Why you should keep a journal

[Nemia]

It's a tired old tip, and it sounds like a hassle, but if you read somewhere that you should keep a tarot journal - take it seriously. You should.

Whether it's a paper notebook, simple or fancy, a bunch of pictures and text on your computer or an Evernote notebook... doesn't matter. It has to be easy to use for you, easy to reach. No perfectionism in the form of "once I have enough money to invest in a beautiful handbound journal and ink distilled from the tears of black fairies...". Make sure you use your journal with ease because you will need it often.

What do you write there? I personally keep an Evernote notebook which is by now quite elaborate, but you can simply write one thing after the other - today a reading for yourself, tomorrow an insight about the Hanged Man, and on Friday why you HAVE to have deck X or Y.

I have by now categories for Self-readings, Other readings, card insights, deck ideas, general tarot stuff, tarot studies, spread ideas etc. It just depends on what you are interested in.

Why should you write down your readings? First of all - to remember them. We forget so easily that the cards told us to pay that bill until December. And then it's December. And the cards were SO right. If you write it all down, you will win respect for the cards and check how a reading played out.

Then, it's a learning effect. Is there are card that pops up again and again? If the Tower moves in your readings from near future to actual problem to distant past... you will take note! And if a King of Cups always appears when you have dealings with a certain person, it's worth writing that down.

With your journal, you give yourself the chance to retain the learning progress you make every day. And if you want to take a break from tarot, you can do so - you'll be glad for your own insights later, when you come back to tarot again.

I notice that writing down a reading "pulls it together". All my thoughts about "hm, that might be..." or "what may this be, well let's first see the rest of the cards...", all the vague or evasive little strategies work when we talk to ourselves about a reading and that's okay. But if you want to crystallize your insights into something more coherent, simply write them down.

I just write what goes through my mind and when I re-read it, I stumble on new meanings and ideas I didn't think about before. It's fun to re-read and when I look at what the cards told me three years ago, I think: why didn't I accept that message???, and I hope that I learn from these missed opportunities! Without having them in written form, old readings would just be water under the bridge.

So please, grab one of the cute-but-unused journals in your drawer and a pen you like, or open a file in your computer, or take photos and record yourself. But don't let your tarot insights disappear in the stream of time. Hold on to them. Not even the wisest tarot author can guess the special and personal meanings the cards take on for YOU.

[Grizabella]

There are lots of times when, if I go back and read a passage I've written awhile back, I won't recognize it as having been written by me. I'll read and think how nice that person's insight is, but then read to the bottom of the page and find I wrote it myself. It happens a lot, especially now that I'm older. I wonder if we sometimes channel without realizing it. Is that possible? I've never thought of myself as a channel, so I have no idea what it's about.

[BlueStar]

I record every reading I do in a journal for learning purposes, so in the future I can go back and see if my interpretations where correct, or why they might not have been, and also to note down any new things I learn such as new interpretations and nuances of the card. I find journalling really helpful. I'll sometimes take a photo of the spread too, print it out on paper and staple it to the page of the reading. It helps when looking back.

[Joan Marie]

I kept a Tarot Journal when I first started learning tarot and it helped me really get of to a good start. And then I thought I didn't really need it anymore and I realise what a mistake that was.

I underestimated just how much there is to learn, or rather, how the learning changes and grows. Just as I was getting a handle on things I stopped journaling, I had filled a book up and figured I was done with that "phase."

But I see now that what I did when I stopped was create a set-back in my learning. Journaling helps me keep connected in a studious way, in a way that allows me to see progress and have revelations.

Your style of journaling will likely change over time for sure. You may start noting things you didn't in the beginning, moon phases and other celestial events, moods, cycles, seasons, weather, life events. It can make for interesting reading when you go back and take a look at it, when you see how your readings either reflected or maybe even influenced other aspects of your life. And of course, how good you were at using the cards to understand the things you and those around you were going through.

[Sezo]

Hi all
I agree, journalling is so incredibly important to the Taroting process. Especially when you read for yourself.

I have had a very all over process with journalling over the years - lots of different notebooks, systems, ideas, codes of how to organise etc... but now I just have put the readings for myself in my normally journalling. Else I get too bogged down in the 'right' place that I just cant focus.
But its the best thing. Writing, reading, looking, just ya know, writing.
I even have written dodgy freeform poems to Tarot before now... It is such a powerful process.

[Amoroso]

I mostly just keep a journal of my readings to see how accurate I'm getting. Maybe I should again get into the habit of keeping detailed journals of my Tarot studies. Been very busy the past few weeks so I'm thinking this oughta keep me on track.

[archimedes]

I kept a journal when I started, and even then there was a reading that I couldn't make sense of, that later turned out to be *right* on the money when I became aware of events... which was a bit spooky for my skeptical self. I regret that I stopped keeping one.

I think one of the issues I have with journals is that I prefer paper, but then there are confidentiality issues. The chance that someone could read what are for me very personal reflections puts me off. But I think I'll start again, it's good advice. Thanks Nemia.

[Junipera]

I have a hard time leaving paper around, too. When I was younger, I was badly betrayed, and things I wrote were taken out of context and used to hurt me. But over time, I have begun to see that my biggest wounds grew into my biggest strengths. I would not be me, some of my best parts and my most fun moments, if the bad had not happened. As I live through the fires, now, I know they burn away the crud. And they make me recklessly brave, because I have so little to lose.

Fire is rocket fuel. If the fire is aimed at you, open your mouth and suck it deep inside, and use it as fuel: rocket fuel.

When you trust, and when you know that their very worst cannot hurt you. When you know something bigger than them is in charge, you can leave your most private stuff out and laugh. I start to hide and then I remember, they can only make me stronger when they try and hurt me. And then I leave it right out in plain site.

[Junipera]

If someone finds your journal and does their very worst, play "Rocket" by Ursula.

[archimedes]

I'm sorry people tried to hurt you, Juniper. For me it's not so much a case of using it against me, as that it's, well, personal. My thoughts in progress aren't meant to be a conversation with someone else, it's about being able to retrieve my own thoughts. Sometimes it's a case of it's something I'm working through, so might not represent what I finally think, you know. People could misinterpret it. There are things like - you know, raising kids can be frustrating. So, I might have some thoughts about that. A child reading it might think they're not loved. You just don't want to put those temporary frustrations down in print. This is unfortunately why nobody ever tells the truth about how tough parenting is. And the same goes for other family members. Partners feel responsible for your happiness, and if you're having difficulties, can sometimes feel that it's their fault, that they aren't doing something right or providing or caring for you, when it's not their doing or not-doing at all, it's just life.

[Junipera]

I'm sorry people tried to hurt you, Juniper. For me it's not so much a case of using it against me, as that it's, well, personal. My thoughts in progress aren't meant to be a conversation with someone else, it's about being able to retrieve my own thoughts. Sometimes it's a case of it's something I'm working through, so might not represent what I finally think, you know. People could misinterpret it. There are things like - you know, raising kids can be frustrating. So, I might have some thoughts about that. A child reading it might think they're not loved. You just don't want to put those temporary frustrations down in print. This is unfortunately why nobody ever tells the truth about how tough parenting is. And the same goes for other family members. Partners feel responsible for your happiness, and if you're having difficulties, can sometimes feel that it's their fault, that they aren't doing something right or providing or caring for you, when it's not their doing or not-doing at all, it's just life.

Yup, context is everything. Imagine a world where people viewed everything in context and looked for the good in people and looked for gentle reasons for their struggles. We could all problem solve safely on paper and leave it in plain sight.

Some people that find paper are not malicious, but just narcissistic; and only see what is written as an extension of themselves, not as an extension of the person who wrote it. Their own small view is the problem not what they found. They are not predatory, just small. They can make a large amount of noise and drama with their small views, though. LOL.

And then we have the predators that are looking for ammunition and use journals and letters and personal communication and notes as tool of abuse. They mean to take things out of context. They mean to be gain the upper-hand through falseness. The thing about tools, though, is that if one tool is not found and used, another will be.

Everyone loses by interruption of the journaling and problem solving processes. Humans live in groups; harm to one is harm to all.

There is risk to leaving paper out. Or your phone. Or laptop. Now ... after I lost everything ... there are the moments when I have a choice. It is easier for me to choose recklessness now than it was. I lost everything, learned to survive with nothing, and as I build a new life, I realize I have choices to leave a trail or not. I repeatedly leave myself vulnerable; and believe things were looked at with narcissistic eyes that made small choices off what was found. I move ahead without confronting or asking. It just seems easier that way, now. BUT, and that is a very big BUT: that is from a place of rising from the bottom.