Mnemonics - How to apply them

[Misjief]

Originally Posted by MofoMojo

Trying to get my head around the Loci method discussed in Derren Brown's Tricks of the Mind. I haven't wanted to get in too far as I haven't really determined what type of stack to use and don't want to go through and remember something only to have to re-learn again. Any suggestions?

-MM

Ok -

If I understand the Loci method right - you associate something new you are studying with something you already intimately know. Say a car or maybe your home - specifically the rooms in your house.

Right?

Well here is the secret (don't tell!) - You are actually far smarter then you think and are not aware of all the patterns you know. You do so many things so fast (and out of your general awareness ie subconsciously) that you can't track them all... Nor would you want to. Imagine having to tell yourself to breathe or having to track food in your digestive system.

The real trick to mnemonics is to choosing your known association. Too many people choose the wrong association - IE they are associating an unknown with yet another unknown pattern, then wonder why they struggle. Basically most people double their work in an effort to make it easier. How is that working out for you? LOL

if you do this right you can learn many pattern in a couple of minutes and not even know you learned it. I can prove it to you ...

I am going to teach you something called syn-tonic learning - The secret of syntonic learning is to apply a weave of associated patterns you ALREADY INTIMATELY KNOW and add a new thread to it. Think of it like a fabric with a clear design on it on the loom - the new unknown thread will somehow fit within that design and there are multiple clues as to where and how it all ties in.

I built one and wrote an article for my teacher's hypnosis school... I will find the article (hopefully) and post it as an attachment. Print this out and then go through it with me. Alright?

BTW the article we are studying is about how to use the meta-model to use create clean communication. Useful in itself ... but not our main goal - we are using it because it is an excellent example I had on hand.

***
Okay - here we go...

The first part of the article is about the QUES to look for in some one's language and how to apply those to asking the right QUESTIONS during therapy.... The idea is that people tend to talk in generalities in general - and they really do so when talking about problems. We want specifics - No guesswork in therapy!

This is the NEW INFO we are trying to learn.

The second half of the article is the main point of interest for us and it setup a framework of patterns you already know....

How so? Well...

You know the name of you various fingers....
You can count to five (I hope!)
The Reporter Questions Who, What, Where (and when) + Why (and how)

There is more but I will leave them for you to discover for yourself. LOL

It looks way more complicated then it actually is - and it is harder to do with text rather then if i was with you in person! During the first part I am just describing the threads for you - that is it. I choose to go left to right
***


Don't try to memorize all this, simply go through it with me. As you go through it - it will become more and more clear. There is no need to struggle just go through it with me. FLOW!

first + second vertical thread
I took the 'ques' and relabeled them so I could make a simple word out of them. V.S.C.A.N. (first vertical thread - Pattern One)

I took the many variables and turned it in to one that is easier to remember. In NLP this is called chunking - Basically it is how you divide the info to be digested.

I took the 'ques' and listed them off. I modified one (generalizations) to make it fit my first thread by changing it to all. (this is the second vertical thread - Pattern Two)

Third Vertical thread
Count from 5 to 1 (0)

Fourth Vertical thread
The imagined associations - This is where most mnemonics pick up and leave off. When doing these it is better if you can imagine it with all your senses. Make it unusual and funny. Dirty works too! LOL

Fifth Vertical thread
List your fingers consecutively starting with your thumbs.

Sixth Vertical thread
The 'Reporter Questions' - They are slightly modified. Don't worry about it.

Again - this is much harder in text! It took me 20 mins to type up what we could have done in less then 3 in person. This time I started with the thumb and worked my way down.

Now we start to move across - This is where the real work gets done.
I listed all the associations for completeness - this is tedious and hardly necessary. Play with them and actually imagine what I am describing in your mind.

5) Hold your thumb out - do so should remind you of hitchhiking (if you are normal LOL). The association for thumb is Vehicle (with a capital V). The ? is How - As how are you getting there? (action = Verb). Vehicles have 5 wheels (four driving wheels and a spare).

4) Hold out your pointer or FOREfinger. The association is a finger moving down a index of rules (index finger). Imagine saying 'therefore'... or Holding up your finger and saying "aha!" The ? is 'What if' - (System) Rules. It is the fourth (fore) finger. The ? is what if (you did something different)

3) Hold out your 3rd middle finger (The flipper!) - When you do this to some one you are definitely making a statement comparing them to something. It is a Blanket statement and a blanket may come in handy if they take you up on your kind offer. The ? is "compared to..." ie incomplete comparisons.

2) Hold out your Ring finger - A wedding ring binds TWO people and a symbol has no beginning or end - it is ALL encompassing. There is no exceptions allowed. The ? is All - Always? Time based ?s

1) Hold out your pinkie like a debutante drinking tea. "One should always drink their tea properly." The ? is regarding nouns - People place or thing. basically who or what SPECIFICALLY are we talking about. Is the "it" described well enough I could pick them out in a police mug book - or could go pick up the 'item' at the store?

0) Hold out your hand ...True insight is within your grasp ...If you answer all these questions properly you hold in your palm insight as to what they are truly thinking - their motivation - WHY they do what they do. You have gone a complete circle. BTW with Why? always focus on what you want ... Why am I so confident .....(0)

I am wearing out... Hopefully I did a good enough job you got the point.

In fact test yourself. Write VSCAN on a piece of paper and see if you can't complete the grid by tying it back to your fingers. I am betting you can.... WITHOUT a single ounce of intense studying.

So in summery the trick is to use MULTIPLE INTIMATELY KNOWN patterns... and tie them back to the unknown element. It takes a bit and unfortunately the better you know the subject the better it works. But once it is done the info is easily digested by almost anyone. The sad reality is very few people really know how to teach!

-misj-

[MofoMojo]

Thanks for the post Misjief.

If I understand the Loci method right - you associate something new you are studying with something you already intimately know. Say a car or maybe your home - specifically the rooms in your house.

Yes, From what I understand with the Loci method the idea is to associate what you wish to remember with specific locations along a route from one place to another (Journey method I've heard it called), or locales in specific areas such as your house. I was thinking on this topic some more on the drive home and wondering if there might be a better system for committing a stack to memory than the Loci system.

Can you provide a potential real life scenario where you would apply this system? What you might want to remember and how you would make the associations?

[Misjief]

Mojo Bro ...
In real life I use it all the time...

When I was a waiter we'd get request for various things all the time on the fly. If you forgot not only would you have to make another trip but you could ruin your chance for a good tip. In a busy place it is not uncommon to have to ask the waiter for something numerous times because they are having a mental breakdown and stressed. If someone asked me for a bottle of mustard I imagine their face and then doing something imaginative with the mustard to them (or their wife!). It got to be quite a game because I waited tables for a couple of years and coming up with different and unique images was quite the stretch. I have a bad leg yet I could run circles around many people using this system, as I made less trips and was a better salesman (due to hypnosis techniques and time management!). We'd have to memorize a new menu every three months - People hated it and it took weeks even though we were required to have it down before we took a table. Most people had cheat sheets. I memorized most of it in less then a day.

The reason things get forgotten is they are typically not unique in our minds and therefore don't stand out. You have probably been kissed many times - Yet you remember the first kiss because it was special.

Say you are going to a friends house and want to remember to return a item that you borrowed (and have forgotten to return three times in a row!) Here is how you might remember to do so....

Imagine the front door of your house, (something you know well) and imagine as you go to step through the door it attacks you.... (that is unique, hopefully) ... and you manage to fight it off with the item (a umbrella). Actually see yourself in the situation using all the senses.... don't view it in third person but actually see yourself doing it. Do this and then when you step through the door to leave you will remember that insane image and remember the umbrella!

So the trick to remembering something is make it unique and tie to something you already know well. Use all the senses to visualize it. All are right brain processes! Logic has no place in memorization - In fact it can actually hinder it... Don't confuse calculation for memorization they are separate mental processes. The biggest challenge I have is to remember to remember to use the techniques. LOL

For longer sequences you tie when thing to another. Basically you remember the sequence as a single item - one thing leads to an other. The conscious mind can only track 7 plus or minus two things before it loses focus. You can tell a story or better yet sing it as this tend to reinforce it even further.

For stacks there are two main types - A calculated figure or the true memorized stack. The calculated stack is usually preferred because people find it easier to do the math then memorize the deck. But this has the disadvantage in that you have to think about it in the midst of everything else going on - Typically there is a lag while the magi does so. A true memorize deck is faster and easier once you have it.

I made a deck that had the letters of the alphabet on the back. It was a cute care bear deck that I would use with a pendulum to make sinister statements with. My friends knew EXACTLY what was going on but they were impressed with my ability to keep the stupid and silly index in my head.

As I recall I had key potions on the index memorized and then would calculate the gaps using those keys. I had 20 main spots and broke them into sets two sets of of ten (red and black) the remaining face cards were set aside for vowels (times 2) and punctuation. I knew the first # (1 & 11), the last 10 & 20) and the middle (5 and 15) - the rest I could calculate because at worst I was two jumps away. Three if I couldn't do the alphabet backwards. But beyond that a couple of them were really easy. 8H became H8 (hate); 8R became R8R (Radar or Raider). So then I had that many more landmarks on my map to hop from! Basically I memorized a set of 20 by knowing 3 to 6 essential spots. The more I played with it the stronger the associations became and more of them got cemented in my mind due to their use over time.

I could tell you the whole thing but we'd be here forever!

But is this beginning to make more sense? I am trying to be very logical in my approach but it is difficult as I am very right brained and creative. Order is not my best suit! How am I doing? LOL

-misj-

[MofoMojo]

Thank you brother. That provides a lot more context. I am still struggling to absorb some of the original description but I'll get through it.

-MM

[Brandon Pomeroy]

This is more than deserving of a sticky, I'd say. Beautifully written and explained, Misjief!

[Misjief]

Thanks for the responses....

Please remember that I am actively learning to teach and I am definitely counting on your feedback - Which is always appreciated! My thought is if you really want to learn ANYTHING teach it because it will require that much more of you!

I am fairly talented and creative in my writing but I sometimes struggle because I may lack clarity in my abstract & ambiguous explanations... And I can't always see where exactly I am off the mark. The advantage here (on this forum) is that in text I have to slow down and think plus I can edit my thoughts. The disadvantage is that I am dyslexic and sometimes I have odd errors in my work. LOL. I have to switch mental modes to correct it and that interrupts my thoughts... So you will have to deal with it. LOL. In a professional setting I'd wait a week and then edit it - or have someone else do it for me. I am pretty embarrassed by it - but on the internet it flies fairly well. (Sammy has caught me on this a couple of times LOL)

[Mojo- I can't help you if you don't tell me where and how SPECIFICALLY you are struggling! It becomes a guessing game. How many ways is there to NOT do something vrs How many ways to do it? Odds are not in my favor there buddy!]

I honestly almost didn't post this because I was nervous about it for various reasons. Most of the time I write to clarify my own thoughts - which I could do in a journal without sharing them with you. I'd be WAY more comfortable doing so but I wouldn't get out of my comfort zone or grow doing so.

So there is that. Again, Thanks for the comments and support!

!!

I was thinking about this... LEVERAGE!! LEVERAGE & MORE LEVERAGE!!

If you take this very same procedure I roughly outlined and create a similar matrix for ________________ you would come up some very powerful suggestive language. Which is EXACTLY what Darren Brown (& others) does in many of his tricks. I recognized it immediately - but I never had a means of creating the associations nor did I imagine it would be so simple. The conscious MAKES everything hard, it really just get in the way! LOL

This would work FANTASTIC!!

Simply layout some easily recognizable patterns that describe the discrete forks in the road (flow chart!) then tie in your effect!

If you go back though my 'lecture' (as I did) you will notice in the last part of my work ... The pattern descriptions - were very very hypnotic - almost simple inductions. I stopped explicitly describing the patterns and instead simply implied them.... WHICH is the real secret!

It is much more powerful if they make the connection rather then you try to bring it up and force it. Basically it is their thoughts (seemingly) and the simple ownership of them makes them very receptive to it. THAT IS HYPNOSIS!

Originally Posted by Misjief

0) Hold out your hand ...True insight is within your grasp ...If you answer all these questions properly you hold in your palm insight as to what they are truly thinking - their motivation - WHY they do what they do. You have gone a complete circle. .....(0)
-misj-

Originally I was being very concise and explicitly telling you what I was doing and why BECAUSE I wanted you to be CONSCIOUSLY aware of not only the patterns themselves (Accepted Associations!) but HOW I was creating them. As I got tired and lazy - I simply implied them ... and they vastly improved hypnotically.

You will hear me talk about leverage (because I am lazy LOL) ... The other big aspect to that is going full circle using whole brain processes. Basically our left brain would look at this as a complete single (and separate principle) when in reality it is only a HALF. By following through with it and looking at it in a right brain manner. I discovered I already KNEW how to create very powerful suggestive patter. That is whole brain thinking which easily creates very powerful and synergistic ideas (without much effort!)

This is exactly why I wanted to learn magic! I needed a way to practice and apply the techniques I've learned (alone without a client)!

I originally was just doing a 'quick' check in before bed ... Now it is 2 AM. Oh %$#*!!

-misj-

PS! GRRRRR! Youse guys are killing me!

I just realized another really crucial point to mnemonics ...
It is absolutely critical to tie the new pattern to the old - But the connection can be rather tenuous (the more established connections the better but that is not ALWAYS possible!) ... Like a budding plant .... As you use it more and more (nurture it!) it will actually grow to the point that it is self substantiating - that is it can stand on it own without outside support. When we learned the alphabet or numbers as toddlers - we again tied it to something we knew. ' I have one nose, two eyes. ... A is for Apple' . LOL <- Obvious to the point of obscurity. Water to Fish!


/merged//


*** Second thoughts ***
I went to bed thinking about this ... LOL...

Mojo-

I think the difficulty you are having with the loci method is (as a guess) exactly as I said. The Greek orators with whom the method originated used it constantly. Within their minds they built these houses and became very familiar with them BECAUSE they used them constantly. They would go from 'room' to 'room' and see what new item was there (as a reminder).

You could do the same ... But until you are familiar with 'your house' - THE HOUSE is the NEW info. Rather then trying to associate new material to 'the house' ... Build the house and associate it to already established patterns FIRST. Once this is done and it has a foundation then you can associate new material to it. Otherwise you are associating unknown material with yet another unknown and doubling your work rather then easing it.

I am repeating myself - but it is essential you understand the concept of linking one patterning to another for ANY mnemonic to work!

As long as you are building 'your house' an interesting experiment might be to learn the 12 houses of astrology - associate them with rooms and furnish them. The advantage of this over just arbitrarily building rooms is that it could be used for guided meditation and goal setting. (LEVERAGE!) Also I noticed that there are 12 houses and we are working with cards so lets see if I can successfully associate the house to the numerical value of cards 1-13, ie the pips plus three faces (King if you are male - Queen if you are female (or so inclined! =P). For me as a hypnotist the mysticism of it all could be very useful so here goes....

(BTW I AM CHRISTIAN. If you want to get into THAT DISCUSSION by all means - but that should be another post. Doubt anyone here will take me up on it but you never know! Just setting some boundaries, for some people hypnosis and astrology are hair triggers! ... LOL)

The 12 houses

The website I copied the house info from is LISTED here....
12 astrology houses: the planetary houses

The Italics is quoted website...
The Normal text is my thoughts on it in an effort to make it mine and stick.


1st house - 'The Armory' (ACE) - The PROTECTIVE MASK

The first house is the mask you wear in relating to and projecting yourself into the world. It rules physical appearance, body type, conscious self-image, and how others see and experience you. It’s the window through which you view the world, and through which others receive their first impressions of you.

The billboard that you subconsciously display everyday through your choice of dress, mannerisms and body language. Your projected thoughts about you.

2nd house - ' The Observatory' - TWO See - TRUE INTENTION & DESIRE - the use of resources

The second house describes both inner and outer resources. We draw on emotional and mental inner resources in dealing with the situations with which life presents us. These assets form our sense of self-worth and self-esteem. Our outer resources are our finances and physical possessions: movable property that we own (as opposed to real estate). These assets form our sense of security. Some of us identify with what we own; others with what we are. They both, however, are what we value, and we attract to us what we value. Thus the second house is where we build in true value and our power of attraction. Planets here show how and to what we are attached, and the degree of our possessiveness.

Classically speaking, this house also symbolizes our strongest desires [our true desires & outlook on life -misj], and the manner in which we meet our obligations. Isabelle Hickey said that this house indicated "that which the life is dedicated to redeem", and is thus related to one’s peace of mind.

The difference between perceived desire (conscious) and true intent (Sub-c). Often we are conflicted (and don't know it). Doing so splits our resources. Walk across the room but leave your ass over here. The point is you have to be congruent to get anywhere.

3rd House - 'The Family Room' 1+1 = (Baby makes) THREE.... - SYNERGY!

The third house represents understanding through information, and what we know as a result of interactions within our community. "Community" here means neighbors, siblings, short journeys, letters, news and rumors. This house rules our rational thought and conscious mind, memory, speech, early education and environment, writing and communication, dexterity and taken-for-granted skills, explorations, investigations, inquiry, and research of all kinds. Planets in the third house describe the quality and quantity of our mental and nervous energy.

The end result of nature (what you were born with) modified by nurture (what you were taught to do with it). Decisions Taught to us!

4th house - 'The Bedroom' - Emotional INTIMACY FOUR-Play!

The fourth house rules the home, our family as a child and as an adult, the nurturing parent and our early experience of being nurtured, our most personal and intimate life, real estate and property, and our heritage and ancestry. Here is where we send down roots and establish a base of operations, find our limits, and generally secure ourselves. It is the end of any searching we might have done in the Third house, and thus rules the latter part of life. A planet here indicates the need for a stable emotional base in order to fill the needs of the house it rules. The more planets in this house, the more one tends to be subjective, personal, private or introverted.

Here lies the emotional decisions we've made (often subconsciously) though out our lives. In fact by default every new decision is influence by those made before it. What ever the decision (either way!) your subconscious will provide the evidence to support it.

5th house - 'The Art Room' - CREATIVE ENDEAVORS! - the dividing line between work & play is 9 to 5 - (Denied!) till FIVE

The fifth house shows our needs in love and where we release fourth house energies and emotions. The more emotional we are, the greater the need for constructive channels of expression. All forms of self-expression, anything we create or do purely for its own sake, children of the mind and the body, love affairs (insofar as they represent fun and self-expression) or their lack, theater, dramatics, hobbies, speculation, play and amusement, are all indicated by this house. The more planets we have in the fifth, the more abundant the energy we have to release, with perhaps some disinterest in receiving the same from others. This is also the house of hidden karma resulting from the misuse of the will or love principle in past lives.

Theater of the mind and soul. Communication of all types influenced here.

6th house - 'The Office" - the scales! BALANCE in all things - The SIXTH SENSE

The sixth house, like the sixth sign Virgo, represents the last personal stage in development, and is thus a critical one. The self-adjustment we undergo here determines our ability to relate to others on an equal footing (seventh house), and, by its success or failure, unites us with or separates us from others. This is the house of work and health or the lack of either, hygiene and nutrition, service, servants and servitude, daily routine, employment by others, and small animals and pets. Whereas fifth house activities are done for their own sake, sixth house work is done out of necessity or in support of other, more self-expressive activities. When our work becomes an end in itself, however, or we lose track of its purpose, it becomes pointless, and the result can be physical or psychological illness. The issue with planets in the sixth house is to remember what the purpose of our work is, where is it’s joy? Without this knowledge, life isn’t worth living.

As a necessary cog in the machinery of the universe ... How big a wheel you are and well things run is largely up to you. Diagnostics and maintenance is important.

*half way there!*

7th House - 'The Prayer Room' - 7 rhymes with heaven. SPIRITUAL SUPPORT

The first of the social houses, the seventh house is opposed to the first house literally and in emphasis: in the first house we put our energies into the world; in the seventh the world puts energy back into us. The purpose of the seventh house is to bring about greater self-awareness through relating to what we experience as being outside of ourselves. This may in fact be energy within us that we have rejected out of fear or the need to experience it more objectively or externally. This is called projection, and we seek projected parts of ourselves in our intimate relationships.

Thus the seventh house rules intimate one-to-one relationships of all kinds (including marriage, business and counseling relationships), open enemies and conflicts, lawsuits and the lower courts. Planets in the seventh house indicate areas in our lives that need relationships to bring them out, and the houses ruled by seventh house planets are those "areas." Many planets here indicate many needs that we are looking for others to fill. In this case many relationships (or more than one marriage) is probable, as it’s unlikely that one individual would fill all those needs. Individuals with so much projected energy feel a void in their lives, and may encourage others to be dependent, or even pick fights rather than be alone.

Whole brain thinking! It allows you to tap into higher resources. You and the universe happily dance perfectly not knowing (or caring) who leads who!

8th house - 'The Great Room' Eight rhymes with Great. RENEWAL through SACRIFICE

Astrologically, the eighth house asks us to enlarge or sacrifice our ego boundaries in order to enter into relationship or union with another or others. To do so, some aspect of our personality or ego must die. Usually it is some thing, not some one, that dies, and with the passing away of that limiting aspect of our personality we experience a releasing freedom.

Herein is the second aspect of this house: resurrection and rebirth. The eighth house rules personal evolution, growth, transformation and change, death, rebirth, sex, possessions of a relationship, legacies, inheritance, taxes, rituals, initiations and the occult, the astral body and reincarnation, and the severing of ties to that to which we are attached. A planet in the eighth indicates that a personal facet of your psyche is under pressure to work more cooperatively or jointly with others. Many planets here signify a person whose life can be characterized by change. Such individuals may find continuous states of affairs monotonous, and periodically bring about changes or crises to feel truly alive.

Ego vrs ID. Abundance vrs Scarcity. Courage vrs Fear ... It's all here!

9th House - "The Study" - 9th grade = Freshman! 1st year of high school & HIGHER LEARNING

Astrologically, the ninth house is where we search for truth: experiences that broaden the mind and help us form our philosophy of life. Here we expand our consciousness, synthesize meaning from facts and experience, adjust personal attitudes to collective ideas, and understand how things are integrated into systems. This house rules higher education, religious and ethical understanding, spiritual visions, in-laws, long journeys, law and the higher courts. Here is what remains of the purification that took place in the eighth house: its seed or essence. "Religion" comes from the Latin "re-," back + "ligare," to bind, hence, "to bind back," and thus refers to all things that last or endure, such as the truth.

Emotional IQ? Intuition? heck I dunno!

10th House 'The Sauna (Gym)' - 'HEAT / Fire (and ice) - On a Scale of 1 to TEN

The tenth house represents our ability (or lack thereof) to establish ourselves in and contribute to the outside world: our social image. It rules role models, guides and authority figures that have assisted us in externalizing ourselves in the world. Here is our career or profession, the dominant parent who guided us into the world, and our orientation toward society based on his or her example. Here are people in power over us (such as bosses and employers), our honor and reputation, and how we play out these roles in relation to others (our being a father, guide, or disciplinary figure). Planets in the tenth house show by the houses they rule which areas in our life depend on our reputation or professional role for the fulfillment of their needs. Many planets here indicate a need to achieve and be recognized as an important person, a strong father orientation, or to have others dependent on us.

STATUS WOE!

11th house - 'The Meeting Room' - Jack = Knight (of the round table) FELLOWSHIP

The eleventh house is where we find our identity within a group; it symbolizes one-to-many relationships as distinct from Seventh house one-to-one relationships. It rules friends, groups, our social circle, membership in societies and organizations, ideals and aspirations shared by the groups to which we belong, and in general, situations in which we have to change our behavior to get along with more than one other person at the same time. Planets in the eleventh house show the kind of friends we attract to us, or the kinds of energy we experience in relation to groups. Many planets in this house indicate that we live a large part of our lives in connection with our friends or groups, and often need group support to accept or value what we are doing.

EXOMAGIC LOL

12th House - The Last & Hidden Room of 'UNKNOWN' Secrets - PARADOX

Just so, our first instances of self-expression that we offer into the world are vulnerable and easily defeated, but the effect of their success or failure on our personality is enormous. Pulling some of our energy back into our self to keep it from being defeated or overwhelmed has two results. If we are aware of what we are doing, it becomes our hidden secret. If this process is unconscious, it becomes a rejected aspect of the self. These secrets or repressed aspects of the self form the classical interpretation of the twelfth house.

But what if the immature energy we put into the world isn’t defeated early on? Then it can become a source of strength and a dominant aspect of our personality, and even signify our career. The twelfth house is thus where we build inner strength to overcome limitations, sorrows and fears, and where the individual adapts to the collective. It signifies self-undoing: where we stand in our own way, where we are not free to let ourselves become and be who we essentially already are. It also represents that which is hidden, karma, limitation, confinement, prison, betrayal, sacrifice, hospitals and institutions, nuns and priests, secrets and secret enemies (who may just be rejected aspects of ourselves), initiation, ultimate understanding, and charity given or received.

Who hid them? Evil Laugh!

*fini*


I had the advantage in that I put the work in to writing it and therefore hardwired it into my brain. If you read this and then take the slight effort to paraphrase in your own words the thoughts echoed here it will hard wire in for you as well. I noticed that if I couldn't come up with an association it meant I needed to put more thought into it, and I didn't understand the concept well enough until I did. That said I would highly recommend you work up a couple of your own personal associations if you want to retain this.

BEFORE I wrote this article I had NO IDEA as to the meaning of the houses...
Now I feel confident I could not only have a meaningful conversation with an expert but convince a layman into believing I was an expert. Should come in handy doing all kinds of readings. LOL

Not only that but now I have a 12 room home I can use for the loci method... The more I use it the more comfortable it will become.

I came up with this trying to use make useful associations for card pips (I already did one on suits which will have to be another post).

More importantly (to me) is I now have a very powerful way to visualize and focus my goals. Depending on the goal and the room I use I have a 'ritualized' way of focusing my mental energy... Something I severely lacked (Which is why I made the effort. I love you guys but this was a lot of work...)

Whether or not you found the actual content (the 12 houses) useful or not.. ....

I hope I have convinced you how quickly you can pick up diverse information and ACTUALLY RETAIN it very quickly using The SYSTEM. You do have to 'refresh it periodically (ie actually USE the info) but if you don't... So what! you can see how quickly you can knock the dust off and 'learn' it again.

-misj-

PS - This was a side project that ran astray as I had some time to kill when my car wouldn't start. GRRRR! Maybe it will now...

Anyways I do have something I think is pretty cool to show you but I have to do it later. Stay Tuned! Winner or Wiener... you decide! lol