105 min · about 7 sittings
Get better at memorizing Masonic work
We'll help you find a memorization method that fits how your mind actually works, and a weekly practice that sticks.
Why this matters
You have been handed a lecture and asked to learn it by heart. You have read it through, said it out loud, written it out longhand, and it still slides off. The brother who has been trying to coach you means well and is using the same method his coach used on him, which works for some men and fails outright for others. The fact that it is failing for you is information, not character.
This goal points you at the five published methods, none of which is the one method your brother handed you, and asks you to find the one that fits how your particular mind works. The published shorthand is: pick one of the five, run the short exercise, and notice which one feels less like climbing a wall. The wall is not your wall; it is your method's wall.
Most brothers describe memory work as the hardest part of Masonry. The reason is almost always that the method they were handed (rote, by ear, alone) is not the method their mind responds to. Brian Ragain's 2020 book Keys to Masonic Memorization names five different techniques, plus the practice habits that make any of them work over weeks rather than days. This goal walks all five and ends with a working weekly schedule.
Built on these courses
- Foundations of Masonic Memory · Ragain's Keys in seven practiced sittings.
The path · practise in order
Start with "Why Memorize?" →- 1. Memorization via Foundations of Masonic MemoryWhy Memorize?
Why memorize at all. The case.
- 2. Memorization via Foundations of Masonic MemoryRote Memory and Chunking
Rote and chunking. Phone-number patterns for long lectures.
- 3. Memorization via Foundations of Masonic MemoryThe Memory Palace
The Memory Palace. Lingerfelt's Solomon's Memory Palace technique.
- 4. Memorization via Foundations of Masonic MemoryThe Peg System
The Peg System. Anchoring sequences to rhyming numbers.
- 5. Memorization via Foundations of Masonic MemoryChunked Deep Processing
Chunked deep processing. March's 5 Minute Ritualist method.
- 6. Memorization via Foundations of Masonic MemoryBuilding a Memorization Practice
Building a memorization practice: schedule, partner, place.
- 7. Memorization via Foundations of Masonic MemoryFrom Study to Delivery
From study to delivery. Chaney's paper-to-podium process.
What if (after you finish the path)
Reflective prompts
- Which of the five methods felt least like work? That is the one to use on your next lecture.
- Did the practice habits chapter (schedule, partner, place) change anything about how you study? Most brothers find the schedule does more than the method.
Where to go next
- Foundations of Masonic Memory
Ragain's five methods in seven sittings, the course this goal is built on.
- Building a Memorization Practice
Building a Memorization Practice. The schedule and habit chapter on its own.
- Prepare for a Lodge office
If memorization is your hard part because you are heading to an officer line, this goal is the wider preparation.
Make it stick
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You can practise the first chapter of any theme right now without an account; your work is tracked in this browser. Sign up to bind this goal to your account, carry progress across devices, and pick up right where you left off.
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