The Only Planet Mnemonic You Need

08/07/22 • 35 min

The Magnetic Memory Method Podcast

Memorizing the planets is one of the coolest things you can do.

But finding the best planet mnemonic can be tricky.

That’s because the best planet mnemonic for someone else might not be the best approach for you.

That’s why I’m going to share an alternative to acronyms and acrostic mnemonics for the planets on this page.

And you’ll probably find the hermetic mnemonic for planets especially useful.

It’s definitely my favorite and works fast!

The Simple and Effective Planet Mnemonic

Let’s get one thing clear:

Simple doesn’t necessarily mean easy.

But when you use an effective planet mnemonic and have fun with it, you will enjoy efficiency with learning as much of the solar system as you wish.

As you rapidly absorb the knowledge using these techniques, you can add details about each planet to your memory with ease.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iadUSC0yMw4

For learning the planets, I recommend using a Memory Palace. Even if you use an acrostic inside of a Memory Palace, I think you’ll find using your spatial memory as part of the process much more powerful.

What is a Memory Palace? It’s a mental image based on a familiar location. You simply place the names of the planets along a journey in this location and use funny or weird associations to trigger the target information.

To get started, pick any room. Then assign a spot for each of the planets you want to memorize.

Let’s say you’re going for a comprehensive solar system mnemonic that includes:

Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Ceres
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto
Haumea
Makemake
Eris

This means you need 13 stations in your Memory Palace.

As you can see in the illustration above, it’s easy to assign stations in any room for this amount of information.

Next, you simply place a mnemonic image that helps you remember the name of each planet in order.

For example, on station one, you can place something that reminds you of Mercury.

You could choose the mythical god Mercury. Or a car, like a Mercury Grand Marquis.

Or you could combine the mythical god and the car in an unusual way to help you remember that you mentally placed Mercury in that part of the room. This is the kind of approach that makes memorizing planets so much fun.

You then simply repeat the process, using simple pegword associations throughout the room you chose.

The Hermetic Memory Palace For the Classic Solar System

Recently, I wanted to memorize the solar system as it was used in the Italic Hermetic Tradition.

Or better said, I adapted it in a particular way for one of my applied memory experiments.

(See David Pantano’s The Magic Door for the source of my inspiration.)

To do this, I memorized the seven classical planets using my body as the Memory Palace.

The Body Memory Palace for Memorizing the Classical Solar System

Using the human body as a mnemonic device for the planets and information about the solar system is easy.

In this case, I needed only seven stations.

Saturn (the space above my head)
Jupiter (the top of my head)
Mars (mouth)
Sun (chest)
Moon (belly)
Mercury (hip joint)
Venus (thigh)

To add more planets, you would simply create more stations.

You can also link each of these stations to numbers using the Major Method. I talked about this style of Memory Palace with memory expert Ron White in this detailed interview.

To add details about the planets is easy once they’re in place. For example, the hermeticists considered Mars an image of willpower. So near my mouth, I imagined this planet clamping my mouth closed to help me hold my tongue as an act of willpower.

Acrostic For The Planets

Typically, you’ll find examples of planet mnemonics in the form of acrostics.

This type of memory technique involves assigning a word to each letter in an attempt to create a memorable phrase.

Common examples for different amounts of planets include:

...

Memorizing the planets is one of the coolest things you can do.

But finding the best planet mnemonic can be tricky.

That’s because the best planet mnemonic for someone else might not be the best approach for you.

That’s why I’m going to share an alternative to acronyms and acrostic mnemonics for the planets on this page.

And you’ll probably find the hermetic mnemonic for planets especially useful.

It’s definitely my favorite and works fast!

The Simple and Effective Planet Mnemonic

Let’s get one thing clear:

Simple doesn’t necessarily mean easy.

But when you use an effective planet mnemonic and have fun with it, you will enjoy efficiency with learning as much of the solar system as you wish.

As you rapidly absorb the knowledge using these techniques, you can add details about each planet to your memory with ease.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iadUSC0yMw4

To get started, pick any room. Then assign a spot for each of the planets you want to memorize.

Let’s say you’re going for a comprehensive solar system mnemonic that includes:

Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Ceres
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto
Haumea
Makemake
Eris

This means you need 13 stations in your Memory Palace.

As you can see in the illustration above, it’s easy to assign stations in any room for this amount of information.

Next, you simply place a mnemonic image that helps you remember the name of each planet in order.

For example, on station one, you can place something that reminds you of Mercury.

You could choose the mythical god Mercury. Or a car, like a Mercury Grand Marquis.

You then simply repeat the process, using simple pegword associations throughout the room you chose.

The Hermetic Memory Palace For the Classic Solar System

Recently, I wanted to memorize the solar system as it was used in the Italic Hermetic Tradition.

Or better said, I adapted it in a particular way for one of my applied memory experiments.

(See David Pantano’s The Magic Door for the source of my inspiration.)

To do this, I memorized the seven classical planets using my body as the Memory Palace.

The Body Memory Palace for Memorizing the Classical Solar System

Using the human body as a mnemonic device for the planets and information about the solar system is easy.

In this case, I needed only seven stations.

Saturn (the space above my head)
Jupiter (the top of my head)
Mars (mouth)
Sun (chest)
Moon (belly)
Mercury (hip joint)
Venus (thigh)

To add more planets, you would simply create more stations.

You can also link each of these stations to numbers using the Major Method. I talked about this style of Memory Palace with memory expert Ron White in this detailed interview.

Acrostic For The Planets

Typically, you’ll find examples of planet mnemonics in the form of acrostics.

This type of memory technique involves assigning a word to each letter in an attempt to create a memorable phrase.

Common examples for different amounts of planets include:

...

Previous Episode

20 Simple Memory Techniques That Work Wonders

You want memory techniques so you can retain information forever.

But you’re overwhelmed by two things:

The topics you’re learning
The vast amount of information about memory techniques themselves

With so many different terms and unhelpful advice like “use images,” it can be hard to find the best mnemonic techniques for your learning goals.

The problem ends right here and right now.

That’s because on this page I’m going to share every memory technique that exists.

You might think that’s a tall promise. But I’ll show you why it’s true as we go.

And I’ll show you what kinds of information these mnemonic techniques are best suited to help you learn.

That way, you never have to be confused again.

Before you know it, you’ll be a master of your memory.

Ready?

Let’s dive in!

https://youtu.be/p-7yr67I5LY

20 Simple Memory Techniques That Work Wonders

As we go through this list of memory strategies, they are not compiled in any particular order of importance.

In fact, to get the most of your mind, you can easily plan to learn and use all of them.

Just understand that you don’t have to learn all of them overnight. Pick one or two, and bookmark this page so you can easily find it when you’re ready to add on a few more.

One: Pay Attention

As memory expert Harry Lorayne often pointed out in his books and presentations, the number one reason we forget is simple. We aren’t paying attention to the information as it comes in.

Paying attention is useful for all kinds of information, and one simple way to practice getting better at it is when you meet new people.

Before going to your next party or event, make a point of telling yourself that you will pay attention to the names of the people you meet. This tutorial will help you memorize their names.

You can also practice paying more attention as you read. A simple tip is to do a round of progressive muscle relaxation and breathing before using the memory techniques for studying on this page.

I like to sit in a particular way when reading and pretend that I’m “hunting” for details. It helps me pay more attention to the material and pick up the nuances.

Two: Use Associations

Many memory techniques rely upon connecting one thing with another through association.

These associations can be direct or indirect. They can be extremely broad or granular. Either way, the entire strength of this memory technique relies on one simple principle:

Connect (or associate) information you want to remember with information you already know.

For example, a direct association would be meeting a person named Brad and associating him with the actor Brad Pitt. If you do not know Brad Pitt, obviously he would not be an option. Some other person named Brad that you do know would be the better choice.

An indirect association would be memorizing a word in a foreign language or medicine and coming up with something that sounds close enough.

For example, Oliver Sacks does not sound exactly like the sacral plexus, but if you have him crawling the sounds of “Sacks” and “crawl” will trigger the word “sacral” indirectly.

Or, to stick with needing to remember a name like Brad, an indirect association might be to think about brass knuckles or the obscure Skinny Puppy compilation album Brap. Both the words brass and brap are close enough to at least trigger the target information you want to remember.

Why?

Because these choices are based on the sound-association of br in the association and br in the name of the target information.

Three: Use Multisensory Mnemonics

A lot of training material on the use of memory techniques confuses people because they use terms like mnemonic images. This teaching makes it sound like you’re supposed to think in pictures.

Some people certainly can do that.

However, when making associations, it’s important to add other sensations to the images. This activity is important because of the elaborative encoding principle I’ll share with you in a moment.

For now, here’s a handy acronym to help you remember the main types you can make: KAVE COGS.