Post by Senbecc on Aug 5, 2007 20:58:59 GMT -5
One of many Cerda Filidh "feats of the poet" is the ability to memorize the material which defines tradition and make up one's philosophies, practice, and education. Memorization is a fine art IMO, and is a huge percentage of my system of beliefs. I have heard the Druid's mind compared to a computer simulator, in that we work to compress memory and knowledge so it is usable, easy to access, and helps to preserve tradition. One of the primary roles of the Druidic traditions in ancient times was to preserve tribal and ancestral traditions through oral teachings which were memorized through years (from 10 to 20 depending on the culture) of practice and training.
So how can one learn to train the mind in memorization? Not hard, first I'll answer that question with a question. In your opinion which would be easier to memorize? The book? Or the movie? Most classical and historical sources teach us that the Druids practiced their skill in memorization in very secluded places far from intruding sounds or stimuli which would interrupt any of the senses. Many describe "caves of learning". For example:
"A course of instruction lasting as long as 20 years, meeting in secret either in a cave or secluded dales."
- Pomponius Mela
Now back to that book and movie? Of course the movie will be easier to memorize? Why? Not hard, it is because the movie consumes us. It stimulates those parts of the human mind which rule memorization. Now one can memorize through reading, but it will always take much longer. One way I have found to accomplish memorization on a larger more Druidic scale is by finding a secluded place (I use my bedroom) where there is no light, there is a bed to rest comfortably so I don't have to think about my body, there is no sounds except the sound of what ever it is I mean to memorize which I will have read into a cassette tape and play it through head phones (which also cuts out the sounds).
Now, it is important that every sense be handed over to the work you mean to memorize. Visualize, every character (whether you be memorizing Irish text or one of Cunningham's (or insert author here) meditations. Visualize every character, every blade of grass, give them back ground, hear them saying the words with their voices, feel the story as it unfolds with your entire mind. Play it back several times, until you can recite the work with out blemish, without even having to think about what you are reciting, until it flows fourth from you like a poetic stream.
Taliesin tells us that there was a minimum of 300 poems which needed to be memorized by a Bard or poet, and says that he had memorized 900 more, to this we would need to add genealogies, laws, and as well as tribal history. In royal courts Druids were expected to be able to recite with out blemish vast amounts of information and poetry from memory, and on the spot. They were walking libraries, repositories of knowledge for the Celtic people.
One does not need to be a Druid however to incorperate this into their practice. Memorization is important to any path or tradition, to any individual. It connects the mental, to the spiritual. Through memorization we are able to KNOW the knowledge, take what was someone else's knowledge and rework that into our own knowledge, make it and inseparable part of who and what you are, and thus creating a physical knowledge, which ultimately illuminate knowledge and bring a deeper understanding of the three forms of Imbas known as Imbas Forosna, Dichetal Do Chennaibh and Teinm Laegda among the Irish...However I suppose that might be another post for another day.
Senbecc
So how can one learn to train the mind in memorization? Not hard, first I'll answer that question with a question. In your opinion which would be easier to memorize? The book? Or the movie? Most classical and historical sources teach us that the Druids practiced their skill in memorization in very secluded places far from intruding sounds or stimuli which would interrupt any of the senses. Many describe "caves of learning". For example:
"A course of instruction lasting as long as 20 years, meeting in secret either in a cave or secluded dales."
- Pomponius Mela
Now back to that book and movie? Of course the movie will be easier to memorize? Why? Not hard, it is because the movie consumes us. It stimulates those parts of the human mind which rule memorization. Now one can memorize through reading, but it will always take much longer. One way I have found to accomplish memorization on a larger more Druidic scale is by finding a secluded place (I use my bedroom) where there is no light, there is a bed to rest comfortably so I don't have to think about my body, there is no sounds except the sound of what ever it is I mean to memorize which I will have read into a cassette tape and play it through head phones (which also cuts out the sounds).
Now, it is important that every sense be handed over to the work you mean to memorize. Visualize, every character (whether you be memorizing Irish text or one of Cunningham's (or insert author here) meditations. Visualize every character, every blade of grass, give them back ground, hear them saying the words with their voices, feel the story as it unfolds with your entire mind. Play it back several times, until you can recite the work with out blemish, without even having to think about what you are reciting, until it flows fourth from you like a poetic stream.
Taliesin tells us that there was a minimum of 300 poems which needed to be memorized by a Bard or poet, and says that he had memorized 900 more, to this we would need to add genealogies, laws, and as well as tribal history. In royal courts Druids were expected to be able to recite with out blemish vast amounts of information and poetry from memory, and on the spot. They were walking libraries, repositories of knowledge for the Celtic people.
One does not need to be a Druid however to incorperate this into their practice. Memorization is important to any path or tradition, to any individual. It connects the mental, to the spiritual. Through memorization we are able to KNOW the knowledge, take what was someone else's knowledge and rework that into our own knowledge, make it and inseparable part of who and what you are, and thus creating a physical knowledge, which ultimately illuminate knowledge and bring a deeper understanding of the three forms of Imbas known as Imbas Forosna, Dichetal Do Chennaibh and Teinm Laegda among the Irish...However I suppose that might be another post for another day.
Senbecc
