I've been working a great deal on perfecting our Mayan Memory Matrices. I've been inspired by discovering recently how well the Mayans themselves used their own pyramids as real life Mnemonic structures for conceptualizing and mastering their study of astronomy (for example, making steps equal to the number of days in their year for starters). Considering all of these things, I've come the conclusion that for Mnemonic reasons down the road, it's going to be more useful to develop a Base-20 numbering plan for sectioning out memory locations around (and on on top of) our pyramids rather than just using the four sides or the Base-10 Major System that we could have also used. One reason for this is that the verb conjugation systems of most of the 6 official languages of the United Nations (highly worth learning) often make different conjugations for verbs in one tense for far more than 10 different pronouns--Arabic uses 16 pronouns for example. We need a memory tool that conveniently clumps together up to 20 items easily in one location to be on the safe side, so that we don't have to run around the whole globe in our minds in the future to conjugate just one verb in one tense. It will be more enjoyable to mentally just walk around one pyramid to complete that task.
To this ends I've conceptually expanded our 12 month calendar out to 20 divisions (like the Baha'i calendar of 19 months and 1 intercalary period). Furthermore, while doing this I've also decided that since it's so easy at this point, I might as well memorize the basic outline of the Baha'i calendar to get started with something from real life. Even if you're not Baha'i and just interested in learning Arabic, don't worry this will benefit you too. It's part of the real life memosphere, so by definition, it's useful to us as a potential tool to make meaningful associations with. Remember, it's always best to overlay as much of the truly meaningful and real in our memory systems as possible and then only imagine completely contrived stories when necessary as extra mental glue. So here we go. We're going to get really intensive now:
Warning: to start with, you are going to need to know the order of the Arabic Alphabet as a pegging system, which I have previously created Mnemonics for with great success on one of my earlier blogs. I've conducted a few experiments with these tools and found that I can teach anyone all 28 letters of the Arabic Alphabet perfectly within 2 hours from scratch even if they've had no prior memory training, so please tackle this exercise with my specially draw pictures if you don't already know the Arabic alphabet in order perfectly, or even just to get familiar with the icons (or glyphs) that we'll be using. Here's the link:
http://arabicforpoets.blogspot.com/2010/10/1st-letter.html
Since inventing those Arabic Alphabet Mnemonics last October, I've had the chance to discuss my Arabic work with a university Arabic professor at Georgetown University who's written numerous books on Arabic herself, and she's recommended that I use (or invent) an Arabic transliteration system that only uses ONE LETTER on our European keyboards for ONE LETTER in Arabic. For example, the "th" sound in Arabic shouldn't be transcribed as "th" with Roman letters in Arabic because it's only one letter in Arabic, and if we use "th" we won't know if we mean "th" as one sound or "t" and "h" as too different sounds. Taking this wise advice, I've settle on the following Arabic transliteration system that includes the capacity to add extra Persian letters and other sounds that don't exist in Arabic. Since Arabic uses no capital letters, one of my most important distinctions is to use capital letters for the more emphatic version letters that generally cause the pronunciation of surrounding vowels to be darker and lower, like in "AUdible" instead of "Edible." Here's the system in the order of the Arabic Alphabet:
01) \' = \'alif with hamza (use only \ for \'alif only), pronounced variously in context
02) b = the "b" sound like in "bunny."
03) t = the soft "t" sound like in "test" and "toad"
04) x = the soft, voiceless "th" sound like in "think" and "Thoth." (Looks like a slanted "t")
05) J = the emphatic, dark, "J" sound like in "Jellyfish"
06) H = the emphatic, dark, "H" sound like in laughing diabolically "Ha, Ha, Ha!" or saying "Aha!"
07) K = the emphatic, dark, "Kh" sound in foreign names like Khan, or when clearing your throat
08) d = the soft, voiced, "d" sound like in "dolphin," and "double-decker ice cream."
09) X = the soft, but VOICED, "th" or "dh" sound in words like "that" and "dhole."
10) R = the emphatic, dark, "R" sound like in rolled Spanish "R's," or at the end of "better" in English.
11) z = the soft, voiced, "z" sound like in "zebra."
12) s = the soft, voiceless, "s" sound like in "scorpion."
13) & = the soft, voiceless, "sh" sound like in "ship" and "shark."
14) S = the emphatic, dark, "S" sound like in "Salt" and "Sawfish."
15) D = the emphatic, dark, "D" sound like in "Dock."
16) T = the emphatic, dark, "T" sound like in "Talk."
17) Z = the emphatic, dark, sound between "th" and "z," which doesn't exist in English.
18) A = the emphatic, dark, sound in the back of the throat that sounds like a straggled A
19) G = the emphatic, dark, rolled G sound like the French R sound
20) f = the soft, "f" sound like in "flamingo."
21) Q = the emphatic, dark, "Q" sound that pops in the back of the throat saying "Qatar."
22) k = the soft, voiceless, "k" sound like in "kangaroo."
23) l = the soft, "l" sound like in "lamb."
24) m = the soft, "m" sound like in "mouse" and "midnight," which is zero hundred hours.
25) n = the soft, "n" sound like in "noon," and at the end of the name of the letter Ayn (letter 18).
26) h = the soft, "h" sound like in "heat."
27) w = the soft, "w" sound like in "whale."
28) y = the soft, "y" sound like in "yak."
Now, to compress and add to this list of letters to make a base twenty system that we can use to somewhat replace the base-10 major system for learning foreign languages, we can make the following adjustments:
It's easy to remember "m" is both the 24th letter of the Alphabet and the perfect number for ZERO because MIDNIGHT is both, the 24th hour on the clock and the reset point to ZERO. So this will be our new 20-digit Mnemonic numbering system around our Mayan Pyramids (but not for number elements or countries or other long lists--don't worry, we'll still use regular numbers):
00) m -- because of midnight
01) \' (+ w + y) because these are all semi-vowels and Arabic substitutes these letters for each other
02) b (+ p) because "p" is said with closed lips like "b" but voicelessly
03) t
04) x (+ f) because people who don't have "th" sounds in their native language use "f" instead
05) J
06) H (+ h) because it's really hard for English speakers to tell these apart.
07) K (+ k) because English speakers mispronounce names like Khan using the soft "k"
08) d
09) X (+ v) because people who don't have "dh" sounds in their native language use "v" instead
10) R (+ l) because "r" and "l" sound the same to many East Asian English speakers.
11) z
12) s
13) & ( + c, for he "ch" sound) because "sh" and "ch" are easily confused in languages with only one
14) S
15) D
16) T
17) Z (even though this is pronounced as a dark "dh" in perfect Arabic, many accents use Z)
18) A (+ n) because we need something to go with this letter, which rarely exists in other languages
19) G (+ Q) because many Arabic speakers pronounce "Q" as "G" in their dialects.
Now for the magic, let's expand our 12 month year conceptually to 20 periods along these 20 new Arabic digits, seeing how quick and easy this can be. I'm going to add two sets of 4, the names of the seasons (summer, fall, winter, and spring), and the 3 phases a matter plus energy like the ancient 4 elements for another 4. That gives us 12 + 4 + 4 = 20. Here we go:
00 = 0 = SPRING, because we Spring forward through our intercalary days (a period with no month)
01 = \' = MARCH, which ends with Baha'i month #1, Splendor (Baha)
We march forward with a new spring in our steps as the splendor of life returns to earth.
02 = b = FIRE, because we pray for the return of the fiery sun in April showers, #2 is Glory (Jamal)
The Sun is the GLORY of the skies, which is why we miss it and pray for it's return.
03 = t = APRIL, which ends with Baha'i month #3, Beauty (Jamal)
When the Sun finally does return at the end of April, we say, "wow, this is beauty."
04 = x = MAY, which ends with Baha'i month #3, Grandeur (Azamat)
With all of the May flowers in full bloom, we see the Grandeur of Spring at it's greatest.
05 = J = SUMMER, because summer breaks starts in May or June, and #5 is Light (Nur).
Summer break is the LIGHT at the end of the tunnel for many students and teachers!
06 = H = JUNE, which ends with the Baha'i month #6, Mercy (Rahmat)
At the end of June, many people enjoy the mercy of a vacation.
07 = K = JULY, which ends PERFECTLY with the Baha'i month #7, Words (Rahmat)
We don't have to study on vacation in July, the calendars line up and differ only in WORDS
08 = d = WATER, which is when we pray for water, to keep nature in PERFECTION (Kamal)
It starts to dry up in August and we miss the cool green of Spring, so we pray for a little more water.
09 = X = AUGUST, which is the end of August, the Baha'i month of Names (Asma)
When we go back to school at the end of August, we have to start learning new NAMES.
10 = R = FALL, which is the full return of the FALL SEMESTER for everyone, MIGHT (Izzat)
Now we have to summon all of our Might after Labor day to get back to hard work.
11 = z = SEPTEMBER, which begins a new Baha'i month at the end, WILL (Mashiyyat)
If you have the WILL to continue, you won't drop your college courses before the withdrawal date.
12 = s = OCTOBER, which ends with the Baha'i month, KNOWLEDGE (Ilm)
Since you didn't drop your college courses, you're now starting to get new KNOWLEDGE
13 = & = AIR, which begins with the Baha'i month, POWER (Qudrat)
You pray now that POWER of the Aroma of Thanksgiving will be great, and the family will unite.
14 = S = NOVEMBER, which ends with the Baha'i month, SPEECH (Qawl)
Your prayers are answered and the speech at Thanksgiving is warm and kind.
15 = D = WINTER, which begins with the Baha'i month, QUESTIONS (Masa'il)
Before WINTER BREAK you face semester final exams and you cram for al the QUESTIONS
16 = T = DECEMBER, which ends on New Years Eve with the Baha'i month of HONOR (Sharaf)
You celebrate during December holidays that you passed your exams with HONORs.
17 = Z = JANUARY, which ends with the Baha'i month of SOVEREIGNTY (Sultan).
Many people try to get greater Sovereignty over their lives with New Years Resolutions in January.
18 = A = FEBRUARY, which ends with the Baha'i month of DOMINION (Mulk).
You try not to let the snow and ice get DOMINION over you in February.
19 = G = EARTH, as March begins, so does the Baha'i month of LOFTINESS, (Ala).
You pray that the earth will thaw from the cold and that your LOFTY dreams for he new year will be fulfilled in God's providence.
In the next lesson, we'll build more on weaving these 20 divisions of time into our Mayan Memory Matrix more completely with direct links to the Arabic names and the Arabic letters of the Alphabet, but for now, this is a good start. See how easy it is to get down facts with a good system? At least, I hope that makes the Baha'i calendar as easy for you as it does for me. Let me know.
Salaam,
Sky
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