journals and our abbreviations

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 07 Jul 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

emily2otters	07 Jul 2002
several weeks ago, someone's post to the "your readings" forum made extensive use of abbreviations that were totally opaque to me! :) it made me think about the concept of private shorthand and wonder if we all have different systems for recording our readings? i tried to let my system evolve naturally, but found that sometimes i would go back to old readings and be unable to decipher them. that was when i sat down and worked out a consistent way of abbreviating _everything_, and made myself learn it. here it is, for everyone's entertainment: majors are rendered in no more than 4 letters each: Fool, Mage, HP, Emss, Emr, Hier, Lvrs, Char, Stng, Herm, Whl, Just, Hang, Dth, Temp, Dvl, Twr, Star, Moon, Sun, Jgmt, Wrld pips and courts are capitol: A, 1-10, P, N, Q, K and suits are lower case: c, p, w, s (i.e. 3c is the three of cups, Nw is the knight of wands. if i'm using a deck that says "rods" instead of "wands", i sometimes slip and use an r. i don't know what i'd do if i tried using a deck that said "coins" instead of "pentacles"!) to indicate reversed cards, i draw a semi-circle underneath the abbrev. for the card (as if it was underlined but the line sagged in the middle) with an arrow on the right hand side. it makes a symbol that seems to say "turn counter-clockwise 180 degrees".

Sorceress_Jade	07 Jul 2002
mines still all a mess, you've got a good idea going there. I've confused k (which i meant as a knight) with king and i often will draw real quick, rather than write it. I should probably sit down and make out my own short hand too, it would save me a lot of grief.

lunalafey	08 Jul 2002
Well, mine is somewhere between all the same and a few symbols that mean the same thing. I undrstand it, might be hard for someone else. My notes end up looking like a spiderweb when I am done(line here line there, scribble scribble) I use a big R for reversed, or an arrow pointing down, I circle the numbers on the Majors so they stand out. My deck has 3 suits starting with "S"..so... Sw-swords Sh-shields Sp-spears Cp-cups. Kg is King, Qn is Queen, Kn is knight, and Pg is page. Repeated concepts get written boldly. I also use astrological symbols when needed. And doodles, lot's of side art during the absorbtion process.

zorya	08 Jul 2002
i use; k q n p for the courts for the pip numbers i use roman numerals. it took me a long time to refine them down to a few lines, but for the suits and majors i draw very abstracted little pictures. example; book for judgement, box with 2 wheels for chariot, crown for emp. crown with a star for empress etc.

Kitty	08 Jul 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Sorceress_Jade . I've confused k (which i meant as a knight) with king . I did the same thing - now I write Kn for Knight and K for King :)

Geenius at Wrok	08 Jul 2002
I use K, Q, Kt, P for the courts; when writing by hand, I use little glyphs for the suits (vaguely like Y, O, †, ˇ), but on here I use the smileys (:CS, :OS, :SS, :WS). I indicate reversal by adding "r." I'm guessing, though, that it was my post that resulted in Emily's confusion, because I use serious shorthand for the majors. I must still be used to that old library magazine-filing system in which January, June, July were written "Ja," "Jn," "Jl," because I shorten the names of the majors almost as far as they'll go: F, Mag, HP, Ems, Emr, Hiero, LL, Ch, Str, Hmt, WoF, Jus, HM, Dx, Tmp, Dv, Twr, S*, M, S, Jmt, W. Sometimes I spell out "Fool," "Star," "Moon" and "Sun."

Sorceress_Jade	09 Jul 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Kitty I did the same thing - now I write Kn for Knight and K for King :) I was thinking about that, contemplating this thread. But there's an n and a g in both knight and king, and i know i'd screw that up too, lol

the hermit	09 Jul 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Sorceress_Jade I was thinking about that, contemplating this thread. But there's an n and a g in both knight and king, and i know i'd screw that up too, lol Same problem for me... Thats why I use first and last letters: Kg--King Kt--Knight Then it doesn't matter if I use upper or lower case for the k (my journal is computerized but I can type fast enough that sometimes I out type my shift key)

zorya	09 Jul 2002
i guess i just don't find it very confusing. king starts with a K sound. knight starts with a N sound. king=K, knight=N

the hermit	09 Jul 2002
Quote: Originally posted by zorya i guess i just don't find it very confusing. king starts with a K sound. knight starts with a N sound. king=K, knight=N It's easier to confuse old guys like me. But it's all in what you get used to. The main thing is to journal, pick a method or shorthand that works for you, and stick with it so you can go back and read the darn notes later. Nothing worse than trying to read your own notes and realizing you haven't got a clue about what it was you wrote :)

cricket	09 Jul 2002
ooo.... abbreviations! If anybody saw the 'first glance' journal I keep, they'd think I was crazy. ;) For example, part of an actual entry: --3, 10WH - zmm dog <> <> --4, AC - hrt lve - hair! clr sky dgd --5, 4T - slp rest zzz 99 <> Which would translate (roughly, since it's been a long while since doing this reading, so the impressions aren't fresh in my mind anymore) to my 'official reading' journal as something like: Card 3 - X the Wheel - Something is going to happen with a dog and a vehicle, something to do with the wheels... maybe he runs out between some road cones, or has to go to the vet and get shots... Card 4 - Ace Cups - He ends up getting hurt, bringing feelings of love, even though you think that clear area of shaved fur is funny. If I remember right, the 'sky dgd' has something to do with the poor critter getting sunburned... Card 5 - 4 Swords - Obviously, he needs to get plenty of rest, and sleep. Maybe he has a tendency to snore. :) If not, the energy's going to get zapped out of him. Sooo... Was anybody else able to get that out of the scribbles? *L*

zorya	09 Jul 2002
sorry hermit, i meant no offense! (and i'm not so young myself, lol )

the hermit	09 Jul 2002
Quote: Originally posted by zorya sorry hermit, i meant no offense! (and i'm not so young myself, lol ) None taken! By the way, I used N for knight for a while way back when, but then I'd go back and look and say 'what the hell was I writing here?' until I'd remember N is for knight. Oh well... They do say the mind is the first thing to go. I just wish mine would have stuck around a little longer! :)

the hermit	09 Jul 2002
Quote: Originally posted by cricket ooo.... abbreviations! If anybody saw the 'first glance' journal I keep, they'd think I was crazy. ;) For example, part of an actual entry: Sooo... Was anybody else able to get that out of the scribbles? *L* Not a bloody clue... but it obviously works for you and no one is going to be able to read your secret stuff.

emily2otters	09 Jul 2002
no, it wasn't you, G@W. honestly, i don't remember who it was, but i wouldn't tell even if i did. haha!

lunalafey	10 Jul 2002
I too had some trouble with the king and knight, and with a deck that had 3 suits starting with S! My first deck had Matriarchs(Mt) and Maidens(Md). Reasoning behind my abbriviations is a simple formula. 2 letters Xx (upper/lower) obviously the first being the first and the 2nd; the first consinent with the outstanding sound(follow?). This formula works well for keeping an inventory too, think of how many 2 letter combos there are! I use just the numbers for the majors, but let's see what if.(not looking at anyone elses:cool: Fl...Mg...Pr..uh, uhoh...Em&Em? got milk? uh oh, ok...Es&Er..Hr..Lv..Ch..St...(not again, ok, change that Hr to an Hp)..Hm..(oh)..(add rule #3, xcetion to rule #1.)WF...Js..HM...Dt..Tm..Dv..Tw..S..St,here.Sg there(8.)..Mn..Sn..Jd..Un..(or Wr for some) WHOA...It's a good thing I don't use these....

emily2otters	10 Jul 2002
lol! sure is!

tigerlily	11 Jul 2002
I use the Roman numerals for the Majors; Suits are W, C, S, P, counted A - 10; Courts are P or M (Maiden), W (Warrior), Q, K. Suit is first, number/court second: 3 of Cups = C-3, Knight of Swords = S-W (probably because that's how I say it in German: "Kelch-3", "Schwert-Ritter", although it can also be expressed as "3 der Kelche", etc... ) Reversed cards are indicated by an (R). When I don't have time to do an indepth interpretation right away, I try to write at least 1 - 3 full (!) sentences so I know what I was talking about when I return to it later ;)

The journals and our abbreviations thread was originally posted on 07 Jul 2002 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.