how i memorized all the arcana meanings (passive method)
my 'passive method' for tarot is to do it little and often, and write down the results for each reading in a notebook. actually write it down, don't type!! this will help you retain information a lot better. over time you'll slowly absorb the information about each card and what kind of readings it often shows up in :D
something interesting is if you do tarot long enough, there'll be a card or a few cards that become kinda 'your card'. these are cards that you see over and over, and you're start to recognise some link between them and your life.
for me this is the Wheel of Fortune and The Star :p
the Wheel of Fortune reminds me 'what goes around comes around' and if I don't learn from previous lessons, they will keep coming back until I learn whatever I need to learn. but the 'fortune' bit comes when I've done the work & i'm ready to move on to the next version of myself (like wheels moving forward :D)
The Star is more like a 'don't worry everything will work out' card. it's frustrating to get sometimes but it really is a sign of 'wait like 24-48 hours and magically everything will be fine again'
daily tarot spreads
one card reading
this is a very easy reading you can do every morning. focus on the question 'what's one piece of advice I should carry with me today?' as you shuffle your cards, then select one to reveal.
get out your notebook and write down what card you got, plus your initial thoughts on it. what do you see from the artwork? how does it make you feel - worried, excited, calm? is there anything about the card that applies to a situation you might face today?
when you can't write any more, you can use a guidebook to search up the meaning of the card. write this down as well, maybe add a little 'keywords' section to help you remember what's associated with the card.
at the end of the day, write anything you noticed that related to the card. this can even be one sentence e.g you got the The Magician, so you write 'Today I got the idea to create (blablabla) and started this new project.'
over time you should start to notice patterns of cards that appear often for certain situations!
three cards - start, middle, end
do this when you feel like you need more context than just one card a day. as you shuffle the deck focus on the question 'what might i encounter today?'. then draw three cards and lay them next to each other - these will represent a start, middle, and ending. it could either tell the story of your entire day, or just one challenge that you run into during the day.
again, write down what you draw and your first impressions, but this time try and look for a link between the cards. this can either be through their meaning, or through the images. don't be afraid to write down meanings you interpret from the images! tarot is very much 'feeling' things instead of doing it 'by the book'.
for example, card no.1 could be the 4 of cups, and card no.3 the 10 of cups. this signifies that you start out dissatisfied with something or missing an opportunity, but it comes to a good ending. the card in the middle could therefore signify something that you need to overcome, or something that helps you overcome the dissatisfaction from the first card.
after you've written as much as you can, look up the meanings of the cards and write them down as well. at the end of the day, reflect back and figure out if the cards foretold something that happened.