Tarot Journalling?

Emily

I've started another journal up for the Liber T, so far I just have the dailies I do and the spreads or any other cards I pull. I have pages in place for each of the cards so that I can do an indepth on each of them, I also have printed pages for colour correspondences and numerology and Scion's PDF guide for the Liber T.

I use an A4 two ring binder with coloured page separators and so far its working out really well. :)
 

silverwings94

Just from reading all these wonderful posts I am on my way to the store to get a notebook. I just got The Celtic Dragon Tarot in the mail and I think I am going to start journaling. This way maybe I will be able to learn the cards better.
Thanks Everyone,
Silverwings94
 

tarotlyn

Journaling is such a great help in learning the Tarot because you are taking in so "much" information!

I keep separate journals by topic:
One for Relationship readings, one for General readings, one for Financial readings...and on and on...

It is wonderful to go back through the years of journals and see how much you have learned.

I used to also have my students keep journals like this, and I also recorded cassette tapes of their lesson sessions,
and gave them to them after each session. Also tape recorded all readings for my regular clients and gave to them at the end.

I learned this method from my own Tarot mentor, and I still have the very first tape she made when she did my birthday reading,
as well as all the subsequent lesson and readings tapes as well, Plus all my tarot journals.

Edited to add:
Headings for my journals:

On front cover:
Topic (relationship or ?)

My Headings are:
Date
Name of person reading for
Question or Concern
Deck used
Type of spread used
Number of the card position
Card name drawn - upright or reversed
Description: A few sentences on the meaning of this card in that position.

My daily draw journals are recorded just by the Month-Day-Year.
 

Greywoolfe

I like Tarot Journals- I swear by them. I have two that are deck specific, for the Cosmic and the Thoth, that I write impressions about the cards in; one book for various readings, one for past-life and karmic readings, and a diary for each year with daily readings. The karmic and general readings books list the date, time, question, spread and deck used for each reading, and the diaries are specific to one deck per year, to help me learn the deck. I list the reading, with a summary of the day's events for each date. Last years' diary was for the Cosmic, this year is the Gilded. Next year will most likely be the Thoth.
 

silverwings94

Got my journal today at a Pagan Pride Festival here in Rochester,NY. Its all hand made and just beautiful. I am going to be using it for my Celtic Dragon tarot.
Silverwings94
 

heathwitch

Oooh, thank you all for your replies! I shall be giving this some more thought and may just start my own journal soon. :)
 

Seafra

One of the values of journaling just occurred to me. You can follow a card's cycle through a layout over a period of time. This is easier done, I would assume, with larger layouts (I use the Celtic Cross).
 

Open Arms

I've just got myself a binder and some lined paper... I've set areas for the majors, court and pips...this is just to study the cards ATM. As I go through I am looking at my Gilded set as well as my RWS so I can see what differences I get from the different imagery comparing the two to gain better clarity and insight. Following Umbrae's suggestion - I'm doing it all in pencil!

Once I get further into that (two cards down...76 to go! - or is that 152 to go??)I want to keep a track of my spreads - split into oracles (I mainly use 2) and my Tarot spreads. I'm new to Tarot but an old hand (some would say!) with the oracles so the work there won't take as long to set up I hope!

I tend to print and store things like Thirteen's card explanations or the ebook of spreads at the back of my file - just for reference when you get one of those..."now what does this mean??" moments.

When I get new cards I flip through the LWB then I don't tend to look at it again but I keep it with my cards - just in case.

Do any of you have pictures of the cards in your journals? sketches? scans?? I can't draw - failed stick figures in Kindergarten so I was wondering about copying and pasting in pictures. Is this a breach of copyright?? or is it ok as it is a learning tool not for distribution??
 

AJ

I blog my daily draw first thing in the morning with card scan (link in profile) and I keep track of the draws on this printed out form http://www.tarotjournaling.com/Card-of-the-Day-Chart.pdf
it is really fun to look back over my year on the chart and see cards that have been pulled 7 or 8 times and a few cards that have never been pulled. The daily draw journal also points out how very different a specific card meaning can be when I review a card that has been pulled so many times.

I have two hand written journals that I started the day I got my first set of cards. I use them when I do workbooks and also write in gems I run across, as like Seafra my memory isn't what it should be.
For instance this week I was working with symbols and I remembered in my journal was this gem.

Thoughts on symbols:
What is the shape?
What is its function?
What is it for?
What does it do?
Does it have alterations?
Likes & dislikes?
Reminds me of?
Where literally appears?

Journals are as worthwhile as you want them to be. Certainly they should be viewed as a valuable tool as opposed to a doodle pad.

Remember a journal doesn't have to make sense or read like a book. It is a thought keeper. So don't get hung up on how it should be done, just do it if it pleases you to do so.
 
What is reading? The Secret: Tarot & the New Thought Movement