Antiquatis

A fundamental education can be broken into two distinct categories: the Trivium and the Quadrivium as defined in Medieval Universities.

The Trivium is comprised of these three subjects: Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric.
The Quadrivium is comprised of these four subjects: Arithmetic, Geometry, Music, and Astronomy.

The Trivium is concerned with a foundational liberal education; enabling one to communicate and understand their own thoughts and those of others in written, oral, or other form (meta-learning). Note that the Trivium does not adhere to a specific language; ideally the course of study would include multiple languages.

The definition of the Quadrivium given earlier is antiquated and in need of reevaluation. Arithmetic should give way to the broader topic of Mathematics, Geometry should give way to The Reciprocal System of Theory (Geometry is to be encompassed by Mathematics), Psychology (particularly, Jungian, and Spiral Dynamics) to replace Music, and Theosophy to replace Astronomy. Music and Astronomy, while important, are subjects not critical to personal evolution.

Thus, the Quadrivium is now modeled as: Mathematics, RS/RS2, Psychology, and Theosophy.

I am using these two definitions (The Trivium and Quadrivium) because they coincide well with our present understanding of the densities: the Trivium enables the gathering and expression of knowledge for choice, Third Density; and the Quadrivium enables the skills and knowledge for Individuation and interaction with the Social Memory Complex, Fourth Density.

Education and learning should be entirely self directed (autodidactic). The desire to learn is elicited through project based learning; small, quantifiable goals (projects) defined by the person provide direction and interest. Topics and subject matter for learning are defined by what is necessary to complete the project; this is a top down, recursive process implemented within the framework of the Trivium and the Quadrivium. "Extra" subject matter is added on a per-project basis (or overall interest of the student's).

Extra subject matter is considered anything other than that contained within the Trivium and Quadrivium definitions; Psionics, Music, Carpentry, Engineering (all sub-forms), Gardening, the Arts, the Sciences, &c...

Necessity is no longer the motivator; desire, purpose, and interest are the inspiration. There is a minute but important difference between motivation (external) and inspiration (internal).

Within this structure, we can define a set of methods and tools for effective, perspicuous, and efficient learning:

• clarify goals
• gain knowledge through spaced repetition
• preserve health
• work steadily
• minimize stress
• refuse interruption
• never resist sleep when tired

Clarification of goals takes place through the process of "knowing thy self" (Who are you? and What do you want? for Bab5 references), a dynamic process, changing as the consciousness evolves (slower, though, as one matures, typically). Jungian Psychology, Spiral Dynamics, Symbol Analysis, Personal Symbol Acquisition, and Active Imagination are tools for knowing thy self. Writing down goal definitions (or projects!) is important, it gets out of the head and is less likely to become vague.

Knowledge through spaced repetition ensures that knowledge gained in reading, dialogue, or introspection is not forgotten (see: Spaced Repetition and Forgetting Curve). Tools for this are: Mnemosyne and 20 Rules of Formulating Knowledge. Mnemonic devices and liberal use of mnemonics is also useful.

Preserving health is easy with proper discipline. Diet, physical exertion, and rest are crucial. Diet should consist of whole foods and preferably organic foods that contain the necessary nutrients and vitamins for your body and brain. Physical exercise/exertion can be had through the gym (less preferable), an activity (sailing, martial arts, dancing, hiking), and/or manual labor (digging, building, &c...). Rest can be had through sleep, meditation, and relaxing activities.

Working steadily requires longevity, vision (the goal/project should be framed within your purpose or vision) and discipline. Meditation and affirmation of goals assists with "slowing/calming down".

Minimize stress: follow your bliss and do not over-extend commitments.

Refuse interruption: maintain discipline and psychic space; people pleasers have a hard time with this.

Never resist sleep when tired. (self explanatory)

These methods, tools, and structure I've developed and synthesized over time to assist me with my self education. I am an INTJ (MBTI personality typing) type, so these methods and tools may be biased towards the introverted and intellectual. Kinesthetic learners may develop a manual framework (using building toys or something), auditory learners may do best to develop a dialectic framework, and visual learners may do well to develop an artistic representation/framework.

This is a quick/rough draft and only intended to help others that may want a more rigorous self education and don't necessarily know how to start with a useful routine.

If the Trivium were at Hogwarts, then the tools of communication aren't between people, but between complexes--physical, mental, spiritual and their cosmic counterparts in the other realm.

• Grammar: Symbols and archetypes -- the structure of language
• Logic: Psychocartography -- inference of inter-domain relationships
• Rhetoric: Motifs and allegory -- the patterns that tell stories and reveal information

• Arithmetic: Updating with mathematics is good.
• Geometry: The spatial and temporal geometry aspects of RS2.
• Music: Can be rather broad... Not necessarily the art, but the concepts music embodies: resonance, discord, harmony and sympathy. This could include the "motion" aspects of RS/RS2, and the research of Keely on vibratory physics, psychology and human behavior, spiral dynamics, bioenergetics (harmonics of Qi/Ch'i)... it's a wide field.
• Astronomy: perhaps Cosmology? Also, Gopi and I found that astronomic phenomena tend to mimic "life", in the intermediate and ultra-high speed motion ranges, but without the thermal component. So this, too, could be a broad topic.

I like it. Perhaps we should expand upon these and actually produce some course material, based on what we've learned chatting on this forum for years.


Just as long as it doesn't come across as "homework!"

Probably time to take a look at the power process... when properly executed, it provides positive reinforcement of learning and doing. There are 4 stages:

1. Goal: Goals must have a reasonable chance of success; too much failure results in defeatism. I would see the Institute providing Trivium goals, and the monastery providing the Quadrivium goals, since they tend to be a bit more non-material in nature.
2. Effort: It can't be too easy, or there is no sense of accomplishment. Nor can it be too difficult, which results in giving up. But a person must make some effort to achieve the goal.
3. Attainment: Where "grades" come in... how well the goal was attained. But I would think something more substantial than a letter/number grade, or a certificate of accomplishment is needed for the attainment stage, something that would result in a sense of personal achievement, not a plastic statue.
4. Autonomy: A person must go through the process with relative autonomy. Gopi probably understands this quite well... I've set up a number of "excursions" for him back in India over the years (a reachable goal), he put out the effort to do it, did it without anyone's help, and attained the goal. (Except for one shepherd!)

I have found that those people who don't put out the effort, never go very far. And there are those who want others to do the work for them (no autonomy), as in some Gurus. The power process becomes a test of character, for the most part.

I agree, I've been wanting to sit down and spend some mindful time on a curriculum (for my own self education) and this will be an excellent route for those participating to get into that groove.

A thought I had: like the old Grecian dialogues, I want to formalize the "dialogue" of the forum so we can retain some semblance of the discussion format in which so much has been explored but in an easier to read format (a book, PDF's, &c...). From there, data, information, and knowledge can be codified into course material. What do you think of that? The Antiquatis Dialogues...


That is essential, I think it is critical for the persons involved to find that process on their own, too. The framework can be provided and "teachers" can relate experiences and how they got there, but I know how crucial it has been for me in the last few years to be on my own and figure the power process out for myself...

I think many of you would enjoy reading Neal Stephenson's book "Anathem". Not sure how much all of you would like it, but he has certainly tapped into the Archive and the Sanctuary project; the "Mathic world" in his book is close to what we are intending Sanctuary to be. I liked the book quite a bit and it is rife with interesting motifs and symbols in a form I haven't encountered before; you have to push through the first 100 pages but after that it is hard to put down.

Bruce, I know you don't read Sci-Fi novels much, but this one might be worth it...

Interesting way of putting it!

Music is literally "muse-ic", tuning yourself to your muse, or anima. In addition to the physical magnitude concepts of resonance and sympathy and dissonance, you also get the notion of a "direction" in the psychic space. You can use it to move in the feeling regime, and with logic helping you, you can connect the effect of music with a person, and use it for development, in place of the traditional concept of "bringing out the beauty of the Lord" or a similar blue vMeme concept. I would say that a similar effect exists with respect to all the Arts, and Rudolph Steiner has classified them based on their effect on the different bodies of man, which is something interesting to look at.

As for astronomy, it is a relic of a time when the veil was not so thick and looking "out" was something akin to looking "in". Hence the stars were not so far off, and the interlinking led to an easier evaluation. Something that needs to be picked up.


It is better sometimes to look at learning as a living organism, where along with the "parts" you have to learn the "whole". Take the learning of a language, for example. If you split it up into 1. Learning basic words 2. Learning sentences and 3. Learning to speak fluently, the method would be very cumbersome. From experience, it is far simpler to just start speaking and listening to the language, than go "step by step". The finer parts almost always fit into place later on.

Hence for the Yang subjects, you'll need small quantifiable goals, while for the Yin subjects, you'd need large qualifiable goals. Kheb?


That is a good concept, ties in well with requiring a good conceptual foundation before making the Choice.

There were originally 3 muses so they may have originally corresponded to the tripartite aspects of the feminine (or masculine, if you are a woman). Later on, it was said that there were 9 muses--nine gems of the unconscious--which may be related to the development of the spirit complex in man--the additional 6 accounting for the dichotomy of the tripartite of the spirit complex (2x3), which is still basically "magic" to most people.


I would enjoy seeing a summary of Steiner's classification, if you have the time.


The original "constellation" stories are a memory theatre (aka The Art of Memory, Frances, Yates). Now we just have aliens instead of gods playing the parts.


That's a tier 2 concept to education--whole-istic. Probably going to have to be divided into Tier 1 and Tier 2 stages, where Tier 1 lets the students turn over the pieces to the puzzle, and start sorting out the water from the sky and the land. Tier 2 'systemic' allows you to assemble the 'systems', lakes, sky, houses, roads, and 'holistic' puts the systems together to form the big picture.

The holistic picture is the weltenschauung, the World View that is trying to be related. To dissemble the system to Tier 1, need to examine the system backwards, so start with Quadrivium--quadration--a dichotomy of dichotomies. The base dichotomy is yin-yang; the second is also a yin-yang of each yin-yang (each contained within the other, as in the Taijitu). I would expect the Trivium is the tripartite aspect of each of the sections of the quadration, the "dimensions" to the sectors, so to speak. So that would infer that there are 12 distinct elements (3x4) that need to be taught, to bring one up to the big picture, so they can see all the aspects involved.


r u shure u can mk tht clam?

I can remember back to 4th grade; my teacher loved to ask the question "Why" on tests... and it always got me upset that she wasn't satisfied with JUST the answer--but made me document HOW I came to that conclusion. I really thank her for that now, because it engaged my ability to reason at an early age. I think a vital portion of intelligence (animus, spirit) is knowing WHY something is done, and not must memorizing techniques. If you know why, you don't need to memorize anything. That's one of the big things about Larson's Reciprocal System... he addressed the "how" and "why" of the fundamental questions about how the Universe is constructed; questions that are just not asked these days.


The notes are the "yang" aspect of music, the associations (chords and bars) are the yin. I would think the "goal" is to produce "motion"--successfully combining yin and yang into something larger, like a song. As Larson finally said, "motion" is nothing but abstract change... and a good song can change something inside.

You reworded what I said with less technical lingo. Your whole-part analogy (as in mereology) correlates to the top-down approach, recursion applying to sub whole-parts. The opposite approach would be iterative and bottom-up, or in your words, moving from the parts to the whole.

Functional programming as opposed to procedural programming seems to be a Tier 2 apprehension (Scheme and Erlang being the poster child). It makes sense too, once I started learning Scheme my conception of programming and programming concepts expanded a great deal along with many other subject areas unrelated and related to programming.


Something heavily lacking in present day schooling is teaching children how to reason; it was non-existent for me. Being able to reason from givens is important, it wasn't until I studied more logic and read books on reasoning that I really began picking up those tools and habits. Practice is highly important too; programming gave me a sandbox for practicing it in; I extended it to thought in-general once I began earnestly studying subjects of the Trivium as part of my personal curriculum.

This is why I've mentioned the Trivium; as it focuses on teaching those tools before teaching anything specific. It focuses on everything I never got, which is stuff that should have came first! If the Trivium serves as a tripartite aspect of each section of the Quadrivium then are these [Trivium] subjects taught first as just the Trivium (basic logic, rhetoric, grammar | basic psychocartography, symbol analysis, and allegory) then advanced/in-depth immersion of the [Trivium] subjects in reference to each beginning column of the Quadrivium? (the overlapping density model is what I'm trying to visualize here).

In reference to memorization; I remember something my Martial Arts mentor told me a long time ago (who's name is also Bruce), he said, "Spirit and repetition are critical for any learning endeavor. Once techniques and basic movement are in muscle memory, you can engage the spirit and illicit creativity to create combinations and elaborate techniques that flow with the unpredictable nature of an attacker without pausing to consider options and determine your plan of defense." Spirit being the seat of the intellect and repetition/muscle memory being memorization of patterns of movement, even basic ones.

Reasoning is the foundation for knowledge and repetition (or practice you could say) ensures the knowledge generated from that reasoning circuit is kept so it doesn't have to be re-reasoned. Some gets put onto the hard drive, some goes into RAM, and other goes into the processor cache...

To extend this analogy a bit further too, I've discovered that the human brain is capable of true concurrency; in other words, thoughts can be ran in parallel to others. I also have had the idea that given multiple causal nexus pathways in proximity to one another, one could distribute the load across multiple participants; a participant being you but existing in a different causal nexus pathway. Tier 2 consciousness opens up the doorway to being cognizant of those multiple participants, as the consciousness hits Tier 2 all the other participants reach an isomorphic state (yet still individual) because they are all aware of the whole rather than just the part. I suppose I'm essentially describing a "personal" Social Memory Complex (extra-psychic personal rather than intra-psychic personal).

I lack the vocabulary to describe it, I can apprehend the whole but it is difficult to give the beauty of it justice in words...