years before the Hebrew people had a written language.
Before the days of writing, educated people learned just as much as they do today, if not more. However, they kept what they learned in their minds rather than on paper or computer. Their command of knowledge would make them seem like prodigies by today’s standards. However, it was not genius, but training that gave them such powerful minds.
A wonderful science of memory was well developed and commonly known in ancient times. It is all but lost today. That body of techniques is called “Mnemonics” (pronounced Neh MON iks.) Mnemonic systems were taught at an early age and built upon as a child grew. Families, clans, schools and churches had memory systems common to their members.
Learned people cultivated and developed a strong memory because it was the seat of all knowledge. Art, literature, laws, and the crafts of each occupation were all contained in the memory of the people.
One of the oldest systems of mnemonics still in use today is the imagery of the constellations. The signs of the Zodiac were actually devices to help people remember the path of the sun and planets. They were also used in ancient times as a set of hooks to remember other types of information.
The first written languages were, in fact, more akin to mnemonics than to a phonetic alphabet. These languages used commonly accepted symbols to express ideas rather than sound. Some early scripts were no doubt just a visual representation of the mnemonics already in everyday use.
Even with the coming of the written word, mnemonics remained common among the educated class. Paper was, until quite recently, a scarce commodity and far too expensive to be used for recording what one should remember anyway.
There were great treatises on mnemonics in classical times. Cicero in “The Art of Memory” described the great memory feats of Simonides of Ceos who lived in the 5th century BC. Simonides was said to have been able to remember thousands of poems. Cicero himself was highly regarded for his ability to remember the names of everyone he met. Other authors on memory included Quintilian, Socrates, Plato and Seneca.
Much later, in the 13th century, Thomas Aquinas elevated the skill to the level of a virtue in his “Summa Theologiae.” He considered Cicero’s Art of Memory as an element of Prudence
In medieval times the Dominican order was known for its memory training. The secret of that training was revealed by Giordano Bruno, who upon leaving the order published “On the Shadows of Ideas” in 1582.
Today, amidst the world of computer servers and Internet communication, the “Art of Memory” is all but forgotten. The human mind, however, still retains all of the traits that made that skill possible. Practitioners of mnemonics have refined and polished the skill over eons of use. Those skills and their modern applications are the subject of this book.
Armed with those skills you will be able to remember what you see, hear and read with incredible accuracy. You will be able to learn with astounding speed.
You are now about to learn a most ancient and powerful discipline. Enjoy your discovery of this lost art and all of the advantages it brings you.