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Your Tarot Journal

Totally Mind Boggling

There are 78 cards in a tarot deck.  That's 78 different cards you are going to have to be at least somewhat familiar with.  And if you decide to use reversed cards in your readings then that number doubles to 156.  Then if you add all the various spreads and what each position meaning in those spreads represent you will soon find yourself overwhelmed completely by all these meanings, connotations, possible pairings, outcomes, futures, and so on, and so on, and ...

You should be getting a clearer picture of just how mind boggling and confusing the tarot can get and why so many people give up on it leaving their cards in a drawer somewhere collecting the dust of the ages.

So, how can you make things easier on yourself?

Your Personal Tarot Journal

So, how can you make things easier on yourself?  By writing your very own book in the form of a Tarot Journal!  A journal I suggest you put everything you learn about the tarot into, including notes, your own impressions and thoughts, charts, keywords and phrases, and even napkins you may have jotted something down on.

~All should go into your tarot journal~

And when you get done you will have virtually written your very own book on the tarot ... sort of!

But ... and there is always a but ... you will NEVER finish this particular book.  Or at least you shouldn't because you should never stop learning and adding to your 'Tarot Journal'.  If that ever happens then you will have become a stagnating tree stump whose growth has stopped.  That or  your own ego will be so bloated that you will think, "You know it all!" 

And with the tarot that is just not possible.  Throughout your 'tarot life' you should continue to learn and develop or you will just be standing still, never growing, just another fence post among so many other fence posts.

Journal Suggestions

You can use anything for your tarot journal from scraps of paper, a marble composition notebook, to toilet paper but here are my personal suggestions and recommendations on the subject of a tarot journal.


The Hermit's Search For Self

  1. Use an ordinary 3-ring binder (or 2, or 3, or ...).  It just makes things easier to manage.
  2. Use dividers that are made for a 3-ring binder.
  3. Get a 3-ring binder hole punch.
  4. Use a pencil for your entries because chances are good you will be doing a lot of erasing.  If a page shows the signs that things have been erased a lot then 'redo the page'.
  5. Keep your journal in at least some kind of order and use the dividers to separate the different sections of your journal.
  6. Don't put off adding or updating your journal even if that means missing dinner or missing out on sex.  Oh alright ... but as soon as the sex is over go and update your tarot journal, {grin}.
  7. Write out, BY HAND, as many of your tarot journal entries as you possibly can to 're-enforce' the information on your poor tired brain cells.  Do NOT depend on computer print-outs because how many times have you printed something out that you never went back and read?  It's just to easy to print something out and then .... forget it .... leaving it somewhere to collect the dust of the ages.  'Meaning to get back to it' doesn't do you a darn bit of good.
  8. Sometimes just sit and go through your journal page by page to see 'what's ... what'.  Does something need to be replaced?  Then Replace it!  Does something need to be added?  Then add it!  Does something need to be updated?  The update it!  Don't let your tarot journal grow stagnate.
  9. If you have a tarot friend, or friends, then get together and compare journals.  You might each come away with ideas on how to improve your own journal, or something you just hadn't thought of before.
  10. If you use different decks for your different readings then it would probably be an excellent idea to have a journal (binder) for each of your tarot decks.  If not separate journals then at least separate sections for the different decks in your main journal.
  11. And most importantly use your journal, add to your journal, use your journal, update your journal, and ...
  12. USE your journal!

A lot of work you say?  It sure is but it can also be a source of joy when you start seeing the results of all this hard work by being able to read your tarot cards like an intuitive savant (in other words being able to read your cards and spreads real well).

The Final Analysis

You can skip parts of what I have outlined above, add to them, or simply tell yourself, "I don't need no stinking tarot journal!", and forget about it.  These are my recommendations and suggestions but what you do with them is up to you.

I can tell you right now it's hard to keep up with your journal and I'm just as guilty as anyone when it comes to putting things off and not keeping mine updated.  Sometimes I have to force myself to do it  but it is getting easier because I like looking in mine and finding .. 

'Just what I need .... just when I need it!'

If you have your own suggestions and/or recommendations about setting up, using or updating a tarot journal then let me know and it, or they may get added to this tutorial.

Suggestion
Here is a suggestion submitted by Meri - Infin8ly on the Yahoogroups list 'Learning the Tarot'.

Since we all seem to have computers - you can also do it that way - maybe in MS Word - which makes it easy to create more files, clip and copy quotes from other sources on line (properly annotated), add color, change font styles, highlight, add comments, "borrow" images, etc. etc. etc.

I've seriously been thinking about working with the journal I created to put it on the computer.  For one thing - it might be easier to read (and share...)  It would certainly make it easier to edit and organize.

My Reply
The problem with putting it on your computer is that you have no physical evidence of the journal.  What I mean by that is that with a binder-journal it is sitting there somewhere beckoning, reminding you it's needs updating and so on.  You have a physical something as a reminder that is in essence going to make you feel guilty that you haven't opened it in a week, or added/updated it in awhile.  Guilt is a strong motivator, and will often times make sure you 'get things done' you have been putting off, and putting off, and ....

Having your journal on your computer is not the same thing and is just to easy to 'ignore' because it's not sitting there glaring at you to update it.  It's hidden somewhere in memory limbo and chances are good that it will remain that way unless you are very diligent.  Also it's very hard to take your journal on the road (planes, trains and automobiles) if all the info is on your computer and you don't own a laptop.

Once you have your binder-journal set up then sure .... go ahead and put it on your computer because that can only re-enforce the information in it even more.  But don't get rid of the real thing once you do and make sure you update both!  Remember that computers crash or a virus could eat your hard drive.

And beware the Copy and Paste 'thing' and just make sure you read the information before C&Ping it.

There is more on Tarot Journaling in the next tutorial.


Don S.

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The Tarot Studies web site was created [mostly], written [mostly], and is copywritten [mostly] by [me] Donald W. Stephens. Anything on the site is free to use as long as it's source/author [me] is mentioned and it would be nice if you added the URL to the Tarot Studies [this] web site as well.

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