Today we harped more on the necessity of images for the memorization of things and events. And if it doesn't have a memorable image in and of itself, you create one for it: such as Mr. Sexson having green blood(Saint Patrick's Day is the day he can give blood again), or a ram's testicles(for a test).Because the word "testicle" and "testimony" and "test" are all interrealated. As evidenced by Dame Francis Yates in the story of the court-case she relates in chapter one of The Art of Memory. This book was much admired by Philip Pullman, author of His Dark Materials(of which I am a big fan), so much so that he has a character near the end of The Amber Spyglass, Dame Hana, who is specifcally modeled on Francis Yates.

We also learned today that the seven liberal arts are actually very similar to the nine Muses, and had images crafted to represent them by Hagad(sp?) a twelfth century prioress. Because of course folk would be more apt to remember them this way.

We've got the first nine items we have to form the group memory theatre in the class room: thermostat, chalkboard, screen, quiet desk, old desk, bulletin board, snowman, and the weird "F' symbol.(Mr. Sexson says it resembles a swastika. I actually thought it resembled a diagram of a cervix. Just to compliment the testicles; but never mind).

And Kane, who would point out that in the oral world it's all poetry. And the word curiosity derives from "cure" or "to care for". I did not know this previously.