Lynne, this is what I was on about for DIY Constellation Cards.
Also saw this which I thought was an interesting idea..
I would use a red light if actually star grazing to protect your night vision. Weirdly the only torch I have a red filter for is the one pictured.
Might be of interest as well - How the Inca Used Quipu
I love the idea of constellation cards. I might do that with my kid as part of our homeschool astronomy class. She likes playing with flashlights.
I got a cute little puzzle app on my phone for learning the constellations, so I’ve been practicing with that for now. And now that I’m actually learning them, I am realizing why constellations have such crazy stories attached to them - that’s the mnemonic device for memorizing them. Probably the oldest mnemonic device of all, I’d think.
I cannot find the list anywhere however ignore me as I somehow managed not to read chapter 10 on my Kindle. I picked up the physical book looking for something else and tripped over it.
If you could point me to the list would be great.
Phone is white light so it will take out your night vision if outside.
I think I need a ‘to memorise’ list between you and Lynne it getting too long to remember 
I wonder if anyone has done a PAO for binary? I know people have done up to 999 so 256 would not be terrible or maybe 64 as a start.
What a fantastic idea! I must try that.
I love anything to do with the khipu. I have tried using one as a memory device, and they don’t work near as well as a lukasa or memory palace or flash cards … when you don’t have it with you. But if you have it in your hand, it is really close to writing - it is so easy to read once you have set up a code.
I am not sure that a khipu would work well with kids. Mine got so tangled and took quite a bit of fine motor co-ordination. I have abandoned it now because I want knowledge to still be present when the device is away.
All so interesting! Thank you.
Lynne, do you have a PAO?
I do have PAO, but the list would be no use to you as it is full of people I know, and then characters I created. Only about 20 of them would be familiar to you.
Creating my Chinese and French bestiaries, like my names / English words bestiary - I then used characters who would be recognisable to everyone. That’s why I moved to animals.
When I read other people’s lists, they often include ‘famous’ actors and I have no idea who they are.
Sorry - I have nothing of use.
Lynne
I use my usual PAO list, and just don’t use them all.
I use the Dominic System - I only have 00-99 encoded. So I use 00-64 for binary. It was my favourite event when competing. Coming from a computing background, I recognise 3-digit binary easily.
I’m moving onward with my “memorize the constellations” project, and it really strikes me as a good view into ancient mnemonic techniques. I am hypothesizing, though I do not yet know enough to say for sure, that the older a constellation is, the more mnemonic-friendly it will be - i.e. there will be a crazy story attached to it, or the stars will be grouped into a very unusual shape, and so on.
Alas, it’s been very cloudy lately so I cannot test out my new astronomical knowledge in real life. Sigh.
Due to the tip about going extreme for a firmer memory I went full famous people so I can unleash my unlimited “Howard Wolowitz”.
My first PAO was 10 selections and then actors within them so 0-9 was Buffy and it was a struggle to rememeber them for some reason.
My current 02 which is OB is Obi-Wan Kenobi and for some strange reason it will not stick so does anyone know when to change the person because it not working?
No worries, you have already given so many good ideas.
Dear Lynne, would you explain what is and what use do you give your English words bestiary? Or maybe point me to where you have done it in the past? It intrigued me. 
I changed mine quite a few times when I saw they weren’t working - and I changed them pretty much immediately. I went through a few iterations on 87, and eventually decided, for no reason whatsoever, that it is a matryoshka doll doing a Russian dance. That stuck, so that’s what I’ve got now.
Story of Ursa Major and the list of the oldest 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy after 150 AD and before 170 AD.
It is really interesting that the ancients on two continents see it as a Bear.
You need to start building your own Stonehenge so you can track them through the sky. It might be worth starting a process like finding Polaris first every time so you start to know were the others are.
Yeah, the phone app is just for basic learning of the patterns, not for outside. I’m hoping to have the constellations well enough memorized that I can just identify them outside without looking anything up. At this point, I’m nowhere near that.
I think this will be my next memorization project, in fact. It seems to be a nicely self-contained collection of interesting data that really should be in my head, and that could serve as an excellent memory palace for other things once I get it firmly into my head. So, per aspera ad astra.
Yeah I have a few of them that no one else would make the connection however they stick.
RN = Julianna Margulies
CN = Angela Rippon
LC = Jennifer Love Hewitt
I think I will look at alternatives and see if they stick better.
I have also changed mine often in the first year or so, and like @meepster some were not for obvious reasons. My 70 (TO) in my Dominic System wouldn’t stick. I can’t remember who it was now. But for some reason, I saw Tootsie who became woman tottering around on high heels and a slight dress, but isn’t as stupid as she looks. It stuck immediately. I worried because Tootsie isn’t initials like the others, but it doesn’t seem to matter.
I created the Bestiary initially to remember people’s names, but now I use it for much more. It offers the first two letters, so is a much more effective memory prompt. By imagining the beast interacting with the person as you chat, you will create an image which will point you to the name whenever you need it.
It simply gives an animal prompt to associate in an image for whatever you want to remember. For some, I couldn’t find an animal. Here’s C and D.
Ca camel
Ce cenotaur
Ch chipmunk
Ci cicada
Cl clown
Co cow
Cr crab (hermit)
Cu cupid
Cy cyborg
Da dalmatian
De devil
Di diamond python
Do dolphin
Dr dragonfly
Du duck
Dw dwarf
Dy dystopia
You can see images of it on my website, but you can also make up your own.
https://www.lynnekelly.com.au/?page_id=5421
I can send the full list of you like.I can’t see how to attach a PDF here, but happy to if someone points me to the right button. It is also in the back of Memory Craft.
I find bestiaries so good I now use one for French vocabulary and a very different style of bestiary for Chinese vocabulary.
Does that make sense?
The PDF feature was being used to upload ebooks that aren’t supposed to be free, so direct uploads are off at the moment. I just added instructions for posting PDFs in the FAQs: How to upload files to the forum
As an author, I agree with your stand totally. I have sent the PDF to the address given in the FAQ.
Thank you for this wonderful forum.
Lynne
Josh has uploaded the pdf of the animal names for my bestiary, as well as those for the Visual Alphabet (animal peg list), here:
Thanks @Josh!
It does make sense! Do you use them in memory palaces like your history walk?
I do use my visual alphabet for coding “in real time”, in a reusable memory palace. For example, I’m currently attending a great course (free on Youtube) on Human Behavioral Theory. I listen to it while doing other things, like chores, brushing my teeth, etc., and use the beast/character for abstract words. P. e., one of the principles of the Darwinian theory of evolution is that there are some traits that are adaptive. Since it serves as a merely temporary “mental note” (I eventually write notes from the memory palace and finally codify them in a permanent memory palace -a Guardian, actually-), just having Arachne in the proper locus is enough. Other times, like for “mutations” I can use the Minotaur, holding a DNA molecule in its hands. I wonder if you do something similar with your “extended” bestiary, and if you have found value on it beyond the memorizing of names.
Thanks for your explanation and your list. You continue to be a great inspiration for my own memory journey.