Corsairs Club Meeting Sat. April 19th 5pm

Agenda: Festive Board,

Lecture by Bro. Bill Gibbons on the History of the Art of Memory

Bro. Alessandro Gagliardi, President eklypse@gmail.com
Bro. Bill Gibbons, Secretary billgibb@gmail.com
W:. Daniel Eckman, Treasurer
for more information visit www.corsairsclub.org
Greetings
? Dear Friends and Brethren Corsairs,

Our works which have for some time been suspended are again in full vigor. This Saturday, at 5 pm, the Corsairs Club will set sail for the palace of memory, piloted by our own secretary, Bro. Bill Gibbons. And you are cordially and fraternally invited to join us in our traditional ceremonial festive board and discussion. At our last meeting, in January, brethren from all over the United States came and broke bread together and shared in the fraternity and light offered by such a diverse assemblage of fellows. Our meeting this season similarly promises to be nourishing of the mind, refreshing of the heart, and joyful of the spirit. So join us in the upstairs room of the Limerick House where we will commence our voyage in search of further light.

Warm Fraternal Regards,
Bro. Alessandro Gagliardi
. Lecture

At our next meeting Bro. Bill Gibbons will present a lecture on the Art of Memory.

The art of memory was developed in ancient times to help orators remember their speeches. They imagined placing images representing ideas in a building. Because images and places are more easily remembered than abstract ideas, the method helped speakers recollect their material. In the Middle Ages, the art of memory was transformed from a success technique into a devotional exercise. It was used to remember Heaven and Hell, the virtues and the vices. The content became as important as the method itself. In the Renaissance memory systems proliferated and the goal became the creation of a memory structure that contained all of human knowledge in an order that reflected that of the universe.

This is the context in which we should understand Schaw's order that the masons under his jurisdiction in Scotland be tested in the "art of memorie". And if we turn to the teaching of Freemasonry and examine them in light of the art of memory we will see some very suggestive parallels. Masonic teaching is organized into a three story building, and in various places in the building we find symbols which bring to mind various aspects of Masonic philosophy. Masons spend a lot of time memorizing, and the structure of the material to be learned by heart is just what a practitioner of the art of memory would recommend.

This lecture, based on "The Art of Memory" by Frances Yates, will trace the development of the art of memory from ancient times through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and will make clear the nature of that "spiritual building, that house not made with hands" the building of which is such an important part of our work as Masons.

© Corsairs Club and authors 2008