Tarot Journal. Forcing?

Hi!

I'm going to start on my first Tarot Journal for the Prisma Visions Deck which I'm going to receive soon and I have a few points that I need to clear up.

I'm thinking of starting it with an interview spread, going on to a card analysis of the deck.

The thing is that I tend to ritualize these sort of things and while it sometimes comes in handy I feel that I also get very restricted by it. The line of pure intuitive inspiration and forcing becomes blurred in these instances.

What do you suggest I do?

Thank you!

Welcome to the forum!

What purpose do you have in mind for the journal?

Journalling is something people feel differently about: many find it is of limited usefulness once you have passed the very learning stage (we are all of us still learning).

Usually a tree has to die to allow it to happen, it creates one more physical possession to carry through life and worry about, and few of us ever look back on our journals. I was never a big tarot journaller but years ago I was an avid personal journaller and spent hours writing every day ... but I never re-read any of it, it and a lot of it was written in the spirit of "and they'll realise how nice I was when they read this", whoever "they" were.

If you are planning to write down lists of things you discover along the way as you learn Tarot ... that's not really journaling and that *is* useful - if you refer to it and it creates a resource for you.

Interviewing your deck is quite an awkward thing to do: why not just pull cards randomly (like a single-pull daily draw), and write on each card that arrives? It will be easier, more fun, contribute to your learning, and will turn out to be relevant to your life.

Enjoy your Tarot journey - you are at the very beginning of decades of fantastic fun and learning experiences!

Hi, I think you may start with drawing a today's card everyday, whenever you have a question/a problem, use a spread to read for yourself and play a little divination game(where is my cat now? What is my girl/boyfriend doing right now? draw cards and check the correct answer later.).

Get the pressure, force, restrictions out first! You have your own unique way to approaching the cards!!

I've never had a journal. Lol.

I have several notebooks set aside - but I never quite get there.
And my daily draws are never quite daily either. Plus I may not actually write them down.
On and off - I'll look into a textbook that has exercises in it - and do those for a while (say "21 ways to read Tarot" - or "Tarot 101"). And then I'll have a long period where I'm engrossed in a textbook and will read, then think and experiment, then read etc. (Presently this is "The Open Reading" by Yoav Ben-Dov - such a delightful book. Wish I'd discovered it sooner).

I've always just had my own sort of LWB (little white book) - where I've written down the
various meanings of cards that struck me (adding new ones when I come across them) plus then all my favourite spreads and theories about the how or what of all things Tarot - which I learned from attending a Tarot class for a year some time ago. And occasionally add to when I attend a new Tarot workshop with a master somewhere.

If you suspect you''re putting yourself in a box - then try out things which you think are opposite to your style.
Try some readings-on-the-fly with none of the ritual observance that you usually do.
Do some 3 card readings with REALLY SILLY position meanings.
(And remember to keep repeating to yourself that your learning - as we all are ad infinitum. Mistakes are permitted and will even help the learning process).
Play some Tarot games here on the forum - I found that really gets me thinking sideways (and thinking from other peoples points of view - which I might otherwise never imagine myself) and it's such fun!

Same Boat

Hi there! And welcome to AT!

I was (am?) in the same boat as you. I'm still going through the cards, getting down and committing to memory the basic meanings upon which I can build a strong foundation (and eventually house... of CARDS!) for my studies of the Tarot.

Like you, I kind of hit a block when it came to journalling.

I was never very good at writing about my feelings or experiences in a non-analytical way. When I was just starting out (again), all the sources I read strongly recommended keeping a Tarot Journal. The ones I looked up online were beautiful. Many people had lovely handwriting, colourful inks in which they wrote; some people drew their own illustrations or pasted cards (or copies of cards) inside. I wanted to have something like that, too. But for me, I realized it was just impractical.

I went for a different approach. I strongly connected to the Meanings Guides they have here on AT, and I wanted them for my own. So I bought some sturdy notebooks from the ￥100 Shop (it's like a Dollar Store) and printed out the cards, starting with the Major Arcana. I taped the Fool to the first page and wrote in red ink the part of the Fool's Journey that explains his card. Then I wrote out in black ink the meanings and extra notes for the Fool, adding some of my own thoughts, and leaving room to later write in the Reversal meaning. Then I went on to the Magician. And so on and so forth.

Rather than a tear-inducingly beautiful Tarot Journal, I made Guide to the Tarot that would be useful for *me.* Writing out information not only forces you to read and think about what you're writing, but it also requires an entire physical process: read with your eyes --> think with your brain --> write with your hand. The knowledge, then, isn't just something you store in your head. In writing it out, you've made it a part of your body. And if you've gone about it in a systematic way, the thoughts and information you've made a part of you will be easier to recall because there was some sort of structure to it, and you can now latch onto or climb that structure as you please.

Plus, you get to keep the results! Even though I'm now (in my opinion) intimately familiar with the Major Arcana (at least in the RWS system), I will flip through my Guide to recall some of the more subtle meanings, or the meanings that didn't take as strong a hold in my subconscious.

I'm now doing the same thing with the Minor Arcana, writing the general numerological meanings in red ink and the individual card meanings in black. And when I finish that, I'm going to restart the process for the Tarot de Marseilles (TdM) system.

I also have a Guide for Spreads that I like, and I'll sometimes record my workings with the spreads in that. (But only the date, the question, and the cards in the positions; that way, I can continually reinterpret the reading and not limit myself to my first reading. Sometimes, you can figure out what something means after you've had a long time to think about it, or you realize what something meant much later.)

Ultimately, I'm much more satisfied with my system of making "Guides" rather than "Journals" because I'm just looking for the knowledge right now. The Guides are not fussy in their construction, so I probably wouldn't mind if I spilled coffee on them (though I try not to and haven't so far). And the notebooks won't come apart easily, so I don't mind taking with me for fear of pages coming loose.

And the best thing, for me, is that I can write in them when I have the time. If I have term papers to write and need to focus on those for one or two weeks or if I'm just a tired wreck after work, I can suspend my work on the Guides; they'll be there when I'm ready to come back to them. I can pick up right where I left off precisely because I'm going about it systematically.

For your Prisma Visions journal, I would suggest a similar approach. Go through the deck card-by-card in order and write out its meanings (whether those come from a companion book [if one is available, or if there are online resources regarding the deck] or from your intuition is up to you). BUT! Don't let the creation of the journal/guide stop you from doing daily draws or readings. You don't need to write down every spread or draw in the journal/guide (perhaps keep a separate notebook for that). Instead, focus on interacting with your deck AS you write out your journal/guide. As you create your Guide, the meanings will fall into place and become all the more natural because you've essentially been working on the learning process at two levels simultaneously: on an analytical/systematic level (writing out meanings) and on an intuitive level (working with your deck).

Anyways, I've rambled on long enough, and I'm sure most of what I've said isn't useful, but I do hope it helps you find a middle path between knowledge acquisition, intuition training, and ritualization that works for you.

Cheers!

~ Hatter

Thank you all so very much! It's great to be here

These have been immensely helpful and have given a lot of food for my thoughts. I will be taking these into consideration.

I'm loathe to tell anyone what they "should" do, so how about I tell you what I did and if you find it helpful ... ?

I was in the same boat when I started learning (or relearning) tarot. I wanted so badly to learn, but had all these ideas that I had to do it "this way" or "that way" or "only at this time" - everything had to be "just so". With all the restrictions i was putting on myself. I was finding it hard to get started.

I finally asked myself what my goal was, what exactly was I trying to accomplish here? When I condensed all these ideas and feelings and wants, what was most important? I figured out that I ultimately wanted three things:
1. To get to know a tarot deck intimately.
2. To not just learn, but retain that information, record it in a way that was easy for me to find it again.
3. For the entire process to be beautiful, and meaningful. To me.

And here's what I did about those three things:
1. I bought decks until I found the one that really felt right, the one I couldn't bear to put down. It only took a dozen. Then I just started talking to it like you would someone you want to be friends with. (There's a thread in this forum about the deck interview spread where I just talked about this.) I figured that's how you get to know a new friend - by having a conversation. So I did. And still am. I'm enjoying it immensely, and feeling closer and closer to my deck the more I do.

2. I dug out some "fancy" paperboard boxes and devised an index card system to record info (See attached photos - I put my decks in the bigger one on the bottom.). I had dreamed of a beautiful journal like Madhatter talks about, but was crippled by the thought of "What if I change my mind about something or find more info I want to add later but don't have room on the right page ? I'll have to rip out a page, scratch out stuff, and stick postits all over the place. And how to find things later?" Index cards to the rescue! I can change up and add to the info as much as I like and still have an organized information source that's simple to find things in and infinitely expandable.

3. The boxes and and other trappings like satin bags for the decks, make it beautiful to me. But most importantly, I do find it all meaningful **because I'm doing it now**.

Tarot Journal

LindaMechele said:

I'm loathe to tell anyone what they "should" do, so how about I tell you what I did and if you find it helpful ... ?

I was in the same boat when I started learning (or relearning) tarot. I wanted so badly to learn, but had all these ideas that I had to do it "this way" or "that way" or "only at this time" - everything had to be "just so". With all the restrictions i was putting on myself. I was finding it hard to get started.

I finally asked myself what my goal was, what exactly was I trying to accomplish here? When I condensed all these ideas and feelings and wants, what was most important? I figured out that I ultimately wanted three things:
1. To get to know a tarot deck intimately.
2. To not just learn, but retain that information, record it in a way that was easy for me to find it again.
3. For the entire process to be beautiful, and meaningful. To me.

And here's what I did about those three things:
1. I bought decks until I found the one that really felt right, the one I couldn't bear to put down. It only took a dozen. Then I just started talking to it like you would someone you want to be friends with. (There's a thread in this forum about the deck interview spread where I just talked about this.) I figured that's how you get to know a new friend - by having a conversation. So I did. And still am. I'm enjoying it immensely, and feeling closer and closer to my deck the more I do.

2. I dug out some "fancy" paperboard boxes and devised an index card system to record info (See attached photos - I put my decks in the bigger one on the bottom.). I had dreamed of a beautiful journal like Madhatter talks about, but was crippled by the thought of "What if I change my mind about something or find more info I want to add later but don't have room on the right page ? I'll have to rip out a page, scratch out stuff, and stick postits all over the place. And how to find things later?" Index cards to the rescue! I can change up and add to the info as much as I like and still have an organized information source that's simple to find things in and infinitely expandable.

3. The boxes and and other trappings like satin bags for the decks, make it beautiful to me. But most importantly, I do find it all meaningful **because I'm doing it now**.

Click to expand...

This is a GREAT idea, index cards! I think I may try this at some point. Thank you for sharing.

You can make tarot journalling as restrictive or free flowing as appeals to you! I had a blank notebook with every card and reversal written in it. I wrote a few keywords for each card and then added things I thought of when the card came up to me. I also added notes and quotes about things I saw in books, on the internet and people's wonderful takes on interpretations here. Anything that set off a light bulb in my head about a card, went under that card in my notebook! I did this for the RWS.

Now when I read, I don't always go to the notebook. I do it intuitively and free flowing, but if I get stuck on a card or a reading, I turn to the notebook! It's a useful reference in my life and it helped me learn the cards so much! But I notice I use it less and less, but it's personalised for me with my own view on each card

But you can do this however you want! you might want to write a poem or a haiku for each card as you see it, or draw /paint a picture of how you see it yourself. Don't restrict yourself

I use journaling - only I don't call it that, I just call it writing - in pretty much every area of my life. I don't do it in order to have a record of things which I can refer back to, rather I use it as a thinking process. I find that if I just sit and think things, my thoughts wander and I don't pursue ideas very well. I find it almost impossible to do a reading for myself for example without actually writing it out as a piece of prose. If I'm not writing it it out, I'm just looking at cards and they don't say anything much to me. Using a pen or typing unlocks the whole thing for me.
Unless I am writing a piece of fiction or something for publication somewhere, I rarely read things back. I have so many filled and half filled notebooks which I hold onto not for posterity, and not for me to read, but because they remind me on days when writing is difficult, that I have done it before and will do it again. They also remind me that writing sorts all problems out for me ultimately - it doesn't solve them per se, but helps me get to the bottom of whatever's eating me at that time. It is, I suppose, my spiritual practice. My writing is one long prayer, I guess.


Starla
xxxx