Learning Ritual

[ICO]

Are there any tips out there for learning ritual I am finding it difficult to retain and my lodge is rather proud of it's ritual
I am doing my 1st large piece of work on the floor in March the 1st Working Tools ?

[allan0406]

Hi the 1st Tools are a good starting point for begin ritual, I have delivered all the tools and the charge.. I find that breaking up the words into manageable sentences, or use the natural breaks within the ritual. I try a sentence then lead into the next....when I get some success I write it out....then when it begins to sink in... write each word using the initial only adding breaks where you need such as.........."I now present to you" as. ..... INPTY ......that way you can write it out much quicker.
Speed it up as necessary as it helps it flow when you actually do recite it......Practice out loud and to someone else who is prepared to listen.....when you actually have learnt ....recite it regularly to yourself each day leading up to an event.....that should help, but each and everyone of us are different, and you will find others who do it differently.....including some who can pick it up very quickly.....good luck anyway with it I am sure you will do very well.

[Peter Moir]

You are spot on there Allan. There is no easy way except to repeat, repeat, repeat until you can say it forwards, backwards and even upside down and inside out! When anyone asks about learning ritual I like to quote from the working tools of my first degree...
"Perseverance is necessary to establish perfection, that the rude material receives its fine polish but from repeated efforts alone".
If you have a dog, go for a walk and talk to the dog. If you don't have a dog, borrow one. I used to sit my dog down and practice my ritual on her....when she started to yawn I knew it was time to go home! Seriously, it is a case of going over, over, and over it again until you get it right.

[David A]

It might sound odd, but start at the end and work towards the front.

Once you have got the final sentence about the Ch.. off pat, start work on the previous sentence, adding it to the last.

Works well for me, and the logic was explained that if you start learning from the beginning, you are most confident at the start, but can falter later on. Learning from the end means that once you start, your confidence should build as you get into it, as you have done the latter bits more often than the former.

Another great way of learning is to type out the working tools verbatim into a word processor (even Notepad will do). Once you have done this, go onto this site:
http://www.productivity501.com/how-to-memorize-verbatim-text/
and paste in the text you have typed out. You will find that this site will strip out all but the first letter of words, and leave punctuation. Print out the result and carry it around with you. As you go over the text, if you get stuck then just seeing the first letter helps the mind to puzzle out the actual word, and thus the ability to recall it.

When I did the 2nd WT's (long version) I never thought I'd do it when I first saw the text. I am pleased to say that within a couple of months I was able to recall it all, and I then delivered it with only one small error. I was so chuffed when a visiting provincial officer remarked during the FB how touched he was at the heartfelt meaning of the rendering.

[gord_vokes]

It might sound odd, but start at the end and work towards the front.

Once you have got the final sentence about the Ch.. off pat, start work on the previous sentence, adding it to the last.

Works well for me, and the logic was explained that if you start learning from the beginning, you are most confident at the start, but can falter later on. Learning from the end means that once you start, your confidence should build as you get into it, as you have done the latter bits more often than the former.

Another great way of learning is to type out the working tools verbatim into a word processor (even Notepad will do). Once you have done this, go onto this site:
http://www.productivity501.com/how-to-memorize-verbatim-text/
and paste in the text you have typed out. You will find that this site will strip out all but the first letter of words, and leave punctuation. Print out the result and carry it around with you. As you go over the text, if you get stuck then just seeing the first letter helps the mind to puzzle out the actual word, and thus the ability to recall it.

When I did the 2nd WT's (long version) I never thought I'd do it when I first saw the text. I am pleased to say that within a couple of months I was able to recall it all, and I then delivered it with only one small error. I was so chuffed when a visiting provincial officer remarked during the FB how touched he was at the heartfelt meaning of the rendering.

All responses are good advice. Memorizing isn't always the same for different guys. Our brains aren't the same, only similar.

I need to do it rote, that is repetition as many times and for as long as it takes. I also find that it percolates for me, one day it suddenly is there when it wasn't even close the day before.

Discussing this with a Brother we have come up with this expression -- ~it's like training a dog. The brain will fight being trained, give you headaches, try to make you believe that memory work is somehow impossible for you, etc, etc. Like training a dog, you don't get mad at him, or threaten him or any other crazy thing. Just learn patience. One day you'll sit down and all of a sudden you get it.

But that doesn't mean all memory work becomes simplier, it just means that dog is trained. Then you go onto the next one and so on. Mind you, you do learn tricks on training your dogs (brain) and its never a one time thing. Just easier when its refreshing rather than starting from scratch. That's my experience, other Brethren will have different stories.

[mindmagic]

I agree that everyone is different and we all have to find the methods that suit us best. I wrote a blog on the techniques I use - you can read it here:

http://barrydcooper.wordpress.com/2011/ ... -a-speech/

[Trouillogan]

From these responses, it would seem that if you don't have a dog, you don't have a cat's chance in . . . !

[allan0406]

Nice Post Barry some really good tips.....I also neglected to mention that I underline the text that I find the most difficult....my mind automatically concentrates on that....some text seems easier as we recite or hear it recited regularly.

[Kaiser]

I have to travel about half an hour each way to and from work so I use that time to practice. I bought a digital dictaphone to help me with this. I break the ritual up into small bight sized pieces and say them onto the dictaphone, then I listen to them on the way to work and recite each section until I know it parrot fashion, then I start with the next bit. One thing I did find initially was that I tended to pause between each section, so in order to stop this, I now record each section, but add the first line of the next section at the end. this makes it easier for me to let the ritual flow really well.

[gord_vokes]

From these responses, it would seem that if you don't have a dog, you don't have a cat's chance in . . . !

Thanks for the smile.

[Goragon]

I like the working tools, we do the extended version in our lodge, it was first bit of floor work I did.

[proudtobeamason]

My method is to read from the book until you get the gist of what I'm trying to learn and then using a dictaphone to record what I need and then pay this back and repeat along with the playback, stop where you make a mistake and re-start from the beginning and keep repeating

When I was a EA I was asked to present the 1st degree working tools to the new WM at his installation and I used this method and it worked for me and I've used this for the North East Corner and 2nd degree working tools - long version and I'm currently trying to learn the whole of the 1st degree in preparation of my climbing the ladder (I'm currently JD), so as to prepare myself better, do justice to the ritual and for the lodge and freemasonry in general

I also personally find that it's easier to learn ritual early in the morning, before the working day starts and this way you also have it in your mind throughout the day. In the same way as going to the gym I will go more often if I go inthe morning than in the evening as I can make up excuses, such as late leaving work etc., learning ritual in the morning I find easier than any other time as 'life' gets in the way at all other times

Ultimately though, I don't think there's any silver bullet to learning ritual apart from find what works for you and putting in the time and also not forgetting understanding the ritual, rather than just recitation of the words and once the ritual is learnt you'll need to combine this with the actions and movements

[Kaiser]

Just wanted to add that there is no easy way to learn ritual, you need to practice, practice, practice. If you don't, you'll get nervous and that will lead to mistakes. There are some pieces of ritual that need more practice than others and you should get started sooner rather than later if you're going to do them.

[allan0406]

although I am a novice Ritualist....I think kaiser you are right, whatever style we use, we must ultimately put in the time and practise...otherwise it wont matter what style is used

[Terry]

I record it onto a CD and play it in the car. Over and over and over........

[UKCockneyBoy]

When learning my questions, I typed them out, and on the line below put images which gave a clue to the difficult words. Some people find remembering sequences of images easier than blocks of text, and so when I get stuck on a phrase, its usually the photo in my mind which trips me over the bit I am stuck on.

As a clue, "left breast" stuck well ... as did Ali G to help me learn with RESPECT to ...

[Lobbus]

Find a local Class of Instruction, and make a habit of attending as often as possible. In my locality, they meet once a week.
You become used to spouting out the words in public, which is completely different from talking to the wall! It is also, to my mind, the best free show in town, you never know what they are going to come up with... ("Veiled in Allergies? Attacks of the Hideous?") Ouch!

[KTea]

Read your blog Mind Magic, very useful
A magic smiley would be cool...

[forester]

There is no easy way except to repeat, repeat, repeat until you can say it forwards, backwards and even upside down and inside out.

I will drink to that Not found any other effective method

[gcoudert]

There are three/four main types of learners:

- Visual (text) learners will memorise text when they read it over and over again. This is my main technique, which I used to learn the 2nd TB and Trad. Hist.
- Visual (picture) learners turn text into pictures and will remember the text associated with the pictures. This is how I learned Ecc. 12, 1-7.
- Auditory learners memorise what they hear more easily than what they see. These should use the dictaphone/CD method.
- Kinesthetic learners learn by doing, by touching, manipulating objects. This is a tricky one when learning ritual. You can make little objects that represent concepts and play around with those, walk around when learning, etc.

First of all, you must determine what type of learner you are so look for a VAK test on the internet and take it (there are about 20 questions that you should answer honestly). Most people are visual or kinesthetic learners; very few are auditory. If, like me, your auditory score is low, forget about the dictaphone method; it simply won't work.

Trust me, this is true. We have used this in schools for years across the globe and it does work. We teachers are now expected to teach the way pupils learn using a multisensory approach instead of expecting pupils to adapt to our way of teaching. This is valid for ritual learning. Hope it helps.

Gilles