How to keep a Tarot journal

I've only been studying tarot for a few months and would like to start a Tarot journal. I'm wondering how other people did it when they first began studying. I do a daily spread, 2 or 3 cards. I record the cards and my impression of them and how they relate to my day. Should I also go through the deck, card by card and write what I think the cards mean to me. How about writing down general meanings of the cards, the meanings I find in books. Please help a newbie.

Dancinbear said:

I've only been studying tarot for a few months and would like to start a Tarot journal. I'm wondering how other people did it when they first began studying. I do a daily spread, 2 or 3 cards. I record the cards and my impression of them and how they relate to my day. Should I also go through the deck, card by card and write what I think the cards mean to me. How about writing down general meanings of the cards, the meanings I find in books. Please help a newbie.

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Hi Dancinbear! I'm a newbie too that has been studying tarot for 3 months now. I have kept a journal since the beginning. I include my daily 1 card draw, daily 3 card spread and any other readings that I do. For each reading I record the time I do the reading, what deck I use, the question asked, an outline of the spread, the card/cards drawn, my impression / description of the card, what message the card is sending to me, keywords / meanings from Joan Bunning's Learning The Tarot (for validation of my own intuitive thoughts on the cards) and the end of day / how the card related to my day.

You might also want to check out Corrine Kenner's website on tarot journaling, I have her book Tarot Journaling and found it very useful. The website is: http://www.tarotjournaling.com. I hope this is helpful to you!

When I received my first tarot deck, I very deliberately went through each card, writing down my observations about imagery, symbolism, meaning and even the use of colour. I consulted the LWB, but only after I had recorded my own impressions. I also took the time to find links between cards. For example, I looked at all the aces together, all the deuces, all the threes, etc. I was able to see what they had in common, and the differences between them. It helped me a lot, allowing me to develop a real connection to my deck.

Dear Dancinbear, l have just started a tarot journal myself using the Voyager tarot. I pick a card every day and write down anything and everything l see in the card and how the card makes me feel. The Voyager deck works very well for journaling as it is a very "busy" deck with lots of "stuff" going on with each card. There is a book called Tarot Journaling by Corrine Kenner that uses the Rider Waite deck but can be used with most decks. As l'm new to the Voyager deck having used RW for many years l find journaling is opening me up to fresh and new ideas and l'm seeing the tarot in a whole new light.

Judy

Excellent question, DB. I'm sure that the members of AT will have lots of help for you!

When I was intensely studying and immersing myself in the Merlin deck in 1994 I wrote down every spread with a diagram that listed the cards and the positions of the reading, and then I copied out the meaning of the card as much as possible, and then the way I felt this translated in my reading...meaning and position together. Then a third part which gave the overall meaning of my reading.

Writing things out in longhand sort of burns them into your mind. Like when I was in college and had to write things out over and over to memorize them. It works! And it's a great exercise in learning the spreads, the meanings, and tarot itself.

Sometimes you'll find yourself writing things that will surprise you.

I know that you're planning to buy The Process, by Dan Pelletier soon, which will instruct you further in journaling, but until then, you'll get some ideas from other people on here...

My journals evolved over time. I do have one habit I write from both ends. The back to front is what I think I know, the front to back is what I want to know. All my journals meet in the middle. The front of the last journal often becomes the back of the next journal as I learn and research.

Dancinbear said:

I've only been studying tarot for a few months and would like to start a Tarot journal. I'm wondering how other people did it when they first began studying. I do a daily spread, 2 or 3 cards. I record the cards and my impression of them and how they relate to my day. Should I also go through the deck, card by card and write what I think the cards mean to me. How about writing down general meanings of the cards, the meanings I find in books. Please help a newbie.

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There is no "should" about it. If there was it would be that you should save whatever you personally feel it would be useful to you to look back at later and what it gives you pleasure to save.

Do what brings pleasure: draw, write Tarot poetry...whatever you enjoy and save what you think it will benefit you to look back at later.

The things I saved when I was starting were: all my readings (I quickly found for myself that I learnt a lot by going over them months later, I would then see things I did not see at first).

I added into the readings a "Notes before Starting" section at the reading to save any info pertinent to the question being asked that I might want to remember when I look over the reading months later, as well as how I was feeling about things at the time of thw reading....

At the end of the reading I added in an "Afterthoughts" section, to add in any additional info that came into play after the reading was done. That could include feedback from the querent on the accuracy of the reading, any signs that the universe sent the querent related to the topic of the reading, what I learnt from doing the reading that helped me to improve my Tarot skills, that I wanted to remember for next time.

I still do this in my readings most times. When I save them I usually still include a "Notes before starting" section and an "Afterthoughts section.

I also saved articles in my journal on Tarot techniques that I came across (like on how to do timing questions), other related Tarot articles (like how to crochet a Tarot pouch), reading others did for me, sometimes AT posts and articles, spreads I found interesting and wanted to remember to try out later on....

I myself have never done a daily draw. I did it 2-3 days in a row at first and got bored with it. I did do readings almost every day afterwards as I was learning, but on specific questions. As to if you "should" go through the deck card by card and write what it means to you, do it if it calls to you and don't if it doesn't. Tarot is meant to be fun, not a chore. So you don't have to make yourself do things that feel like too much work. That applies to most things you can do in Tarot. Follow your heart, what you are drawn to, and what is fun for you.

Babs

Thank you all for the lightning fast response to this thread. I posted it, went to bed, and just had to come back to see what response I got.

I think I'm going to learn a lot from this thread. Interesting how people approach journaling. I especially like the Crowned Crested Polish One's front to back and back to front idea!

Dancinbear said:

I think I'm going to learn a lot from this thread. Interesting how people approach journaling. I especially like the Crowned Crested Polish One's front to back and back to front idea!

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Here is a man who knows his roosters, LOL!

DB probably knows the name of the rooster in Latin, don't you DB?

Wanted to add....try and find a notebook with sturdy paper, thicker is better. I'm a freak and have to have 20 lb or better paper in my notebooks. Hopefully you aren't that picky because they are hard to find, but better paper holds up to writing on both sides and lasts forever, no show through.

OK...I admitted I was a freak about this stuff...