I have a kind of funny memory. I am absolutely horrible with dates and names, but I can remember songs and chants that I haven't heard in months or years. I talk a lot about internalizing information, because for me, that is the moment when something is well known enough for me that I remember it. Sure, if I don't access that information for a long time it can get lost, but it normally only takes a little refresher for me to be able to recall it.
There is a definite stigma attached to memory. It is a pretty common attitude that if you 'really knew your stuff' then you would have it memorized. This is partially true for a lot of people. The more you study something, the more you have practiced it, the more familiar you are with the information. You may find that you don't have to look stuff up if you work with it every day or over the course of years.
But not everyone works this way. Some people will never have that kind of recall, even if they work with something every day for years. They may not need much prompting to recall lots of details, but they do need a little boost.
I was lucky enough to go to a high school that took a bit of a different approach to learning. We didn't have to memorize a lot of things. Sure, we had the odd project here or there that would require reciting a poem, or some very common math or science formulas that we would have to know by heart, but most of our classes focused on comprehension instead of memorization. We would have access to reference materials and as long as we knew how to apply them, we got good grades.
This has definitely shaped how I approach life today. My books are my reference materials, and I use them often. Sometimes I still find myself judging myself poorly because I don't remember things. I couldn't tell you someone's sign if they told me their birthday, and even things like Sabbats that I have been honoring for decades now, I can't reliably rattle off the dates.
Instead, I make extensive use of calendars....almost to a crazy level! I have several paper calendars (for different areas of my life), as well as digital calendars. My computer calendar tracks things that I may need to remember to do months down the line. I can set it to make a little window pop-up as a reminder, which is very handy and means I don't actually have to go look at it everyday. I have a dateless date book (sounds contradictory I know, but it's one of those that lists every day of the year, but not for a specific year) that I use to keep track of birthdays, holidays, festivals and other things that happen on a specific day. The great thing about this kind of datebook is that you can decide what you want to remember and what is important for you. And every month you can look to see what is coming up.
Because I don't have a lot of things memorized, I have developed better organization skills. I tend to know where I can find the information that I want. My books, especially my BOS and journals are highly organized and labeled for this reason. If I want to look up something on moon phases, I know which books to look in and where in them to look.
Journaling, or some other form or writing, is a huge part of how I learn. By thinking about a subject and sorting those thoughts into words, even if they are just sort of stream of thought words in a private journal, that serves to help me organize my thoughts and really ask deeper questions. It is doubly beneficial for me to write about a subject, then let the writing sit for a while...until I can't remember it all exactly. Then I can come back and read what I have written and often I will have new thoughts on the matter. It can become quite the never-ending cycle, but I always walk away with new insight which is great!
I have also learned the ways that help my brain to link information together. It's not just about writing stuff down, but how you write it down. For me, art is a powerful tool for memory. Drawing a stick figure and adding a bit of color will help me remember something much better than just writing the word. I use this all the time for remembering symbols. I'll take the symbol, think about the meaning and then draw a little sketch that uses the symbol to illustrate the meaning.
Rhyme is also a big tool for me. If I can make a little chant for a thing, I can practice that and it helps me remember things much easier. I can add in key words that will remind me of other stuff and end up with a fair amount of information in a few lines. I could never remember which way the moon changed until I learned the phrase, "Light, right, getting bright," which reminds me if it is the right side of the moon that is illuminated, then the moon is waxing (wax on...so getting brighter and more full).
One of the other areas where it is common to expect memorization is with divination. Especially with rune sets and cards. While many cards are based off of a fixed set of symbolism, there are so many decks now that break the mold. I am mostly an intuitive reader, but I am fascinated by divination systems that use numerology, the fools journey, and other sets of correspondences for each of the cards. I can not remember them! I actually just started a divination spread journal because I always see these lovely and interesting card spreads, but when I sit down to read I either end up going with the basic Celtic cross (because it was the first one I learned and the one I have done the most...so I remember it) or I sort of free-form and just ask questions and turn over cards.
I was part of a discussion about divination and reading methods recently where someone really opened up my eyes about tarot and memorization. For them, the way they read cards was to lay out a reading, and then refer to the book. They use the little booklet that comes with most decks, that lists like 20 words for each card. I always hated those books, because for me, that list of words has no context and is just sort of a jumble. But they saw it as a second layer of divination! They looked at the words for the card, and some of them would jump out to them. It was different every time they read cards, so it was another way for them to tap into what the cards were saying, much like in forms of book divination where you flip to a page and read a sentence and then use that as your guidance.
There are so many ways in which our minds can retain and process information. Memorization is only one! So whether you are someone who remembers things easily, someone who never remembers anything, or someone like me who remembers some things well and some things not at all, never fear! Find a system for keeping information on hand that works for you, and don't let anyone make you feel like less because you can't rattle off every association for the color blue when asked.
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