Tarot Journals

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 12 Aug 2001, and now archived in the Forum Library.

bonadea	12 Aug 2001
I seem to remember this discussion before, but can we discuss it again? I joined the BNU Tarot class and starting a journal is one of the assignments. For some reason I'm having the hardest time starting one. I don't know where to begin. Anyone out there have any ideas? I would really appreciate the help.

destinyawaitsme	12 Aug 2001
It doesn't have to be anything too technical. What I did, is I gave myself a 3 card reading every morning...look up the meanings...write down anything that jumped out at me. For example, if you drew the 7 of wands and the keyword "defiance" seemed like it applied to you write it down. Then at the end of the day, reflect back on your reading and notes. See if you were right, write down stuff that happened in your day that can be seen in your reading. Over time, the meanings will come naturally to you, and also it helps you use your intuition. It's a great practice.

nexyjo	12 Aug 2001
i started my journal when i started pulling a card every morning. i wrote down the date, and the card, and then i described what i saw on the card, and added any interpretations i might have had, if any. as i progressed, i described the picture on the card less and less, and my interpretations more and more. i also use the journal to record spreads. the journal itself is a three ring notebook, with lined paper. pretty simple. it happens to have a clear sleeve on the front and back, so i printed out some pictures of the art nouveau tarot to pretty it up. luv and light, nexy

Cindy	12 Aug 2001
I'm an avid journal keeper. When I started Tarot I kept a journal religiously. But then I like to write, so.... Journaling can be so much fun, and it doesn't have to be anything at all fancy. You would be amazed at the insight you can get out of going back over a journal from the past esp. in Tarot. Mary Greer has some very good tips in her Tarot Workbook ~ 'Tarot For Yourself' ~ if you care to check that one out. Let yourself go with it, there are no rules, no wrong or rights in a Tarot journal. A good way to start is a card for the day or the 3 card drawing for the day, just let them open you up, write what comes to mind, your first gut instinct when you see the cards, it doesn't matter if it makes immediate sense. You're working on opening up a whole new part of your psyche. I think you'll be surprised what you may find there. Tarot is very on going... the learning will never end, that may be why most suggest keeping a jouranl of sorts. Its really amazing... Once you get in the groove of keeping an journal, I think you'll find it more enjoyable. Good Luck!! Cindy ~

Cindy	12 Aug 2001
I'm an avid journal keeper. When I started Tarot I kept a journal religiously. But then I like to write, so.... Journaling can be so much fun, and it doesn't have to be anything at all fancy. You would be amazed at the insight you can get out of going back over a journal from the past esp. in Tarot. Mary Greer has some very good tips in her Tarot Workbook ~ 'Tarot For Yourself' ~ if you care to check that one out. Let yourself go with it, there are no rules, no wrong or rights in a Tarot journal. A good way to start is a card for the day or the 3 card drawing for the day, just let them open you up, write what comes to mind, your first gut instinct when you see the cards, it doesn't matter if it makes immediate sense. You're working on opening up a whole new part of your psyche. I think you'll be surprised what you may find there. Tarot is very on going... the learning will never end, that may be why most suggest keeping a jouranl of sorts. Its really amazing... Once you get in the groove of keeping an journal, I think you'll find it more enjoyable. Good Luck!! Cindy ~

Cindy	12 Aug 2001
YIKES!! A ditto! how did that happen?? Sorry! C.

rob	12 Aug 2001
I also had a difficult time with journals when I first began using the tarot. But I, like others have mentioned, grew into it. Like nexyjo, I started by drawing a card each morning. I wrote the "standard" meanings down that I thought best applied. After a week or so, I started going back at the end of each day and adding anything I thought was relevent. Months later I was writing only what I thought was relevent and drawing 3 or more cards each day, even doing full spreads when I had the time. Now, whenever I pull any cards, I write what I feel is relevent and always go back at the end of the day to add more if necessary. I also leave room after each entry to come back later and add to it concerning addition thoughts for that spread or card. Just remember that there are no set rules. Do what YOU think or feel is best for YOU. Always do this and I don't think you'll go wrong. -rob

purplelady	12 Aug 2001
My tarot journal sounds just like your's nexyjo, at least on the outside! It's a 3 ring loose leaf binder with clear sleeve on all sides, and I've printed out pictures of tarot decks and put them in the sleeve.All pictures are of decks I Don't own , so I can see pictures of different decks. Now, it isn't a Daily journal , because I don't pull cards everyday , though I might decide to begin that sometime,been pondering it.(Actually the journal Started Out as a daily or once every 2 or 3 day journal , and to only pull one card But it's morphed into something a little different!) Right now, I do a reading on average maybe once every week or two. I just record the date , the spread , the deck , the cards. I usually write out the cards in the shape of the spread as though I'm actually looking at the spread. Then I'll often record my initial first impression,for instance , many dark looking cards, or the color orange pops out at me, or many swords. Also I will write down how many cards of each suit come up as well as trumps. Then, starting at card #1, I write an in-depth analysis of it's meaning, what I think it means in the spread,how it pertains to my life etc.Sometimes I quote from books, sometimes it's purely my intuitive feeling about that card, sometimes both.I do get carried away and usually write pages and pages. I guess that's just my way of doing it -Once a week or even once a month spending hours deep in contemplative tarot reading instead of one card every day.

purplelady	12 Aug 2001
I would also like to add that spontenaity can be great. If you Always pull one card in the morning,but have a sudden unexplained desire to throw a zodiac spread at midnight on thursday, by all means , go for it! Just be sure to record it in your journal!Also , your journal is private , no one else will see it , so don't worry that it won't live up to anyone else's standards. It's for you.

MeeWah	12 Aug 2001
I maintain a journal in a 3-ring binder. I record my cards using 3 headings suggested by Allyson Walsh's "The Sacred Tarot Unveiled": 1.Date, 2.Card, 3.Experience/Event, People, Situation. In the margin to the far left of "Date", I note the deck (I use different decks so that is a reference point for me.) Under "Experience..." I write the word or phrase that immediately occurs to me. I leave space to add comments later. I used to write lengthy, detailed entries which were difficult to keep up with. Since then, I prefer to keep it to what seems significant to me &/or in relation to the card or cards, along with any insight or lack of same.

EveAnna	12 Aug 2001
My journal is a little different, it is a ring binder but divided up into sections because I keep all of my reading together so I can compare them so i have sections for Tarot, Runes and playing cards. I pull a tarot card for the day, write down my impressions of it then check with my book. On my readings i put the date, time and the question asked and the spread used.

.dc	12 Aug 2001
i too am an avid journalist. i have two tarot journals, one is a daily recording of the 3 cards i draw (or try to draw) daily. this journal is a spiraled, gridded book where i can draw lines and dates and make margin notes as well. the other is contained within my electronic Book of Shadows where i record the readings i do for myself or others, or where others give me readings. i find that seperating the two helps me see where i am with the 3 card readings and where i am on my majickal path as well. blessed be, .dc

arizonagirl	13 Aug 2001
I keep my journal on the pc. And I also keep track of the cards I've drawn using a very simple spreadsheet.

Maan	13 Aug 2001
I have journals from when i was 12 years old. Since i'm in the tarot i simply write next to the date the card of the day. I always try to find a nice looking journal. It is my life on paper and it just feels good if it is looking beautiful. ( i now have a green one with a velvet cover) Maan

Ivy Rhiannon	08 Jul 2004
i understand the importance of keeping a journal to write down meanings of the cards, and spreads, but why readings?

oceanpoetry	08 Jul 2004
I keep track of my tarot readings in a journal, I have small notebook for daily card and a larger book I use for longer readings. It helps me to get insight into the reading - and also I like to go back and look at the reading after some time has passed - to compare the cards, and my interpretation, with what actually transpired. Also this process has helped me to learn the card faster, through writing down the meanings, comparing my interpretation with what is in my tarot books.

Pook	08 Jul 2004
I tried really hard to use a three-ring binder as a journal, but for some reason, it just didnt work out for me. I still have all of the stuff that I've written there, but I always seem to go back to a small spiral notebook. There is no order, I just write things when I think of them or when something comes up in a reading. Not very organised....unbelievable for me, a virgo.....but simple and it just seems to work for me. Quote: Originally posted by Ivy Rhiannon i understand the importance of keeping a journal to write down meanings of the cards, and spreads, but why readings? I like to keep records of my readings so that I can go back and re-interpret or compare the way some cards have different meanings for different situations. Also, since the court cards are a constant challenge for me, it helps to see different aspects of them when talking about different people or aspects of myself.

lionette	08 Jul 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Ivy Rhiannon i understand the importance of keeping a journal to write down meanings of the cards, and spreads, but why readings? I write down my readings often to be able to refer back to them. This way I can compare which cards come up when, with what frequency, and positions. It's interesting to watch certain cards appear in cycles.

Little Baron	08 Jul 2004
A good thread to bring up again. I have an A5 hardback journal, but do find it hard to keep up the entries. Mine is not organised in the least, but when I have time, I draw a card and then, I actually draw aspects of the card - the character, other symbolism; just doodles in ink pen, and other doodles as well - sketch out scenes of what happened in my day and write my meanings and interpretations around them; bolding out text and keywords I feel appropriate. When I look back, for example, on a page with doodles for the Ace of Cups, aside them and the meanings, I have sketched out a scene of myself and a friend/prospective lover, sitting under a tree at midnight. The feelings that came from that experience tie in with the card for me and therefore, helps me remember how I felt when I pulled the card (and the lover, lol). The next time, I get the card, maybe I will doodle something different from it and have a different experience to doodle around it. Does this make sense? I just feel like I have written the word 'doodle' a hundred times!!! Best wishes Yaboot

etal	08 Jul 2004
Just yesterday in the Links and Things thread for the Vertigo Study Group, I posted a suggestion for a journal/study aid that seems to be a variation of Yaboot001's practice: http://67.19.40.82/showthread.php?s=&threadid=28360 That's a long post, so I'll summarize for you: I drew my inspiration from the Talmud, where you'll always find a small bit of text in the center of the page, and then a variety of comments and "footnotes" and "headers" woven all around it. Here's a link to a sample page (fascinating in and of itself) from the Talmud—Yaboot001 might be shocked to realize his approach has 2000-year-old roots! :) http://www.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/TalmudMap/Mishnah.html What I've started doing: I drag my downloaded image of the card I'm studying into the center of a blank page on my computer and shrink it to half its normal size. When the page is printed out, I take the Study Group's comments, shorten them down into memorable key words and phrases, and then write them down (along with my own) above, beside, below the card on the page. So I'm treating the card as if it were the central Talmudic text. Like Yaboot001, I use different styles of writing—small and large print, cursive, bold—and I emphasize words with borders and boxes, and in the future maybe I'll be daring colored pens! At the very least it's fun and may help if you can't start journaling or focusing your study of each card in more routine ways. etal

Ivy Rhiannon	08 Jul 2004
thanks for the insight everyone! I just think it would take alot of room because I do alot of readings. but if it helps that much I'll try!

Emily	09 Jul 2004
Hi Ivy Rhiannon, Maybe you could keep your readings in a different folder or on a folder on your pc. I tend to do this when I read for others, I have a folder in Word and keep the readings in there. I have my journal for my own readings and for when I study. :) I like to look back and see what readings I did, did any of them panout - and also to look back at certain cards and see if my feelings on them have changed.

linabeet	10 Jul 2004
Just don't do what I did. I went Virgo crazy. I had a page for each card and started writing out most of the info for each card from all of my books, all correspondances, all readings, all meanings. oosh. It took me hours to do each card. I thought, now I'll never have to look at my books! Of course I only did like 20 cards and got totally fed up with it, ended up getting lots of new books and never using the old ones anyway. The only sections I refer to now are the readings and spreads. I think the casual apporach is much better. Mine was an example of how an academic approach can take you away from the spirit of tarot when combined with a virgo obsessiveness and a boring clock watching desk job. Don't do it man. Stickies on the wall. that's the way to go.

littlehermit	10 Jul 2004
(linabeet, I hear you on the Virgo crazy - haven't done that yet with tarot, but boy howdy I've done it with a lot of other things. When I was a kid I decided, for some reason I can't remember, to sit down and copy out - by hand - the entirety of Romeo and Juliet. Think I got maybe a couple of scenes in before I gave up. :D ) I just stumbled into journalling my readings, really - I hadn't yet heard anywhere that it might be a good idea, but I journal so many other things (usually on a LiveJournal, because I'm a dork that way) that I wanted to have a place to note my readings too. :D So when I went back to the bookstore to return the tarot book that wasn't working for me, I exchanged it for a blank book (and a lapis bracelet, because I'm silly that way). I'm not entirely methodical about what I write down - usually just a brief note indicating time, place, spread, and who/what the question was about (if the latter was known - lots of my readings have been for online friends, and I didn't ask them for their questions - just concentrated while I shuffled ;) ), a list of the cards pulled by position, the numerology, and a fairly lengthy writeup wherein I actually do the work of figuring out what they all mean. Writing - especially the physical act (rather than typing, though the latter's not without power either) seems to take me places, and I do my best to try to note down the odd thoughts that pop into my head. I find I get much better, more accurate and cohesive readings (at least according to the feedback I'm getting) when I take the time to write, rather than just interpreting aloud, off-the-cuff. Of course the downside to this is that my blank book's half full already. I can see another large bookshelf looming in my future... ;)

purple_scorp	10 Jul 2004
Dear Ivy Rhiannon, recently, I had an "encounter" with a guy that I work with. It came totally out of the blue....or so I thought, until I re-read some of my readings. And there, in blue print, in my own hand-writing - a reading I'd done a month or so ago, with Titania's Fortune Cards, saying I'd have an encounter with a man not yet known, from my workplace. My journal is not just about Tarot. It's about my journey. Every thing that I do on this wonderful path goes in my journal. Every time I start reading a new book, or find a meaningful passage (about anything, not just Tarot) - I write it into my journal. The book title and page number. Every time something synchronistic happens, I write it in my journal. My journal has my thoughts, my poems, my affirmations. Everything. I have even given my journal a name. One that has a numeric value of 23 - "A person with a sense of change and adventure..." Okay, better stop writing here, so I can go and write in my journal. Night purple_scorp

The Tarot Journals thread was originally posted on 12 Aug 2001 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.