Journaling methods

C_McQueen

Almost everyone tells you to keep a tarot journal, but beyond that, I haven't heard much beyond "record your spreads and card meanings". I think this is great advice, and I DO have a notebook with card meanings in it, but I never get it out and write in it. I'm a daily-ish journal writer and most often, my personal spreads and new impressions and interpretations make it into my personal journal, not my designated tarot journal, which to me isn't ideal, because it makes it much harder to look up things I've learned and giving someone my private journal to share my notes is out of the question!

I guess what I want to know is- what methods do you like to use to keep a tarot journal?
 

Signy

I've been doing a three card reading everyday. I don't always write down my interpretation of the reading in my journal, but I always write down what cards I pulled. The big thing I'm looking for is patterns, and that's what I actually write about. For example, this week I've drawn two upright cards and one reversal every day. On Monday, I drew all nines. One day my middle card was flanked by swords, another day it was wands.

Finding patterns just really intrigues me and I want to try to document them when I find them explain to myself what I think they might mean. I haven't done it long enough, but I'm really excited to be able to go back one day (like a year from now) and see if I was right (or wrong!) so I can have a better idea about them in the future.
 

Grizabella

I don't journal and never have about Tarot. I've written down my daily draws a lot but without my comments as to what they meant or anything.
 

Citrin

I like combining "free form writing" with tarot. I just lay out some cards, no spread or anything, and whatever pops up in my head I write down. Sometimes it's quite poetic, other times it's funny, sometimes just jibberish... But I love it. :)
 

Trogon

I kind of keep two journals ... well 3 actually. I will frequently write notes about readings I do for other people, at least the cards drawn, so that if they come back with questions about it later, I have something to refer to. I also have a separate of readings I do for myself - this will generally have more information about the interpretations of the cards than what I keep for other folks. My other one is the one that I've been working on the longest - this is a journal of card meanings, spreads I've found out about or created myself (with notes on when I created it or where I heard about it) and any other interesting things about Tarot.

I'm actually rewriting this third journal. When I first started, I was putting 2, sometimes even 3 cards per page. That, I found left little room for expansion. So, I'm putting it all into a new notebook and making one page for each card. I almost always pull this one out when I do self-readings so I can make notes about ... well anything I feel is noteworthy. So new interpretations that occur to me, observations about particular symbolism on a card, etc.

I keep these journals, along with several Tarot decks in a tote bag. That goes to work with me, goes when I travel, or whatever.
 

Eadwine

I have started a journal in web Evernote, I keep all the info there on a per-card basis. What speaks to me, what my feeling of the card tells me, that sort of thing. Before even looking up what the card actually means I jot my own "meanings" down in there.

If there is anything that I really want to know, like on the Temperance card what the triangle means in the RWS deck, I jot that down in there with the card so I have it handy whenever my memory decides to forget what it was ;)

I also have one journal with 5 tabs (so handy! for 1 major arcana and 4 minor arcana suits) where I want to put all this info into, but then in actual writing, still need to kick myself in the booty to start on it, there is no rush :)

And then I have a small journal for my daily one card readings where I write in colors as suggested in the book I am using (Joan Bunning), that is just a jot down thing though, nothing major. Just to keep track of the daily cards and quickly see which kind stands out after a while :)
 

magicjack

Most of my journaling now is mostly meanings in 10cent spiral books. But then I started working them into my dream/daily thoughts whatever journal. No time for every reading but the more interesting readings and the results of how earlier readings have turned out. Now I have started my journaling and meanings in my tarot apps that I am enjoying very much. I use to journal a lot of my readings a long time ago and it's actually very interesting to go back and read them and see just how good I was way back when also. LOL.
 

littlethings

I'm actually rewriting this third journal. When I first started, I was putting 2, sometimes even 3 cards per page. That, I found left little room for expansion. So, I'm putting it all into a new notebook and making one page for each card. I almost always pull this one out when I do self-readings so I can make notes about ... well anything I feel is noteworthy. So new interpretations that occur to me, observations about particular symbolism on a card, etc.

Running out of room to add more info, or leaving too much extra space is was what made me finally start using a 3 ring binder. I had a bunch of half done messy journals that drove me crazy and didn't help at all. With the binder, I could add more info or change pages around whenever I wanted.

Now I just tend to take pics of spreads and only journal about it if it's interesting or if I can't quite figure it out.
 

Lokismile

I photo journal almost exclusively these days.

Pics by date_deck and _question if applicable or date_deck_daily. I can revisit anytime and the notes stay well organized in my head, and can go to paper if need be.

I love it.
 

Trogon

Running out of room to add more info, or leaving too much extra space is was what made me finally start using a 3 ring binder. I had a bunch of half done messy journals that drove me crazy and didn't help at all. With the binder, I could add more info or change pages around whenever I wanted.

Now I just tend to take pics of spreads and only journal about it if it's interesting or if I can't quite figure it out.

Hmmm ... the 3-ring binder makes good sense. Though I think I'd go smaller (I'm assuming you've got one that holds 8 1/2 x 11 notebook paper). My card meanings journal is about the size of a composition book and fits in my tote bag easily. But I know I can get smaller loose-leaf binders, though I'd have to buy special paper for them ... but that would be okay. Hmmmm ... :lightbulb: