Journalling Exercise

So, yesterday marked one month of keeping a tarot journal. I use it to record every reading I do and to reflect on them afterwards. I do a small reading each morning (about the day), and occasionally add larger spreads about specific topics (usually do these in the evening).

Today I decided to go back and look through my daily readings for the first month. I tallied up the number of times each card appeared. I found a few things interesting:

-There was a very even distribution of Majors (31), Swords (10), Wands (12), Cups (16), and Pents (15). I know this is statistically likely, but expected to see very few pents (I don`t tend to relate to that suit very well). I`m surprised that there were nearly as many as the cups (which I correctly expected to come out on tops of the suits)

-There were 3 cards that showed up 4 times: The Emperor, 9 of Wands, and Page of Pents. I don`t really identify with any of these cards. Maybe this is a sign that I need to focus more on these cards, see what lessons they have for me.

-One card showed up 5 times - the 6 of cups. This is not surprising in hindsight. I tend to live in the past much more than the present or future. I`ve been working on this, but maybe not well enough!

-Quite a few cards didn`t appear at all. Some of those I`m quite happy about (like the 3 and 5 of swords...). However, the Moon card is one that didn`t make an appearance. I find this extremely odd as I have always felt closer to this card than any other. It was the first card I was drawn to, and I feel it represents me very well. I`m curious if this past month may have been more about my relationships with others than with myself, or if I didn`t need anything from the Moon, or if there`s some other reason it`s staying out of the readings? Hmmm...

Anyway, I`m curious if anyone else here has done this sort of exercise (looking for trends over daily or weekly readings), and if they had any interesting results to share.

Deanne

No but thats a good idea. I do keep a journal but mainly for cards and their combinations and some new stuff I learned from here.

There are a few threads here that are "plague cards" ... something a reader would see often. I think the recommendation was to set the card down and pull more to see what it tells you.

As to missing ones ... I guess thats not part of your lifes story at the moment. Or maybe you have successfully conquered your fears.

I just bought a journal to do that very thing. Did you just make it up yourself or did you follow a guide or tips from somewhere?

I've been taking photos of my readings with the intention of going over them again, but I find that I enjoy my tarot stuff in a more offline mode (present company excluded )

Journaling

I think keeping a journal and tallying up repeating cards is a great learning strategy. I sometimes write down my cards for later reflection on bits of paper and then I can't find them. A journal makes sense. Looking for repeating sequences in cards would certainly indicate a strong message trying to come through.

I like this kind of analysis. I think it's an interesting way to look at your Tarot readings over the course of a month. You've looked at trends regarding suits and specific cards, but may I ask if there were any other trends? Court cards, cards that are numerologically related, cards associated with certain zodiac signs or planets, and so on. This might be something else that would be interesting to investigate.

bluelagune said:

There are a few threads here that are "plague cards" ... something a reader would see often. I think the recommendation was to set the card down and pull more to see what it tells you.

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I started one of these about the Page of Pents. The 4 times it showed up were within a week. It stopped appearing when I had a revelation about what it might mean (thanks to some input here!)

tjejen said:

I just bought a journal to do that very thing. Did you just make it up yourself or did you follow a guide or tips from somewhere?

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I made this up myself. It`s very basic. I just write the date, deck, spread, and question (if it`s not a daily overview) at the top. Then I interpret each card in the spread individually and combine them into a larger analysis at the bottom. Later in the day I add my reflections on how well the reading applied (for dailies; other readings I`ll reflect when appropriate)

Sounds like a lot when I write it this way, but it`s less than a page per day.

JackofWands said:

may I ask if there were any other trends? Court cards, cards that are numerologically related, cards associated with certain zodiac signs or planets, and so on.

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I didn`t look at court card trends, but I like that idea. I`ve kept the paper I did this on in the back of the journal, I can always go back and look at it again.

I don`t know much about numerology but would love to learn more. I`d like to do this analysis at some point in the future too.

I know nearly nothing about astrology. I`m a Cancer. I have a very basic idea of what that means. I don`t know anything in depth about it, or how to apply it to the cards. Maybe I`ll look into it at some point, but there are other things I`d rather study right now.

Awesome Deanne - thanks so much!

Yes! I have a hardcover blank book that I use as a tarot journal to record notes, spreads I learn or make up, big readings, etc. And then on the 1st of January, I started a blog to keep a visual journal of single-card daily draws, which I was not in the habit of doing. On the 1st of February, I reviewed the month of January.

I pulled eight Pentacle cards, more than the other suit. In terms of the numbers, Queens came up the most – two Swords and three Cups. Seven Major Arcana cards came up with The Devil turning up twice. There were a lot of positive work-related changes in January and many of the cards are associated with that.

This month, I've been doing a three-card Body Mind Spirit draw, but it's turning out to be more time-consuming than I anticipated. In March, I'll try something else.

I've never done this before but I've decided to give it a whirl. It will be really interesting for me. I'll start in the morning and keep it going for a month and then I'll see what I see. Maybe we could start a thread going where people can do this and post their results. Or is that what this thread is for?

Grizabella said:

I've never done this before but I've decided to give it a whirl. It will be really interesting for me. I'll start in the morning and keep it going for a month and then I'll see what I see. Maybe we could start a thread going where people can do this and post their results. Or is that what this thread is for?

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Thanks, I`m glad you like the idea
You`re more than welcome to post your results here if you like, but I have no problem with a new thread being set up either. Feel free to start one if you want (or to give some suggestions on how I should start it - I`m still pretty new here, not sure if there are rules for making a group thing like that?)