The Trivium Binder Project

A Stroll Through The Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences

2012-02-10T10:57:00.005-06:00

This one comes from another Freemasonic source, which makes some of the discussion strange for non-Masons, but it's a good read for beginners. You will notice also that the author has the order of the Trivium subjects wrong, just as Sister Miriam Joseph does, by putting Rhetoric ahead of Logic. . .

A Stroll Through The Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences

By Richard D. Marcus

George Washington Lodge # 337 F&AM, Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin

Throughout our lives, we have heard of the liberal arts and sciences. But until we were presented with them in The Winding Stair lecture, most of us had only a vague notion of what they consisted. The Fellowcraft Degree commends Freemasons to study the Liberal Arts and Sciences, which are grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. When we study the historical background for this list, we will uncover layers of Masonic meanings for us in each of the seven areas of knowledge.

Editor's Note: The checkered floor represents a "threshing floor" which is a symbol of discernment (separating wheat from chaff), the first three steps represent the three degrees of Blue Lodge Masonry, the five steps represent the human senses, and the seven steps represent the arts and sciences. All of these are required of Masons to enter the innermost part of Solomon's Temple (or, the human brain/consciousness).

Parts of the original list date back to ancient Greece. By medieval times, the completed list had become central to educators and scholastics. The following remarkable woodblock print symbolically captures the relationship of knowledge to crafts.

This print is German from about AD 1500. It shows a goddess holding a book and a rod. She is called Wisdom or Sophia. The love of wisdom or the "philio of Sophia" is the meaning of the word Philosophy. We see Wisdom’s lifeblood pouring into all of the arts and crafts drawn as young men. All knowledge is united in this illustration. Painters, architects, musicians, and soldiers receive Wisdom.

Proverbs 9:1 says, "Wisdom hath built herself a house, she hath hewn her out seven pillars." Religious scholars have long speculated upon the seven pillars of Wisdom. Wisdom is poured out to seven vocations or callings. Wisdom also is seen presiding over branches of knowledge.

This leads us to a second woodblock print, which also is German from about the same time. This one includes clear words representing the Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences. Once again a book and rod, symbols of a teacher, are held by a three-headed winged Wisdom. She oversees seven maidens.

Donations & A Thank You!!!

2012-02-07T21:54:00.000-06:00

Over a month ago I put up an appeal for donations to help the Trivium Binder Project get a workhorse printer. Asking for donations is something that I feel uncomfortable with, though I'm not entirely sure if it's because I don't want to give people the impression that I'm doing this "for the money," or that I just wasn't sure if people valued the project enough that it wouldn't be insulting to ask for some help. Maybe it was a little bit of both. Whatever the case may be, I asked you all for donations and was extremely surprised by the response! With your help I was able to get a much better printer than I originally intended, which is good because in retrospect I would have chewed that thing up and spit it out after a couple binders!

A Brother HL-6050D is what I got (see picture below) and so far it works great! I wanted something more heavy duty than a personal, home printer, but realized that I couldn't afford the professional model office printers, and so this one seemed like the best one out there in my price range. While I have been extremely busy with my home/family/work life, I've begun printing the first few binders for people that donated $30 or more, and this thing is fast!

THANK YOU so very much to all of you who were able to donate, and also to every one of you that weren't but that are still coming to the site, reviewing the materials, studying them, printing them out yourselves, sharing them with friends and loved ones, and becoming a part of this growing meme to learn how to learn, to think for yourself, and to strive towards your highest potential. My job here has been as a compiler of resources and occasionally as a contributor, but I'm just another student like the rest of you, so hats off to you all!!!

Here's the Binder Monster, it makes my apartment smell like an office! :-D

Value
From the many people that have contacted me about this work, I've gathered that what I"m doing here is valuable. I've gotten compliments from many different persons, one of whom has an article in the Binder (well, two actually, if you include Gene Odening himself!) and many others who are using the Binder at home. It is surprising to get such good feedback from everyone because I thought for sure that between my audio presentation and this Binder arrangement there would be people coming at me with harsh criticisms, enlightened suggestions, or other types of "constructive feedback," but so far very little has come forth (thank you, WR Connors, for reminding me to include my story somewhere on the site and to get the links section going). I still await those kinds of feedback but it really is comforting and just overall validating to get such a warm response for this little project of mine.

I wish I had more time to devote to this project, the ideas are always churning in my mind about what else to do to improve it, but we all have our lives to live and responsibilities to take care of before we can start to do the things we really love to do, the Labors of Love (Unless you're one of those fortunate few that can actually make a living doing what they love! Follow your bliss!). In the mean time, there is a plethora of good and useful material for your needs, with more coming in the next calendar year. I've already started jotting ideas down for my next version of the audio presentation, and with the inclusion of some of the ideas and concepts I've been able to absorb in the past year I think this next presentation is going to be one really worth talking about! There is still a long list of books I don't have time to read, authors I want to interview for podcast episodes I'd like to create, and more articles I'd like to write or re-edit for the Binder. All good things come in time, and I truly believe that if the goal is worthy, what will be is what is meant to be. All of you have made it clear to me that this project is worthy, so I continue to carry on!

To Donate, or not to Donate?
The DONATE button will still remain here on the site, and occasionally I will put a few words out to encourage people to contribute, but as always such contributions are not necessary to get the full use of these materials! I'll never charge for this stuff, even if I legally could, so I leave it up to you to decide if you can and will throw a few dollars into the Project to help it move along. As people donate enough to receive free Binders, every dollar will go towards materials costs first (binders, dividers, paper, toner, inevitable printer repairs, etc) and anything after that will help to offset the costs of time and money that I spend to work on this Project.

It truly is a Labor of Love so I will continue on even without another dollar sent my way! But after telling a friend about this whole thing and saying that I was going to take down the donate button, I realized that if people truly do find value in this work and are able to support it in that way then it is perfectly moral for me to accept their help! Thank you again to everyone who has helped in this way and who will be able to in the future!

Essentially, though, this project is available to All for FREE. Use it. Study with it. Share it. Surpass it. The Trivium is a transformative process if you stick with it, and it will carry you beyond your original expectations into new territory that you never imagined. But the territory is NOT the map. You have to do the work, the hard work, for yourself--- no one can take the place of hard work for you!

Just know that every step you take along this path is a step towards greater and greater Light, Freedom, and Truth. I do not say that lightly as it has been my own experience that this is such, and this project is my invitation to all of you to join in the fun.

***donations of $35 or more gets you a FREE Trivium Binder (with a few extra goodies thrown in that aren't listed on the materials page!)***

Every little bit helps! Thank You So Much!!!

On the Purpose of a Liberal Arts Education

2011-12-01T15:35:00.002-06:00

On the Purpose of a Liberal Arts Education

Robert Harris
Version Date: October 15, 2010
March 14, 1991

(Ed. Note: I think this article, in full or in part, would be a good addition to the "Trivium Intro" section of the Binder!)

When they first arrive at college, many students are surprised at the general education classes they must take in order to graduate. They wonder why someone who wants to be an accountant or psychologist or television producer should study subjects that have nothing directly to do with those fields. And that is a reasonable question--Why should you study history, literature, philosophy, music, art, or any other subject outside of your major? Why should you study any subject that does not help to train you for a job? Why should you study computer programming when you will never write a program? Why study logic when all you want to do is teach first grade or be a church organist?

In answer to this question, let's look at some of the benefits a liberal arts education and its accompanying widespread knowledge will give you.

I. A liberal arts education teaches you how to think

1. You will develop strength of mind and an ordered intellect. The mind is like a muscle; exercise makes it stronger and more able to grasp ideas and do intellectual work. Exercising the mind in one area--whether literature or sociology or accounting--will strengthen it for learning in other areas as well. What at first was so difficult--the habits of attention and concentration, the ability to follow arguments, and the ability to distinguish the important from the trivial and to grasp new concepts--all these become easier as the mind is exercised and enlarged by varied study.

You will also learn that thinking has its own grammar, its own orderly structure and set of rules for good use. Many subjects help the student to develop an ordered mind, and each subject contributes in a slightly different way. A careful study of computer programming or mathematics or music or logic or good poetry--or all of these--will irresistibly demonstrate the structure of thought and knowledge and intellectual movement, and will create the habit of organized thinking and of rational analysis. Once you develop good thinking habits, you will be able to perform better in any job, but more importantly, the happier your life will be. After your class in programming or poetry you may never write another line of code or verse, but you will be a better husband or wife or teacher or businessman or psychologist, because you will take with you the knowledge of organized solutions, of hierarchical procedures, of rational sequences that can be applied to any endeavor.

2. You will be able to think for yourself. The diverse body of knowledge you will gain from a liberal arts education, together with the tools of examination and analysis that you will learn to use, will enable you to develop your own opinions, attitudes, values, and beliefs, based not upon the authority of parents, peers, or professors, and not upon ignorance, whim, or prejudice, but upon your own worthy apprehension, examination, and evaluation of argument and evidence. You will develop an active engagement with knowledge, and not be just the passive recipient of a hundred boring facts. Your diverse studies will permit you to see the relations between ideas and philosophies and subject areas and to put each in its appropriate position.

Good judgment, like wisdom, depends upon a thoughtful and rather extensive acquaintance with many areas of study. And good judgment requires the ability to think independently, in the face of pressures, distortions, and overemphasized truths. Advertisers and politicians rely on a half-educated public, on people who know little outside of their own specialty, because such people are easy to deceive with so-called experts, impressive technical or sociological jargon, and an effective set of logical and psychological tricks.

Thus, while a liberal arts education may not teach you how to take out an appendix or sue your neighbor, it will teach you how to think, which is to say, it will teach you how to live. And this benefit alone makes such an education more practical and useful than any job-specific training ever could.

3. The world becomes understandable. A thorough knowledge of a wide range of events, philosophies, procedures, and possibilities makes the phenomena of life appear coherent and understandable. No longer will unexpected or strange things be merely dazzling or confusing. How sad it is to see an uneducated mind or a mind educated in only one discipline completely overwhelmed by a simple phenomenon. How often have we all heard someone say, "I have no idea what this book is talking about" or "I just can't understand why anyone would do such a thing." A wide ranging education, covering everything from biology to history to human nature, will provide many tools for understanding. Context is crucial for full understanding, and a general knowledge of the world gives you that context.

Hints for Remembering Better

2011-12-01T15:30:00.002-06:00

Source: http://www2.yk.psu.edu/learncenter/acskills/memory.html

Hints for Remembering Better

Understand thoroughly what is to be remembered and/or memorized
Spot what is to be memorized verbatim. It is a good plan to use a special marking symbol in text and notebook to indicate parts and passages, rules, data, and all other information that is to be memorized instead of just understood and remembered
If verbatim memory is required, go over the material or try to repeat at odd times.
Think about what you are trying to learn. Find an interest in the material if you wish to memorize it with ease.
Study first the items that you want to remember longest.
Learn complete units at one time, as that is the way it will have to be recalled.
Overlearn to make certain.
Analyze material and strive to intensify the impressions the material makes.
Use concrete imagery whenever possible. Close your eyes and get a picture of the explanation and summary answer. Try to see it on the page. See the key words underlined.
Make your own applications, examples, and illustrations.
Reduce the material to be remembered to your own self-made system or series of numbered steps.
Represent the idea graphically by use of pictorial or diagrammatic forms.
Make a list of key words most useful in explaining the idea or content of the lesson.
Form a variety of associations among the points you wish to remember. The richer the associations, the better the memory.
Try making the idea clear to a friend without referring to your book or notes.
Actually write out examination questions on the material you think you might get at the end of the term. Then write the answers to your own questions. Since you now have the chance, consult the text or your notes to improve your answers.
Follow suggestions for reviewing. This is an important part of remembering.

—Courtesy of Virginia Tech

Two Methods of Reasoning- Inductive & Deductive

2011-11-07T12:29:00.005-06:00

http://www.triviumpursuit.com/article/two_methods_of_reasoning.php

This is taken from the Bluedorn's Trivium Pursuit website, focusing on the study of the Trivium in a Christian context. While religious education is not for everybody, there is plenty of useful stuff at the website linked, so do look around and consider buying some of their products.

I do have a disagreement with the last paragraph and a half of this article, in which is written:

"The Bible is a source of true premises by which someone can prove the unobservable past (creation, lives of the patriarchal fathers) or the unobservable future (the first coming of Christ, the destruction of Jerusalem).

Both inductive and deductive arguments require faith. An inductive argument requires faith in its conclusion, while a deductive argument requires faith in its premises."

While it is true that one could have faith in their premises, for instance, and would go on from there to form a chain of logic, others would agree that you want to first test the truth value of all premises first, before making a conclusion, assuming that all relevant information is available.

On this matter, Gene Odening writes:

"Be certain to have a valid definition for the term FAITH. One caveat which was made popular for deductive reasoning was to "CHECK your premises". This does not state, have faith in your premises. Inductive reasoning requires valid sample size, logical progression (do the premises follow from one another), and demonstrable proof (as in experimentation in the scientific method). Again, this is more than faith; it is the exercise of the active literacies -- which are composed of grammar, logic, and rhetoric -- by both the person developing the valid conclusion and the person receiving the information contained in the conclusion. Wherever there is a profession of faith, there is an authority waiting in the wings to urge you to suspend your own processes of critical thought, while simultaneously telling you what to think."

Masonic (liberal arts) influence on the brain.

2011-11-01T14:25:00.002-05:00

http://buildinghiram.blogspot.com/2010/09/masonic-influence-on-brain.html

An interesting article from the world of Freemasonry, one of the major repositories of the liberal arts and sciences for centuries.

2011-08-12T11:16:00.001-05:00

Understanding Misunderstandings: How to do a rhetorical analysis (link)

Rhetorical Analysis is KEY to Trivium studies. The Rhetorical Triangle is probably the most important technique to begin learning, as it puts your knowledge of Grammar and Logic into play (when analyzing the information), and because it provides a specific method for analyzing something critically without becoming emotionally reactive!

Freemasonry & Liberal Arts

2011-08-07T15:49:00.001-05:00

Freemasonry & the Liberal Arts

An interesting fact that I discovered during my research into the liberal arts, is that the spiritual institution of Freemasonry has had the liberal arts as a part of their educational process, it seems, as far back as it's ancient roots. Even if you don't like the Freemasons, their contribution to the study of the Arts cannot be denied and their connection with it's history is apparent the more that one studies the subject. Here are a few links to some interesting writing from Masonic authors:

The Seven Liberal Arts

The Spiritual Vision of the Liberal Arts

The Liberating Arts (video)

2011-08-07T15:45:00.002-05:00

Rev. Edmund Opitz, The Liberating Arts: Earmarks of a Liberal Education.

This talk is highly recommended. While somewhat controversial, the basic message is sound: the liberal arts contain the ability to regenerate a declining culture.

The Liberating Arts: Earmarks of a Liberal Education.

Philosophy of Liberal Education (online bibliography)

2011-08-07T15:39:00.002-05:00

Philosophy of Liberal Education (link)

This is a HUGE list of resources on the liberal arts, some of which is linked and available online (a few interesting ones not linked I was able to find online elsewhere, though). Some highlights from this list are:

Liberal Arts Education in the 21st Century by W R Connor

The Storm Over The University by John Searle (a critical review of a few books on liberal education)

Grammar, Rhetoric, and Mr. Dewey by Robert M Hutchins

The Aim of Liberal Education by Andrew Chrucky

Rhetorical Analysis Video Series

2011-08-07T14:50:00.000-05:00

This video series covers some of the basics of Classical Rhetoric as applied to modern work. I recommend this because it explains the concepts simply without getting technical. A good meal for beginners!

Check out the other videos on Rhetoric from this Uploader!!!

Liberal Skills For Liberal Learning

2011-08-04T07:35:00.000-05:00

Over the past year and a half I have been discovering and absorbing much material about the liberal arts. One thing that I've particularly noted is that no two persons seem to agree on both what liberal education actually is and what a liberal education actually consists of. In looking back one finds different concepts associated with liberal learning throughout it's long history. For new students to the Arts, such a wide range of notions can be daunting.

Something that is very difficult to find is a sort of updated review of what the liberal arts were, and what they might have to offer the people of today. Tonight I came across a short (12pg PDF) "occasional paper" from an organization called the American Academy for Liberal Education (AALE), a group which I've never heard of before tonight. The paper is titled, Liberal Arts Education in the Twenty-first Century, by W R Connor, and it certainly focuses upon the one thing I've come to determine as the key to liberal education in the 21st century- the acquisition of "liberal" SKILLS.

When we think of liberal arts studies, we tend to think of the Arts themselves which are, by all estimation, Arts, or subjects. To use an analogy, the Arts are akin to other Arts like music or painting, and so in each Art there are skills first to be mastered before real progress can be made. A painter must first learn to use a brush well before a canvass can become a masterpiece.

In the coming weeks, I'll be publishing a podcast episode which will act as a stand-alone introduction to the acquisition of "liberal skills" by common people of today. The backdrop of this episode will be clips from a video presentation of Mortimer Adler's "How To Read A Book", with commentary included by me to illuminate the skills necessary for liberal, or free, learning. Until then I invite you to look at your own study of the liberal arts and see what, if any, skills you have acquired that you did not have before studying the arts, and that have greatly benefited your own education. Your feedback may help me to cover any skills I might have not included otherwise for lack of understanding, so please message me with any thoughts you have on this matter!!!

For me, the skill that emphasizes itself the most in my mind is the skill of "the Paraphrase". To paraphrase well is to grapple with the underlying thought structures of a statement, and to do this so well that you can recapitulate the statement in your own words, your own way of using language, or to even explain something in the most simplest of language (in talking to a child, for instance). I find the paraphrase to be an essential skill, as the Greeks did when they used the exercise called The Creia, and will most certainly be covering it in the podcast episode mentioned above (the Next Step podcast, http://thenextstep.podomatic.com/ ).

For now I will leave you with a link to the paper I found tonight as it presents a very good argument for why liberal education is foremost an acquiring of liberal skills, as opposed to simply studying the subjects.

Liberal Arts Education in the Twenty-first Century, by W R Connor
http://www.aale.org/pdf/connor.pdf

Don't be shy if you have something to add to this, otherwise, enjoy!!!

Trivium Learning For Beginners

2011-08-04T07:24:00.003-05:00

Over at Jan Irvin's Gnostic Media forum, Communion, I responded to a couple posts from people who were feeling a bit overwhelmed by their initial Trivium studies and were seeking resources outside of those already found amongst the podcasts. I think their concerns resonate with many people who come to the Trivium, and so I'm posting their comments and my replies. I hope this does help those people who need a little bit more perspective to begin grasping the whole Trivium-learning concept. The Trivium approach is so different from everything taught in public schooling so it's not always that easy for people to put into practice right away. I didn't include all the other comments, so to see those you'll need to join Jan Irvin's Communion forum.

~

"For the past few months since I've heard about the Trivium and I've been randomly trying to wrap my head around the "point" of it all but every time I try to do some research it seems like I'm being dumped in the middle of it all rather than the beginning. So my question is, where do I start in trying to understand what the trivium is more thoroughly?

What I do understand is that it's essentially a method of learning broken up in 3 parts, gathering data, forming the data into something that could be articulated, and then the actual method of articulation. Is that a correct understanding? If it isn't, what am I missing? If it is correct, then what now?

Even before hearing of this method I've always had the saying that it's more important to learn how to learn than it is to memorize facts. That seems to be in line with the Trivium, no?

I was trying to look for books on the subject but a lot of it seems to revolve around christian homeschooling and stuff. I have 2 small boys and I would love to teach this method of learning to learn to them, but I don't know where to begin, any suggested reading?

Wow, that's a bit random and all over the place, but thats how I feel when I try to wrap my arms around the subject.

So, if I didn't know anything about the Trivium...where would I start?"

Thanks!"

Reply:

I responded to a similar question here:

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=5700

The Bludorn Trivium book has value for non-Christians, you just have to separate the wheat from the chaff (could you hear me pronounce the "h" in wheat? ). The one key thing I got from that as far as teaching young children, aside from not pushing math too hard, is Oral Narration. Basically take a short story, I've used Aesop's Fables, or a short section of a longer story, such as A Wrinkle In Time, and then after reading the short story or section you then ask the child to repeat back, in their own words to the best of their capability, what they heard in the story. Over time they get better at this, and it not only works on their grasp of ideas and concepts, but their memory as well. This exercise is beneficial for us adults who didn't get a good education, or who just feel that they need every little extra bit of intellectual ability they can muster.

There is not yet, to my knowledge, a sort of "Trivium Learning for the 21st Century" book out there, but I have a feeling that in a couple years something of that nature may emerge from the people Jan & Co. are gathering together. The more of us who are progressing in our studies will branch out and form connections with academics and others in the field of learning who will help to fill in gaps, create larger connections, and provide more feedback. I think we all have something to contribute to this project.

One key message I get from liberal learning is: TAKE IT EASY!

That doesn't mean seek the easy route, it means don't get boggled down with the enormity of the task at hand. Break everything down over and over again into more digestible parts. Learn and re-learn these concepts and form them to be of your own mind. Remember, there are the subjects of the trivium, the skills of the trivium, and then the method of the trivium.

Here's one of two interesting articles on the liberal arts from a masonic author:

http://mill-valley.freemasonry.biz/worr ... arts01.htm

"Would there be an overview on how to educate yourself on the Trivium - Quadrivium ?

Is there any more info on this whole learning system anyhow? In videomaterial for example?

More on the history? And duration of the study?

How long did it take before someone completed the whole Trivium and how long for Quadrivium?

When was this practiced? In what languages? Is it applicable to other languages?

What is so special about it ?

So i think it would be great if someone could compell some information for newcomers

For Example

For grammar:

Steps:

1. Read these books: xXx,x,x isbn xxxx

2. See these documentaries: xxxx history of bla bla xxx

3. Any digital courses on the subjects? Teach12.com ?? e.g.

Any suggestions are welcome"

Reply:

The one thing I've learned that I think will help all newcomers to the Trivium, is that foremost in your studies is the development of skills. The Trivium contains three subjects, but in the fine print there are many skills one must acquire as a part of the learning process. Here are a few to focus on:

Defining Terms

The Paraphrase

Concentration

Taking Notes

Of those alone, the Paraphrase is highly important as it helps you to grasp essential ideas in a set of information. People such as Ben Franklin and Abraham Lincoln credit this technique, in it's varying forms of practice, as crucial to their development.

Defining Terms helps you to ask the What? question; What does this word/term mean? In conjunction with all of these other terms, what is the author saying?

Taking Notes simply helps you get underneath the skin of the information, it helps not only in forming your overall understanding of the whole but also of the parts-- and it helps you stay awake! It is also a reflection of your consciousness at the time, and the notes taken from your first reading of Plato's Phaedrus will be much different from your third, or fifteenth.

Mental Concentration is absolutely crucial in this endeavor, and in life generally. Whenever you catch your mind wandering when it should be reading, come right back to the last place you're aware of and continue on ad infinitum until the mind obeys your Will. I'm not completely there yet, but I've made a lot of progress since I began my liberal studies.

~

In Susan Wise-Bauer's A Well-Educated Mind, I first encountered the idea of reading a text more than once, with a different focus each time. This is crucial. The first reading you should not hang on every word; your task is to become familiar with the large view, the general impression of what the artist has attempted to accomplish. Then, referencing your notes, your second reading brings you back to passages or ideas or terms which either caught your fancy or boggled you in some way. You start to really understand what the text is saying during your second pass through. The third reading is even more a personal endeavor; what does the book mean to you? what is the context it was created in? what are it's effects and did it achieve what it was meant to? This is a real quick review of much more detail offered in Wise's book.

I don't think there is enough information amongst us to start a Trivium University, but the work that all of us are doing on this is creating a great deal of high quality information that will be more well packaged and presented as time goes on. Jan and Co. are learning this stuff right along with the rest of us, and all of our growth will be apparent as our various projects unfurl and our connections grow.

~

Here are a few suggestions for further study:

Video - The Liberating Arts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOdT_7SHMDk

For learning Grammar:

http://www.archive.org/details/gradedle ... 03kellgoog

(This is old, but it still holds up and is designed for auto-didactics. It comes recommended by David Mulroy, author of War Against Grammar.)

Then also I would join the Tragedy and Hope site as there are plenty of amazing resources like the Trivium Study Group, the Well-Educated Study Group and many others.

Hope this helps!!!