One more thought on the Hanged Man
The need to create memory- of personal, domestic, political and economic milestones- sprang from a desire to lay down foundations; for successful business ventures, for growth and prosperity of family and city, and for individual and social salvation, by learning from past exemplar of moral and Christian virtue.
Dale Kent Essay in ‘Society and Individual in Renaissance Florence’ chapter on
Michele de Giogante’s House of Memory.
Giogante wrote a two part memory treatise in the 15th Century (1435). The first part was about the House of Memory.
The second part deals with Eight (8) figures of memory- moving from the known to the unknown with the aid of imagination.
The eight figures are:-
The figures of Actual, Imagination, Significant, Pronunciation, Skill, Fame, Will and
Effective.
Actual figure is for men and women and things seen, know, and dealt with.(touched etc),places, symbols and devices.(Visconti with Viper)
Imagination Figure is for people or objects, which you may have heard or read about, but are not ‘actual’ (Atlas with Sphere of Universe)
The Significant figure, you take the first letter of a name link it to one of the same which you cannot forget. (PC Patel in the Life of Pi for example)
The Pronunciation figure is something that for example a foreign name, or language you do not understand, you divide into syllables in your own language (New Zealand Maori place name “Why Kick a Moo Cow” = Waikikamukau)
The Skill figure remembers the Trade, profession, article of use (Medici pills as Doctor family or three balls as Bankers)
Figure of Fame remembered by social values , both good and bad.
The figure of Will is remembering how you would ‘will to happen in your imagination” (I will marry George Clooney or Humpty Dumpty is Charles the 1st who was beheaded)
Now I found Giogante’s description of the Effective Figure. He suggested that remembering required attaching to a man or object the opposite of Truth, “like imaging that you would like to see a good man hanged”
Giogante assured his readers that these eight figures of artificial memory, constitute every method and manner of been able to remember ,names, events, prose, allegories and sermons etc.His Treatise on the House of Memory became very popular,because at the time, there were many songs, poems, sermons to remember as the Eastern Churches were coming to the Council Of Basel/Ferrara/Milan finally.
After all…ut pictura poesis….which means pictures are like poetry. Unfortunately I do not think Tarot had a narrative at its beginning (it does now). Each image an allegory of Memory that fell into a sequence, and as the years went by - it set itself in concrete even swapping 8+11 and that becoming standard within my lifetime.
~Rosanne
