Tarot Journal

Hello,
Well I have a question for all of those who have a tarot journal.What do you write in it?What I mean is,that I have "started" one,but I haven't really added much,just some spreads and some notes but thats it.What else can be added to a tarot journal?
I haven't really have had much time to study the tarot cuz I've been so busy with school and all,but I decided to make as much time as possible as I can for it.And so far,so good.
So if you could give me and tips and ideas for my tarot journal,your help would be greatly appreciated.
THANKS!!!!!

----Pinkstar

The question for me is, "What don't I put in my tarot journal?" I have it all divided into sections such as, majors, elements, minors by number, color, symbols, astrology, numerology, etc. My journal is humongous. I also have a part of just spreads. In another journal I keep track of the readings I do and how well it worked. And in yet another journal, I have the readings I do for me since those are the ones I can really keep track of.

Really, you should just put in whatever you find important to you and what you may need for reference.

Hope that helps

Oh great thanks,those were great ideas.So im guessing that you use a binder since you add alot of stuff,instead of a notebook.

I've tried to make a huge journal like that, with a reference for everything. But I found it to be too much work and I gave up on it. Lately, I have a notebook and I write down most of my readings and a few thoughts that I had about it.

Well, I am in the process of consolidating and rewriting it all nice and neat. Right now it is all stapled together! I'm planning on using a leather journal cover that is open on all sides and bound by a strip of leather which can be added too. A hand made thing I got online. It was bought for my book of shadows but my tarot wants it instead. I also ordered 200 sheets of marbled paper to go with it. It will be beautiful when it is done. In like 30 years!

I did start with regular notebooks until I realized how much info I had. I really wanted to do something special as I plan to hand it down to my nephew when he gets older.

I have a binder that I add and take away stuff as needed.
I also have printed out Corrine Kenner's free print-outs from her site for one deck readings, three deck readings etc. and added that to help facilitate my readings when I do them. It's nowhere near where I want it, (I have things I need to punch holes in them to add to the binder) but it's a start and already reflects what I'm learning now and will be added to as my knowledge grows.

Basically just add what you want/like/feel/thoughts anything really. Sometimes just decorating a page has meaning to it. I have a few doodle pages too.

I find keeping a Tarot Journal a dauting task...I want to...I need to, but I try to get started and decided it is way tooo much work.

I played around with the idea of a tarot scrapbook, but can't quite get there either.

The ironic thing is that I write articles, reviews, create spreads, do research and write readings almost every day....why I can't organize them in one place is a mystery to me. :O)

I use a giant 3 inch self-decorated binder as my tarot journal, divided into sections that I constantly add notes and printouts to, like Spreads, History of Tarot, the Fool's Journey, Cards, Symbology, Deck Discovery, and My Readings, of course!

In the Fool's Journey, I keep story versions of the major arcana progression. The Cards section is huge: I have a few pages for each card with scans of that card from each of the decks I use, plus a list of keywords and meanings that I update as I discover new ways of seeing things. My Deck Discovery section is sort of unusual: when I first get a deck, I "get acquainted with it" by analyzing and interpreting each of the pictures intuitively and writing it down. It's nice to look at once I'm used to the cards and don't notice the little things anymore. My Readings is growing way too large and will have to find its own home soon, since I can't open the binder anymore! For this section, I use printed card layout pages that I made for my most common spreads. I also keep a notebook near the computer to mark any notes on things to research further as I come across them.

Really, you can include anything that you think is important or that you might forget or want to reference someday. There's nothing more frustrating than saying "I remember seeing something about that on some webpage last year" and then not being able to find it. Plus, it makes a great pastime to flip through old readings and notes and evaluate them with that pesky 20/20 hindsight.

Ah, I feel bad for not being one of those who has a handwritten tarot journal!

I actually journal my tarot online ((http://3rd-trendkiller.livejournal.com)) where I keep my card studies as public and my readings as friends only entries. It makes it so much easier for me to keep track of and copy and paste and all that.

I decided to move my journal from written to electronic after I realized that my tarot studies were starting to take over my spiritual journal!

Anyway, I basically just write out my card studies in the electronic one + readings that actually take a lot of time. Daily draws and quickies I keep in my spiritual journal, just for quick referencing.

I write my journal from both ends of the book. The back of the book has all my notes on the major arcana under the appropriate heading, how I feel about the card, its meaning, its story and perhaps some notes on further reading. The front of my journal is my notes and thoughts. It has no order but it does have headings. Reading: my thoughts and research on different methods and theories on divination. Spreads: my own spreads that I am working on, and others I thought were good. Origins: anything on the origin of tarot with source notes. History : anything about tarot in a historical light starting after the orgins and source notes. Learning I use this title for little sayings I have read here and in print that relate to my way of thinking as to how the cards work and their relationship to energy and physics. Lastly date headings and they are for readings I have done that happened to be very spot on or future based, that i feel good about for future reference.

In a nut shell that is my journal.


Here is a sample page, it might not make any sense to you as it is written for me. and some of these notes are in the margin or scribbled over top to reinforce, all these nuances are lost here, but the words are the same...word for word.. and I left it as I spelled it, sometimes these notes might be written in my car or at the park...just a thought or a quote that I just read..anything.

Key2 GIMEL 3rd letter hebrew
THE HIGH PREISTESS
Pure Virgin like "uniting Intelligence"
Joining the energy of the conscience mind to the sub-con.Duality assive and actiopn,the representation of the colums.She is a card of unity poss and neg female and male*power of recollection when meditated on*

When you withdraw from outer action and involvent, then we can hear the inner voice of the sub-concseince,vision and energy---passive link between spiritual & pysical planes----

-secrets,urirevild future. Golden D.
-Intuition (fear in our lives?) Pollack
-revealing of hidden things alfread douglas
intuitive insight into problems suggesting new solutions


The above is page 3 of the back of my journal, a bit random, ? usually mean do I agree or look into it.