<strong>Aontacht</strong> • 14familiar “Isadore Felis” awaits to accompanyme… “.Retrieval of items is achieved by 'walking'through the locations mentally, allowing oneto activate the desired items, the items to berecalled in this mnemonic system beingmentally associated with specific physicallocations and the details one knows of theirappearance. The method relies on memorizedspatial relationships to establish, order, storeand recollect memorial content.The memory Palace technique of innervoyaging is appealing since it is consistentwith the principle of “So above, so below” inthat one consciously constructs the “below”,in their inner realm of mind, consistent in everydetail with an edifice which actually exists“above” in the material physical plane of realityand experience. In addition, this method ofvoyaging can assist in giving structure to theinner experience and potentially serve as a baseof operations and repository for discoveriesderived from the inner wilds.Select a real location and acquire itsarchitectural plan or geographical layout. Whatworks best is a building, installation or placeof significance to the Memory Palace builder,since association is the mechanic achieving theinner visual mnemonic effect. Experiencedpractitioners, or those wishing the challengeand pleasure of originality, may wish to designtheir own, original Memory Palace blueprint.In either case, it is wise to start small and overtime, once familiar and confident with one’sfurnishings and surroundings, constructadditional rooms, structures and their decorto elaborate the inner edifice.Visit the real building or location (if youcan) with the goal of committing the floorplan or layout to memory. This of course canbe done physically or virtually, but a physicalvisit is best. Pay attention to thearchitectural, design or decorative detailswhich appeal to you or which havesignificance. Record these using digitalequipment, by sketching or in a MemoryPalace journal or blueprint to anchor themthrough an active literary, visual or artsprocess.Commit the existing familiar contents ofeach room in the floor plan to memory, whichshould not be difficult given that one can orhas physically visited or experienced thelocation having thus installed the impressionthrough one’s sensorium of experience.Once you are composed and ready to beginvoyaging, use your inner sight to “see”yourself approaching, entering and navigatingthe detailed interior of your Memory Palace.From the security and familiarity of thefastness of your Memory Palace, whether youchoose to make it elegantly austere or abaroque labyrinth, you may find newcertainty, stability and resolve in makingforays into the inner realm of discovery andenlightenment and be delighted and surprisedat the result.
Mandalas and Accessing the InnerPlanesRecently while leading a workshop onmandalas I had to compress whatnormally takes 2-3 hrs into a 1 hourformat. I needed to sum up theexperience of the mandala quickly.When presenting a lecture on themandala or leading mandalaworkshops, perhaps for me, the hardestthing is finding an all-encompassingmetaphor that will describe just whata mandala really is. I am never contentto call it a "meditative tool" - althoughTHAT is one of its purposes, but themystic in me needs to couch it in termsthat speak on many levels at once.At the same time, I know that whenpresenting something as unfamiliar asthe Mandala to people, it is importantto use language that is nonthreateningand familiar. Personalcomputers have become a large part ofour lives and the language of thecomputer has penetrated to all levelsof our culture. "Interface" is one ofthose oft-used computer terms and itis one that is fitting when discussing<strong>Aontacht</strong> • 15
Change language