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I've always been
fascinated by the heavens so it's not surprising that clear back
when I was a kid I learned the mnemonic to help remember the planets
in order from the Sun... I've encountered quite a few people who know this same one or with slight variations, but I'm always surprised by how many people don't know it at all. In the interest of sharing for those who are less enlightened and in the interest of humor for those who do, here it is, along with an experience I had passing it on to the next generation. Many Very Early Men Just Sat Up Nights Playing
You don't have to be a
rocket scientist to figure out the first letters stand for the first
letters of the
respective planets. However, a few years back when I was a
Merit Badge Counselor teaching this to a roomful of about 30
church-sponsored Boy
Scouts as part of the Space Exploration Merit Badge (No, it wasn't
Astrology--not yet!) they didn't seem to catch on. So, in
response to a roomful of deer in the headlight looks, I proceeded to go through
it, letter by letter
to illustrate. So go with me here:
"Many - Mercury; Very - Venus; Early -
Earth; Men - Mars; Just - Jupiter; Sat - Saturn; Up - Uranus....."
Ah, yes, our friend, Uranus, whose name makes
it far too easy to inadvertently make a very bad pun, no matter how
you pronounce it. Amid
laughter that exploded like a water balloon hitting the sidewalk, my
mind raced with how I could possibly recover from such an incredible
faux pas, the entire time all too conscious of the fact I was in
a church gymnasium surrounded by Scout leaders of all varieties.
When the last of the laughter had subsided, I somehow stammered out
something like, "Well you get the idea..." and managed to carry on
with some modicum of dignity, though I couldn't help but notice that
the scoutmaster was facing the wall, shoulders shaking, apparently
having more trouble gaining control than his young charges. While
my mortification managed to keep me under control at the time, I must admit I laughed myself silly all the way home.
Since then I've found that the most common pronunciation in astrological
circles is yur-ONN'-us, which helps a little, at least.
At that time, however, I figured I'd hopelessly marred my reputation
as a serious merit badge counselor,
even though I somehow knew that everyone in that room would
remember that little mnemonic for the rest of their lives. As
it turned out, they must not have held
me in too low of regard, however, because years later I was
still receiving announcements when those boys went on to earn their
Eagle Scout Awards. And I'll bet there's not a one of them who
can't name the planets in order from the Sun. How about you? * * * --Timing is Everything-- If this story made you laugh, you'd probably love our Naughty Natal report. |
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