Page 174 - Use Your Memory

12 Card Memory System

Magicians and memory experts often amaze and amuse audiences
with their ability to remember complete packs of cards in the order
in which they were presented. They similarly astound their audi-
ences by being able to rattle off, without any difficulty, the six or
seven cards not mentioned when an incomplete 'pack' is randomly
presented. Extraordinary as these feats may seem, they are not all
that difficult and are usually quite straightforward - even though
many people accuse the performer of having hidden assistants in
the audience, marked cards, and a number of other tricks.
The secret of remembering a complete pack of cards is to attach
your Key Memory Image for each card to the Major System you
have just learned. All that is necessary to create a Key Memory
Image Word for each card is to know the first letter of the word for
the suit as well as the number of the card in that suit. For example,
all words for the dub cards will begin with c, all words for the
hearts with h; all words for the spades with s; and all the words for
the diamonds with d. The second consonant for the card-word
will be the consonant represented by the letter from the Major
System.
Taking as an example the 5 of spades, you know that it must
begin with s because it is a spade card, and that its last consonant
must be l because it is the 5, and 5 in the Major System is
represented by l. Without much difficulty you arrive at the word
sale, which represents the 5 of spades. If you wish to devise a word
for the 3 of diamonds, it must begin with d because it is the
diamond suit, and its final consonant must be m because the
number 3 is represented by m in the Major System. Filling in with
the first vowel, you arrive at the word dam, which is your Image
Word for the 3 of diamonds.
Following is a list of the cards and their Memory Image Words.
A few of the variations will be explained after you have had a
chance to familiarise yourself with the list.
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