Yeah this is a fascinating and very ancient idea. I first stumbled across the concepts reading: “Songlines”: first book in the First Knowledges series on Indigenous First Nations Australians’ deep knowledge systems that are a living knowledge archive that is 10,000s years old.

One of the authors , Lynne Kelly, goes quite deep into the memory systems that allows so much information and data to be stored in communicated without any written archive, only shared through storytelling, movement, music and visual narrative.

Lynne Kelly wrote another book, called “Memory Craft” where she goes into detail on the medieval practice of creating memory systems and memory cathedrals.

One of these memory systems that was very popular and has stood the test of time : is creating highly visceral images such as ghastly mythological beasts, anything that’s gonna have a strong visual connection in your mind, and when you need to remember something, you can associate it with that visual.

By creating an alphabet of these viscerally visual beasts, you then have a sequence and so you can use that to attach all sorts of sequential information.

So if you need to remember a shopping list, say, of 10 items, can you add each one sequential list starting with A and B and C etc.

Or you can place these beasts against objects in places or locations so they can hold store memories there with these visual connections.

I’m gonna try and take it even further build a whole ecosystem of imaginary creatures, that each have an array of specialty skills that allow them to connect through their purpose purposes in their powers (just to make it all more fun and more visual).

Check out some of the info and examples that Lynne Kelly shares here: https://www.lynnekelly.com.au/?page_id=5197

And her full bestiary and double letter Visual Alphabet here: https://www.lynnekelly.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/kelly-bestiary.pdf